"Your Imperial Majesty, it is the reason why we are pulling you out of the Winter Palace. As you are the Empress of the nation, you are the one responsible for giving the Emperor an heir. But given that he doesn't have a male heir yet means his responsibility now falls to you."
"Sergei…what are you implying?" Sophie said, almost stammering as her heart still beats in a rapid worried state.
"It means Your Imperial Majesty, His Majesty, Alexander Romanoff is incapacitated given that we cannot find or contact him. Due to that, we are enacting the continuity of the government. His Majesty's executive power will now be transferred to you until further notice…" Sergei explained in a way she can understand the responsibility that she had gotten just now.
Although Sergei explained it in a calm manner, inwardly, he is as shocked as Her Imperial Majesty. Well, it is not to be expected since there's a protocol in place when the ruler of the Ruthenia Empire was to be incapacitated. But living in it in the real world is different from that of a plan. He wondered if Her Imperial Majesty can bear the weight of the responsibility being placed upon her, especially when she is carrying the potential heir of the emperor.
He doesn't want to overburden her as it might affect her health. But, given the situation, there's no choice but to push forward and appoint the temporary chief-of-staff, which is Sophie. It is important as all-important or crucial decisions for the national security of the empire must go through the top of the chain of command, which is the emperor.
Five minutes later, they arrived at the General Staff Building. Inside, they walked at a leisurely pace as they couldn't simply force Her Imperial Majesty to walk faster as it might complicate her health even worse. The stress of her where her husband missing is enough to affect her mentality, so everything must come into consideration.
They entered the elevator and lowered them to the floor where the Command Ops is situated.
One minute later, the elevator chimed, indicating that they had arrived at the intended floor. The metal door slid open and the people inside stepped out and continued into the concrete hallway.
Several seconds later, Sophie, Sergei, and the Imperial Guards escorting them reached their destination. The Command Ops.
Every staff inside the Command Ops was in work mode, talking to their telephones and civilian staffers walking to and fro as they reported to their superior.
All of it stopped when they noticed the appearance of the Empress who had just made an appearance.
They stood firm and faced Her Imperial Majesty with great reverence.
"As you were, everyone," Sergei eased them down and continued. "As you have noticed, I have Her Imperial Majesty with me. From this moment forward, she will be the acting chief-of-staff of the Ruthenian Empire. Every military operation that will be agreed upon later on must have her authorization first. Just like we do when His Majesty is here. Everyone understood?"
The military and civilian staff nodded their heads in agreement.
"Good, Your Imperial Majesty, please take your seat there," Sergei pointed at the chair where Alexander was sitting when he was in the Command Ops.
Sophie didn't oblige immediately as she was still taking in the interior design of the Command Ops. It was surreal, a big flat television screen mounted on the wall, a separate room with ten people working in front of a computer, high-ranking military generals as well as high-ranking civilian staff. So this is the heart of the Ruthenia Empire huh? Where Alexander worked when emergencies concerning national security emerged.
After that, Sophie sat in the chair Sergei pointed at her. The rest of the personnel began their usual duties, getting to work and making sure that every aspect would be carried out correctly.
While they were doing that, Sophie brushed her hand gently over the armrest of Alexander's chair. She had never imagined herself sitting in the most powerful seat in the Ruthenia Empire. The thought of her husband missing still lingered in her mind.
"Your Imperial Majesty, we will start the briefing," Sergei said upon taking his seat and beckoned an official sitting across to start speaking.
"Your Imperial Majesty, before I proceed, let me introduce myself. I'm Vladimir Borisov, the Minister of Defense of the Ruthenia Empire."
Sophie nodded her head in approval and smiled politely at his words.
"Now, Your Imperial Majesty, returning back to the topic. At 10:30 a.m in London Greenwich Mean Time, suicide bombers set off explosions around Westminster Abbey, where the crowning ceremony of Her Royal Highness, Diana Rosemary Edinburgh is being held. His Majesty's security detail, led by Rolan, quickly evacuated the prince from the cathedral as per protocol. They took him inside the Beast which transported them to the Somerset House. On their way there, they encountered Vickers's armored vehicle with a machine gun and fired at the Beast. Luckily, the Beast was designed to take on any attack so the Emperor was safe…"
While Vladimir was explaining the timeline of events in the capital city of the Britannia Empire, Sophie's attention drifted to the huge flat television screen mounted on the far wall. It was giving her great detail of what was actually happening without her imagining. And the more she watched, the tighter her heart got. She prayed inwardly to the gods for Alexander's safety.
"...Arriving at the Somerset House, His Majesty boarded a Black Stork helicopter along with Rolan and Sevastian. Their final destination was the Aleksandir IV Class Battleship docked at Port of London. Unfortunately, the battleship was attacked by a barge carrying thousands of explosives that wrecked the hull of the ship, taking it out of commission. From this, we can tell that the Black Hand had planned their attack really well. The helicopter carrying His Majesty was under attack by three Britannian spitfire fighter aircraft. They were shot down by Burnyi Class Destroyers' missiles but it was too late as the last spitfire managed to hit the helicopter, sending it to the ground…"
"Oh no…" Sophie's expression turned pale and placed her hand over her mouth. "Is my husband safe?"
Vladimir continued. "The helicopter crashed in Hyde Park, located here. It is eight kilometers away from the Port of London, where Ruthenian ships are waiting for them. Your Imperial Majesty, after the helicopter crashed in the park, we have not yet gotten any contact from his security detail."
"Then what are you doing? Find him immediately!" Sophie urged, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Your Imperial Majesty, we had sent special forces to the crash site and we found nothing but dead pilots. We assumed that the Black Hand arrived first at the crash site and drove His Majesty, Rolan, and Sevastian out. We are still looking for him and we will not stop at nothing," Vladimir assured.
"Your Imperial Majesty, If I may chide in for a second. The Britannian government said that they can't spare more troops as they too were dealing with the attacks of the Black Hand. But they have given us the authorization to send in our troops to find His Majesty. Currently, we have repositioned our Baltic Fleet to the English Channel just in case things get out of hand."
"Do your best. Find my husband! I don't care what methods you are going to take, just bring him back home safely!"
"Yes Your Majesty!"
