-- Early Autumn of 1454 --
--- Imperial Capital, Ostburg ---
a coach with its wheels touching the ground stopped in front of the Imperial Palace, the coachman step down and opened the coach's doors,
A woman with-expensive looking clothes and a young man wearing a black suit had step out of the coach. While walking, they're holding flags of an unknown country. As soon as they set foot on the ground, they continued to walk inside by walking upstairs in the Grand Staircase.
"That one seems like a Queen" one of the guards said while patrolling the hall,
two guards overlooked the elaborate welcoming ceremony to the British envoys from the halls of the upper floors.
"I heard that this is a new country"
"Oh really? no wonder why i haven't surely heard of that country's name before" one guard replied,
"Speaking of this visit, i heard that things in Sienna had been getting worse."
"Why's that?"
"They say some unknown magic was being used against the Imperial Army, the 1st army of the Imperial Army to besiege Sienna had dropped from a hundred thousand into a mere 20 thousand. After receiving strange news and reports in the military situation in Sienna. The Imperial Army then sent their last relieve force into Sienna. Amounting into 200 thousand, a final resort against the Kingdom of Summerwyn." one of the bodyguards replied,
The hall was in silence after the guard had told his companion the failing military situation in Sienna,
The British envoys are walking in the hallway while being led by the servants into the Throne room, the Queen is walking with a proper posture whilst being guarded by her loyal bodyguards.
The Prime Minister is walking near her side, it is the first time the two will be working together.
After walking through and seeing the excesses of the Imperial Palace along the way, they finally reached the doors of the Throne room.
The British envoys can remember the extravagance of the Imperial Palace. from red silk carpets in the ground, to the elaborate chandeliers in the Entrance.
"Kindly do the instructions i told you my highnesses, the Holy Emperor's presence is divine" the servant told to them,
The Queen also has a few divine status from the Anglican Church,
The Prime Minister was not a monarch but he was addressed as a highness by the servant.
The servant literally had no idea about them, so the two just brushed it off.
The doors opened, revealing the appearance of the Holy Emperor, and his court.
The two entered the door with their bodyguards, the Queen gracefully walked upright with the Prime Minister on her left side, she carefully walked and bowed to the Emperor; while the Prime Minister bowed and lowered his head.
"You can raise your head" the Emperor said,
"I am the Holy Emperor Dudendorf of the Holy Estermage Empire, as well as the Emperor-Protector of the Kingdom of Duden and Head of the Church of Reformist"
"I am the Queen Anne of the United Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland" the Queen replied,
"And may i know your name young man?" the Emperor asked,
"I am the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, William of the Conservative Party, Your Majesty" William replied,
"Im certain that you came here for some serious business, am i correct?"
"Indeed you are correct" the Queen humbly replied,
"Hmmm interesting.."
"We are hereby demanding the Holy Estermage Empire to withdraw its forces from the Theocracy of Esterloch, Republic of Italica and the Kingdom of Summerwyn as soon as possible." the Queen said in front of the Imperial Court." Queen Anne announced in the room,
The Imperial Court was shocked by the immediate demands of the Queen, the British are resolved to protect their ally states at all cost.
"What is the meaning of this?" the Emperor asked,
"We are, a country of liberty and freedom. Our country is a bastion of freedom with a connection through the past with the Crown. Therefore, we are humbly calling into the Holy Empire of Estermage to stop their invasions and oppressing weaker states." Prime Minister William added,
"And why do you think we will do that? we don't even know if your country really exists or not"
the Imperial Court was filled with laughter from the Imperial side.
"And what is that you're holding? a flag?" the Emperor asked,
"It is the flag of our country, the United Kingdom. My people otherwise call it the 'Union Jack' sometimes" the Queen added,
"Your country's flags looks so lacking that i guess your soldiers will not be encouraged to fight with this pathetic line flag" one of the Emperor's courtiers joked,
"HAHAHAHAHHA" all of the military bureaucrats and courtiers are bursting into laughter, belittling the British envoys and causing poor diplomatic actions.
This is obviously seen as a lack of etiquette and poor diplomatic skills. This meeting of course became a diplomatic insult against the British as they're insulting two very important people from the United Kingdom.
But, learning from previous experiences and acting as if though nothing had happened. The two remained quiet and kept their posture and calm. They are experienced diplomats and fighting back will only take the meeting worse. A civilized nation should not commit such barbaric acts against other states, and the Empire clearly had made a barbaric impression to the United Kingdom.
The room became laughter for a while until the noise subsided a few minutes later,
"Ok so you came here just for that?" the Emperor asked,
"Yes, your Highness" the prime minister replied,
"But what if we refused? your demands are all delusional" the Emperor replied,
"If the Holy Estermage Empire is not willing to accept the demands from the two most important government heads in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom will henceforth be forced to commit hostilities against the Holy Estermage Empire. The Demands of the United Kingdom are as follows:"
the Prime Minister had brought with him a printed paper written in the Imperial Alphabet. He gave it to a servant and handed it to each Imperial official in the room including the Emperor"
As the court reads the content which , he began to announce the United Kingdom's demands from the paper.
