I Became the Last Princess of the Brown Bear Kingdom

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* * *

“You can take your time discussing that part.”

So they’re just throwing it out there to see what sticks.

I’d like to have Greenland, but wouldn’t want to push it too far, right?

By the time my back was exposed, getting Greenland would be a bit pointless.

Since I’ve mentioned that I like money, it’s clear they’re testing the waters. They’ve probably already heard the answer they wanted and won’t push it further.

I should probably say something too.

“Yes. Let’s consider that point. Since you, General, brought it up after meeting with me. So, let’s wrap up the Japan issue.”

“Can we conclude the war crimes trials on our end?”

“Let’s proceed with that. After all, we haven’t suffered too many casualties from striking Japan, both at sea and on land. This was an issue that had already been pre-discussed.”

As a Korean, I’m curious to see what happens, but it can’t be helped. I must settle for handing it over to the Americans for now.

“Post-war, Eastern Japan will be completely different from the time when American troops were stationed and the Emperor was revered.”

“So what are you planning to do about the Emperor?”

It seems they want to use Yasuhito and the imperial family as an example of what happens. It’s bound to be quite the spectacle.

“I’ve heard that the Japanese Empire has relegated the Korean Empire’s royal family and has made it so the people of Balhae — that is, the Koreans — have lost their loyalty. First, we will demote the imperial family, and Yasuhito and the rest of the Japanese royal family will be brought to trial for war crimes.”

Things don’t look good for them. MacArthur really has made up his mind to erase their existence.

To uproot something that’s been established for thousands of years — he must be serious about it.

Well, given that everything is already being shattered, it seems quite possible now.

“Those guys’ nobility system needs to be completely overhauled. After all, the Japanese imperial family is fundamentally tied to the war.”

Is the aim to entirely overhaul the structure of the Japanese Empire as an empire?

In that case, what will remain in Eastern Japan?

All the businesses that collaborated with the war would likely face the chopping block.

The Imperial Way Faction’s justification is the Emperor, so, hmm, just how far will that fly?

“Then, you wish for the General to hand over any members of the imperial family who might be in Western Japan.”

“Well, even so, we can’t just kill those related to the imperial line. However, I hope that there won’t be a constitutional monarchy in Western Japan with the current imperial family post-war. That would be our condition for recognizing Western Japan.”

“The current imperial family?”

So, other monarchies would be acceptable, huh?

“Yes. Since Your Majesty is the ruler of Russia, I won’t deny monarchies. However, with our overthrow of the imperial family, it simply cannot be the same imperial family across the border in Western Japan.”

“Understood. I will make sure that Mutaguchi Renya of the Western Japan Provisional Government is well informed about that.”

After all, Mutaguchi Renya is likely to listen.

“You must keep a tight control over Mutaguchi Renya. If he claims his abilities can reclaim Eastern Japan, we will have no choice but to jump into another war.”

That’s true. Even if Mutaguchi Renya is framed as a rebel from the Japanese Empire’s side, if he raises an army on the Eastern Japan side, many will likely respond to him.

Then it’ll become a headache for the Americans.

“Got it.”

But the real problem is that Mutaguchi Renya isn’t a brilliant strategist.

Well, he might be in this world, but his big breaks are just blind luck. He didn’t take control of Western Japan through smart moves but because he was seen as the last conscience and a military genius of Japan amid the chaos of the Imperial General Headquarters.

I suppose my high regard for Mutaguchi Renya also comes from Americans considering him as a military genius. He wouldn’t want a repeat of the Korean War right now.

I’m barely holding back laughter inside.

Maybe letting the Mutaguchi Shogunate take a puppet that’s a fallen royal in Western Japan wouldn’t be so bad.

“Hmm, the situation in Argentina isn’t looking great recently. If we start getting cozy with the Rome Treaty in South America, what will we do about the Rome Treaty?”

It seems MacArthur is hoping for a definitive answer.

Argentina… Who’s in power there now? Juan Perón, perhaps? He’s likely still the vice president.

Whatever it is, we have no intention of fighting the United States over Argentina.

Still, we might be able to look out for our national interests.

Prime Minister Ribof is likely engaging in economic cooperation and negotiations with Huey Long, so we need to keep a tight grip on territorial and power issues.

“If they want, we can release some military advisors and weapons for them. We’ll give them enough strength to make an impact in South America.”

“I can’t help but feel that’s a misrepresentation of the earlier conversation.”

Seeing MacArthur’s displeased face, I waved my hands.

