In London, Edward VII was holding a diplomatic conference when he received Bulgaria's diplomatic note inviting the British Empire to take part in mediating the Second Balkan War.
"Is this Balkan war ending so soon?" Edward VII asked in puzzlement.
It was indeed rather fast. Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire had been fighting for more than two months without a result, yet less than half a month had passed since the Second Balkan War erupted in full, and both sides were already preparing for negotiations. It was truly unexpected!
The Foreign Secretary explained, "Your Majesty, it will not be that soon. There are still two weeks until the date for negotiations proposed by the Bulgarians. A great many things could still happen in such a long time! Bulgaria sent us an invitation in advance merely to offset the diplomatic pressure from the Alliance. I believe the French and Russians received one as well!"
Edward VII considered it, then said, "Oh, very well! It seems our objective this time has already been achieved. The seeds of conflict between Bulgaria and the Alliance have been successfully planted! I simply did not expect the Germans to leap out so quickly. They are probably going to put in the effort only to earn no thanks this time!"
Coming out to help mediate after one's little brothers had begged for aid, and proactively stepping forward to mediate on one's own, often yielded two entirely different results!
In the former case, if you helped them, then even if your little brothers still suffered losses of interest, you would gain their gratitude. In the latter, if their interests could not be satisfied, they would likely suspect that you had not done your utmost!
The situation was obvious now. The Kingdom of Montenegro and Romania had yet to