Iron and Blood: A Triumph of the Will

Joachim eventually pushed her away.

Elizabeth, rejected, ran away with tears in her eyes.

Joachim poured himself another glass of vodka and then lit a cigarette.

Joachim felt dizzy; he felt that what had just happened was somewhat unreal. He clenched his hands and found that he could still feel them.

Looking back, Manstein was already standing in the doorway.

Joachim didn't hold it against him for what happened tonight: "Erich, arrange for her to be with Schörner."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Manstein hesitated for a moment, then nodded heavily.

"Give me Wilhelm II's phone number, and wait for me outside later."

"I have something else to tell you."

"Yes, Your Highness."

........

Turning the phone number around, Joachim finally dialed the number.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Joachim........"

"Please wait a moment, Your Highness."

The person on the other end of the phone clearly took the call, but remained silent for a long time.

Since leaving, Joachim seemed to have lost patience with Wilhelm II, and remained silent on the other end of the phone.

He said bluntly, "If you're not going to say anything, I'm hanging up."

Provoked by that brief remark, the person on the other end of the phone spoke up: "Is this Joachim?"

"Yes, it's me."

Joachim was about to respond, but the words of reconciliation stuck in his throat, and he couldn't open his mouth.

Silence...another eerie silence.

Wilhelm II was right there on the other end of the phone; Joachim could even hear him breathing.

But he just wouldn't say anything... and the situation became deadlocked once again.

"......"

A considerable amount of time had passed before he spoke again.

"Have your mom talk to you."

The microphone was handed to Queen Victoria: "Young Jochen, how have you been these past few days?"

"Yes, it's alright... Did you receive the package I mailed to you a few days ago? It contained things I sent to Father and you, some Polish specialties."

"Yes, I've received it." Queen Victoria: "Some treasure and medals, right?"

"Yes, it was taken from the Polish side."

"I know you're having a hard time in the Netherlands. I'll send you some money when I have some spare cash."

"You swindled me out of all 6600 million marks, and you still have the nerve to try and fool me with this junk?"

"It's an eyesore to me!"

The phone rang with Wilhelm II’s shouting, followed by the sound of heavy objects being thrown.

It's clear that someone threw the things Joachim mailed on the ground.

"Oh dear, what are you doing?"

"It's all the kids' good intentions; they went to so much trouble to call you, why are you getting angry?"

"He's fucking amazing, how come he was kicked out of the Netherlands?"

Joachim was already furious, and now, hearing Wilhelm II's outburst, he was enraged even more.

He could no longer contain his anger and blurted out, "The German Emperor? Abandoning the throne passed down from his ancestors! Fleeing in panic!"

"Go out on the street and ask any German who doesn't want him dead."

"It's already a great blessing that he can survive in the Netherlands."

"Yes, we are all unfilial descendants of Hohenzollern, and you are the only filial one, right?"

"Joachim, you are truly a filial son!"

Wilhelm II roared again from the other end of the phone; His Majesty was clearly enraged by those words.

"Can't you two just talk things out?"

Queen Victoria smoothed things over.

"I don't have much to say to him."

Wilhelm II's roar continued from the other end of the phone.

"If you have nothing to say, then don't say anything."

Perhaps due to the alcohol, Joachim threw the receiver onto the sofa and lay down, lost in thought.

He remembered his father from his previous life, and how they had argued in the same way.

I looked up at the ceiling, my eyes fixed on the light.

In a daze, Joachim's eyes gradually blurred, but his vision gradually cleared.

He thought of that day, that night.

My eyes felt a little warm.

A wet liquid streamed down Joachim's cheek as memories of his past life and the present intertwined.

He felt like crying... but he held it in.

A moment later, he picked up the phone again: "Let Dad answer the phone..."

Queen Victoria, who had been holding the telephone receiver the whole time, was somewhat stunned when she heard this.

She turned back to look at Wilhelm II, then hesitated before saying, "Huh?"

"Let Dad answer the phone..."

"Your son wants you to answer the phone, are you going to answer it or not?"

Queen Victoria turned to Wilhelm II and asked.

"What are you talking about? What a load of crap."

He said that, but his body language betrayed him. With his hands behind his back, he stumbled toward the phone.

"Hello!"

The word "feed" sounded rough, but it was uttered with extreme caution: "Is that little Joachim?"

"Yes...it is me." Joachim's voice was thick with nasal tone, and the sharpness of his previous confrontation was gone.

"Hmm, how are you in Silesia?"

"I'm going to Berlin." Composing himself, Joachim stated his purpose directly.

"You... can you handle that mess in Berlin? How could you go?"

Wilhelm II's voice was somewhat stiff; he was about to utter a rebuke, but then swallowed those words back down.

Queen Victoria stood to the side and held her husband's hand.

"So I need your help, Father."

"Do we really have to go?"

"I had no other choice."

"Fate has made its choice, and my life cannot afford to end in failure."

Upon hearing this, Wilhelm II's chest heaved violently. After a long while, he took a deep breath: "You will get what you want, my child."

"I will definitely support you with all my might!"

"Thank you, Father." Joachim nodded slightly on the other end of the phone. "Is August there?"

"I'll get her to answer the phone right away."

Queen Victoria disregarded etiquette and turned to find August.

After a while, Auguste answered the phone, her eyes brimming with tears, her voice hoarse: "My husband..."

"Um......."

"Um."

"I'm going to Berlin."

I support you.

"you......."

"We're husband and wife, there's nothing to talk about." She paused for a moment on the other end of the phone, then said, "You go ahead, I'll try my best to follow."

"..." Joachim's voice choked with emotion, "I...I'm really surprised."

"I am very grateful for your support, August."

"I love..."

"Silly girl, haven't we been in love for a long time?"

The woman responded to his love with the words Joachim had once spoken: "Our child Karl is the fruit of our labor."

........

Crown Prince William: So is anyone really speaking up for me?