"As the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, it is my duty to preserve the interests and security of the state. As such, the United Kingdom will be presenting an ultimatum right now. The Ultimatum are as follows; Number one, the Empire must withdraw from it's pre-war borders and pay war reparations to the following states: Kingdom of Summerwyn, Theocracy of Esterloch, Republic of Italica and of course to the Grand Ducal Confederacy. Number two, the Empire must grant independence to the Grand Ducal Confederacy and must respect the latter's sovereignty. And third, the Empire must agree to a following of international laws set by the Treaty of Sienna.
and Lastly, the gradual transition of the Holy Estermage Empire to respect the liberties and freedom of it's subjects."
"And if all of these conditions are not met, the United Kingdom will announce its intent on declaring war with the Empire and is committed to fulfill it's demands stated to be fulfilled." the Prime Minister added,
"The Imperial Army will not lose to you, we might been suffering heavy losses in
Sienna. But I'm telling you young man, if Sienna falls Summerwyn will immediately fall too. Your efforts will be wasted, the Empire is committed into asserting power" the Emperor replied,
"I hope the demands of the United Kingdom had reached the Imperial Court, if we don't receive any last decisions to accept the demands by the next day. The United Kingdom will finally declare war upon the Empire, the wrath of Brittania will be released and from the skies above we will rain death and terror in your Empire" the Prime Minister remarked,
"This concludes our first visit to the Holy Estermage Empire, we are glad to have all your attention in this meeting. We will now leave, Thank you all very much for this splendid meeting." the Queen said,
The two bid their farewell to the Emperor and left the Throne room.
The court was in silence, and after the envoys left they we're all laughing hysterically.
"Brittania? what are they talking about?"
"really? 'rain death from the skies' they really have wild imaginations!"
The Imperial court was filled with sarcasm and laughter after the British envoys left, but the Emperor silenced and ordered to stop the noise.
"Immediately dispatch the last imperial expeditionary army into Sienna, capture the city before winter. We must avoid confrontations with the British armies as possible." The Emperor ordered to the court,
The last expeditionary force consists of 300,000 imperial troops. If this arrives in Sienna, there would be almost half a million troops besieging the capital.
Meanwhile, the exhausting and costly siege of Sienna had affected the financial situation of the Empire.
The Imperial State Secretary went to the Throne room and immediately told the Empire's ever-growing debt and financial deficits.
The State Secretary humbly bowed and raised his head when the Emperor had told him so,
"Explain your business here State Secretary." the Emperor asked,
"Your Highness, the financial situation of the Empire is getting worse. I worry that your subjects might succumb to poverty. I suggest you" the secretary replied,
"Don't worry, my subjects will be patient if the situation gets worst. After all, they live for the name of the Empire" the Emperor replied,
But, the State Secretary worries for the well-being of the people. He thinks that if the situation gets worst, a food crisis might ensure. And the people might rebel again.
A few days ago, The Duchy of Ophiel declared its rebellion against the Emperor. The Holy Empress declared proclaimed herself "The Grand Duchess of Ophiel" and immediately declared her revolt against the Emperor. But, she still retained her title of Holy Empress of the Holy Estermage Empire.
After Ophiel's revolt, the Duchy of Leońe immediately followed suit. Before the duchess left Leońe, she immediately shut the gates and threw out the Imperial administrators from her Palace.
She famously made her people threw the administrators from the walls of the city, injurning themselves from the fall. a number of a hundred imperial administrators we're thrown away from the city.
Before leaving for Summerwyn, she left the leadership of the Duchy to her most trusted minister. While she left the city in secrecy for Summerwyn.
The Leońe flag was raised in the duchy in favor against the Imperial Insignia for the first time for decades. The Imperial Insignia was burned and desecrated by the angry mobs.
All in all, The Empire is not just left with two rebelling states. It also had to maintain its power on the Grand Ducal Confederacy. In which is still under imperial occupation, and the Empire is planning to re-organize it after the rebellion in Ophiel is dealt with.
"Your Highness, according to the calculations of the Imperial State Treasury. The food stockpile of the Empire is decreasing and we might be unable to meet the demand of the people" the state secretary added,
"I had told you earlier that we are staying firm on focusing in the war effort, if we are able to capture Sienna before winter. we can just forcibly take Summerwyn's food stockpiles and it will last us for a year. Summerwyn has an abundance of food, and the peasants might store food because the winter is near. The Imperial Army can just straight in and take all of Summerwyn's food" the Emperor added,
The Imperial Court was amazed by the Holy Emperor's firm explanation, the emperor rarely speaks about it and is almost always calm.
'This is not going to end well' the State Secretary said to himself,
"Very well your majesty, we will remain as it is and remain vigilant in the prices of goods. We will stay to the plan until winter" the State Secretary said to the Emperor,
The State Secretary left the Throne room, after leaving the room he left a sigh,