A day later before Yamato declared war on the Han Dynasty, Alexander was in his temporary office in the General Staff Building. He was leaning back in his chair, eyes closed as he listened to the sound of paper shuffling. The tennis ball gets crushed between his fingers.

After a few minutes of silence passed, Alex finally opened his eyes and glanced at the papers that were spread out on the desk in front of him. Most of them were documents from each of his ministries containing reports of their weekly progress.

As much as he would like to work on it right away, his mind kept drifting back to a certain matter. The brewing conflict in the Far East. He was thinking if he had made a mistake by doing things too fast like territorial gains. Of course, he had expected Yamato to react, but not this way.

After a couple moments more of thought, he pulled himself up into a sitting position, picked up a file with his name scrawled across its top, and flipped through several pages to get an idea of what might be wrong with this one report.

After some time, a knocking sound on the door interrupted him.

“Enter.”

It was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei.

Alexander’s brain throbs at the appearance of Sergei. This man might be the main cause of the problems he faced now. Alexander will decide his fate later.

“Sir, I have something to report,” he said politely.

Alex looked up from the file in front of him and gave him an appraising look. “What is it?”-.

“Sir, Kaiser Frederick has arrived in St. Petersburg from Warsaw, he’s waiting for you outside the building,” Sergei replied, keeping his professional tone even as he tried not to let it show how important this report really was.

“I see, he is already here huh?” Alexander commented absentmindedly, getting up and grabbing his coat off the back of his chair. “I’ll meet him outside.”

He stepped out into the hallway of the building and onto the exit where he saw a parked convoy with guards standing from either side of it as they waited for someone to step out the main doors. As he stepped over towards them, he felt someone watching his every move.

When he turned around, he saw who was watching him. Standing a little further down the sidewalk dressed just as impeccably in a black suit and tie as ever, stood Kaiser Wilhelm with his ever clean-cut sharp, and intimidating “Kaiser Mustache”, the Emperor of the Deutschland Empire. A few steps behind him were two guards and in front of them was a man in a gray suit holding a suitcase. He didn’t look terribly intimidating to look at.

“Kaiser Wilhelm, a pleasure,” he greeted, taking a deep bow as he approached him. His expression betrayed none of the thoughts running through his head.“Tsar Alexander, I have heeded your call, what do you want to show me?”, spoke the Kaiser not wanting to waste time just because his nephew is being a fool again.

He then sees something being played around in his nephew’s hand, the sight lowers his opinion of Alexander.

“So we’re skipping the pleasantries huh, uncle?” Alexander muttered under his breath as he gestured towards the open door of the vehicle.

“Did you call me over just to show you can play tennis?”, the Kaiser pointed his walking stick at the green fuzzy object that Alexander is squeezing around.

“Huh?”, Alexander looks down at the ball, he had absentmindedly brought his office stress ball with him. That is how busy Alexander’s mind is.

“This.”, Alexander holds up the tennis ball and squeezes it several times, the Kaiser’s eyebrow rose as his bodyguards move into a formation in case Alexander tries anything lethally funny.

“Is my office “Stress toy”.”, Alexander said as he crush and bounce it.

“An office…”Stress toy”? “, the Kaiser gives a look of incredulity.

“I will explain it in the car.”

The two men walked past the guards and entered the vehicle. One bodyguard of Kaiser took the front passenger seat next to the driver, the rest of the security into another car. Rolan, who had been following in Alexander’s footsteps, got inside the vehicle as well.

Alexander and Frederick sat across from one another across the seats, Alexander glanced at the man sitting beside the Kaiser, is that the engineer the Kaiser brought along?

“Please tell me this is not all about your “office Stress toy”. Otherwise, I will leave.”, Kaiser Wilhelm crosses his arms, waiting for Tsar Alexander to explain.

“No, it is not. I just forgot to leave it behind.”, Alexander hides the ball inside his coat. “The office “Stress toy” is for when you are angry, frustrated, and thinking while doing paperwork or making decisions. A soft small hand-sized ball that can be squeezed and bounced is recommended. I pretend I’m squeezing and crushing the heads of my enemies and problems.”