“That’s why it’s necessary. We benefit from making money. The US gains a legitimate pretext to intervene in South America, don’t they? With the US being democratic, they need a perfect justification to intervene, right?”

Isn’t this mutually beneficial?

Somehow, MacArthur’s eyes seem to be watching me with a gaze that feels almost inhuman.

What’s with that rude stare?

“Are you suggesting that the Saint in question is the Saint of Death?”

Oh come on, that’s over the line. Do I really seem that wicked?

“I often hear such remarks. So, now that everyone must join in peace on the surface, how about we establish an International Union? We’ll make it so that even neutral countries can join. It would be an expanded version succeeding the League of Nations.”

Right, I’m talking about the UN.

A facade like it originally was, an organization aspiring for peace. We can establish this publicly while maneuvering behind the scenes, with the Rome Treaty and the US pulling strings to control the world.

“That doesn’t sound bad. Since we’re concluding matters, we should wrap it up. I’ll inform our president as well.”

“Sounds good.”

After all, resolving issues with colonies or India is part of showing that we’re working towards peace for the world, so the International Union must be established.

Thanks to things going well between us, MacArthur and I managed to end our conversation with smiles on our faces.

“Hahaha! Let’s toast to the new future of the Rome Treaty and the United States today. For the future of both countries!”

As I toasted with MacArthur, I imagined a world where the Rome Treaty and the United States maintained their bilateral relationship.

* * *

Western Japan Provisional Government

After the meeting between Anastasia and MacArthur, the results reached Western Japan as well.

Western Japan received recognition from the United States as a nation, with the Rome Treaty providing guarantees for independence.

“It seems the Tsar of Russia granted recognition to the Western Japan government from the US to prevent any American advance into Western Japan.”

“Our saint of Japan, indeed!”

“Long live Anastasia!”

“It’s a shame we can’t reclaim Eastern Japan, but it can’t be helped.”

However, the recognition as a nation was short-lived. There was one significant issue.

That was the absence of the Emperor.

Although the public sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of Mutaguchi Renya in Western Japan, it was difficult to recklessly oust the imperial family that had been rooted there for thousands of years.

Since Eastern Japan had deposed the Emperor, there was also a belief among Renya and his advisors that they must present a legitimate royal family here as well.

“But what’s the meaning of not supporting His Imperial Majesty?”

“Then, shall we crown our governor-general as shogun and create the Mutaguchi Shogunate—”

“Even during the Shogunate, His Imperial Majesty was present.”

“But we need to establish a new royal family.”

There were even whispers in some circles about making Renya the Emperor, but being Emperor would only mean retreating to the background and becoming a mere symbol, which the army following Renya wasn’t keen on.

In the end, there was no option but to establish a new royal family.

Mutaguchi Renya instructed the temporary government, comprised of pro-Russian intellectuals returning from Russia and pro-Anastasia activists within Japan, to discuss establishing a new imperial family.

Before long, Renya received a report from Tsujin Masanobu.

“Hmm, what’s the sentiment within the temporary government right now?”

“At the moment, it’s difficult to support His Imperial Majesty’s direct line. Several suggestions have been proposed, but…”

In reality, those methods were largely forced.

However, with the current American devastation in Western Japan, where even collateral imperial relatives had vanished, and there’s no way to bring someone over from Eastern Japan, this was really the only way.

“Please share.”

“For us Japanese, the existence of His Imperial Majesty is absolutely necessary. Particularly in times of chaos like now, a spiritual anchor is needed. Just like the existence of the Tsar during the Russian Civil War among the White Army.”

In tough times, a monarch serves as the focal point.

In Korea, there’s already a Republic government established and the royal family is regarded as traitorous, losing support, but in Western Japan, there are still individuals hoping for the imperial family while harboring hatred towards the Americans for the nuclear bombardment in Kyoto.

“That does make sense. But isn’t it difficult? Then we’d have to engage in war with the Americans, and the Rome Treaty won’t involve itself with a war.”

The Rome Treaty won’t jump into another war any time soon.

Just now, there’s too much debate over the colonial independence issues; it’s unlikely they’d want a war with the Americans.

“The current Tsar obtained the claim to the Russian throne based on the ancient European “Celestial Empire” of Rome, showcasing Russia as Rome’s successor. Thus, we can adopt this method to place a family related to His Imperial Majesty on the throne.”

“A related family exists?”

