Dressed in his usual attire, Alexander exited his room, arm in arm with Sophie, supporting him as he walked by.

Since he was discharged early, Alexander can still feel the pain throughout his body, so he had to use a cane for a brief moment of time. The doctor informed him that it will take some time for him to fully recover and even longer to get full use of his body again, an information he already knew. If pain arises, he can just drink painkiller pills to ease it.

Upon exiting the room, was warmly welcomed by the claps of the hospital staffs and his lovely sister, Christina.

Alexander shook the hand of the head doctor, the one who operated on him.

“Thank you, I truly appreciate what you’ve done for me,” Alexander thanked him, looking up at him with gratitude.

The doctor waved him off with a smile.”I’ve only performed my duty sir. Don’t work too hard,” He chuckled.

Alexander glanced at the hospital staff who took care of him during his time here.

“Thank you for all of your efforts, without you, I wouldn’t be standing here thanking you for giving me another chance in life. Hence, I’ve decided to grant each and one of you The Order of Saint George,” Alexander announced, causing the staff to react in awe.

The Order of Saint George is one of the highest honors a civil and military servant of the Ruthenian Empire can receive. Receiving this honor will not only make you respected among the common citizenry of Ruthenia, but also earn you great respect and esteem among nobility.

After promising them the honor, Alexander left the hospital and returned to the Winter Palace.

…

Upon his arrival, the moment the door was opened, Alexander was met with a surprise affectionate embrace from his little sister.

Alexander was taken aback, yet he found himself returning her affections with equal fondness despite the pain acting up as he received her embrace. He patted her head lovingly before she released him.-.

“I’m so glad you’re okay brother! I thought you were going to die…” She said, worry laced in her voice.

A small laugh escaped Alexander’s lips.

“Well god gave me a second chance, so you better pray later before you sleep and thank him for saving me,” Alexander said.

“I will brother! I will pray!” Ana exclaimed excitedly.

Smiling, Alexander’s eyes flicker to Tiffania, who has been silent ever since his arrival. Noticing his gaze, Tiffania spoke.

“Why did you get shot, you stupid?” Tiffania said, crossing her arms.

As expected of Tiffania, she’s always prickly. But Alexander dismissed her behavior by smiling at her.

“Good to see you again Tiffania, how are you?” Alexander greeted.

Tiffania smiled, tucking her platinum silver hair behind her ears. “You don’t have any idea how worried we were when we received the news…So I’m glad…that you returned home safely…stupid…why do you always go out of the palace…?” She rambled, her words coming out of her mouth fast.Her voice was soft and lovely to his ears, Alexander couldn’t help but smile at her adorable demeanor. After hearing her concerns, Alexander felt his heart fill with warmth. It was true though; he had no idea how many times he risked his own safety just to present on bureaucratic affairs of the Imperial Council.

‘Well, I’ll be careful next time,’ Alexander swore to himself.

“Brother…hey brother!” Anastasia called, tugging his sleeves.

“Hmm?” Alexander hummed, his attention now directed to his little sister.

Ana pointed over to the door, where a bunch of middle-aged men in a black suits are standing.

“Who are they?”

Alexander glanced over his shoulder, then returned his gaze to Ana.

“They are my ministers,” Alexander answered.

“Your ministers again?!” Ana complained and walked towards his Council of Ministers, who were waving their hand shyly.

She looked up to them, pouting menacingly. “Why are you always taking my brother away from us?! It’s been like that everyday…”

“Ana, that’s not how you speak to your elders, apologize to them,” Alexander chided gently.

Ana scowled at her brother but bowed slightly in apology nonetheless. Alexander watched as she walked back to him, holding his hands tightly.

His little sister has always been quite possessive over his well being, and although he doesn’t mind it, he also knows it won’t last forever. And one day she’ll be old and mature enough where she will realize her silly mistakes…Even though she’s already twelve years old, she still acts like a six year old child.

“Anyways I’ll be having a meeting with them for a while,” Alexander said to them. “Don’t worry, I’ll be finished in no time. And I’ll be joining you to celebrate the New Year!” He winked, earning smiles from all of them.

It’s not like they can stop him anyways, as they understood their brother’s huge responsibility to the Empire.

“Okay, my ministers, shall we proceed to our room now?” Alexander hailed them and gestured for the others to follow him. “Come, everyone,” He commanded.

