Chapter 60: Grand Duke of the North (6)

Nicholas II’s bombshell announcement naturally set Petersburg society ablaze, nearly making the entire social scene explode.

Russian society had originally been divided, for all practical purposes, between two dominant figures.

They were Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, wife of Grand Duke Vladimir, and Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.

But with Grand Duke Vladimir’s fall, the Grand Duchess’s standing had diminished somewhat, while Zinaida Yusupova, head of the Yusupov family, one of society’s old great houses, was rising at a frightening pace.

However, by sheer coincidence, none of these three women had known Mikhail’s true identity, so at first they had no idea how they were supposed to react.

“Your Majesty, did you perhaps already know the truth about Young Master Mikhail?”

“Ah…well. Of course I knew.”

Naturally, Maria Feodorovna, Nicholas II’s mother and the Dowager Empress of Russia, could never admit that she had known nothing about it either.

She did feel hurt, but considering how ubiquitous the Dowager Empress was in society, it had been an unavoidable decision.

During the Season, she met and talked with noblewomen almost every day. What if she accidentally let something slip?

“My goodness…Your Majesty never gave the slightest hint, so none of us suspected a thing.”

“Well, that….”

“But Her Majesty the Empress is truly remarkable as well. How could she do something like that when he isn’t even her own child?”

“Y-Yes…the Empress truly is remarkable.”

In truth, the Dowager Empress had also assumed that the Emperor and Empress had long since chosen Misha as a future husband for one of her granddaughters.

She had seen him several times at the palace, and he was a very handsome, kind child who, above all else, seemed almost overflowing with intelligence, so she had no objections herself.

But to think that child was actually her own grandson?

Deep down, she disliked the Empress, who shunned Russian society and kept her son firmly under her thumb.

No, not even deep down. She made it perfectly obvious and openly clashed with her daughter-in-law.

But looking at things now, perhaps the Empress was a broader-minded woman than she had given her credit for.

She had brought an illegitimate son into the palace, raised him alongside her own daughters without discrimination, and embraced him with love…because, frankly, Maria Feodorovna herself was not confident she could have done the same.

What if Alexander III had fathered an illegitimate son outside their marriage and announced that he intended to raise the boy in the palace alongside her own children?

Of course, it was a meaningless hypothetical because her late husband had always had eyes only for her, but if he really had pulled something like that, the man would have been dead by the end of that very day.

“Your Majesty, by the way…have you perhaps already considered a marriage match for Young Master Mikhail?”

“…Hm?”

The Dowager Empress felt as though she had just been struck over the head.

Had the shock of discovering that her son had an illegitimate child left her mind completely frozen?

How had she failed to think of something this important until now?

The Dowager Empress had assumed Misha would marry one of her granddaughters, so she had never given any thought to the boy’s marriage.

At most, she had vaguely imagined that he might make a good match with Olga or Tatiana.

But this was not ancient Egypt. Half-siblings obviously could not marry each other, which meant Misha would naturally have to find a prospective bride elsewhere.

“Your Majesty, as you know, my granddaughter is around the same age as Young Master Mikhail…no, His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke.”

A lady of the Vorontsov-Dashkov family, which had been close not only to the Dowager Empress but also to the late Emperor, immediately began subtly promoting her granddaughter.

And she was hardly alone. Prominent houses such as the Sheremetev and Stroganov families began showering her with suggestions that perhaps Mikhail ought to attend a children’s ball.

Since the Empress hardly ever appeared in society, naturally they were trying to establish a connection through the Dowager Empress instead.

He might have no right of succession, but he was no ordinary duke. He was a Grand Duke, the Viceroy of the Far East, and a child who had already been designated as the future head of the Okhrana, the Emperor’s right arm.

Where else in Russia could one find an eligible bachelor this attractive?

I absolutely must hear what Niki thinks about this.

The Dowager Empress gave the noblewomen suitably agreeable responses while sinking into thought over how she ought to treat the grandson who had suddenly appeared in her life.

—

While the noblewomen buzzed over the appearance of Russia’s future most eligible bachelor, a strange silence had settled over a family meal in the Imperial household.

