Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Mother and Son (3)
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"Hans, what are you thinking about so deeply?"
"Princess Luise."
It was evening.
Princess Luise had gone out for a stroll with her aunt, Princess Victoria, and only returned to Schloss Friedrichshof as the sun was nearly setting. She asked me that question.
"I was pondering how to reconcile Princess Luise's father and grandmother."
"Is that even possible?"
Prince Joachim spoke curtly.
Even young Joachim seemed to know everything there was to know about the relationship between his father, Wilhelm II, and his grandmother, the Victoria Dowager Empress.
"Honestly, I don't know either."
How on earth could I unravel this tangled family mess?
I racked my brains over and over, but no good ideas came to mind.
If I'd known it would come to this, I should've paid more attention to that psychology course I took as an elective in my previous life.
These two needed a proper psychological counselor, and fast.
'Come to think of it, wasn't Freud—Sigismund Schlomo Freud—from this era?'
But Freud's all about sexual desire as the root of everything.
That won't work. Probably.
"Just give up. Father and Grandmother reconciling is as likely as pigs flying."
"What's with that weird example?"
Was that a German proverb?
"Speaking of which, Father's been holed up in his room since earlier."
"The Dowager Empress collapsed, after all. Even someone as tough as His Majesty can't help but be shaken."
The Kaiser was human and had emotions, after all.
Wilhelm II was narrow-minded, arrogant, and dictatorial, but at least he wasn't a psychopath or sociopath.
Buzzing murmurs—
"Huh? Isn't it getting noisy outside?"
"Yeah?"
What could be happening at this hour?
I stood and walked to the window.
"Crown Prince?"
"Wilhelm? I thought he'd come tomorrow at the earliest. Why's he here so soon?"
Joachim and Luise crowded to the window after me.
It was dark outside, but that face was unmistakably 100% Crown Prince Wilhelm.
And beside the Crown Prince was a woman I'd never seen before, dressed in quite flashy, eye-catching attire.
"Prince Joachim. Who's the woman next to the Crown Prince?"
"A woman? Whoa!"
Joachim spotted her face and recoiled from the window in shock.
"...It's Aunt Charlotte."
"What? Her?"
"Yeah. It's definitely Aunt Charlotte. No one else in the family wears dresses like that."
Luise confirmed it with another look.
Viktoria Elisabeth Auguste Charlotte von Preussen.
The Victoria Dowager Empress's scandalous eldest daughter had arrived.
"Really, Wilhelm. Do you have to rush like this? Mother's not about to pass away right this instant."
"Aunt Charlotte. I was just following Father's orders."
Crown Prince Wilhelm frowned at his aunt's eternally immature attitude, unchanged even after years.
The Crown Prince hadn't planned to come to Schloss Friedrichshof this quickly.
If only Princess Charlotte hadn't been hanging around near him.
His father, Wilhelm II, had wired him to drag Aunt Charlotte to Friedrichshof Castle, so the Crown Prince had no choice but to comply.
"Wilhelm. It's been a while."
"Aunt Margarete!"
The Crown Prince greeted Princess Margarete warmly as she came out to the front of the manor.
"Mossy. Am I invisible to you?"
"Sigh, Charley. Let's talk later. The family mood is pretty bad right now."
"Aunt. What happened?"
Princess Margarete sighed at the Crown Prince's question.
Hm. Something big must have gone down.
"The Dowager Empress collapsed from an argument with His Majesty."
"What?!"
"Oh, then I'll see Mother later."
The Crown Prince was taken aback by the unexpected news, but Princess Charlotte smiled as if it worked out perfectly.
Princess Margarete looked exasperated at the sight.
"Charley. Aren't you worried about Mother?"
"Of course I am. But if it were really serious, would you be standing here like this?"
"Still...!"
"Besides, seeing my face now would just make her mood worse."
I'm the bad daughter she can't stand, after all.
Princess Charlotte laughed as if she couldn't care less, leaving Princess Margarete unable to retort.
She couldn't deny it was true.
"Show me to a room. I'm tired from the train ride from Schleswig-Holstein and need some sleep."
Princess Charlotte yawned and headed straight inside.
Princess Margarete scowled at her sister but soon shook her head in resignation.
Her sister hadn't changed overnight. Getting angry would just hurt herself.
"You've had it rough, Aunt."
"You've had it worse. It's late, so go rest. Oh, and the kids are probably waiting for you, so say hello."
The Crown Prince nodded.
Come to think of it, he'd heard Joachim, Luise, and Hans were at Friedrichshof.
The Crown Prince followed Princess Margarete into the manor.
"Wilhelm!"
"You've arrived, Your Highness."
"It's been a while, kids. Everything alright?"
"We're fine, but the Dowager Empress and His Majesty are the problem."
The Crown Prince gave a wry smile at my words, as if he understood perfectly.
"Oh, Adalbert said to say hi. He was throwing a fit about why the next chapter of your novel hasn't come out."
"How am I supposed to write here?"
I wasn't in a position to write anyway.
For the record, Prince Adalbert, Wilhelm II's third son, was a huge fan of my newspaper serial, Immortal Admiral Yi.
Not that I'd say it myself.
Apparently, as the only one among the brothers aiming for the navy... well, seal or not, he really looked up to Admiral Yi Sun-sin.
"Anyway, what were you up to?"
"Trying to find a way to reconcile Father and Grandmother."
