Chapter 170: Diplomacy and Business
Bruno had more or less entertained the Japanese aristocracy for the night, or at the very least, the Royal Family of the Eastern Empire.
Sakura, of course, was very angry with Bruno for not immediately recognizing her and had stormed off to her room to write a series of angry letters, venting her frustrations to her pen pals, who just so happened to be the other princesses with whom Bruno was acquainted.
It wasn't all too surprising that these young women all knew each other. After all, the German Reich, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russian Empire, and the Empire of Japan were in a military alliance with one another at the moment.
To say that there was at least one opportunity over the past few years for them all to meet up together and hit it off was an understatement. Diplomacy was an important part of a monarch's duties, and oftentimes it was conducted in person, over dinner, with one's family. What was diplomacy if not business conducted over the scale of international boundaries? And because of this, Princess Sakura was well acquainted with the other princesses Bruno had more or less established some degree of familiarity with over the years of conducting operations overseas.
By morning the next day, however, Bruno found himself in an awkward setting. He was eating dinner with Emperor Meiji's family, and Sakura was giving him the stink eye, much to the amusement of her father, mother, uncles, and grandfather, all of whom felt a bit of joy at Bruno's misfortune.
Because of this, Bruno eventually sighed, coming up with some line that would only further the misunderstandings that existed between him and the adolescent princess, albeit in the opposite direction.
"I must humbly apologize, Your Highness. I did not realize who you were immediately. And though I am entirely at fault, I must admit the last time I saw you; you were but a young girl, but now you have blossomed into quite the beautiful woman. I'm sure whoever you marry in the future will be a very lucky man."
Bruno's words were more or less honest, if not exaggerated in terms of flattery. After all, nobles loved to have their asses kissed especially; it was one of the reasons Bruno seldom liked finding company with his own class in society.
Nevertheless, it seemed to have worked, as the girl blushed and muttered something beneath her breath that Bruno did not hear.
"You really think I'm that pretty?"