I Became the Last Princess of the Brown Bear Kingdom

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Soviet Union

The battle for Yekaterinburg has ended in defeat.

Thoroughly, completely defeated by the White Army reactionaries.

Damn those Czech Legion bastards for joining up over there.

According to reports from the surviving Red Army, the princess fought directly, but is that even believable?

The important thing is that we have failed to seize Yekaterinburg, which now seems to be in the hands of barely a handful of the enemy. We haven’t been able to reclaim it and it’s still under the control of the White Army reactionaries.

More importantly, the princess is safe.

“Damn it. This cursed princess, that young girl is hell-bent on interfering with our efforts.”

“She has reportedly started various reforms for the workers. She plans to implement what can be done immediately and carry out the rest once the civil war is over and the war conditions are lifted.”

“Are you telling me to believe that?!”

A frantic Lenin flew into a rage.

Why? Because the reforms that the Soviet had planned are already being implemented by the princess before the civil war has even ended.

And those were originally meant to be Lenin’s initiatives.

That slippery princess is ruining the whole revolution.

At this point, the fact that we couldn’t kill the princess earlier makes me wonder if there was some sort of deal behind the scenes.

“They say the princess has been appealing directly to the people and rallying the nobility.”

“Do you think that young girl’s brain came up with that? The nobles are clearly using the princess to stave off public dissatisfaction with temporary measures.”

“I hear she personally stepped in to fight against our troops.”

“Comrades, let’s not be ridiculous. She’s just a sheltered little flower. What does she know? The rumors must be exaggerated.”

“Regardless, with the joining of the reactionaries, Yekaterinburg has become fortified. There’s currently no way for the Red Army to breach it.”

If they look at it, we are still chipping away at the wall that is Yekaterinburg. On our side, the Red Army is just dying off and listening to the disgruntlement, but more reactionaries are joining the ranks at Yekaterinburg.

And now, attempting to connect with Anastasia in Southern Russia is just adding fire to Lenin’s feet.

“Ugh.”

“Moreover, news of our execution of the Tsar’s family has already spread throughout Europe. There are rumors that we raped the Empress and the princess in front of the Tsar and that… well, you know how it’s blown up into plans for continuing the revolution—”

“What were you doing if you couldn’t prevent that?!”

Lenin’s face reddened, like the flag of the Soviet Red Worker.

At this point, will those imperialist powers momentarily set aside their wars?

“The people are becoming enchanted by the princess’s policies.”

The Soviet was losing its mind.

The policies they should be enacting are being mirrored by the princess.

They have labeled the princess of Yekaterinburg as an enemy to the revolution, yet they cannot afford to follow her.

Further, by shifting the blame for some delayed reforms onto the Bolsheviks, they are stoking animosity towards the Soviet.

Things are taking a strange turn.

Even Kolchak’s White Army is now joining up in Yekaterinburg.

If only the princess had fled to Vladivostok with her tail between her legs, we could have used it, but instead she has rooted herself in Yekaterinburg.

Whether by her own choice or otherwise, it has proven sufficient to shake the workers’ nation, which has just barely found its footing from the beginning.

Though the Tsar’s family was incompetent, the Romanov dynasty is a massive tree that the freshly born Soviet cannot easily topple.

* * *

World War I has taken a great twist from the original history.

Upon learning that Lenin had brutally murdered the Tsar’s family, Kaiser Wilhelm II of the German Empire feared that the German royal family might face the same fate due to the military and Junkers who had messed up the war.

Moreover, those Bolsheviks were said to be turning the great powers red; where do you think would be their first target? It’s clear that Germany, which had taken a chunk of their territory, would be priority number one.

With fire on his feet, Kaiser Wilhelm II speculated that in the worst-case scenario, he might have to flee to the Netherlands or Britain, and thus negotiated secretly with the British.

“I’ll acknowledge Britain’s naval supremacy. I won’t even set foot near any fleet again. Our Kaiser has said he’d be willing to give up all claims to Alsace-Lorraine. So let’s stop this dreadful war and eradicate those Reds first.”

“Even so, we were the ones who initiated the war. Hmmm.”

The German envoy dispatched to London met with British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and negotiated as humbly as possible.

“The British Empire is a monarchy even with a parliament. How about we hand over interests in the Baltic States and Ukraine? Our Kaiser desires to support the Yekaterinburg Provisional Government.”

“To persuade the French, you’ll have to give up colonies.”

“I will. After all, where did it all begin? Those detestable Serbians, right? Why should we turn red because of them?”

“It seems the Kaiser is in quite the hurry. Very well. We wouldn’t want a communist nation right next to the strait.”

Within Britain itself, there was much discussion.

There were factions clamoring to crush the German Empire right there and then and more moderate factions wanting to take advantage of whatever benefits the Germans offered before appropriately restraining them, then root out the Red pestilence, later observing Germany’s moves.

Anyway, as an ally, the once bitter rivals during the Great Game were witnessing the Bolsheviks saturate the region with Soviet plans, causing Britain to contemplate seriously.

Above all, the fear of the red plague spreading throughout Europe, and seeing that communist agitators were beginning to take action following the Russian Revolution.

“No way. They wouldn’t dare do such a thing in the British Empire!”

“That’s all just possibilities! Can’t you see the increasing number of socialists on the British Isles? With the Kaiser bowing and scraping like that, we have the advantage!”

“And what about France?”

“We can simply divide up the colonies. The urgent matter is to extinguish the flames of revolution.”

However.

“I’m not really afraid of communists, but it’s a pity for the last remaining Anastasia. As a cousin, I want to help her a little.”

