Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Mother and Son (2)
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There's a German proverb: "Breakfast like a commoner, lunch like a king, dinner like a beggar."
It refers to the German habit of keeping breakfast and dinner relatively plain and simple, but going all out for a hearty lunch.
That's why enjoying a lively formal lunch with family or friends was both a tradition and everyday life in Germany.
But the formal lunch here at Schloss Friedrichshof was anything but harmonious and cheerful.
No, it felt more like a tense battlefield.
"......"
In heavy silence, Wilhelm II and the Victoria Dowager Empress silently sliced the fish on their plates without so much as a glance at each other.
They kept their mouths firmly shut, proceeding with their meal.
At least the dinner with Tirpitz and Schlieffen had been noisy. This felt like a prayer for indigestion.
And the others at the table were no different, all stealing glances at the Kaiser and Dowager Empress while forcing down their uncomfortable meal.
I should've tagged along when Joachim and Luise said they were heading out earlier.
"Your Majesty. If I may be excused for a moment."
As I pondered getting up and claiming I was full to avoid actual indigestion, a servant rushed in and whispered something in Wilhelm II's ear.
"Is that true?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Sigh...... Very well. You may go."
Whatever the servant had said wasn't good news. Wilhelm II grimaced and let out a long sigh.
Seeing this, the Augusta Empress asked,
"Your Majesty. What is it?"
"They've found Charlotte."
"Oh."
The Augusta Empress sighed.
Wilhelm II took a swig of wine and continued.
"They spotted her at a party near Neumünster."
"Schleswig-Holstein? She's gone quite far."
The Victoria Dowager Empress sneered with an obvious expression.
"So she comes to see her mother's face now?"
"The Crown Prince is bringing her back."
"Yes. Before starting university, she wanted to spend one last summer with her siblings, so she went there."
The Augusta Empress picked up where Wilhelm II left off.
I recalled she was supposed to study constitutional law and administration at Bonn University.
Its full name is Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, a prestigious German institution attended by the likes of Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche.
'Come to think of it, Wilhelm II went there too.'
If I could pick any German university, I'd choose Heidelberg University—Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg—without hesitation.
Of course, that's only if I had the time and leisure for it.
By the time I'd enroll, Europe would be on the brink of the Great War.
"Don't make the child suffer needlessly. Just leave her be. To that Charlotte girl, I'm already out of sight, out of mind."
"Mother, please don't say that. Surely Charley cares about you too."
"Oh, spare me the empty words, Sophie."
Despite Crown Princess Sophie's defense, the Victoria Dowager Empress didn't stop.
She clearly had it in for her eldest daughter.
"That wretched girl. Feodora, that sweet child, is the one I pity. All her suffering from childhood stems from having such a poor mother."
"......Do you really have the right to say that, Mother?"
"What?"
Wilhelm II muttered under his breath, clearly displeased, and the Dowager Empress's face turned icy cold.
The table's atmosphere grew dangerously hostile.
Why did things always blow up at mealtime? This time, I hadn't even done anything—just sat there slicing sausage.
"What are you trying to say, Wilhelm?"
"Did I say anything wrong? You weren't exactly a great mother either.
No, you were closer to the worst."
"O-Or brother......!"
Princess Margarete, glancing nervously at her mother, tried desperately to stop him with a near-scream, but the Kaiser ignored her.
He pointed accusingly at his mother, the Victoria Dowager Empress, and raised his voice.
"Father was the same. I respected him as a leader and soldier, but not as a father. He was a weak head of household, dragged around by you day after day!"
"Don't insult your father, Wilhelm! He was far stronger and more farsighted than you. If he were alive, the Empire wouldn't be in this state!"
"What?!"
The Victoria Dowager Empress finally exploded at Wilhelm II's continued outbursts.
'Someone please stop this!'
Everyone exchanged glances that screamed the same thing.
But none of us, myself included, dared intervene in this fierce mother-son clash.
We simply couldn't.
"I've hated Bismarck my whole life, but I've never missed him like I do now."
"Mother!"
"Wilhelm, you're ruining the Empire with your vain ambitions and delusions!"
"Quiet!"
Crash!
Wilhelm II swept the table clean and roared.
"Brother!"
"Your Majesty!"
As the Kaiser lost control, his panicked family rushed to restrain him, but he shoved them away, unleashing his pent-up rage.
"That's how you've always been. Have you ever shown me even a shred of love?! When I begged you, did you ever say one kind word?!"
"Brother! You're too worked up. Stop this!"
Finally, Prince Heinrich, fed up, physically dragged his brother outside by force.
The Augusta Empress followed her husband with an anxious look.
But the Kaiser's outburst was too much for the frail Victoria Dowager Empress, whose life hung by a thread.
