Minister of Foreign Affairs, Please Take My Hand
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Please Take My Hand
The day of the negotiations.
A plain located midway between the Imperial Army Corps Headquarters and the kingdom's capital.
An elderly man wearing glasses entered the large military tent set up there.
His name was Ivan Alexei.
He was the kingdom's Foreign Minister and the person in charge of these negotiations, and he had come to this place in that capacity.
After straightening his attire, Ivan slowly looked around.
Except for the negotiation table placed in the center of the tent, there wasn't even a single soldier in sight.
This was thanks to agreeing to the opposing side's negotiator's request to have an honest one-on-one conversation.
As Ivan slowly made his way toward the negotiation table, the tent's opposite entrance opened and a young man entered. He was carrying a briefcase in his hand.
Ivan gave the man's appearance a quick once-over.
Black hair and black eyes.
Though slender in build, his tall stature offset any impression of smallness.
Moreover, those wolf-like, sharp eyes held a power that made others shrink back.
Ivan knew that man.
'Daniel Steiner.'
He was the leading contributor to the Nordia invasion and a man hailed as an Imperial hero.
'But even so, to place someone who is only a major in the position of negotiator in charge...'
Was this pressure diplomacy, already treating the kingdom as a defeated nation?
Just as Ivan was frowning in displeasure, Daniel calmly removed his winter overcoat.
After brushing off the snowflakes clinging to the coat, Daniel let out a hollow laugh.
"I cannot say the north is a good place to live. Snow falling in midsummer, of all things..."
Clicking his tongue as he finished brushing off the snow, Daniel approached the negotiation table.
Wearing an affable smile, Daniel extended his hand toward Ivan.
"As you may know, I am Major Daniel Steiner. I have been appointed as special envoy and placed in charge of these negotiations."
"...I am the kingdom's Foreign Minister, Ivan Alexei."
After grasping each other's hands, the two shook hands once and then sat down at the negotiation table.
Daniel placed his uniform cap and winter overcoat on the edge of the table and spoke.
"I heard the negotiations broke down twice. I can roughly guess, but might I ask the reason?"
It was an amicable attitude, as if he had come merely to have a conversation rather than discuss weighty national affairs.
This was entirely unlike the stiff demeanor of those who had come to negotiate before.
Sensing he was no easy opponent, Ivan kept his guard up and replied.
"Because the Empire's demands are preposterous."
Beyond demanding the cession of Nordia, a strategic chokepoint, the Empire had further required the currency to be switched to the Imperial won and imposed arms limitations.
Had it ended there, even Ivan might have accepted.
But the Empire not only imposed excessive war reparations—it also held the war party ministers and military leadership accountable for the war and pursued their sweeping punishment.
If the ministers and military leadership were removed from their positions en masse, the vacated seats could only be filled by those friendly to the Empire.
This was, in effect, a declaration that the kingdom was to become a vassal and puppet state of the Empire.
That was why Ivan refused the Empire's proposal and insisted on a desperate resistance.
Daniel was well aware of that as well, so he did not press the matter deeply.
He merely opened the briefcase he had brought and searched for a document.
"I see. I fully understand the hardships you are facing, Foreign Minister. That is why I came here—to ease those hardships. To come straight to the point, I wish to join hands with you, Foreign Minister."
Having taken out the document, Daniel set the briefcase down.
"You must be wondering what someone regarded as an Imperial hero is talking about. But that is a misunderstanding. I am not that devoted to the Empire."
"...."
"In fact, more often than not, I find myself worrying about the kingdom and thinking from its side. If you don't mind, you could even consider me an honorary subject of the kingdom."
At the frivolous joke, Ivan remained silent.
That was because he could not grasp what intention Daniel had in saying such things.
Gazing steadily at Ivan, Daniel handed over the document he was holding.
"It would be better to show my sincerity first. I'd like you to read this. It was difficult to obtain."
Taking the document Daniel was offering, Ivan looked puzzled for a moment.
As he read through the document, a meaningful look came into his eyes, and his eyebrow twitched.
"This is..."
"A Class 2 Secret of the Imperial 3rd Corps."
Daniel's words were true.
The document was densely packed with the Empire's troop statuses, operational details, and more.
He could not even doubt its authenticity.
Ivan already knew of some of the operations described in the document through the Allied Nations' intelligence department.
'But...'
Looking at this, the information uncovered by the Allied Nations' intelligence was merely the tip of the iceberg.
The troop strength, too, was double what the Allied Nations had assessed and relayed.
That could only mean one thing.
'Even knowing, you cannot stop it...!'
The moment those operations were carried out, the kingdom would be unable to escape annihilation.
