The Necessity of a Kaiser (1)
The endless stalemate was over. There was no army left in France.
Far from continuing their campaign, they would have to mobilize everything they had to suppress the rebellion that had erupted in the south.
Ludendorff had advanced along the Belgian highway at breakneck speed. Since the French army had so eagerly maneuvered toward Belgium, the country had become a highway in the truest sense of the word.
Now, Ludendorff was left with two choices.
Would he march on Paris, a mere two hundred and fifty kilometers away in a straight line, and destroy France?
Or would he march on Berlin, some seven hundred kilometers away, and destroy the Empire?
Ludendorff gazed at the ruined city of Brussels with cold eyes.
"Mwahaha! In the end, this is the fate of republican rebels!"
The Kaiser's ministers exchanged subtle glances as they listened to Wilhelm II's sneering laughter.
"I only truly understood after seeing France dragged through the mud by rebels to establish a republic. A republic is a garbage state system, a pathetic excuse for a government that belongs in the trash bin! It is crippled! Yes, crippled!"
Wilhelm II spat the word "crippled" with a venom that suggested a deeply personal grudge. While such crude language was typical of him, today the Kaiser seemed exceptionally vulgar.
It was, without a doubt, the culmination of the karma he had accumulated throughout his life.
Ah, how utterly base. How could anyone look at this man and see a monarch?
Hindenburg, a true Junker, had risked his very life to offer candid counsel for the sake of the imperiled Empire. For his loyalty, he was placed under house arrest, fell ill, and ultimately wasted away until he died. The Kaiser had killed him.
To think such a creature was their Kaiser.
And yet, that very creature had now become a victorious warlord.
Was there... truly any future left for the German Empire?
"Through my foresight, the majesty of the Empire has spread across the European continent! Have you seen it? Who dares doubt me now! Mwahaha! Bring in my son! Bring my son to me! I wish to discuss the future of the world while looking at the map together!"
The ministers squeezed their eyes shut in silent despair.
Crown Prince Wilhelm, who squandered his family fortune on gambling and boasted a colorful history of womanizing that would put even Archduke Otto of the neighboring empire to shame.
Even if he was younger than Crown Prince Ferdinand...
It was utterly humiliating to think of what Ferdinand had already achieved when he was the Crown Prince's age.
"This empire is truly finished."
"Do we really need a Kaiser?"
"Our authority... I want to deny it, but it ultimately stems from a rigid class system."
"No, is that really true?"
"If we don't need a Kaiser, then what is the value of our existence...?"
"And yet..."
The Junker civil servants stood at a crossroads: keep the Kaiser to preserve the class system, or discard the class system and depose the Kaiser. They teetered on that very edge.
"General Ludendorff, you must make a decision soon."
With Paris practically in his grasp, a diplomat from France arrived to negotiate an end to the war.
...To Ludendorff, not to the Kaiser.
A massive war indemnity, the cession of Alsace-Lorraine, and the unrestricted acceptance of Stahlism.
Considering they had poured the entirety of their national strength into this war, the terms were rather disappointing.
Of course, unless France was brought to the brink of absolute ruin, such terms were practically worthless.
But from the very beginning, the national interest of the German Empire was not Ludendorff's concern.
While these terms might be unfavorable to the German Empire, they were highly advantageous for Ludendorff.
"Contact Stahl. Tell him France has offered negotiations."
"Pardon? Not Berlin?"
"No. I think it would be better to deliver the message to Berlin in person."
Ludendorff's blade was pointed not at Paris, but at Berlin.
Ludendorff muttered to himself, "...Do we really need a Kaiser?"
In the history altered by Stahl, lifespans had generally been extended.
Better nutrition, and medical discoveries advanced by decades...
Even Archduke Otto, who was shot to death after falling for a Serbian honey trap, had lived much longer compared to wasting away and dying of syphilis.
Needless to say, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who had survived the assassination and was now merely waiting to ascend the throne, was the prime example.
Yet, there were also those whose lifespans had been cut short.
"I no longer have any worries left."
"Your Majesty..."
"Franz, my nephew. I am sorry. I believe I was too harsh on you."
The figure who was the very symbol of the Empire: Kaiser Franz Joseph.
Generally, people suffering from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder or paranoia tend to live long lives.
The idea that they die young because they worry too much and suffer mental exhaustion is a misconception.
If one traces the origin of most human worries and anxieties, they ultimately lead back to the fear of death.
Thus, highly anxious OCD patients instinctively maintain a highly structured lifestyle and a simple diet.
Just as King Yeongjo of Joseon did, so too did Kaiser Franz Joseph.
However, with the advent of Stahl, the Austrian Kaiser was relieved of many of those worries.
Now, most of his obsessions had vanished, leaving behind only traces.
Once his rigid, structured routine collapsed, all that remained was a shortened lifespan.
"I, too, lost my wife. I lost my brother. I lost many of my family members. ...The reason I treated you so harshly was likely a trauma, just as Professor Freud said. My last remaining burden in this life was to apologize to you."
This, too, was already twenty years in the past.
Franz Ferdinand had once hated the Kaiser enough to dream of republicanism.
Love versus bloodline. He had hated the Kaiser to his very bones—the man who had so relentlessly obstructed his love with Sophie, neglected him, and utterly ignored him.
"Your Majesty, Sophie is gone."
"I claimed to be the protector of the Catholic faith, but I do not know if Saint Peter will truly welcome me at the gates of Heaven. If Christ's forgiveness reaches me, I wish to apologize to Sophie as well."
After meeting Stahl, Franz Ferdinand had also risen to a position similar to the Kaiser's.
A human who was the state itself. A being where the human is the state, and the state is the individual—there was only one such person in the world: the Kaiser.
