A Turmoil of Survival
A Turmoil of Survival
When morning came, Daniel went to work at General Headquarters.
Daniel had been on standby at headquarters, but with the successful conclusion of the nuclear test, he was given the temporary post of Special Aide to the Chief of the General Staff.
The Special Aide position itself wasn't much different from being on standby, but the fact that a post had been assigned reduced his chances of being sent to the front, and Daniel was satisfied with that.
'The Chief of the General Staff must also be judging that this war is highly likely to end as it is.'
Choosing to continue the fight when the enemy had developed nuclear weapons was not a rational decision.
Unless someone was a madman consumed by insanity, they would show signs of intending to surrender.
'Count Kaledra, too.......'
Though he was a man obsessed with war, he had a tendency to judge everything rationally, so he would not insist on continued resistance.
'One thing I'm worried about, though, is that the current situation has diverged significantly from the canonical history.'
The Empire was originally fated to fall before it could even develop the nuke.
The war would end in victory for the Allied Nations, and afterward, the Empire would be torn apart, losing its former glory forever.
The one who had unwittingly changed that history was none other than Daniel Steiner.
Whether Count Kaledra would still act rationally in this altered history was an unknown variable.
Though Daniel was worried, he decided not to dwell on it for the moment.
'There won't be anything for me to do for a while. Should I swing by a dessert shop after work today for the first time in a long time?'
Thinking that, he opened the door to his private office and froze on the spot.
Because the Chief of the General Staff, Arman, was sitting at his work desk.
"......Hmm? You're early. I didn't expect you to arrive before your adjutant. Anyway, come on in."
Arman spoke lightheartedly, but Daniel could not take those words at face value.
The Chief of the General Staff, infamous for being glued to his seat, was waiting in his office. That likely meant he had brought bad news.
He wanted to run away, but that was not an option.
A stunned Daniel walked into the office and gave a salute.
As Arman returned the salute, Daniel lowered his hand and spoke.
"Chief of the General Staff. What business brings you here?"
"Though it is a temporary post, you are my Special Aide, are you not? Is it so surprising that I would come to see my aide?"
"......That is not the case, but I asked because it seemed you had something specific to tell me."
Arman let out a low chuckle.
"You're not wrong. I didn't come here just to exchange pleasantries. Let's get straight to the point: it seems you will have to attend the negotiations with the head of the Allied Nations."
For a moment, Daniel was at a loss for words.
After a brief silence, Daniel asked.
"I am to attend the negotiations? If my memory is accurate, I understand that Her Majesty the Empress was to handle these negotiations personally."
"That's what I heard too. However, the head of the Allied Nations, Count Kaledra, has reportedly refused that. He said that if Daniel Steiner does not come, the negotiations might as well not happen."
"You mean Count Kaledra asked to see me?"
It felt as if a fuse connected to a foreboding buried deep in his heart had been lit.
Arman, too, knew this was an unusual situation, and nodded with a sour expression.
"Yes. It might be because of the severe defeat you dealt him in Penbark. I don't know the exact reason, but since Count Kaledra holds the power to put an end to the war, we judged it best to accommodate his request to some extent."
Arman rose from his seat.
"So it seems right for you to meet Count Kaledra personally and settle this. I hope you will explain thoroughly that the Empire has no chance of winning if the war continues."
He had a bad feeling, but he could not refuse when the Chief of the General Staff was outright asking.
"......Understood. If that is the judgment of Her Majesty the Empress and General Headquarters, I shall go and try to persuade Count Kaledra."
"I like your quick decisiveness. On the condition of accepting Count Kaledra's request, this negotiation will be conducted under strict security within the Empire, so there should be no stability concerns. Ah. Now that I think of it, there is one more thing."
Arman continued as if he had just remembered.
"This morning, as I was reporting to Her Majesty the Empress and leaving the palace, I saw a vehicle carrying the Bellanos Cabinet Minister's daughter entering the palace. She didn't look happy. Do you know what that's about?"
At that, Daniel's mind went blank for a moment.
'Ref went to the Imperial Palace?'
There was no way Ref would walk into the lion's den of her own accord, so the probability was high that the Empress, Selvia, had summoned her.
'Why did Selvia summon Ref to the Imperial Palace?'
Anxiety crept over him, but he couldn't bear to show it in front of the Chief of the General Staff.
"I wouldn't know either. It seems Her Majesty has business with the Prime Minister's daughter."
"Is that so?"