“There’s the Toyota clan. Descendants of the Baekje, a country south of the Korean Peninsula, who initially claimed descent from the Ouchi clan during its daimyo period. They fell during the reign of the 31st leader, Ouchi Yoshitaka. However, the collateral branch survived by changing their name to Toyota. Their family tree reportedly includes records linking back to the Baekje royal lineage. Since the imperial family has blood ties to the Baekje royal lineage, we’re talking about making the Toyota clan the new imperial family.”

That’s not a bad idea, but isn’t it going a bit too far into the past?

It sounds like a topic that requires further consideration.

“Other options?”

“The second idea is to raise Queen Masako, a descendant of Emperor Suko, who has connections to the Japanese imperial family, alongside her husband, the Korean Prince Yeongchin. In this way, we can have joint emperorship. However, this option requires the support of both the royal family and the Yangcheon Yi family of Korea. But currently, both the royal family and Queen Masako look at this quite negatively.”

Prince Yeongchin, Lee Eun, was the commander of the 1st Air Corps during the late Japanese occupation.

In this scenario, he was a commander before surrendering to Mutaguchi Renya upon learning of his advance with plans to remain in Western Japan alongside his wife, Lee Bangja (Queen Masako).

While this option is close and not necessarily bad, the problem is that he currently thinks negatively about it.

After contemplating the issue for a while, Renya and the temporary government arrived at one conclusion.

“What if we discuss this matter with the Tsar of Russia?”

Russia is the spiritual successor of Eastern Rome, and the Tsar represents Caesar, while Empress Anastasia has already formally ascended as the Byzantine Empress after the fall of Constantinople.

Perhaps in a variety of ways, they might offer some solutions.

* * *

Korean Peninsula State Reconstruction Supreme Council

After stripping away all the properties from the Japanese and establishing the Special Committee for Anti-National Activities as a cautionary measure, all traitorous collaborators were classified as ethnic traitors, their properties absorbed, and all those involved were executed.

Among them were the Korean royals who collaborated during the Japanese occupation. All members of the former Korean imperial family were executed under Lee Woo’s tacit approval, and all pro-Japanese officials were punished as well.

Key figures in the Balhae temporary government all joined the Korean Peninsula temporary government, and it was finally time to officially determine a national title and step forward as a sovereign nation in the international community.

“What about the title ‘Goryeo’?”

“Using ‘Joseon,’ which has been in use for 500 years, wouldn’t be bad as a national title.”

“‘Joseon’ has been sullied since the Japanese downgraded the Korean Empire to Joseon. That won’t do.”

“Since we fell under the Great Han, we must rise again as the Great Han—”

In the end, the national title of the original history even came into the spotlight as a candidate, but that posed its own problems.

“The meaning of ‘Great Han’ signifies the merger of three Han people into one, but now that we’ve also acquired Southern Manchuria, we have the Manchus and the different ethnic groups that have settled down, including Jews fleeing the red and white civil war. The name ‘Great Han’ excludes them, which is unacceptable.”

While we certainly boast the title of being a homogeneous nation comprising thirty million, one cannot ignore the sacrifices made by other ethnicities during the independence war.

Now a different national title began to rise again.

“How about using the existing title of the temporary government as the official national title? Balhae existed in the past, and even today, the region known as the Danube Federation was named that to reflect the Danube River nation’s ethnic identity. We established a temporary government using the name of Balhae as it represents a multi-ethnic area, which grants us legitimacy.”

Moreover, during the declaration of war against Japan, there were recognitions of Balhae overseas, and Balhae also had historical roots in Korean history, ensuring authenticity.

“In the recent Korean Peninsula invasion operation, our people suffered immensely. We need to absorb groups like the Manchus and Jews for Southern Manchuria’s development as well. There’s also a continuous legitimacy linking us to ancient Goguryeo and Balhae.”

“Balhae ethnicity, huh? Not a bad idea.”

“With our diversity, a simple republic title would be inappropriate. Let’s go with Balhae Federation instead.”

So with overwhelming support, the Balhae Federation was born, not the Republic of Korea from original history nor North Korea’s Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The flag had a white background with a light blue cross resembling Finland’s, with a slightly paler shade and a taeguk symbol outlined in white at the center of the cross, while a blue point denoting Southern Manchuria adorned the upper right corner of the cross.

Without a framework, it was formally set as the Taeguk Cross Flag, marking the establishment of the Balhae Federation.

Thus, it wasn’t just the Republic of Korea controlling South Korea anymore; it was the Balhae Federation ruling from the Korean Peninsula all the way through Southern Manchuria.