The thought that if he launched a desperate resistance and withstood the Empire's invasion, the Allied Nations would see hope and extend active support—he felt like a fool for having thought that way.
After standing dazed for a moment, Ivan ground his teeth as a bitter realization dawned.
'Those sons of bitches in the Allied Nations...! They fed us false information from the very beginning!'
It was clear they had underreported the Empire's troop strength and operations to ensure the kingdom would not lose hope and would continue the war.
'Then what they said about sending support if we held the front line as long as possible—all of it...!'
Was a lie.
From the Allied Nations' perspective, the kingdom was nothing more than a chess piece meant to bleed the Empire before falling.
Having realized all of that, Ivan's hand trembled.
Daniel interpreted Ivan's state differently.
'Is he feeling exhilarated?'
In the game, the kingdom broke off all three negotiations and insisted on a desperate resistance.
From the kingdom's standpoint, getting their hands on an Imperial Class 2 Secret could only be a cause for joy.
Thinking they could join hands smoothly, Daniel smiled for a moment, but then Ivan lifted his head and let out a rough breath.
'Could Daniel Steiner... have known all about the kingdom's internal circumstances?'
Considering it rationally, it was obvious: Daniel had brought the Class 2 Secret because he knew the kingdom was receiving underreported briefings through the Allied Nations.
'He must have judged that bridging the information gap would be advantageous for the negotiations...'
Daniel's judgment was excellent.
Even when they believed the Imperial forces were half their true number, insisting on a desperate resistance had been difficult; now that they faced the truth, they could not possibly fight.
'This is not a war. It is a one-sided slaughter...'
The soldiers of the kingdom's army who would be swept away by the Imperial Army's attack appeared vividly before his eyes.
The screams they would let out seemed to close in on him, a crushing weight of guilt.
But even if they now joined hands with the Empire, the kingdom's future remained opaque.
Was it truly right to make the kingdom's people live under Imperial rule?
'But still, rather than dying a dog's death...'
Amidst his anguish, Ivan groaned, then forced his lips apart with great difficulty.
"...Major Daniel. Let me ask just one thing. If I refuse to take your hand here, what exactly will become of the kingdom?"
Ivan was asking what would happen if the Imperial proposal was rejected.
Daniel, on the other hand, was interpreting that question literally.
While their thoughts ran on parallel tracks, Daniel let out a low laugh.
For some reason, to Ivan, that chilly laugh sounded like something demonic.
"You ask a funny question. To ask what will become of the kingdom if you don't take my hand. Isn't it something you yourself, Foreign Minister, know very well?"
Daniel, having abruptly reined in his laughter, stared straight at Ivan.
It was as if a wolf revealed its true intentions.
"If you do not take my hand, the kingdom..."
Leaning his upper body forward slightly, Daniel whispered so softly only Ivan could hear.
"Will disappear from the map forever."
At Daniel's words, Ivan's pupils dilated.
As he broke into a cold sweat and his hands trembled, Daniel leaned back and rose from his seat.
"Fine. Do you have anything more to say?"
Even after Daniel had stood, Ivan did not budge and slowly shook his head.
Seeing that, Daniel gave a single nod, gathered his uniform cap and coat, and walked toward the exit.
Just as he was about to leave the tent, Daniel stopped in his tracks with an 'ah.'
"Foreign Minister."
While Ivan remained tense and silent, Daniel spoke, a smile still lingering.
"Please be sure to relay my words to the Allied Nations as well."
Having said that, Daniel left the tent.
Only then did Ivan release the breath he had been holding, pressing his forehead.
As he was overcome by hyperventilation, his vision swam.
It felt as if he had been speaking with a child of Satan and had just barely been let go.
As Ivan was released from the oppressive feeling and gasped for breath, the chief secretary entered through the rear entrance.
He had come in, puzzled that the enemy envoy had exited but Ivan had not followed.
Spotting Ivan inside the tent, the chief secretary panicked and rushed over.
"Foreign Minister!"
Ivan's condition was not good.
The chief secretary knelt on one knee beside the chair and looked up at the Foreign Minister.
"A-are you all right?"
At the chief secretary's question, Ivan shook his head.
A single tear ran from beneath his tightly shut eyelids.
"Now even His Majesty the King must acknowledge it. We cannot win..."
Like a child consumed by fear, Ivan murmured in a fading voice.
"We can never defeat the Empire..."
The chief secretary could only be bewildered.
The Foreign Minister, who had insisted on desperate resistance based on firm conviction, was now steeped in defeatism less than an hour after entering negotiations.
Dithering, the chief secretary stared vacantly at the chair opposite the negotiation table.
'What words could the person who sat in that seat have possibly spoken...?'
The chief secretary, unable to know the content of the conversation, was merely confused.