From shame came courage

As the three most important men in the assembly cast their votes in favor, there seemed to be no more voices of opposition.

In the eyes of England and France, they had decided the victory in this war, and the greatest fruits of victory should rightfully be theirs to enjoy.

As for America? In their eyes, it was merely an outsider hoping to pluck the peaches just as the war was about to end. Even the other countries on the European Continent were nothing more than tools in their struggle for interests, let alone America, an outsider that had only just arrived.

Although America's President Wilson had already abandoned any hope of claiming a share of the spoils before coming to the assembly, he still could not help feeling some resentment now.

As a sovereign nation with powerful industrial capabilities, America had been treated with such contempt at an assembly of such immense influence.

Any leader with grand ambitions would have felt utterly humiliated.

That was exactly how President Wilson felt at that moment.

At that thought, President Wilson pressed his lips tightly shut again after finishing his remarks, his expression merely growing uglier.

The Italian representative was growing anxious. Seeing that the three big brothers leading the proceedings had no intention of mentioning his proposal, he could not help standing up.

"We have another proposal. We still have something to say regarding the division of territory following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire."

Before the Italian representative spoke, everyone at the conference except Clemenceau had more or less reached a consensus. But now, the Italian representative's words dragged a conclusion whose dust had already settled back onto a battlefield seething with hidden currents.

Prime Minister George gave the Italian representative, who failed to grasp the situation, a displeased look.

Although they had previously signed the Secret Treaty of London, the Italians were no longer of any use. What Secret Treaty of London? They had never heard of it.

With that thought, Prime Minister George said nothing more, merely sitting down gently and looking ahead. A trace of pity showed in Wilson's eyes, but he said nothing more either. After all, even they had not obtained what they wanted.

France's prime minister, Clemenceau, did not even look at the Italian representative, responding to everything with silence.

Seeing that no one present spoke up for him, the Italian representative's lips trembled as he slowly sank back into his seat and said no more. He now understood the situation completely.

On the surface, this assembly was intended to sanction the Central Powers, but in reality, it was merely a contest between the great powers over their interests.

No wonder.

No wonder they had put forward those utterly impossible demands right from the start-demands that no normal leader could possibly accept.

Seeing the Italian representative return to his seat, Prime Minister George nodded.

Then the process of carving up Germany's overseas colonies began.

As he listened to one colony after another being allotted away at the assembly, Hindenburg clenched his jaw tightly, his hateful gaze fixed on the people brazenly carving up colonies belonging to the German Empire.

Standing to one side, Rommel remained ramrod straight in his military stance, not moving an inch, but his gaze swept over everyone at the assembly, as though he intended to etch their faces deep into his heart.

His Majesty Eitel sat quietly in place, silently listening as those people carved up the colonies belonging to their German Empire. Not a ripple showed in his eyes, as though none of it had anything to do with him. Only his hand beneath the table slowly clenched, the pain making his mind clearer than ever.

Only the final step remains. I must endure. As long as I can secure the most precious time to develop, I will surely overturn this entire world in the future.

Only several hours later, after heated discussion, were all the German Empire's valuable overseas colonies divided up, apart from a scant few small places no one cared about.

The recording officer to one side recorded everything in full, to be used in drawing up the formal Treaty of Versailles.

Only once the treaty was completed would the formal signing ceremony take place.

At that point, all the dust would settle.

Expressionless, Eitel watched as the recording officer handed him the revised document.

"Representative of Germany, please review this."

The recording officer kept the document extended, his head lowered without looking at His Majesty Eitel.

Eitel said nothing more, merely taking the document in silence and leafing through it. There were no surprises in the earlier sections: all the good colonies had been carved up.

Only when he reached the few barren colonies left to him toward the end did a hint of surprise appear on Eitel's face.

He had not expected those Allied vermin to leave anything undivided, yet they had left him a few pieces, even if they did not seem to be of much use.

After all, places like New Guinea...

Eitel raised an eyebrow. A flicker of disbelief first crossed his eyes, before he smiled in understanding.

He had just been wondering where he would obtain minerals and resources later, and now the Allies had solved that for him.

After all, people had not yet discovered that New Guinea possessed rich mineral deposits.

That had handed him a bargain.

At that thought, Eitel closed the document with a natural expression and tapped it lightly twice with his fingers.

"Do you have any objections to this treaty?"

The recording officer raised his head and asked Eitel.

Eitel merely answered quietly, "None."

"Please proceed."

With that, Eitel handed the document back to the recording officer. Unsurprised, the officer took it, nodded, and returned to his previous position.

Seeing that His Majesty Eitel had no objections, Prime Minister George secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, when he had seen Germany's colonies earlier, he had been completely unable to restrain himself. Although England already had many colonies, these things counted as strategic resources, and no matter how many he had, he would never consider it too many.

Without meaning to, he had taken too large a share, while some others had been carved off by France.

Only after the division was over did he belatedly remember His Majesty Eitel's status and the German Empire's current situation.

He returned a few of the less valuable colonies to the German Empire.

As for Prime Minister Clemenceau, he had initially been unwilling. After all, in his view, even if they were of little value, he still did not want to give them to the German Empire.

He had come intending to bring down the German Empire from the very beginning, and the current situation was exactly what he wanted to see.

However, at Prime Minister George's prompting, he ultimately returned those few colonies to the German Empire, albeit very reluctantly.

Yet they had no idea just how great a gift they had returned to His Majesty Eitel and the German Empire.

In fact, if they had not marked it out, Eitel would not even have known such a colony existed.