In a beer hall in Frankfurt, two bearded men sat facing each other. They were travel-worn, yet especially exhilarated.
Before sitting down, the two had already inspected the inside and outside of the establishment with painstaking care, making certain no one had followed them.
"This world is growing harder and harder to understand."
"I actually think it's much easier to understand than before. It's just that everything operates under a certain set of rules.
Plenty of people have been driven mad by those rules. His Majesty William IV is one of them. Did he truly think others would be completely unguarded?"
"Why do you think all of this is a conspiracy?"
"Because I smelled the scent of conspiracy."
"Perhaps. But I imagine that from now on, His Majesty William IV will have even more headaches."
"Don't make sarcastic remarks. Prussia's decline benefits no one, especially not someone like you, who claims he wants to bring freedom and democracy to the world."
"Ahem. The freedom and democracy I pursue are not the same as those fellows'."
"Hmph. In my eyes, there's no difference. It's nothing but a bunch of children's shoddy game of playing house. I'm telling you, might is the only truth in this world."
"Then why did you run?"
"Aren't you the same?"
The two raised their beer mugs at the same time.
"When paths differ, there can be no common scheme!"
Russia, Saint Petersburg.
Nicholas I had rarely been this happy. France and Austria had fallen into a melee in Spain, and the British were also wavering. The only fly in the ointment was that Austria had not launched a full-scale land offensive against France.
Naturally, it was impossible that no one had thought of such a thing. In fact, those small countries had long since considered the