Chapter 370 Prologue Part 1: In The Last Two Months

June 20, 1929.

Two months ago, a war plagued the whole of Europa. The Black Hand, an infamous organization that is hellbent on taking down monarchies across the world manipulated them into it. It was a war against the world against the Ruthenia Empire. Facing the great powers all alone, if it was the old outdated empire, there's no doubt it would have been swept by the coalition of great powers.

However, Thomas Harrier's reincarnation to the world changed the fate and destiny of the Ruthenia Empire, transforming the whole nation from an agrarian economy into an industrial juggernaut. Inventing modern technology that is forty or fifty years ahead of their time gave them an unfair advantage in the war.

The war all started with the crown ceremony of Diana Rosemary Edinburgh. Black Hand forces disrupted the ceremony with a series of attacks in London. As chaos ensued, the Black Hand took advantage of the confusion of the people and secretly kidnapped the royal families who attended the ceremony from different countries and held them underground at Westminster Abbey.

There, Prime Minister Stanley executed members of the royal family one by one while stating the reason why they were being killed. One of the common reasons was their oppression of the people in the state and overseas. Their names are tarnished and stained by the blood of their executioner who is the police forces, soldiers, and governors.

While all of that was happening underneath the Cathedral, the younger sister of Diana Rosemary Edinburgh, Anne Mary Edinburgh staged a coup by declaring that Diana was killed by the Ruthenian Forces along with the other members of the royal family.

They presented proof by showing the captured Ruthenian forces on live television. But they were gagged, rendering them unable to speak. One who was a member of the Black Hand, and confessed to the television that the Emperor of the Ruthenia Empire was the one who ordered the attack, thus implicating the Ruthenian Empire completely.

The people were enraged, mad that the Ruthenian Empire killed their emperors and kings. They wanted revenge and the Black Hand gave them an opportunity by declaring war on the Ruthenia Empire.

Naturally, Alexander responded by answering their declaration of war for self-defense purposes. He knew better than others that the rest of Europa was being manipulated by the Black Hand, so to stop this war, he would simply take them down and restore peace.

The Deutschland Empire and the Austrean Empire who took the first attack suffered catastrophic losses at the borders due to the coordinated efforts of the Ruthenian Military Forces.  There are some people in the Ruthenia Empire who believed that they could take down all of western Europa, but Alexander didn't want that.

To Alexander, he viewed the war as a nonsense act of aggression against one another without proper justification. He believed that it was the Black Hand who had been playing behind the scenes and controlled them to wage war on one another. A war that Black Hand hoped would take down the Ruthenia Empire along with its monarchy.

Alexander took matters into his own hands and ordered a series of operations one after another. One of the operations he ordered was to grab the Queen of the Britannia Empire, Anne Mary Edinburgh, who performed a coup against her sister and replaced her.

Her reign was short-lived the moment Rolan grabbed her out of the Britannia Empire to be interrogated in the Ruthenia Empire. When Rolan captured her, they injected a strong hallucinogen to fool Anne's mind, tricking it into believing that she was speaking to the Emperor of the Ruthenia Empire.

As Rolan and Anne conversed, he found out that the members of the royal family of Europa were still alive and were being held. But not for long. So he took haste, asking permission from Alexander if could do another operation that would infiltrate Westminster Abbey with five military-trained personnel. Alexander was not in the mood at that time when he found out that Sevastian, his National Security Advisor, was the mole. Who is cooperating with the Black Hand by giving them intel in exchange for the throne to himself. Nevertheless, Alexander gave him the go signal and Rolan didn't waste any time.

He returned to the Britannia Empire, this time, for a rescue operation. Underneath the cathedral was a huge catacomb where they were holding the members of the royal family hostage. Some were dead while others were alive. One of them was Diana, the legitimate Queen of the Britannia Empire.

Rolan and the special forces took the survivors back to the Ruthenia Empire. Alexander personally visited them one by one, but the important attendance he made was speaking with the two princesses of the Britannia Empire, Anne, and Diana.

But before he met them, Alexander introduced to the world a new type of weapon that can destroy the world with enough quantity, the atomic bomb. It debuted in Washington D.C, where the Black Hand headquarters are located, killing the house of representatives and congress in the process.

A press conference was called and Alexander answered the questions of the journalist truthfully. One of which is why he dropped that bomb in Washington D.C. Alexander declared simply that the leadership of the Black Hand was stationed there, and by leadership, he meant the people in the Capitol.

This sparked controversies in the United States. The President of the United States, who is also the Shepherd of the United States, was detained by the order of his Vice President for treason.

At the meeting with the two princesses. There was a squabble but was resolved through the power of family bond. Anne had a change of heart, telling Ruthenia Empire invaluable intel about the Black Hand and where to find them. Her way of repentance for her sins gave Alexander the key to ending the war.

Alexander didn't waste any time and used every means necessary to take the Black Hand executives down. And they did that, in the span of two months. Foreign Intelligence Services along with the cooperation of the national government of respective countries has enabled the world to shift gradually to peace.

And when the Black Hand members were all flushed out, peace talks began. The Ruthenia Empire gained new territories as a form of reparations. The Ruthenia Empire acquired Greenland from Denmark. Alaska from the United States. Bahrain and Ceylon from the Britannia Empire, Gabon from the Francois Republic, and lastly the Konigsberg and the Deutschland Pacific Territories in Oceania.

Those territories served no purpose to the state at that time. In truth, they are considered trophies in the age of imperialism. But to the Ruthenia Empire, it is of strategic importance. The only thing he needs to do is build a foreign military base and there he can start controlling the seven seas with his navy. But it will take five to ten years of constructing the necessary infrastructures to support and facilitate the Imperial Ruthenian Navy.

Speaking of construction, the Ruthenia Empire made efforts to clean up the mess the atomic bomb did to the capital of the United States. William Dudley's impeachment and trial were able to make the United States united once more thanks to the new leader, Franklin Roosevelt.

The world as of now is at peace, but for how long is the question. Before it can be answered, Alexander has to face something at the moment, the birth of their new child.