“You’ve already heard, but Misha’s true relationship to you isn’t that of a relative. He’s your half-brother. So I want all of you to get along even better from now on.”

Nicholas II explained it as casually as he could, but his daughters’ reactions were anything but casual.

Olga, his eldest daughter, and Tatiana, his second, who were now old enough to understand what it meant, immediately seemed strangely subdued.

“Misha isn’t our relative, but our brother?”

“Yes, yes. So Olga, if there’s anything you don’t know from now on, don’t hold back from asking him. You’re the same age, but Misha was born a few months earlier. Hahaha!”

“…Yes.”

Was it simply the shock? His wife had certainly been right. It was a good thing they had revealed the truth early, before adolescence properly set in.

Olga and Tatiana, who had been closest to Misha, were taking it so poorly that Mikhail himself could only smile awkwardly and glance around the table.

Nicholas looked toward his wife with a gaze that plainly asked her to do something, but the Empress had no clever solution either.

They were only children who had just turned 11. How complicated could their feelings possibly be?

Give them a few days and they would surely go back to playing together as naturally as before.

“Now…since we’re truly all one family, let’s have more meals like this from now on. Misha has to go all the way out to the Far East for a while, so make sure you wish him a safe journey as well.”

Even after the Tsar’s urging, the awkwardness hanging over the table showed no sign of fading.

Olga merely scraped her plate with the tip of her fork, while Tatiana kept her lips tightly shut without even raising her head.

Nicholas cleared his throat and tried to change the subject, but it did little good.

Unexpectedly, it was Maria who broke the awkward silence.

“Big Brother Misha, you’re going really far away, right? Be careful on the way and make sure you come back safe.”

Maria gracefully wiped the soup from the corner of her mouth and waved innocently.

Then, as though something had suddenly occurred to her, her eyes sparkled.

“But Maria doesn’t care whether Big Brother is a relative or a brother. Big Brother Misha is going to marry Maria when we grow up anyway!”

The Emperor and Empress chuckled and shook their heads at their utterly innocent little daughter’s declaration.

Olga smiled awkwardly and gently stroked her younger sister’s hair.

“Maria, family members can’t marry each other. You love Papa very much, but you know you can’t marry Papa, right? It’s the same thing.”

“Eeeh? Whyyy?”

Maria tilted her head as though she had absolutely no idea what Olga was talking about.

Olga seemed momentarily at a loss for how to explain it before giving an awkward smile.

“Well…that’s just how it is.”

“That’s not fair!”

With the grand marriage plans of a 7-year-old suddenly dashed, Maria burst into wailing tears and flailed both arms.

It really was not a situation they should have laughed at.

They all knew that, yet laughter began breaking out around the table without anyone knowing who had started first.

Even the gloomy Olga and Tatiana covered their mouths as their shoulders shook, and the heavy atmosphere dissolved as though it had never existed.

“Maria, don’t cry. I’ll bring you lots of pretty things when I come back.”

When Mikhail offered her a handkerchief, Maria nodded with tears still brimming in her eyes.

Soon, the other children added their own farewells.

“Big Brother, have a safe trip.”

“A present! You have to bring me a present!”

Anastasia swung her arms and legs vigorously from her chair and held up a finger with great determination.

Only then did Olga seem to relax enough to speak carefully.

“Misha…it’s a long journey, so please be really careful. And make sure you send us a letter when you arrive.”

As though the shadow had never crossed her face at all, her voice was full of genuine concern.

Mikhail smiled happily at his younger sisters’ send-off and nodded.

As the cheerful meal neared its end, Nicholas suddenly seemed to remember something and leaned toward his wife.

“Oh, right, Sunny. Mother seemed to have quite a lot she wanted to say about Misha.”

A troubled look crossed the Empress’s face at the mention of her natural enemy, with whom she mixed about as well as oil and water.

“…I suppose she would.”

After letting out a sigh, the Empress continued.

“I hear Mother is already being flooded with requests. Everyone wants her to arrange meetings between Misha and the children of their families.”

