Tyranny of Steel

Tilicke Schauffhusen sat patiently while waiting for his meeting with the Japanese Empress. After having a few many too drinks during his last visit to Japan, he was heavily scolded for his mistakes regarding the leaking of information that could prove critical to the war effort. 

As a result, he had been assigned a chaperon, a young woman, roughly Henrietta's age by the name of Dorethe Schubert. Since graduating from the same high school as the Austrian princess, Dorethe had worked hard to become a lawyer, and was now in a position of power she had never dreamed possible while she was growing up. 

It was not just her career that this young woman put a significant effort into, but her appearance as well. No longer the frazzled haired, four eyed girl of her youth. Dorethe had become quite the beauty in her own right.

Thanks to advancements in the field of optometry such as primitive contact lenses, as well as the multitude of hair and skin products widely available in the reich, Dorethe had become what one might consider the ideal German Woman. 

A curvy figure, an hourglass waist, long, blonde, and straight hair, along with mesmerizing sky-blue eyes. Her appearance was enough to charm most men, not that she ever cared for such a thing. In fact, Dorethe was solely dedicated to her work, which was one of the reasons she was extremely nervous now that she sat in the great hall of the Imperial Japanese Palace.

While Tilicke had become well accustomed to purposely antagonizing Empress Itami Riyo on behalf of the Kaiser. Dorethe was nervous that such a provocation could have disastrous consequences. Noticing the young woman's anxiety, Tilicke simply chuckled and shook his head before assuring his chaperone that everything would be fine.

"There's no need to worry so much, as much as the Japanese Empress may hate my guts, she would never harm a hair on my head, or yours, for that matter. She fears the Reich, and for good reason. You just leave the talking to me, and I'll make sure the Kaiser's gift is accepted."

Dorethe could only respond with a silent nod of her head where immediately after Itami emerged from the hallway which led to her quarters, while dressed in a full military uniform, adorned with all the medals she had awarded herself. 

While she was informed that the pain in her ass, whose name was Tilicke Schauffhusen had arrived in her court, Itami was not alerted of Dorethe's arrival, and the moment she gazed eyes upon the German Beauty, her brows furrowed with a bit of envy. Not because she was jealous of Dorethe's looks, for she herself was a beauty on another level, but because Germany had progressed far enough socially for beautiful women to hold positions of power. 

While it was true that Japan had a female monarch, that was an exception and not the norm. In fact, the entire government was almost exclusively made up of men, and that was not something Itami could change by force. To do so would incite rebellion from the staunch conservative samurai class who held significant power in Japan. 

With this in mind, the albino temptress was quick to throw shade at the German emissaries while she sat down on her throne in a conceited manner. 

"Is this your secretary? I assume she does more than just haul your paperwork around and organize files for you. Have your superiors ordered her to warm your bed at night as well?"

Both Tilicke and Dorethe immediately took offense to this remark, as the man was quick to defend himself and his chaperone. 

"With all due respect, Empress Itami, but I find your remarks to be nothing short of slander. Ms. Schubert is a valued associate of our firm and is a professional of the highest caliber. For you to insinuate that she is my plaything is not only egregious but also completely reprehensible. I demand that you apologize." 

Itami took one look at the enraged lawyers and simply smirked in response. Why would a monarch such as herself dare to lower her head in apology to a few lowly lawyers? Upon seeing that she had no intentions of expressing regrets for her callous remarks, Dorethe became completely enraged. The young woman took a deep breath to calm herself before responding to Itami's insinuation like a true professional. 

"Empress Itami, I don't know how things are done here in the Empire of Japan, but in the Reich, women are more than just slaves. Your remarks, if true, would be a gross violation of the Women's Protection Act of 1429, which prohibits harassment of any kind against women in the workplace.

Perhaps in a backwater nation like yours, the mistreatment of women is not only deemed acceptable by society but also is also commonplace. However, in the German Empire, we conduct ourselves to a higher moral standard." 

Several moments of silence followed Dorethe's rebuking of Itami's words. In this time, the air was as tense as a battleground. One could tell by the look in Itami's blood-red eyes that she was furious at her opponent's words, but could not speak against them, because in many way's Dorethe's remarks regarding the treatment of women in Japan were correct. 

After things became dreadfully awkward, Tilicke broke the silence by pulling out his briefcase and presenting a copy of the Vienna Accords to the Japanese Empress.

"For your ease, I have taken the liberty of personally translating these documents into the Japanese script. This is a copy of the Vienna Accords, which the majority of the world's leaders have signed and ratified as international law. Though I don't expect someone such as yourself to find an agreement with this treaty, let alone adopt it yourself. I would hope that it will provide you with some insight.

The Kaiser still believes that it is in his best interest, and yours, to show you how he has and will continue to conduct warfare, specifically in regards to the treatment of civilians and prisoners of war. If you would, please take a look."

Itami did not hesitate to snatch the documents out of Tilicke's hands, where she read through the treaty multiple times, ensuring that she did not miss a single stipulation. As Tilicke had said, the treaty was primarily about the treatment of civilians and prisoners of war, something she would not disagree with. As she herself was concerned about such a thing in this medieval world. 

One thing that the Japanese Empress immediately noticed was that there was a clause which stated that rebellions in legally annexed territory were exempt from the treaty, and that a ruler could put them down however they saw fit. 

There was only one problem with this stipulation regarding the ongoing insurgency in the Korean Peninsula. The Joseon Dynasty had never actually ceded its southern territory to Itami and her Empire.

The Joseon still contested her occupation of the region and was still technically at war for its control. There was simply an armistice that was declared at the 38th parallel, similar in many ways to the end result of the Korean War in Berengar's past life. 

This meant that if Itami made a move to purge villages which harbored insurgents, she could very easily be tried as a war criminal in the event she loses the future conflict against Germany. Which was starting to seem like the most likely outcome. 

Obviously, this stipulation was designed with two purposes in mind, to give the Germans impunity to act however they wished in their colonies against troublesome native populations, while at the same time declawing the Imperial Japanese Army in its attempts to fight against the Joseon Insurgents. 

It would appear that every time Tilicke appeared in her court, it was from some form of taunting on behalf of the Kaiser. This game of cat and mouse that she could never win was driving Itami mad, more so than she already was. Thus, it came as a surprise when she gently placed the document down and sighed heavily in defeat. 

"Tell your Kaiser that I will need time to consider adopting these policies. In the meantime, I am still waiting on the previous agreement we have made. As far as I can tell, no time and date has been arranged for the transfer of Min-Ah, and I will not cooperate with your Empire any further until such a thing occurs. If that is all you have for me, then you can return from whence you came."

After saying this, Itami got up, and abruptly left the two German lawyers alone in her great hall. The sudden act caught both of them by surprise, none more so than Tilicke, who was shocked that Itami had entertained him without flipping out for once. 

As for Dorethe, she was just happy to keep her head, after deliberately insulting the Japanese Empress in her own home. Before long, she was begging Tilicke to leave, which he, of course, agreed to. Despite his curiosity over what had come over, the usually prideful Empress Itami. 

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