Arman, who had been staring intently at Daniel, nodded.
"If you say so, it must be the case. I understand."
With those words, Arman walked past Daniel and out of the office.
Only after hearing the office door close was Daniel able to release the tension he'd been holding.
He raised a hand to wipe his face and swallowed hard, staring out the window.
'Ref.......'
He was worried, not knowing what she might be going through at the Imperial Palace.
Of course, the bulk of that worry was tied to Daniel's own safety.
*
Meanwhile, in the indoor garden of the Imperial Palace, tea time between two ladies was taking place.
"I heard you liked black tea, so I prepared a special high-quality one. It is made by carefully selecting and drying only the fresh, budding young sprouts, or so I'm told."
Ref was currently receiving a cup of black tea poured by the Empress herself, holding it with both hands.
"I see. The subtle floral fragrance suggests it was refined using only young leaves picked during the first harvest. It truly seems to be a high-quality product, as Your Majesty says."
She continued the small talk with an elegant smile, but Ref's insides were burning up.
Because she could not fathom the reason Selvia had summoned her to the Imperial Palace.
Amidst a formless dread, Selvia finished pouring the tea and set the teapot aside.
"Would you care to try it?"
Ref nodded meekly and lifted the cup, taking a careful sip and savoring the black tea.
An astonishingly profound flavor coated her tongue, causing Ref to look slightly surprised.
"......It is certainly delicious. There is almost no astringency, and the subtle sweetness lingering in the mouth seems to enhance the flavor."
"Your high praise makes the effort of serving it worthwhile. Is it better than the black tea you drank with Daniel?"
Ref's hand froze as she lowered the cup.
'Huh? What did she just say.......'
She wondered if she had misheard, but the murderous smile on Selvia's face sent a chill down her spine.
Unbeknownst to her, her hands were trembling, causing the cup to clatter loudly as she set it down.
As Ref hesitated, cold sweat beading on her skin, Selvia smiled with her eyes and spoke first.
"It was you who egged Daniel on to persuade me, wasn't it? While you were drinking black tea at that cafe."
Had she been caught? She didn't know exactly what Daniel and Selvia had discussed, but, believing she'd been found out, Ref gave a reluctant nod.
Seeing that, Selvia's eyes slowly opened wide.
"I heard it from Daniel. That you gave him relationship advice. As if there was nothing between the two of you. A laughable excuse. Do they take me for a fool?"
Ref desperately held back the urge to scream.
"The 'man Ref loves' from that relationship advice excuse must have been Daniel himself. You, after all, confessed to Daniel that day, didn't you?"
Ref's eyes went wide.
Because Selvia was under a ridiculous misconception.
The problem was that Ref's reaction struck Selvia as confirmation that her true feelings had just been exposed.
"Daniel, having received your confession, must have answered, 'I love you, but I cannot abandon the other women either.' Hearing that, you were probably angry, yet you schemed. Because you couldn't give Daniel up."
"......."
"You must have judged that if you could persuade me, the Empress of the Empire, to grant permission for polygamy, you could stay by Daniel's side. Daniel, hearing your plan, must have come to me and tested my opinion, pretending it was about someone else."
Ref's mind went somewhat blank.
'......What on earth is she talking about? What the hell did that son of a bitch Daniel tell the Empress?'
Because Selvia's speculation was simply too different from the actual situation.
She had no idea where to even begin explaining.
As Ref remained silent, Selvia's eyes half-closed.
She took Ref's silence as a form of affirmation.
"To be honest, I disliked you. Every time I saw you clinging to Daniel and spending time with him, it looked like you had some ulterior motive. But......."
Compassion and sympathy filled Selvia's eyes.
"Seeing that you'd go as far as to secure a polygamy permit from me just to stay by his side, I can feel that you genuinely love Daniel. This act requires a great deal of courage, after all."
Silence flowed between the two.
After much deliberation, Selvia opened her mouth.
"Ref. If you had meddled in Daniel's love life for no reason at all, I would have been furious. But if the purpose was love, how can I reprimand you for that?"
She had, in fact, meddled in Daniel's love life as a joke for no reason at all.
But telling the truth would be tantamount to turning Selvia into an enemy.
There was only one way to survive here.
"Yess......."
Ref, feeling extreme shame, nonetheless smiled bashfully like a maiden in love.
"I am truly sorry, but I too am in love with Daniel."
She knew this could make the situation worse, but Ref had no choice.
'For now.......'
Because survival came first.