Sophie, to whom he had dedicated his lifelong love, was dead. Yet, Franz Ferdinand had to live as a public figure.
Because it was Franz Ferdinand who was lost in grief over his beloved, not the Empire.
Only now... did Franz Ferdinand feel he could understand his uncle, even if only a little.
"No, Your Majesty. Your Majesty... has performed your duties magnificently."
"Haha, is that so?"
"I believe no one else could have done what you did."
"I thought so too. But it had to be done."
Franz Joseph: an iron man who was authoritarian and cold even to his family, who had not even batted an eye when the Empress died.
As an administrator of state affairs, he could hardly receive unqualified praise.
Yet, at the very least, no one else could have fulfilled the role of 'the human as the state' as the Kaiser had.
Though Franz Joseph was notorious as an autocratic monarch, he might have been more naturally gifted as a constitutional monarch than anyone else.
"There is one last thing I must do before I abdicate the throne."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I officially elevate Sophie to Crown Princess. Therefore, your children shall also be members of the imperial house with rights of succession."
As the price for permitting their morganatic marriage, the children born between Franz and Sophie had possessed no rights of succession.
They had inherited what was deemed lowly blood, unfit to even be considered part of the House of Habsburg.
But at this point, what did any of that matter?
With Russia torn in two, France defeated once again by Prussia, and Italy fractured into four pieces.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"I have no desire to stir up trouble by talking politics at the end. I will leave that to you."
"Yes, Your Majesty..."
"Yes, my nephew. Give my regards to Stahl. If it weren't for that fellow Stahl, I might have spent my entire life suffering before I died. I would have liked to share a glass of wine with him, but of all times, he is away in Sicily."
Kaiser Franz Joseph I—no, Ferdinand's uncle Joseph—smiled for the first time as he imagined Stahl's antics.
In his experience, those who rose to such heights were invariably cold-blooded psychopaths.
They possessed an infinite thirst for power, an infinite craving for honor, or, if they were slightly vulgar, they worked themselves to death amassing wealth.
Usually, they were consumed by a thirst for blood and trod a path of cruelty that no ordinary human could walk.
The fellows Stahl had brought along as his subordinates, like Hitler and Stalin—though Stahl kept them on a tight leash—Joseph had clearly foreseen the path of Asura in their eyes.
Even Dr. Freud had grown somewhat cold after embarking on the path of a ruler in France.
But Stahl... he alone was the exception.
"He is a truly amusing fellow. Why on earth does he use formal honorifics with everyone? It lacks any sense of dignity."
"...Indeed. He claims he still feels too young to speak casually to others."
"What a bizarre fellow. Furthermore, someone of his stature would surely want at least one official title, whether it carries real meaning or not. How long does he intend to go by 'Representative'?"
"Do not worry, Uncle. I will personally see to that matter soon."
"Please do. Hahaha!"
Archduke Ferdinand was startled by Franz Joseph's laughter.
In Ferdinand's memory, Franz Joseph I had never laughed. Not once.
They had never conversed so freely, either.
For the first time since ascending the throne, Franz Joseph laughed without a care in the world.
Conversely, Ferdinand, who was usually easygoing and had strived to cast off his own authority, found himself unable to smile.
By all rights, he should have been able to share a smile with Franz Joseph.
Yet, the corners of Ferdinand's mouth refused to rise.
The heavy iron chains that had once bound Franz Joseph's lips and cheekbones had now migrated to Ferdinand.
Ferdinand was bewildered by his own unyielding lips, while Franz Joseph, the senior who had already worn those chains, let out a hearty laugh.
"Haha, hahahaha!"
"Uncle..."
"Yes. You have become just like me! When you were making a fuss about marrying Sophie, I thought those chains would never bind you. But you are no different from me."
As if releasing decades of suppressed laughter all at once, Franz Joseph squeezed out his final ounce of strength to raise the corners of his mouth, his chest shaking.
"Heh, hehe... The state of the Empire is looking rather precarious. But you and Stahl will navigate it well. ...I am tired, haha."
"...Your Majesty, rest in peace."
Franz Joseph I lay in the most comfortable position, closing his eyes with the most peaceful expression.
And with him, the old Austro-Hungarian Empire closed its eyes as well.
"General, they say His Majesty has closed his eyes."
"...His last words?"
"He merely told Archduke Ferdinand to navigate through it well with Stahl."
"Indeed. It is time to put our plan into action."
The timing was perfect. Marx Stahl had left for Italy.
It would likely take him a month to return.
They had to finish the job in the meantime.
Of course, Hötzendorf had no intention of staging a foolish military coup.
No matter how he looked at it, a coup was the worst possible move, a last resort to be avoided at all costs.
Now that the Kaiser, the very symbol of the Empire, was dead, revealing treasonous intent would only throw public sentiment into chaos.
There was no need to rush.
"I, too, have learned much from Stahl."
"Pardon, General? What do you mean by that?"
"I will admit it honestly. The fellow is sophisticated. He knows exactly how to create a sensation, how to launch a surprise attack, and how to wag his tongue so that his opponent cannot budge an inch."
Hötzendorf's aide could not fathom what his superior was thinking.
This plan was being carried out in absolute secrecy.
The only qualification to access the plan was to have 'von' in one's name.
And that qualification was about to be shattered.
"Does Austria truly need a Kaiser?"
"Pardon? What on earth do you mean...!"
"The only reason I have been playing the noble is because we had a Kaiser. That was indeed the case. However, looking closely at Stahl's track record, holding onto a noble title now is a clear disadvantage."
Only then did the aide realize what Hötzendorf was thinking.
Hötzendorf asked once more.
"Is a Kaiser necessary?"
"...It seems he is no longer necessary."
"If we do not need a Kaiser, what about the nobility?"
"The same applies."
The wildfire of republicanism was poised to sweep across Europe.