"Hah...... Hah...... Urk!"
"Mother? Mother!"
"Doctor! Fetch the doctor now!"
The Victoria Dowager Empress clutched her heart, gasping raggedly, then collapsed forward.
The people around rushed to her, but she remained unconscious, unresponsive.
'Damn it......!'
I cursed inwardly as we hurriedly carried the Dowager Empress to bed alongside the others.
Truly the worst lunch of my life.
"Ugh......"
"Mother!"
An hour later.
Under the princesses' care, the Victoria Dowager Empress finally regained consciousness.
I let out a sigh of relief without realizing it.
We'd nearly held a funeral today.
"Sophie, Margarete......"
"Yes, Mother. I'm right here!"
"And Wilhelm......?"
"His Majesty hasn't returned yet."
"Hans?"
Wilhelm II still hadn't come back to the estate after the Empress and Prince dragged him out.
He must not have cooled down yet.
"I'm sorry you had to see such an ugly sight."
"Not at all, Ma'am. It was just a family quarrel. Every household has them."
"Heh...... Family. You call us family after seeing all that?"
The Victoria Dowager Empress gave a feeble smile, but her eyes looked deeply sad.
"The opposite of love isn't hate—it's indifference. That means there's still affection between you and His Majesty."
I'm no psychology major, but I've picked up a thing or two.
If Wilhelm II truly felt nothing for her, he'd treat her like she didn't exist.
"I've never heard that before."
She seemed touched, her face wistful.
"Perhaps that boy Wilhelm is right."
"Mother, don't say that."
"No, Sophie. Your brother was right. I wasn't a good mother. Especially not to him."
Many think Wilhelm II treated his mother harshly because he's a fiery son, but the truth is, their fractured relationship was largely her fault.
She was always a cold, strict mother to her children.
She demanded standards too high for them to meet, which strained her already distant bonds—raised by their grandmother—with Wilhelm II, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Heinrich the most.
And Wilhelm II, born with his left arm disability as we know, needed extra maternal warmth, yet she offered none—instead subjecting him to abusive "treatments" to fix his arm.
He was so desperate as a child that he wrote letters begging her for love.
'If his father, Friedrich III, had mediated, things might've been different......'
But Friedrich III only made it worse.
The devoted husband always sided with his wife over his son.
No wonder Wilhelm II resented his father being led around by her.
Friedrich III and the Victoria Dowager Empress were exceptional leaders, but abysmal parents.
The era's constraints and the rigid conservatism of the German court played a role too, of course.
"I thought my strictness was for their own good. Wilhelm would become Emperor, so I was harsher on him. But I was wrong. I should have been warmer."
Tears of regret streamed down as she sobbed.
"Ma'am, spilled water can't be gathered, but you can fill the vessel anew."
I said.
"......Hans."
"There's still time. If you open your hearts and talk, His Majesty will surely understand."
"But will Wilhelm even listen to me?"
"I'll speak to him on your behalf."
I took both her hands in mine as I promised.
A foolish act with no gain.
Maybe I just blurted it out to comfort her.
But I couldn't bear watching her die heartbroken like this.
Nor could I let Wilhelm II live with regrets over his mother.
'At least let them reconcile before she passes.'
Though in this state, it was a pipe dream.
"I'm returning to Potsdam at once!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down!"
Meanwhile, dragged outside, Wilhelm II was still fuming, bellowing that he'd leave Friedrichshof for Potsdam.
The Augusta Empress broke into a cold sweat trying to stop him, but to no avail.
"Damn it!"
He kicked a stray pebble in frustration.
He hadn't planned to go this far at first.
But the anger kept building, the irritation festering.
'Why does my chest feel so tight and nauseous?!'
Even after venting at his mother, it persisted.
So he kept channeling the inexplicable emotion into rage.
Otherwise, he'd go mad.
"Your Majesty! A disaster!"
A maid from the estate came running with a frantic cry.
"The Dowager Empress has collapsed!"
"!"
"What?!"
The Augusta Empress paled.
Nearby, Prince Heinrich dropped his cigarette in shock.
"Mother—is she alright?"
"The doctor says she was just startled; no immediate danger to her life."
"Phew, what a relief."
Prince Heinrich sighed in relief, patting his heaving chest.
Thud.
"Your Majesty?"
But the news hit Wilhelm II like a staggering blow.
Of course it did.
The cause of the Victoria Dowager Empress's collapse was none other than himself.
Forgetting his anger, the Kaiser slumped to the ground with a vacant expression.
He clutched his face with trembling hands he couldn't control.
"Damn......"
The Kaiser's heart plunged into even deeper anguish.