“…I see. Now to get back to the main discussion.”, the Kaiser said.

“See, I was in Warsaw when I received a call from your Foreign Minister, Sergei, telling me to come over to St. Petersburg as the Emperor of the Ruthenia Empire has something to show to us…something that would make us interested…”

“That’s right, uncle…can I call you uncle? I’m not really accustomed to calling a man by their title,” Alexander asked, trying hard to ignore the glare that Wilhelm was giving him.

Wilhelm simply nodded in response. “I don’t mind. How are my nieces?”

Alexander took a moment to take in Wilhelm’s appearance once again. “They are doing well now. They miss you, though. Would you like to visit them? I’m sure they would love to see you.”“As much as I would love to, I can’t. I must return back to Berlin by tomorrow…But they are welcome to visit me in Berlin anytime they like,” he stated as he smiled warmly at Alexander, who returned his smile.

“Well then, uncle, I’ll make sure to have your message delivered to my siblings…” Alexander answered back.

“Anyways, how are things in the Far East?” Wilhelm changed the subject of the discussion.

“What do you mean?” Alexander wondered.

Wilhelm leaned forward slightly and placed one arm against the window. “You can drop the act, Alexander. Do you think I wouldn’t know what is happening in the Yellow Sea? I’ve received a report from the Kiautschou Bay in the Han Dynasty…this show-of-force or saber-rattling is making the Han Dynasty uncomfortable. It seems that war is imminent…”

“Yeah…” Alexander rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s making me uncomfortable too, to be honest.”

“So, what is your stance on the matter?” Wilhelm questioned, his eyes boring into Alexander’s own.

“If the Yamato Empire declared war on the Han Dynasty, the Ruthenia Empire will step in. Now may I ask what the stance of the Deutschland Empire on the matter is?” Alexander answered his question before returning them back.

“We’ll remain neutral. We have no interest in the region. As long as the Yamato didn’t touch our territory in the Han Dynasty. But why is the Ruthenia Empire stepping in?”

“Because we believe that the Yamato Empire is invading the Han Dynasty to take Manchuria, a territory whom we have interest in. We can’t let that happen.”

“But if you declare war on the Yamato Empire, the Britannia Empire will be compelled to join them. Aren’t you aware of the Anglo-Yamato Alliance Treaty?”

“I am aware, uncle.”

“I don’t think the Ruthenia Empire has the resources to have a two-front war. What you’re doing is reckless. I advise that you stop it if you don’t want to follow in your father’s footsteps,” Wilhelm warned him sternly as he leaned back. He looked up at the ceiling of the car to give Alexander some space, hoping to convey the seriousness of what he’d said.

For some reason, Alexander was unfazed. “I know, Ruthenia can’t win in a two-front war. That’s why I’ve asked you to come here to discuss an alliance with each other…to keep Britannia at bay,”

Wilhelm scoffed quietly. “And you thought I could help you with this matter? You’re wasting your time. As I’ve said before, I have no qualms about Yamato and my interest in the region. If this is why you’ve asked me to come, then I’m sorry because what will you get from me is a disappointment…”

“Wait,” Alexander cut him off, “Before you jump to a conclusion, can I show something first? We are heading there now as we speak. This will surely change your mind. Now, let me explain myself…I don’t want war. I want it to stop but the Yamato won’t take me seriously so I figure that if I get you on my side, the Yamato will end all hostilities and the Britannia will resign from thinking of helping them. I have Francois’s Republic back all I need is you…After all, aren’t you tired of Britannia asserting dominance on mainland Europa? Think about it…when the Deutschland is rising to prominence, Britannia decided to end its foreign policy of splendid isolation just so it can control you…aren’t you dissatisfied with it?

Frederick pondered for a moment before looking at Alexander with a knowing gleam in his eye, “You’re right…my cousin is also causing me a headache,”

“Then why don’t we sign a temporary alliance? To counter Britannia’s dominance in Europan affairs. Of course, I’m not asking it for free…” Alexander glanced to the window and saw a building. “Looks like we’re here.”

“Where are we?”

“It’s one of the many factories of the Imperial Dynamic Systems,”

“What does it make?”

“Aircraft…”