…

In his office, his Council of Ministers watched Alexander as he pulled a huge blackboard with a map of the Ruthenia Empire on it.

“Oh…look how massive our Empire is,” Alexander said in awe, seeing the map of the Ruthenia Empire. He still can’t get over the idea of inheriting this gargantuan empire the moment he reincarnated here.

The Ruthenia Empire has hundreds of years of history, starting from a duchy and expanding until it reached its current size. It spans over two continents and has over 160 million people living in it.

“I’d like to propose an amendment to the Imperial Council…” Alexander said, glancing at his new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei.

“What is it, Your Majesty?” Sergei asked.

“Well…first and foremost, by reorganizing the administrative division of the Ruthenia Empire. Instead of the viceroyalties, like my cousin, running the regions of the Empire, it’ll be the people who live in those regions. The citizens of that region will vote for their governor, who will then be head of that region. With this change, we can solve internal strife in that region that our viceroyalties couldn’t notice. Prepare to make a draft at once!”

“Understood! Your Majesty…but how about the viceroyalties? They will not be happy with this reform…”

“I couldn’t care less about their feelings,” Alexander replied bluntly. “If they have a problem with that, they can take it up with me.”“Of course Your Majesty,” Sergei quickly responded.

“Next,” Alexander’s eyes flickered to his Minister of War, Alexei Lavrov. “I’ll be meeting with the General Staff of the Ruthenia Armed Forces about the new service rifle that will be instituted. We will also discuss the new procurement program and possibly new designs for tanks and warships. I want you to be there in that meeting since you’re the Minister of War,” Alexander said.

“Yes…Your Majesty!” Alexei bowed.

“Dmitri!”

“Yes sir..!” Dmitri startled and straightened up his posture.

Alexander turned around to face Dmitri. “Set me up a meeting with that Black Hand agent…Since your method won’t work, I would like to try mine.”

“What do you mean sir?” Dmitri blinked in question.

“Ever since we caught him, you’ve been beating the hell out of him right?”

“Yes…why sir?”

“And he won’t speak right?”

“Yes…” Dmitri responded.

“Then I’ll make him talk, simple as that.”

“How sir?”

“I’ll tell you on that day.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Sergei, I would like to have your attention here for a moment,” Alexander said, pulling out a new map, this time it’s a world map.

Alexander placed it on the blackboard and had Sergei take a look at it.

“It’s time to ascertain who are our allies and enemies,” Alexander said and continued. “Starting from the Francois Republic, what is your opinion? Can they be trusted?”

Sergei held a finger in his chin, humming in thought.

“Well, Your Majesty, we have a formal alliance with the Francois Republic and is our largest creditor,” Sergei said. “But, during the Rutho-Yamato war, they didn’t join our side and remained neutral…how should I say this…they backstabbed us, Your Majesty.”

“Care to explain?” Alexander asked, looking up to Sergei.

“Your Majesty, the Francois Republic signed a treaty with the Britannia Empire during our war with the Yamato Empire without informing us. The treaty that they had signed resolves border conflict of their colonies on the Black Continent. The Britannia Empire must’ve probably persuade the Francois Republic not to intervene in the war or side with us…Because you know…the Britannia Empire has a diplomatic interest in Yamato Empire,”

“Is that so?” Alexander hummed.

“The Britannia Empire is containing us on all fronts, Your Majesty. They baked the Yamato Empire into a powerful region by selling them modern warships, equipment, and even lending them money. This is to make sure that we won’t expand towards Asia and have access to warm-water ports.”

“I know our relations well with the Britannia Empire. The question is, can we trust the Francois Republic?”

“Yes sir…I believe the reason for their neutrality is a matter of national interest. If we were in their position, we would’ve probably done the same. They’ve invested too much on our country to repeal the Dual Alliance just so we can contain the Deutschland Empire in two fronts…But Your Majesty, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be wary of them,”

“I understand,” Alexander nodded and continued. “So the nations that we have strong ties with are the Francois Republic, The Kingdom of Bavaria…practically the Deutschland Empire, and the…” Alexander paused and pressed his finger on the map. “Kingdom of Norway, where my elder sister, Natalya Romanoff, is living right now,”

“Ah…Her Imperial Majesty Natalya,” Sergei said upon recognition. “She married the Crown Prince of Norway, effectively sealing an alliance with them.”

“That’s right…for now we keep the status quo in the region. We have a long way to go before we can actually compete with our rivals in terms of economy and technology.”action