Bruno sat aboard a high-speed train as it approached its final destination. His initial journey from Innsbruck to Moscow had taken a record speed of a mere four hours.

What with Germany’s interstate maglev system already complete and fully functional he could get from any corner of the German Reich within a matter of hours.

And recently the trans-Siberian Maglev project that the German Reich and the Russian Empire began as early as 1942 with the end of the Second Weltkrieg had produced its first tangible result.

Despite Saint Petersburg being the capital of the Russian Empire, Moscow was still the most important freight hub in the Empire. And since the Maglev project was designed to move freight every bit as much as people, it was selected as the first major connection between both empires.

And while it had only taken Bruno approximately four hours to go from his home to Moscow. It had taken another two days for him to arrive from Moscow to Hanseong. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Across the entire distance, he had watched the combined might of the German and Russian Empires lay down the future between their two nations.

A trans-Siberian maglev that existed parallel to the already existing diesel-electric high speed rail which connected the Western world to the East.

It may have taken him longer to arrive in the East than it would have should he opted for air travel. But Bruno detested everything about it.

In fact, the entire purpose of this meeting was to mitigate the chaos and inefficiency of air travel as much as possible within the civilized world.

Sure, it could not be eliminated entirely, as it would always be a superior option for transoceanic travel. But across land distances, maglevs were superior in every sense of the word, so long as the infrastructure existed to support it.

And Bruno had spent the first quarter of his life ensuring that Germany’s infrastructure was the most advanced and robust in the world.

It was the backbone of his conquests. He was not tired, or "jetlagged" when he stepped foot into the capital of the Korean Empire. In fact, he was both well rested and sharp as a tack.

He found that a car was already waiting for him, which took him to the Deoksugung Palace where he was among the last to arrive for the summit.

The moment Bruno entered the quarters which had been sealed off for the delegations to reside in during their stay, he found his daughter Elsa running over with an unusual smile on her face.

Her husband, and Bruno’s son-in-law, Tsar Alexei I tried his best not to shake his head and sigh upon seeing his wife suddenly begin to act like a child.

"Daddy!"

Bruno sighed on Alexei’s behalf as his daughter hugged him, a sight that garnered more than a few looks of surprise.

Elsa, after all was regarded as the Ice Empress of Russia. Her cool, and emotionless demeanor was well known throughout the world.

But to Bruno she was his daughter who had long since grown too old to continue acting like a child around him.

"Elsa, for Christ’s sake, you’re turning 43 this year... What would your mother think if she saw you clinging to your father like a four-year-old?"

Elsa didn’t seem to listen to a word her father said, instead she clung to his arm with a happy smile on her face.

"I missed you, it’s been too long since we last were able to meet like this. How are you and mother doing? How are Erwin and Eva?"

"Why don’t you ask her yourself?" Bruno’s words stunned Elsa into silence. That is until she saw Eva standing next to her husband Prince Wilhelm, his own father Crown Prince Wilhelm standing next to his wife Cecilie.

Elsa immediately ceased her childishness and recomposed her icy grace, gazing down at her older sister with a chilling glare.

"So... the Princess of Germany has arrived, I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware children were permitted at this summit."

Eva’s brow twitched... She knew her sister was absolutely provoking her. After all, it was kind of a sore spot that her younger sister was already an Empress, while her own husband was not even yet the Crown Prince.

And the look on Eva’s face couldn’t help but crack Elsa’s façade as she smiled and stepped forward to hug her sister.

Alexei stepped forward and shook his head.

"She really does only get like this when she’s around family.... I wouldn’t be surprised if the delegates who aren’t aware of this fact are suddenly questioning their potential senility."

Bruno chuckled when he heard this and watched his daughters interact like they were still the children who fought for their father’s adoration every time he opened that old manor door after coming home from war.

There was a wistful smile on his face as the words left his mouth.

"Let me guess, she’s an extremely doting mother?"

Alexei sighed and shook his head again in exasperation.

"You don’t have the slightest idea...."

But Bruno nodded his head, he understood better than anyone where his children got it from. And his smile turned into a proud smirk.

"Oh, I am afraid I know all too well... Those girls inherited the best traits of their mother and I, and we both loved our children very much... Perhaps a bit too much."

He said this as he watched Eva and Elsa immediately start bickering over something stupid. Not caring in the slightest of they looked foolish in the eyes of the other delegates.

Why would they possibly care? Their families were the most powerful dynasties in the world, and the opinions of others had no baring on that fact.

It was only then that Bruno heard a few other familiar voices call out to him.

His daughters Erika and Anna approached, their husbands the current Kings of Italy and Greece on their arms, or perhaps the other way around.

"Father! Oh? Are Eva and Elsa at it again? They never grow up, do they?"

Bruno looked over from his two oldest daughters to his two youngest. He and Heidi had eight children: four sons and four daughters. The eldest three of his children were separated from the youngest five by nearly a decade.

And yet, for some reason, it was his youngest daughters, born during the Weltkrieg that were somehow more mature.

The simply way they laughed and walked, the natural grace between them. Neither Anna nor Erika had any need for petty squabbles or rivalries that persisted since childhood. In fact, they both laughed at their elder sisters’ poor behavior, which they both knew was rooted in a deep respect and love for one another.

Bruno could only shake his head and sigh.

"It’s good to see you, Anna, Erika. It’s been too long. I’m starting to wish I brought your mother. I didn’t expect any of you to be here."

Anna and Erika immediately frowned when they heard this.

"Father, don’t tell me you left poor old mother in Innsbruck all alone? We came all this way because we knew you would be here, and we expected you to have known the same! Do you have any idea how much trouble you will be in when she realizes this?"

Bruno’s blood went cold when he heard this... He had survived rifles, bayonets, machine guns, artillery, bombs, barbed wire, and mustard gas. He had marched through it all unphased, and without the slightest fear in his heart.

But the very idea of returning to his wife and informing her that all four of their daughters had gathered in Hanseong with their husbands, and Bruno hadn’t bothered to bring her along to meet with them. That truly filled his entire being with a heavy and suffocating dread.

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of it, placing his head in his hand and sighing he could only express his truest thoughts at that moment.

"That woman is going to kill me...."

Anna and Erika nodded their heads in silent agreement with their father’s projection. They knew all too well the tyranny of their mother... the same way their elder sisters knew it.

Bruno took a deep breath and nodded his head as he calmed himself.

"Well, there is no point worrying about it now. How about we go fetch your sisters and get caught up over a nice meal? The Korean Emperor has ensured that his nation’s best chefs are in attendance to prepare us all some local delicacies. And I can’t remember the last time I had Bulgogi."

Anna and Erika looked up at their father in confusion. They had never even heard the word before, let alone knew that their father ate it.

"Bulgogi? What’s that? And how come I have never heard you talk about it?"

Bruno simply walked off towards the dining hall, his daughters and their husbands following in step.

Even Eva and Elsa noticed that the party was moving on without them and quickly ran to catch up as Bruno reminisced of a time where he had once tasted Korean cuisine.

"It’s a form of barbecued beef, and the last time I had it was.... In another life."

Eva, Elsa, Anna, and Erika looked at their father in confusion for a moment as they entered the dining hall together with him and their husbands. And then they broke out into laughter.

"Father, you’re not that old!"

Bruno didn’t say a word... because he knew that he really was. And nobody would believe him if he tried to assert it.