Iron Ji opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling of her bedroom, which was filled with the pompous air characteristic of Tsarist Russia.

Even though she had looked at the ceiling countless times, somehow this first glance this morning had given her a strange sense of irritability.

"Someone's coming!" Iron Ji yelled, and immediately a team of maids rushed into the room, "Prepare a new bedroom for me today, and ask for a roof that is different from this one." ”

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Then the maids waited for the Iron and Steel Ji to change and wash as usual, and half an hour later, the Iron and Steel Ji in military uniform stood in front of the dressing mirror in good spirits. It was at this time that Natalia pushed the door in.

"Is there anything I need to know?" Iron Ji asked.

"Yesterday there was a skirmish in the city, the rioting forces have been suppressed, and about 100 people were killed in the firefight, half of them disgruntled soldiers and radical residents of the city."

"Hmph, these bastards, I fight the enemy desperately in the sky every day, just to prevent them from becoming second-class citizens under the iron hooves of others, but they are here to cause trouble for me! These guys don't deserve mercy, shoot them all, and don't leave them alive. ”

“…… Yes, Your Excellency, Prime Minister. ”

"Natalia, you seem to have something to say to me."

"Yes, but you won't listen to what you say, so it's better not to say it." Natalia responded calmly, this eldest sister who was already very Russian aunt-style, the smell of the hairy aunt was even stronger at this time, "No matter what happens in the end, I will accompany you until the last moment, Your Excellency Prime Minister." ”

Normally, Iron Queen would never be angry because Natalia said this, because she was Natalia, and in Iron Hime's concept, she was given the right to speak to Iron Queen like this. But this time, Iron Ji felt anger rush to her chest.

"So, in your opinion, I'm at the end of my rope, right? I'm a clown now, struggling pointlessly, right? ”

"I didn't say that, Your Excellency." Natalia remained unmoved, "We are not completely without a chance of victory, Lin Youde has reached a stalemate in North Africa, and the entry of Latin American countries makes the situation even more unfavorable for him. In fact, based on the current situation and extrapolating backwards, it is easy to get the result that Lin Youde was defeated by the United States, and as long as we persist until then, we will be able to win the war logically. ”

"But there is no glory in winning the war like that."

"Are you still looking forward to glory from this war?" Natalia asked rhetorically, "Although history has always been written by the victors, and if we win, we will be the side of glory, but that glory is false, and we all know this very well." The fact is that we were the first to start a war against Lin Youde and his allies, and then we were beaten to the point where we could only ask the Americans for help, and we had no glory to speak of. ”

Iron Queen was silent.

Natalia added: "Especially after we decided to clear the wilderness and refuse to open the Volga River valley to refugees. ”

Iron Queen glared at Natalia, the corners of her mouth trembling slightly, but she finally suppressed her anger.

"The situation at that time, it was necessary, and if this had not been done, the Germans might have really attacked the Volga valley."

"And we have the possibility of beating the Germans next to our mother river."

"The Cossacks were not able to beat the Germans next to their mother river, the Don! What the spirit of the mother river and the like is unreliable! ”

"And what about the elongated enemy supply lines?"

“……”

Natalia sighed.

"I don't blame you, it's true that the strong wall Qingye finally made Lin Youde give up his plan to continue to advance eastward, and the battle line on the eastern front was stabilized. So even if you go back to the moment you made your decision, I still won't be firmly against it. ”

"Enough, I don't want to say that anymore." Iron Ji took a deep breath, then looked out the window at the sun that had risen over the treetops - at a latitude like Russia, the sun rose over the treetops to indicate that it was almost noon, "We have a battle to fight today, let's go." ”

As she spoke, Iron Ji strode towards the door, past Natalia, and into the wide, long Russian-style corridor behind her.

Natalia immediately turned around and followed in the footsteps of the little tyrant who ruled Russia.

After walking a few steps, Iron Ji suddenly said: "You must know that this is Russia, and almost all the great emperors of this country are tyrants, but there is a difference between the brutal Cheng Dù." ”

"I have no objection to that, Your Excellency."

Iron Ji sighed.

At this moment, she vaguely realized why she was suddenly so angry.

"Natalia," she asked softly, "since when have you been referring to 'you' and 'Your Excellency the Prime Minister'?" ”

After a brief silence, Natalia replied, "I don't remember. ”

"yes," Iron Ji suddenly felt very tired, "yes, it's okay, anyway, I didn't notice it until today." We flattened out. ”

Then silence descended between the two of them, and the silence and the ensuing repression made Iron Ji feel that the footsteps echoing in the corridor were particularly harsh.

Fortunately, the corridor has come to an end.

Iron Hime entered the hall of her mansion and came to the spiral staircase.

That's when she stopped and glanced back at Natalia.

"You'll see the last one, right?"

"Yes, I'll see the last." Natalia whispered, "No matter what the final outcome is, I will look at you with these eyes." ”

Iron Ji turned her head and looked at the empty hall, which was made even more lonely by the resplendent decorations.

"I've often wondered," Iron Queen said into the empty hall, "if things would be better if I had to do it again, and I really know where to make a change?" Do I really know which step was wrong? ”

Natalia was silent.

"Aren't you surprised?"

"There's nothing surprising about it, if I still stubbornly think that I didn't do anything wrong at this time, such a person would not have been able to gain my trust from the beginning."

"That's right." Iron Ji nodded, she took a deep breath, and began to walk down the steps one step at a time.

As he reached the last step, the laces of the men's riding boots worn by Iron Queen's feet snapped off.

She froze for a moment, and stood there looking down at her boots.

The maids reacted, and rushed up with a hula and got busy.

And Iron Ji just stood there, watching the maids work.

At this moment, the large vertical bell placed on the side of the hall rang, and the hourly bell echoed through the empty hall.

Bells, bells......