Nicholas was just about to nod when the Empress arched her delicate brows and continued.

“But I will personally choose our Misha’s marriage match. And I intend to be stricter than anyone.”

“Y-You will?”

Nicholas looked at his wife with an expression that said trouble was coming, but the Empress’s voice was already growing heated.

“Of course. This is our Misha, the smartest and most exceptional boy in all of Russia. We can’t simply take just any family’s daughter into ours.”

“Of course no one is trying to bring in just any girl….”

“What does it matter whether she’s Russian or British? German or anything else, I don’t care. Even if I have to search all of Europe, I’ll find the girl with the makings of the most beautiful and virtuous lady. Anyone who is going to stand beside our Misha must at least meet that standard. Don’t you agree?”

What husband in the world could possibly have said no to that?

Even if the Empress had forgiven him, the reality was that Nicholas could never hold his head high before his wife when it came to Misha.

Just when he thought he had cleared one crisis, were his mother and wife now going to clash over choosing candidates for a future daughter-in-law?

It couldn’t be helped. Surely this was one matter he could simply leave to his mother and wife to sort out between themselves.

Nicholas decided to dump yet another troublesome problem onto his family.

Because he had absolutely no confidence that he could step between those two women and survive.

—

Russia was practically in a festive mood, but the peninsula in the Far East that had fallen within Russia’s sphere of influence was filled with an indescribable tension.

Hanseong, capital of the Korean Empire.

Five ministers, busy preparing to depart for Manchuria, had secretly gathered around a table in a meeting room.

The table was laden with sumptuous food, yet not one of them lifted his chopsticks.

Yi Ji-yong was the first to speak.

“At last, we are to be granted an audience in person with a scion of His Majesty of Russia, that peerless gentleman under Heaven. How could this be anything but the greatest honor for our families?”

Yi Ji-yong’s voice was already trembling faintly with emotion.

Park Je-sun calmly set down his wine cup and swept his gaze over the others.

“It is too early to get excited. The Viceroy who governs the Far East is personally making the journey all the way to Manchuria. We must first discern the true meaning behind his visit.”

Yi Geun-taek frowned and cut in.

“But I hear this Viceroy is merely an 11-year-old boy. The idea of such a young master personally traveling to the harsh lands of Manchuria leaves me uneasy.”

Gwon Jung-hyeon quickly agreed.

“Indeed. Is it not merely an honorary post? Perhaps he is simply coming to show his face once.”

Several opinions immediately began flying back and forth, and the room briefly grew noisy.

“How difficult can it be to humor one snot-nosed brat? Give him a few presents and heap some flattering words on him. Isn’t he at the age when that would have him grinning from ear to ear?”

“That is far too complacent. Have we not received intelligence reports that the young Grand Duke is the child the Emperor dotes on above all others?”

Throughout the long exchange, Yi Wan-yong contributed not a single word and merely drank silently from his cup.

“Then if we are to earn that trust…whose favor should we actually seek first?”

A heavy silence instantly descended over the meeting room.

There was no possibility that an 11-year-old child actually wielded real authority, so in the end, what mattered would be the young Grand Duke’s close aides and intermediaries.

Of course, that did not mean they could afford to neglect pleasing the young Grand Duke himself.

Yi Wan-yong, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.

“They say the Emperor of Russia is a sovereign who spent no less than 9 years pretending to be a fool and deceived all of Europe. Since this is a child favored by such an Emperor, let us approach carefully and not dismiss him merely because he is young.”

At Yi Wan-yong’s cautious advice, the other four naturally nodded.

Even so, the five men gathered there began subtly probing one another’s intentions, keeping each other in check as they tried to gain even the slightest edge in the loyalty competition.

Russia was different from Japan.

Its capital lay on the opposite side of the world, and its Viceroy was absurdly young. Whoever managed to win Russia’s complete trust here would effectively become the true ruler of the Korean Empire.

They did not yet know exactly what the others were thinking, but none of the men gathered there believed he would fall behind.

After all, each of them was quite literally prepared to sell the country.

That was the brutally honest sentiment shared by all five men.

~~~

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