84 Return
In the end, Alexander left the factory undecided about what vehicle to adopt for his automotive industry. Although he can select any of them since most people wouldn’t care anyways in the performance as long as it catches their eyes.
Alexander deems it best to give it a considerable amount of thought before he passes the schematics to Mosckovich in the following weeks.
With most of his job done in the Moskva, Alexander prepared to head back to St. Petersburg by train. It has been almost three months since he left the Winter Palace. Most of which is overseeing the nationwide constructions across the empire to ensure that safety standards are being met and meeting with the engineers and architects.
***
Alexander looks out the window of the moving train as it chugs to its destination on the rails. The fields, trees, and buildings whiz by.
He stares outside the window, time seems to stop as his brain rests and restarts to process and calculate more ideas.
Thomas never quite got the chance to understand the phenomenon of his situation, the accident that took his life back on Earth hangs in his mind.
He takes a sip of the lukewarm beverage and continues staring out the window.
‘Oh….that is a fat dirty pig taking a mudbath .’
***
The journey took five hours and the sun had already set by the time he reached the outskirts of St. Petersburg where he resided.
Upon exiting the train, Alexander stretched his arms and breathed in the fresh air.
“Oh I missed this,” Alexander mumbles as he looks up at the starry sky full of millions of stars that made him feel like he could be floating through space. He then proceeded to stride over to the car parked in front of him with a door unlocked and stepped inside the vehicle.
As Alexander got comfortable, the engine of the vehicle rumbled to life, the lights flared to illuminate the road ahead and began its drive. The trip to Peterhof Palace is one hour. That’s right, before heading back to the Winter Palace, he would first meet the Princess of the Britannia Empire to check on her health.
According to the reports, Diana has recovered successfully, and with that Alexander can begin the expected negotiations of setting up terms in exchange for him treating her.
After one hour, Alexander arrived at Peterhof Palace. He got out of the car and headed straight to the palace’s garden, where they will meet.
Various flora arranged in a perfect pattern rustled softly along with the gentle breeze brushing against the leaves of trees scattered all around. The darkness of night was banished by the many gaslight lampposts placed at intervals by the late architects and workers of the palace. He looked forward to seeing the Princess of the Britannia Empire and found her sitting on a bench near the stone fountain.
He greeted the Princess of the Britannia Empire with a warm smile, before proceeding to walk toward the princess. Once he got close enough, he stopped abruptly and looked around once more at the beautiful nocturnal scenery around him.
“I remember the last time…this garden is nothing but white…frozen as the winter season congeals the vibrant greenery, leaving it barren,” Alexander whispered out loud. “But now, it’s a sight to behold. I never realized Peterhof Palace was this beautiful…I might consider moving here every summer.”
Diana chuckled at his remarks about the Peterhof Palace. “That’s true. I also fell in love with this place. It’s more beautiful than Buckingham Palace…It’s the reason why I selected this place for our meeting,”
“As a Ruthenian, I couldn’t be more grateful to hear your compliments, Diana,” Alexander said as he turned around to face Diana who was currently sitting on the bench.
Diana looks at Alexander coyly, raising her eyebrow at how oblivious at times he can be. Agreeing to a meeting with a woman at night in the garden alone? ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
This is the stuff of pulp romance novels.
“I’m rather surprised you agreed to a private meeting in the garden at night with me, does it not occur to you that this whole thing seems like you are about to enter a tryst with another princess?”
Alexander’s eyes widen in shock at his unintended mistake, long nights of meeting with men and seeing women as equals lead him into an embarrassing situation.
Seeing that she finally got revenge with this simple revelation for the toy snake prank she had suffered from him, Diana giggled as Alexander was gobsmacked for not realizing the implications.
“Worry not my dearest cousin, I have Lancelot with trusted men to make sure nothing here gets in or out. And if needed to, Lancelot will come in to save a princess from a very naughty Ruthenian “dragon”.”
Alexander shrugs in defeat, “And I suppose that naughty “dragon” threw a serpent at you before?”
They shared a short laugh before Diana began cutting off the pleasantries. “Shall we proceed to business?”
Alexander took a seat beside Diana and responded with a nod.
“Before we proceed, I’d like to reintroduce myself. I’m the First Princess of the Britannia Empire, Diana Rosemary Edinburgh. I’m here in my capacity as Counselor of the Embassy of the Britannia Empire. Everything you seek from Britannia goes through me.”
“Is that so? Then allow me to proceed by congratulating you on your recovery. As the creator of the medicine, I’m in jubilation after witnessing another person recover from something that’s been considered fatal for decades,”
“Well…your medicine works as you said. Thank you…and I apologize for doubting you…” Diana softly replied as she bowed her head while looking down, as if ashamed.
“Look, let’s just get started, shall we? I don’t want our meeting to be this depressing…”
“You’re right,” Diana agreed. “Now then. Since you’ve treated me successfully you must be expecting something in return…right?”
“I won’t say that,” Alexander said as he reached into his coat pocket before pulling out a folded note and handing it to her.
Diana took it and opened it to read.
“Lifting the ban of Ruthenia Empire access to the Suez Canal and a free trade agreement?” Diana said, looking up to Alexander with an expression of disbelief.
“Well there’s another one but this is not the place for its discussion. You’ve stripped off our access in the Suez Canal after the dogger bank incident to which Ruthenia already made an official apology. I understand the decision but it’s costing our economy thousands of lost export and import revenue. Imagine we have to sail around the Black Continent just so we can reach our business partners in Asia? The free trade agreement, Pretty much self-explanatory, establishes a free trade agreement, removing tariffs, which mutually benefits both our countries. It’s a win-win. In addition, Ruthenia also wants to propose another trade agreement which we can discuss tomorrow the moment we have a draft of it,” Alexander paused momentarily and continued. “As you can see, these terms we propose are purely for economical purposes.” Alexander paused.
“In fact, we can settle these terms diplomatically without you having to have tuberculosis. Treating you is personal because we are relatives, and it’s only normal for one another to help each other. I’ve seen the eyes of a person suffering from tuberculosis, my cute little sister. Meeting you back then caused my memories of Anastasia stricken with the disease to surface. Remember how she accepted her fate and told me not to worry. I was heartbroken upon hearing that,” Alexander explained.
Upon hearing that, Diana was moved by the honesty shown by Alexander and his words. The fact that he’s willing to cure her without expecting something in return touched her heart.
“Is this true?” Diana asked, wanting to confirm his words.
“Look, it’s bad optics if I were to decline to treat you just because the Britannia Empire won’t give something in return. That’ll make me look like an asshole,” Alexander chuckled and continued. “If I have the power to save someone, I’ll do it, no question asked.”
Diana chuckled back, her face flushing from his gentle and reassuring voice.
“I’ll make sure this will reach my father. As the future Queen of the Britannia Empire, you have my word…But,” Diana hesitated briefly. “What was the other one? You said earlier that it’s not a place for that discussion?”
Alexander sighed deeply before answering. “The last one is…I want you to recognize our acquisition of the Manchuria region of the Han Dynasty.”