American: Native Empire

‘Oh, how could this happen?’

Queen Elizabeth I of England stared blankly at the ceiling. 

Her face was pale as death.

‘What are we supposed to do now…’

In one day, they had become mortal enemies with the Wakan Tanka Empire, the world’s strongest nation that controlled the whole world with one hand.

It would have been different if it was an ordinary British citizen who did such a crazy thing. 

But the one who shot the emperor of the empire was none other than their own plenipotentiary ambassador. 

He was a representative of England.

And the stage was the regular meeting of the World Union. 

There was no way to fix this situation. Elizabeth felt her vision blur.

“I never imagined that George Taylor, who was so kind, would do such a crazy thing… I can’t believe it.”

“It’s a relief that the emperor survived. If not… I don’t want to think about what would happen next.”

“As long as we don’t know when the emperor will regain consciousness, we have to consider the worst-case scenario.”

The atmosphere in the parliament was very gloomy. 

The water had already spilled, and everyone knew that there was no way to resolve this situation without paying any price.

‘How did I grow this country England so much…’

Many words continued to pour out, but Elizabeth did not hear them well.

Before Elizabeth ascended the throne, England was nothing but a second-rate country in Europe. 

But she made England one of the best countries in Europe.

Europe could not dominate the world as in the original history because of the Wakan Tanka Empire. 

They could not build colonies in Africa, Asia, or America. 

The Age of Exploration was not Europe’s history, but the empire’s history.

But Elizabeth adapted well to the currents of this era. 

She actively went under the shadow of the empire, and sought development by giving many benefits to the empire’s merchants.

At the same time, she reconciled the religious conflicts between Anglicans and Catholics as much as possible. 

As a result, although it was very poor compared to England in the original history, it reached a respectable position in the World Union.

But a single incident threatened to destroy the tower she had built with great effort. 

Elizabeth was furious. 

It was too unfair.

But Elizabeth calmed down her boiling emotions. 

The first thing to do now was to come up with a countermeasure.

Of course, their position had already been decided.

“Whatever the Wakan Tanka Empire wants, tell them we will accept it. No matter what conditions they propose.”

Elizabeth continued in a heavy voice.

“Right now, opposing the empire is insane. We have to lie low until the emperor’s anger subsides.”

“Hmm…”

“Cough!”

At the queen’s declaration, a sound of saliva came out of the mouths of the members of parliament. 

But no one objected to Elizabeth’s opinion. 

They all knew that they could not and should not do that.

***

But the situation was more radical than Elizabeth thought.

“The homeland has nothing to do with this unfortunate incident.”

“Whatever decision the empire makes, we will follow it.”

After Kim Ki-woo was shot, the major countries of the World Union quickly issued statements. 

This was no different for countries close to England. 

They closed their borders with England and did not want to have anything to do with them.

Thanks to that, England was completely isolated in an instant. 

No one took England’s side. 

The situation of Anglicans was almost similar to that of England.

While each country was busy moving, an emergency meeting was also held in the empire.

The symbol of the empire, the imperial conference hall, was very quiet. 

Even though all the ministers were gathered in one place, there was hardly any noise.

Thud, thud.

But a man’s footsteps broke the silence.

Normally, this man would have been Kim Ki-woo. 

But Kim Ki-woo had not regained consciousness yet.

The man sat down right below Kim Ki-woo’s seat. 

He was none other than Wide Sky, the crown prince and second-in-command of the empire.

And it was stated in the imperial law. 

When Kim Ki-woo had some kind of accident, the crown prince would take over his role.

So Wide Sky hurriedly came to the capital and opened an imperial meeting right away.

“I will start an emergency meeting now.”

The face of the crown prince was stiff. 

If you looked closely, you could see how much he was suppressing his anger.

In fact, he was in a state of extreme anger right now.

This was no different for other ministers.

“It’s an unbelievable thing that happened. How can a plenipotentiary ambassador of a country shoot at our great emperor? This is a huge challenge to our empire!”

“The foreign minister is right, Your Highness. The culprit was England’s plenipotentiary ambassador. That means he shot at our emperor on behalf of England.”

“The blood that flowed from our emperor’s body must be paid with the blood of the British!”

“Not only the British, but also the Protestants. It’s time to show them who’s boss. The motive of the culprit must have been for religious reasons.”

After that, various opinions from the ministers poured out, but the general context was consistent.

Thorough retribution for England and Protestantism!

That’s what the ministers wanted.

Wide Sky listened to the ministers’ words quietly and thought.

‘England and Protestantism are lying low…’

They expressed their willingness to pay any price as long as they could appease the empire’s anger. 

