The Right Choice

At 9:00 the next morning, negotiations on admitting the United Kingdom as a new member of the Rhine-Seine River Treaty officially began.

As Salzburg's representative and the proposer of this motion, Viscount Shaun cast a complicated glance at Bayei before rising to speak first.

"I trust everyone here understands that, as a major European power, the United Kingdom possesses an enormous market..."

Before he could finish his first sentence, bursts of War Drum sounded from outside Karlsruhe Palace, followed by the united roar of thousands of soldiers:

"Long live His Majesty the King—"

A court official hurried into the hall and bowed apologetically.

"It appears a marching unit from a military exercise is passing by. Please wait a moment."

A full half hour passed before the exercising troops finally left the vicinity of the palace.

Shaun could not help recalling yesterday's exercises, and even his voice lacked some of its former conviction.

Next came the Austrian representative, followed by the Bavarian representative.

Only after the representatives of every other nation had finished speaking did the French representative, Bayei, rise to his feet.

He cleared his throat and was just about to speak when cannon fire thundered from beyond the city walls again.

This time, it was not merely from the north of the city. Cannon fire came from every direction, as though Karlsruhe had already been surrounded by an army.

The bombardment continued for more than twenty minutes. Then heavy hoofbeats passed along the western side of the palace. Over a thousand warhorses pounded the ground in dense, booming rhythm, making everyone's hearts tremble along with them.

No one knew how long it took before the cavalry from the exercise finally rode away.

Bayei seemed tired of standing and waved a hand.

"It's too noisy. I won't say much. France