King George V of the British Empire, not wanting to end up as a victim like his cousin Nikolai II, sided with the moderates, and Britain signed a secret pact with Germany.

Of course, upon hearing this news that an ally had signed a separate pact with Germany, France was furious.

“Are you saying we should strengthen ties with Germany? Speak sense!”

“Do you think we should just sit back and let those satanic scum go free, while stepping on Germany? I know France wants revenge against Germany but what if we take them down and the red plague sweeps in? And it’s not strengthening ties; it’s about a ceasefire.”

“Hah, you think we’re fools? Do you think France doesn’t know that Germany is handing over all those spoils to England?”

It’s lively talk about a ceasefire, but even now, thanks to America, they have gained the upper hand. What if during that ceasefire, Germany squeezes every last drop of effort and launches an attack?

France, sharing a border with Germany, wanted to crush Germany as much as possible during this opportunity.

There’s revenge for the Franco-Prussian War, but Germany’s military was truly born for war.

That powerful military had to be trampled upon whenever the chance arose.

“Ahem, this isn’t just an issue for the warring countries. If the Kaiser gets killed by those guys, the next devils may even target the King of the British Empire. The downfall of your country isn’t my concern, but consider our circumstances too. Let’s be blunt; if it weren’t for us, France would have been trampled by the German army long ago, wouldn’t it?”

“You guys! So, what’s the deal with America?”

“Limiting their military so they can’t wage aggressive wars again and using them as a bulwark against the red threat wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

America couldn’t accept that they had horrifically executed the Tsar’s family without trial, and moreover, they could not allow those barbarians to execute their ambitious plan to turn the world red.

If this war continued, it was clear that socialists would increase, not just in Europe, but across the Atlantic.

After all, America had entered the war due to rising anti-German sentiment from terrorist attacks orchestrated by German agents, the Lusitania incident, and the Zimmermann telegram. However, the heads of state like President Woodrow Wilson originally wanted to maintain neutrality.

Now, having taken the opportunity to pummel Germany while establishing dominance, they could not carry on the war while harboring the uneasy seeds of a red plague.

Moreover, the stories about the Tsar’s execution sprinkled throughout by Anastasia-supported Bolsheviks spread the idea of turning the great powers red, providing hope to anti-war activists and socialists, boosting their ranks.

This made Britain and America hesitate even as they nearly had Germany subdued.

At this point, if Germany crawled out like that with their tail between their legs, that seemed like the right thing to do.

With Britain also signing a separate ceasefire with Germany, under the condition of receiving reparations and apologies from Germany, America couldn’t refuse either.

Of course, the opinions of lowland countries like Belgium held no significance at this point.

“Those traitors! Do you forget the atrocities Germany committed in Belgium?”

“The Belgium that was busy collecting wrists over in Congo doesn’t have much to say about that. Surviving is all that matters, right?”

“Someone has to take responsibility, so let’s break up Austria-Hungary adequately. We can grant independence to Hungary and perhaps give Bosnia to Serbia. Let’s give South Tyrol to Italy.”

“Those Bolsheviks are bubbling over, and as an imperialist monarchy, Austria should be preserved even if it’s ripped apart.”

At this point, Britain’s strategy for Europe shifted anew.

After all, the odds of winning the war were favorable, and the Kaiser finally admitted to British superiority.

The British Empire was originally the guardian of balance in Europe.

And after this war ended, there lurked another threat—this red plague.

So Britain’s choice was to maintain the titles of monarchy and empire for Germany and Austria and the Ottoman Empire, which would pose a threat to the red plague.

Of course, they would squeeze as much reparations as they could.

Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire planned to preserve its national debt while extracting as much as they could.

“I will never yield on the Ottoman front. Never!”

However, France was frothing at the mouth, wanting to at least gain something from the Ottomans.

The Ottoman Empire was slated to be dismantled as per the original history, and the sultanate was to be preserved.

Thus, the disposition regarding the allies came to an end.

Simply put, Germany would be shackled as much as possible, while the cause of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, would be adequately torn apart, preserving the empire’s national debt, and the Ottomans would be disassembled as if tearing at meat.

“Now, let’s look for ways to support Princess Anastasia. According to our intelligence, it seems the princess doesn’t trust Japan. In this case, it might be better to utilize Germany.”

“Once the war is over, there will be plenty of surplus goods, so those can be passed along. Let’s redirect all weapons to the Germans so they won’t think about war.”

Naturally, these movements from the great powers were not lost on Japan, which was currently engulfing the Korean Peninsula and participating energetically in the great war with European powers, filled with national pride.

“As the Empire of Japan, we are ready to dispatch to Siberia at any time, as an ally of the British Empire—”

“Oh, it’s alright. We will leave you with ample compensation in the negotiations with Germany, so now Japan should just relax.”

Of course, unlike in the original history where Anastasia became the focal point for the White Army, the situation began to shift due to Japan viewing the help negatively while Germany pledged support for Princess Anastasia.

“Oh, what a great opportunity to go to Siberia!”

“Let’s stop the war a little! My son died during the war! Being embroiled in Europe’s war is one thing, but another?”

“I suspect your ideology. Are you a Red? A subject of the Empire of Japan would never say that! Thanks to this war, our Japan is thriving!”

“What nonsense!”

Japan sighed at missing the opportunity to head to Siberia, but it, of course, remained an empire ruled by the emperor.

Naturally, they couldn’t help but be sensitive to news of the Tsar family’s execution or the plans for the red revolution that could topple their empire.

They had to be cautious of the red plague quietly permeating from within.

World War I thus unfolded dramatically differently from actual history.

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