In a separate room, Alexander was flexing his right hand he used to punch the Prime Minister of the Yamato Empire. It's been so long since he punched someone and so he had hurt his fist a bit.
Alexander was staring off into the window, watching as the snowflakes fell gently on the ground, dying the atmosphere and the ground white.
The sound of the door opening caused him to glance over his shoulder. It was Sergei.
"Your Majesty, if I may be candid, why did you punch the Prime Minister of the Yamato Empire? You know that you can get in trouble for it."
"Trouble? Me? Who will get me in trouble? The country whom we just defeated? I don't care, they can come at me if they like but they shall know that I will react accordingly," Alexander replied as he returned to look at the window and continued. "Let me ask you this question, Sergei. What if the man who gave the order to kill your family was standing in front of you, what would you do?"
Sergei is quiet, he doesn't answer immediately.
"Would you attack them then?" Alexander questioned again after another few moments of silence.
"Yes. I would have done anything for my family," Sergei said without hesitation.
That's exactly how Alexander felt when he met the Prime Minister of the Yamato Empire face to face. He knew the tradition of the Yamato Empire if they were the same as the Japanese Empire from his original world. Escaping fate through seppuku. For Alexander, death is not a redemption, it is just a coward's way out.
"Take him to Gulag and our men there can do whatever they want. Just don't kill him too early, let him experience what hell is like," Alexander told Sergei without batting an eye or showing emotion. "And his guards? Also, I want you to take the guard who tried to assault me with him, those who are left, and take them to the prison."
"I understood, Your Majesty," Sergei bowed, then hesitantly spoke again. "Your Majesty, may I discuss with you the terms we imposed on the Yamato Empire? Isn't that a little bit too much? For them to pay one hundred two billion rubles?"
"The economy of the Yamato Empire currently is thirty times that of that. They can surely pay the indemnity," Alexander scoffed, waving his hand. "We already achieved one of my goals anyways, to make the Choson Empire a buffer state between our country and the Yamato Empire. War reparations are just an added bonus."
A small sigh escapes Sergei's mouth. "We could've taken Taiwan from them, Your Majesty."
"Are you saying that my demands are too lenient?" Alexander asked with his eyebrow raised. His eyes are still fixated on the snowfall outside.
It was silent for a moment before Sergei speaks up again, "Forgive me if I answer yes,"
Alexander turns his head away from the window to look at him, "Sergei, as my Foreign Minister you must know this better than me that taking Taiwan would only make all countries hostile to us. Britannia, Francois, Deutschland, Sardegna, Belgium, and the United States are now wary about our unprecedented development. Besides, just as I've mentioned, my goals in the Far East are now achieved...or not yet."
"What do you mean, Your Majesty?" Sergei asked.
Alexander grabbed a marker from the desk and walked slowly toward the world map mounted on the wall. "With my domestic policies beginning to take effect, we can now focus on international policies."
He encircled a land on the map. "I just remembered, the Ruthenian Empire once held control over Alaska. It was our only overseas colony and we lost it, no more specifically we sold it. It's a land full of treasures and we just sold it to the United States. So we are not done yet in the Far East. I want this land back."
"Your Majesty, are you proposing a military action or an acquisition?" Sergei asked, sounding cautious.
"Actually, I haven't thought about that. We can buy it back or take it by force. Both options seem feasible. But I think buying it would be a wise choice."
"So you want Ruthenia to have an overseas colony, right Your Majesty?" Sergei said.
"In the golden age of imperialism, having a colony sure sounds cool. Even the tiny country of Belgium has a colony that is over 76 times its size. Unfortunately, there's not much left in Africa to colonize so we should look to another."
Alexander's eyes shifted from the Far East region of the Ruthenian Empire to the middle east. He encircled that area and spoke. "The Middle East and Central Asia look promising. The land there is ripe with oil. I already have a prospector in that region and found huge oil reserves. The Britannia Empire, our rival, doesn't know about that. So I suggest that we should start moving before they notice it. We can start from Persia, that country is divided between the Ruthenia Empire to the north and the Britannia Empire to the south."
"But Your Majesty, won't that get us into a war with the Britannian Empire? They also have a huge territory just near the Middle East, in South Asia, the British Raj. They would think that our expansion in the Middle East is going to threaten their national security."
"The Britannia Empire may be the largest Empire in the world but in reality their army sucks. Literally. The reason why they have control over so much land is due to their large navy. You see, I'm planning to win this Great Game and wipe the floor with the Britannians. We control the middle east, we control the world's machinery. We will build a grand fleet and control the seven seas. But not yet, we have to ease our spending. Maybe in five to ten years."
"I understand. So Your Majesty, how do you wish to lead the Ruthenian Empire?"
"There are ongoing civil conflicts within the colonies of the great powers right? Let's get involved in their affairs and win the population. It was supposed to be our experiment until the Yamato Empire decided to wage war against us. We'll make puppet states one after another and before the great powers even notice it."
"You really are ambitious, Your Majesty," Sergei remarked, chuckling. "Very well Your Majesty, I'll leave you alone here and let you enjoy your free time. I will speak to my men about the peace treaty we just signed. We will ratify it as soon as possible. I will also take care of the incident of you punching the Prime Minister in the face. I will present to them the proof that Haru Takashi is involved in a high-level conspiracy."
"And don't forget Shinzo Sakawa, that senile old man has to go to."
"I'll get it done, Your Majesty." Sergei bowed and left the room.