But it was not enough to end it with just getting something from them.

‘It’s not something that can be passed over so easily.’

It was not only because of his own emotions that were boiling hot. 

The empire’s mass media was highly developed, and the empire’s people’s anger toward England and Protestantism was amplified by the mass media.

What if they let it go in this situation?

‘If the people get angry, they will rise up.’

Until now, the empire had been stable, thanks to Kim Ki-woo, the absolute existence in the empire. 

But with Kim Ki-woo lying in bed, anything could happen.

In other words, the decision was already somewhat decided.

‘Harsh retribution for the forces involved in the incident. That’s the only answer.’

Even if they received international criticism for this, they had to do it. 

Kim Ki-woo was such a being to the imperial people.

Of course, there would be few countries that would openly criticize them. 

They didn’t want to get involved in this incident.

They also knew how precious Kim Ki-woo was to the empire.

International politics was ruthless, and it was a wrong judgment for a politician to board a sinking ship.

In the end, the crown prince made a decision.

“I approve of war against all the forces related to the emperor’s shooting incident.”

***

As soon as the war was decided, it spread like wildfire.

“Extra, extra!”

Various newspapers poured out war-related news,

-And so, His Highness the Crown Prince and the ministers approved of a swift war…

The radio broadcasts were full of war stories.

People discussed it whenever they gathered.

“Of course it turned out like this. Did they think they could mess with the empire and get away with it?”

“We’ve given them so much until now. They can’t even repay our kindness, but they repay it with enmity. Shameless bastards!”

The imperial people accepted the war as a matter of course, and did not think for a moment that they would lose the war.

That’s because the difference in military power was too great.

This was true for anyone in any country in the world. 

Even if they asked ten people, ten would think so. 

Even though the power of new weapons had not been revealed yet.

The defense minister, who was also Kim Ki-woo’s fourth son and the leader of the shadows, Blue Earth, thought similarly. 

No, he didn’t even think about losing.

The important thing was not that.

He said to Wide Sky in a private meeting.

“Brother. I think we should use this opportunity to imprint our empire’s strength on all countries. We have been working hard for world peace and development until now. We created the World Union under our leadership and poured out enormous money, technology, and manpower for the prosperity of member countries. But what’s the result? Didn’t such a disgraceful thing happen?”

“…You have a point. But your words are biased. This incident was caused by a few ignorant people. It’s not right to condemn all member countries of the World Union.”

“Well. They are just keeping quiet because they are getting big benefits from the empire, and because the empire is so powerful. But things will change if they gain power to oppose us in time. Don’t you know that humans, especially those in power, are not trustworthy?”

Wide Sky agreed with Blue Earth to some extent.

Even if it wasn’t such a tragic incident, there was no guarantee that some form of provocation wouldn’t happen.

When Wide Sky was silent, Blue Earth continued.

“In the end, what matters most in international politics is military power. Only overwhelming military power can prevent future provocations.”

“Hmm…”

Wide Sky let out a hum. 

He felt that Blue Earth’s words were skewed. 

Maybe because he had spent his whole life in the military, he had too much faith in military power.

“So you’re still determined to lead the army yourself?”

“Yes.”

Wide Sky thought.

‘If he leads the army, the war will be more heated. It won’t end easily.’

But he couldn’t stop him. 

Even though he was acting on behalf of Kim Ki-woo’s authority as crown prince, he didn’t have as much power as Kim Ki-woo.

He could approve or reject war, but it was not easy to interfere with the army after approving war. 

Of course he could do it if he wanted to, but there would be a lot of backlash.

He didn’t want to fight with his brother over this.

“Fine. But don’t drag innocent forces into the war. If that happens, I won’t let it go.”

“I understand. Then I’ll take my leave to prepare for war.”

After saying that, Blue Earth bowed his head to Wide Sky and left the room.

‘Phew… Is this right?’

Wide Sky fell into deep thought as he recalled Blue Earth’s cold eyes.

In a way, he was pushed by the situation and approved of war. 

But was this decision right? 

He kept wondering.

‘What would father do if he woke up right after being shot? I wish he would wake up soon…’

He thought of Kim Ki-woo, who had not regained consciousness yet.

Wide Sky sincerely wondered.

Would Kim Ki-woo have approved of this war if he had regained consciousness right after being shot?

No, to be precise, he felt a great burden.

This decision would cause enormous property and human losses. 

Many of them would be innocent victims.

The fact that all this happened because of his decision made him miserable.

So he hoped that Kim Ki-woo would wake up as soon as possible and take this burden off him.

But unfortunately, his wish did not come true until the war broke out.