Chapter 486: A Final Farewell
Emperor Taisho stared at Bruno intensely for a long while. What the man had said was something no other had ever dared to utter in front of him until now. He would not kneel? That was an insult to his station as the Emperor of Japan, a figure of almost divine power among his own people.
For this foreigner to refuse such a simple act of submission, while acting as an emissary from abroad. It was a direct blow to his prestige. But Bruno did not blink. He did not hesitate. He showed no fear, as he blatantly, and openly refused to get down on one knee and bow his head.
Voices from nearby began to break out in dissent among themselves, outraged over Bruno’s lack of "Basic courtesy." Meanwhile, one pair of familiar eyes gazed upon Bruno’s form, shocked that the man had returned, that he had aged so well.
She was a princess who should never have existed in this world, and yet she did, an aberration in a timeline that was otherwise nearly identical to the one Bruno had come from.
And she had fallen for Bruno during their first encounter when she was just a little girl. Now, however as a grown woman, who had not seen, nor thought about Bruno in years, she couldn’t help but feel a deeply complicated mixture of emotions in her chest, as her husband, the heir apparent to the Japanese Throne, gazed upon Bruno with a hint of disdain in his eyes.
Bruno was, after all, a man of great renown within Japan’s military circles. The name Mamushi was still remembered by the generals and the admirals at its highest ranks. The foreign advisor who had been "tricked" into taking responsibility for the failures at Port Arthur only to win the battle in a single decisive assault at 203 meter hill.
Then managed to stalk the Russian retreat back to Mukden where he annihilated the army to the last man with overwhelming machine gun and artillery fire. Meiji had been fond of Bruno, especially because Bruno had freely shared the depth of his military insights with the aging emperor.
But the new guard were not fans of his. They saw Bruno as having stolen the honor of the generals at Port Arthur and Mukden. He was not a hero, let alone a man worthy of the honor which the previous emperor had pinned to his chest.
And now, Bruno stood defiantly in front of the new emperor, his eyes conveying clear intent. In the end the room turned absolutely quiet, as all waited for the Emperor’s response, which he ultimately did so in a way that thoroughly broke diplomatic ties with Germany once and for all.
"If you will not kneel, then you have no place in this court. Go back to whence you came, foreigner. Because of who you are, and what you mean to your Kaiser, I will grant your insolence pardon just this once, but return to these lands again, and I will be forced to call for your head! Be Gone!"
Bruno did not react in the slightest. He did not perform a gesture of refute, or even speak his thoughts on the matter. He simply made an about face and walked towards the door. He more or less expected this outcome in advance, and even then, he knew there was little he and Taisho could discuss in terms of the ongoing disputes.