"What?! The current situation in the world is turbulent, the repression of the German states has not yet been completed, the war between the Reich and France may break out at any time, Britain is ambiguous, Japan's military operations against the Far East have begun to expand, and the most terrible of all are the American cowboys. Despite their strong isolationist sentiments, the Jewish capitalists, arms dealers, politicians and speculators in their country are desperately preparing. If one is not right, the empire will use its own strength against the whole world! In such a situation, the whole empire, up to His Majesty, the Prime Minister and me, down to an ordinary soldier, worker, farmer, all waiting for the battle, working hard to prepare for war, at such a time you are actually preparing to get married?! ”

I've been talking to Kulishnu before, saying that the Imperial War Department has blessed our marriage or something. But in reality, this is not the case. In fact, from top to bottom in the War Department, everyone thought that I had a brain crash and had nothing to do. It is simply too inappropriate to dare to do such a thing at this juncture.

As a result, in the end, His Excellency the Chief of Staff of the General Staff, that is, my immediate superior, after learning the news, angrily called my government and enterprise communicator, and then said such things.

"So what?" I say.

"So it's -- you can't get married -- at least not right now. In addition, the marriage contract with the Brummel family should also be reconsidered. ”

"What?!" I was a little surprised to hear them say that. Forget about the first one. But the marriage contract in the back is reconsidered, what the hell is going on?!

"You should know. War was about to break out between the Empire and France. His Excellency the Chief of Staff said: "In this case, to marry a Frenchman, do you know how detrimental it will be to you?" Originally, you were asked to seduce each other, and the marriage contract was established in order to win over the French aristocracy in order to further bind France into the European system of the empire. But with the imminent declaration of war between the Empire and France, the co-optation of the Brummel family has become less important under this premise. ”

"But...... Isn't our plan that I will eventually be the Savior of France and the Governor of France? If that's the case, the marriage between me and Kulishnu should be an extra layer of security. I said with a little surprise.

"Yes...... Neither is it. The Chief of Staff said: "Do not forget that you are a general, a commander, a politician, a diplomat, but at the same time you are also a spy. And a man in a suspicious place. The French will indeed trust you more because of this. But at the same time, the Empire will be more suspicious of you. ”

“…… This, this ...... However, everything I do is to obey the orders of the Empire, and you are saying that to me now, it is simply ......"

"I know, that sounds ridiculous. But in reality, this is not the case. Wright, it's a matter of scale. It's a matter of scale. You saved France, this is good, you saved France again, very good, you fought for the French in the French question, quite well. You became the governor of France, and that couldn't be better—and then, your woman was French, and so was your wife—and that, too, was too good.

People will attack you for this, and they will say, "Look, that's Wright. Baldwin's. I really don't know if he's Norman or French. He lived in France, married a Frenchman, and was the uncrowned king of France. The French also embraced him. Just let him become a Frenchman - you see, that's it. ”

"But so what? If that's the case, it would be more helpful to our French strategy. I said to him.

"Yes, Leon—but you can't, or don't want to be the governor of France for the rest of your life, do you?" He asked.

"......" I understood for a moment what he was going to say.

"You have a great future, my friend." His Excellency the Chief of the General Staff said: "You are young, energetic, talented, loyal to the Empire, noble in birth and rich in assets. You should have a bigger picture. Your future shouldn't be confined to a corner of France. It's the whole empire, and the whole world.

I'm getting old, and this job is too much of a burden on me. When this battle is over, I will retire. In the future, the post of Chief of the General Staff will become vacant. There are a lot of good people in the Empire, but few of them are up to the job. The person I want is you, Leon, and you should become the commander-in-chief of the Empire's army, or even the Prime Minister of the Empire in the future!

And an overly French faction is an obstacle to your entry into the General Staff, into the Cabinet! You're playing a heavy role in Imperial France strategy, and you're already able to curry favor with the damned French in many ways.

So I think in terms of marriage, you should strike a balance, you should marry a Norman woman. Forming a traditional, talked-about Norman family. No matter how bad it is, you can marry a woman from a Slav or a Germanic, an Italian or any other nation under the rule of an empire, but you must not make France! ”

“…… I see what you mean. I closed my eyes: "I'm going to get a balance between France and Norman." ”

"Yes, Wright. That's what I mean. His Excellency the Chief of the General Staff nodded.

"But why my marriage? Why can't it be something else? Leon then asked.

"Because marriage is the easiest to change, and it is the easiest to make do." The voice of the Chief of the General Staff became colder and colder in my ears: "On the contrary, the greatest number of people always think that marriage is very important—a bargaining chip that we think is not very important, but the other side thinks it is very important. This is the perfect way to balance the scales. Right? ”

I don't even have the strength to smile bitterly.

“…… I'll give you a little more time to think about it, Wright. Hopefully, you can make the right decision. But at the same time, you have to know that there is not much time left for you. ”

Seeing me like this, His Excellency the Chief of the General Staff did not press me any further. Instead, he turned off the steam communicator after saying this. With a "biu" and his disgusting face vanished, I jerked up the steam communicator and held it high above my head......

Then slowly put it back in place.

……

it.