The month of February 2025 has been decisive in determining the direction of world affairs. The Treaty of London had not only consolidated a new alliance under the leadership of Britannia and China, but has made all the signatories of this alliance declare that Emperor Julius I of the Romans was an international criminal, thus denying any legitimacy to his government and ending any possibility of compromise. On the 1st of March, the signatories of the Treaty of London, with the addition of the Federation of Rio de La Plata and Chile, the Republic of Peru, the Republic of Gran Colombia and of the Empire of India also signed the Protocol of New York, through which they established the Community of the Free World, a military-political-economic alliance aimed at containing the Roman Empire.

On the other side, the Roman Empire responded by calling the Conference of Delphi, on the 15th of March, through which it created the League of the Oracle, which included the Empire of Japan, the Union of South Africa, the Empire of Brazil, the Federation of Malaysia and the Federation of the West Indies (both Roman protectorates). At the beginning of the conference, upon request of the Roman Emperor, the oracle was consulted and it announced that the "Second Titanomachy had started and that no man had control over its outcome."

While in Delphi the alliance was being signed and sealed with rituals and sacrifices to the Gods, things were going sour for the Roman Empire. The Syndicalist Internationale, based in Rome and piloted by Lord Mercia through his puppet, David Ablett, had began to promote strikes and revolts throughout all the Roman Empire. While the Eurasian Syndicalist Movement, active in Continental Europe and Russia, by already particularly strong, other subversive forces also grew in the Union of South Africa, the Roman Colonial Empire and in the Federation of the West Indies, where regimes based on racial segregation had made extremely easy for the Syndicalists to mobilise the native populations against the colonists. The same happened in the Roman Arab World, where the syndicalist agents could exploit both Islamic and Secular Arab Nationalists, respectively led by the rivals Muhammar Al-Gaddafi and Bashar Al-Assad, to mobilise the Arab World against the Roman Empire.

In Eastern Asia, the Empire of Japan, only ally left to the Holy Roman Empire had now become a military dictatorship under the leadership of Duke Kyoshiro Tohdoh, who ruled the country with an iron fist, after having conduced mass murders against all dissident groups, nationalised all the medias and seized foreign assets - except for the Roman ones, which were conveniently purchased by the Japanese Government at prices often above the market average -, all this with the support of the nobility, the Shintoist clergy and the Taisei Yokusankai, only political party allowed in the Empire of the Rising Sun. However, with the exception of the Roman Empire, Japan was surrounded by enemy countries: the Nanking China in the West, the People's Federation of Indonesia in the South, and the Holy Britannian Empire across the Pacific Ocean, now controller of the Philippines and expanding its 7th Fleet.

China, on the other hand, was now on the offensive against the Roman and Japanese Empires, also helped by the partisan resistance taking place in the occupied territories. While its armies remained inferior to those of Japan and Rome, they were however becoming more efficient and capable of inflicting greater losses to both. This had forced, by the end of March, the Romans to retreat from most of Southern China, holding only the coastal region including Canton, Macau and Hong Kong.

Finally, in South America, Brazil was now paying the annexation of Cisplatina (formerly Uruguay) with geopolitical isolation. All its neighbours had allied with Britannia and were now preparing to simultaneously strike at the Empire of Brazil. On the other hand, helped by the League of Delphi, the Empire of Brazil was already beginning to mobilise and the tropical empite had to prepare contingency plans for a military invasion from the Spanish Speaking America.


5th of April, 2025

Petropolis, Imperial Province of Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil

The Imperial City of Petropolis was built under the reign of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil to be a holidays town for the aristocracy residing in Rio de Janeiro. This was a function that it had kept both under the Britannian domination, as well as after the restoration of the country's independence, in 2020. Located in the highlands West of Rio de Janeiro, it was surrounded by the wonderful landscapes of the tropical forest, but had a chilly climate, characteristic of that mountanious region. Despite the month of April being still the season of rains, Empress Carine had choosen that place for the celebration of her marriage with Prince Pedro Gastao of Orleans-Bragança, heir of the Imperial House that ruled Brazil before the Britannian Invasion of 1891-5.

The marriage was to be celebrated in the Cathedral of Saint Peter of Alcantara, by the Imperial Church of Brazil, following the liturgy of what used to be the traditional latin Catholic mass. This was an event of international relevance, attended by the members of the House of Orleans-Bragança, the remaining members of the Imperial House of Britannia, except Nunnally (so Cornelia and Schneizel), the Roman Imperial Family, the Japanese Imperial Family, together with high ranked officers of those and all the other allied states. In addition to them, were also present the highest authorities of the Empire of Brazil and all the Brazilian nobles with the Grandee Status and the high ranked officers of the Imperial and Military Order of Christ, of Saint Benedict of Avis and of Santiago of the Sword. Finally, filling the last rows of the cathedral, were several distinguished citizens, to represent the third estate.

