Three hours has passed since Alexander arrived in the Command Ops, there were no signs of development be it home or abroad.

Alexander stared at the huge LCD screen mounted on the wall that shows the map of the Yamato Empire with a flickering red light on Tokyo city, the capital.

He tapped his finger on the desk, impatiently, awaiting further updates about the situation on the ground, as he was about to speak up and ask his National Security Advisor, a telephone ringed.

“Who is calling?” Alexander asked.

“It’s from the Deutschland Empire, Your Majesty. Kaiser Wilheim.”

“Uncle?” Alexander uttered and hummed in thought. It looks like his uncle has been notified of the event that transpired in the Yamato Empire.

“Patch him through,” Alexander motioned to the staff and picked up the telephone. Before answering the call, he signaled the staff to turn off the speaker more as he wanted to speak with his uncle privately.

“Alexander…do you hear me?”

His uncle’s voice was hoarse but recognizable.

“Uncle…I mean, Your Majesty. So you’ve heard of our situation?”

“I did. Oh my poor nieces, why did the Yamato Empire do such a thing.”

“That is yet to be confirmed, uncle and I understand your worries. For now, we are trying to establish communication with the Yamato Empire but they are refusing to connect. I have reached out to the Britannia Empire and have relayed us a message that the Yamato Empire denied any involvement in the attack. I believe they are being deceptive so I was hoping you’d lend us a hand here because from where the situation is developing, the Yamato Empire is holding my sisters hostage.”

“I understand,” Kaiser Wilheim affirmed before sighing deeply. “I’ll ask my prime minister on reaching out to the Yamato Embassy in Berlin. What in god’s name are your sisters doing there anyway? You should know that the relationship between your countries is sour right?”“I know…but I didn’t expect it would turn out that way. My sisters are there purely because they want to see the sights. It wasn’t even an official diplomatic trip until I made it one. Even so, I’m not denying my mistake here. I shouldn’t have let them visit that barbaric country.”

There was a brief silence on the phone and then Kaiser Wilhelm cleared his throat. “I need you to tell me something. Are you considering declaring war on the Yamato Empire in light of this incident?”

Alexander took a deep breath before answering. “We have evidence that the Yamato Empire may have been involved in the attack. So yes, we might declare war on the Yamato Empire. Why do you ask? Are you going to aid us?”

“The only help we can give you is a verbal condemnation. I believe your Empire is strong enough to deal with the Yamato Empire. Anyways, I’m going to hang up now, expect a call soon. Good luck,” Wilheim said before hanging up on him.

Alexander sighed softly as he put the phone back down on his desk. It’s good that his uncle sided with him because this will put pressure on the Yamato Empire.

Nevertheless, those pressures are useless when his sisters are still in the Yamato Empire. Rolan and his team concocted an escape plan prior to their arrival. It will take six hours. It involves flying a Bogatyr to Tokyo and picking them all up. They could’ve executed it if not only for the Yamato Empire’s uncooperativeness.

Five minutes later, the telephone blared, snapping Alexander out of his thoughts. It was a call from Tokyo through Berlin.

Finally! They made contact with them after three hours. The caller was the Prime Minister of the Yamato Empire, Haru Takashi.

“Mr. Prime Minister, good day, you’re all hard to reach,”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. There was strife within the Yamato bureaucracy, delaying us from contacting you. How may I help you?”

“For starters, I demand an explanation. My sisters were having a fun time in your country until there was this militia who attacked them on their way back to the Ruthenian Embassy,” Alexander initiated, his voice growing sternly.

“We’ve told you that through the Britannia Empire, the Yamato Empire is not in any way involved in the attack. We’ve dispatched our military in Tokyo to find those responsible and bring them to justice.”

“Are you telling me the truth, Prime Minister?” Alexander probed further.

“Yes,” came the reply.

Alexander hummed to himself and glanced at his ministers and generals sitting around the long table. He didn’t believe it.

“If that was the case, then why can’t we reach out to our embassy there, Prime Minister? Isn’t it suspicious that after the attack, we can’t contact the Ruthenian Embassy? Because to me, it feels like it was anticipated, and your government is somehow involved in the attack.”“Your Majesty, with all due respect, your assumptions are kind of far-fetched. Saying that without evidence is absurd and disrespectful.”

Alexander rubbed the bridge of his nose upon hearing the Prime Minister’s voice. They have evidence and he can tell it if needed. But Alexander opted to omit it as the Yamato Empire has the leverage and the upper hand due to them having the Grand Duchesses on their lands.

Getting them out of there is his main priority, not provoking the Yamato Empire.action

Alexander cleared his throat.

“It was careless of me, so I apologize if I offended you,” Alexander said politely, but inwardly he was boiling in anger. “I hope you understand, I’m a brother who’s learned of the news that my sisters were attacked. You must know the emotion I’m feeling right now. Speaking of my sisters, I want them out of your country right now.”

“That can’t happen, Your Majesty. The three Grand Duchesses of the Ruthenian Empire are to stay in the embassy.”

Alexander leaned forward on his chair.

“What did you just say to me?”

“It’s for their safety. The militia is still on the loose so once we neutralized the threat and deemed they are no longer at risk, they are all free to go.”

“Mister Prime Minister, I’m going to inform you that your refusal to evacuate the staff and the Grand Duchesses will be deemed as a hostile act.”

“And I’m obligated to inform the Ruthenian Empire that should they send an aircraft and trespass our airspace, we will consider it as an act of war.”

Alexander scoffed and hung down the phone.

“They are stalling, Your Majesty,” Sevastian commented.

,ᴄ-ᴏm “I know, as long as my sisters are there, they know we won’t do anything reckless. They are using my sisters as leverage…those fucking rice-eating monkeys!” Alexander growled under his breath, hissing the derogatory remark.

This is the first time he is gone racist, the Yamatos are trying to gaslight him with pleasantries and veiled threats to try and corner him.

His eyes narrowed angrily as he looked at the LCD screen mounted on the wall.

Then his piercing gaze flickered to the Minister of Defense, Alexei.

“If the Yamato Empire refuses to evacuate my sisters, then we are going to do it our way. Alexei, is it possible to send a special operation force to Tokyo and get them out?”

“Getting in is not a problem, Your Majesty, getting them out of there is. As they’ve previously stated, if we enter their airspace without authorization, it’s a declaration of war.”

“Well, I’m going to declare war with them anyway and I’m also sure that’s what the Yamato Empire wants. They must be angry at us for taking Manchuria and want to claim it as their own. There’s no use negotiating with these monkeys, I’ll authorize a special military operation. Get my sisters and the embassy staff out of there.”

“Consider it done, Your Majesty.”