'Hey! Why'd you say that!'
The Crown Prince's lips twisted in a bad way at Luise's careless remark.
Great, now what was I supposed to say in front of him?
"Hans. You planning something pointless again?"
"Pointless? It's necessary."
"Necessary, my foot. Was that stunt you pulled on the soccer field 'necessary' too, without a word?"
That was ages ago. Why bring it up now?
"His Majesty was thrilled that you stuck it to the French."
Chancellor von Bülow grumbled while smirking, telling me not to drag it out, but still.
Results matter more than the process, after all. If it ends well, it's fine.
"Whatever. Let's just live peacefully for once. And this isn't something you can fix by butting in. Father and Grandmother reconciling is as likely as pigs flying."
"Why does everyone use that example?"
Did flying pigs have some grudge against them all?
"Anyway, quit while I'm asking nicely. Unless Father and Grandmother drop their pride and open up, it's hopeless."
The Crown Prince warned me like that, then headed to his room with a tired face.
He was right.
This was something Wilhelm II and the Victoria Dowager Empress had to confront directly.
"Hans?"
"Your Highness. I think I know what to do."
"What is it?"
"I'll tell you later."
Night had fallen late.
It was time to sleep, for tomorrow.
"Wah... sniff, hngh..."
"Wilhelm! Get back on the horse quickly!"
1867, Kingdom of Prussia.
The 8-year-old Wilhelm II shed tears at his mother Victoria Adelaide's scolding and approached the pony again.
But his awkward left arm made even mounting a small pony a struggle.
"Neigh!"
"Waaah!"
The moment he finally tried to climb on, the pony shook its body.
Wilhelm II fell to the ground again, unable to mount.
Of course, the tears burst out once more.
"Why can't you do something this simple!"
Victoria Adelaide vented her frustration impatiently.
How old was he, and he still couldn't ride a pony?
Her parents-in-law's criticisms, already displeased with her, loomed in Crown Princess Victoria Adelaide's mind.
"M-Mother... I can't because of my arm."
"No weak excuses. Wilhelm! You can overcome that. If you don't give up, you'll surely become a fine rider!"
"Hngh... sniff."
Victoria Adelaide meant to encourage her son, but to Wilhelm II, whose body and mind were a wreck, it was just unwelcome noise.
He hated that stupid pony and his scolding mother equally.
"Crown Princess. The Prince is suffering too much. Shall we rest a bit and continue?"
The young Wilhelm II's tutor, Georg Ernst Hinzpeter, spoke softly, unable to bear watching, but Victoria Adelaide was firm.
"There is no time for that, Dr. Hinzpeter."
"Wilhelm will succeed his grandfather and father as King of Prussia."
So he must be able to ride a horse proficiently.
Victoria's gaze turned back to her son, wiping tears and sniffling.
"Wilhelm! Stop dawdling and get back on the horse. Hurry!"
"Sniff... Yes."
Wilhelm II made a face like he really didn't want to, but his mother wouldn't hear it.
In the end, he approached the pony again, tears flowing.
Thud.
"Again."
Thud.
"Again!"
But the result didn't change.
The young Wilhelm II fell to the ground countless times.
No matter how much he poured out tears, snot from eyes and nose, his mother paid no heed.
Instead, each time, she coldly rebuked her young son.
Fall, scolded, fall.
The young Wilhelm II had to endure this painful routine for weeks.
"Your Majesty."
"Hans?"
Wilhelm II snapped out of his childhood flashback at Hans's voice from behind.
"Meal time has long passed, so I came to fetch you."
"Has it gotten that late already?"
He'd only stepped out for some morning air to soothe his complicated feelings, but it had drawn him into reminiscing instead.
"You look troubled."
"Even you can see it?"
Wilhelm II chuckled at Hans's words.
Well, after yesterday's chaos, it'd be weirder if a child didn't notice.
"By the way, what did that British woman say?"
Wilhelm II asked.
He hadn't even seen his mother's face since their argument yesterday.
So he was curious.
What she said about the outburst he'd unleashed that day.
The usual obvious criticisms?
Or fierce anger?
"The Dowager Empress said she was sorry to Your Majesty."
"What?"
But Hans's words were utterly unlike what Wilhelm II expected.
Sorry? Who?
"...That mother of mine?"
"And she regretted not treating Your Majesty with warmth."
"Ha! What good is saying that now?"
Even an apology at this point was too late for Wilhelm II to accept.
Far too late.
"All that's left between her and me is hatred, Hans."
"Your Majesty. The opposite of love isn't hate."
It's indifference.
Hans added that line, using on the Emperor the same words that had worked on the Dowager Empress before.
"It's like 'love breeds hate,' for example."
"You think I still have feelings for that woman?"
Ridiculous.
What feelings? Any affection had worn off long ago.
"If Your Majesty truly thought that, you wouldn't be brooding with such a heavy face."
"......"
Wilhelm II fell silent at Hans's words, which pierced right to the heart, as if reading his expression.
And that silence was the Kaiser's answer.
"In my view, there's only one way to untie Your Majesty's knot."
"One way?"
Wilhelm II asked without thinking.
"Confront the Dowager Empress directly with Your Majesty's true feelings."
"!"
"So that, whatever the outcome, there's no regret."
Author's Note
The anecdote of young Wilhelm II suffering with horseback riding is a real historical event.
By the way, today features a double update!