After celebrating the initial formulas of the mass, the ceremony of the marriage began with the entrances of the two spouses: first Prince Pedro Gastao, accompanied by his grandfather, Prince Bertrand, who also had the honourary title of Pater Patriae, who was serving on that day as marriage godfather for his grandson and then Empress Carine I of Brazil, having as her marriage godfather Emperor Julius I of the Romans.

The ceremony followed the solemn protocol of Christian royal marriages, with the Empress, after the officialisation of their marriage, conceding to her new husband the status of Prince Consort of Brazil and Duke of Sao Paulo. Following the end of the ceremony, a gala dinner followed by the grand ball was organised at the Imperial Palace of Petropolis, summer residence of the Empress.


"May I go back to our room at 22:00h?" Asked Anya, while they were at table having the dessert.

"Anya come on, don't be rude!" Replied Giulio. "Let's at least dance the first walzers together."

"Can't Lucrezia or Ayano do it in my place?"

"No way! Ayano is dancing with Amedeo, at it is obvious that it should be and Lucrezia is dancing with the King of Austria and I want her to do so. Anya please, stop being childish."

"Alright, you won... But after the first two I will go to bed!"

"Fine, fine, after the first two you go wherever you want."

"I am sorry, but I am tired, I arrived three hours ago from Rome, not like you and the others, who had two days to rest and get ready. Also, do we really have to go to that opera thing in Tokyo two days from now?"

Giulio looked at that almost astonished by her behaviour.

"Yes? I mean... Do you have something more important to do than attending official State events? Are you forgetting that we are the Emperor and Empress of Rome and not Mr. and Mrs. Galahad-Canossa?"

"Alright... I give up." Replied Anya with resignation.


The dinner had now finished and in the ball room the guests were having champagne and chatting, before the orchestra would begin to play. Cornelia and Schneizel went both to talk to Carine.

"We would like to thank you for inviting us, Carine." Started Schneizel.

"We didn't expected it and we are glad you are willing to reconcile."

"I thank you for having accepted." Replied Carine with a smile. "We are the last survivors of the family and we should try to be united and help each other. All of our other siblings have died except for Nunnally and all of this simply because we never cared about each other and have been constantly trying to kill ourselves."

"Indeed, those rules were stupid and cruel and inflicted us so much suffering." Replied Cornelia thinking about Euphemia's tragic fate.

"Maybe in the end, being defeated by Rome was a good thing, at least it ended that unbearable killing spree." Observed Schneizel with some bitterness.

"Anyway, let's not think about the past." Cut short Carine. "Let's think of the present. We are together now, we have reconciled and above anything we have to save Nunnally's life. I think this should be our common goal."

"I agree. To Nunnally!" Said Schneizel raising his glass.

"To Nunnally!" Replied Cornelia.

"To Nunnally." Said Carine raising her own glass.


Not far from them, Empress Mother Charlotte d'Orleans was talking to her cousin Bertrand d'Orleans-Bragança.

"I am so happy to see the young generation of the family thriving and making its own path." Said Charlotte. "In the end, the future belongs to them."

"God wanting, there will be a future." Replied Bertrand, without hiding his pessimism.

"You don't think so?" Asked Charlotte.

"I am just worried. There is more than half of the world wanting your son's head."

"He'll find a way through it. He is smart."

"I have no doubts of it, after all he managed to do what he did with all odds against him." Replied Bertrand.

After some silence, the old Brazilian Prince spoke again.

"I am nonetheless worried by a thing about him."

"I hope it's not his marriage? I have never fully approved that marriage of him with Lady Alstreim, but you know how stubborn he can be..."

"Oh no, not this, it has to do with religion. I am worried that he has decided to resurrect so many pagan idols and throw the peoples of Eurasia into spiritual disorder. Also, it saddens me to know that not only he is worshipping those...'Gods', but he is also prosecuting the Christians, turning Churches into pagan temples and doing things as such. I am worried for him."

Charlotte laughed sweetly.

"Ah, Bertrand, you old bigot! I don't think you should be overly worried. I mean, he is still young and you know how those kids nowadays are: first they begin with weird music, that Metal thing, then they read Nietzsche, Evola and some other crazy philosopher, then they begin doing this weird stuff. I am more than sure that it's just a phase that will pass as he will grow more mature."

"Well, fine, if you say so..." Replied Bertrand, not at all convinced by her words.


9th of April, 2025

Tokyo, Empire of Japan

The visit of the Roman Emperor and his family to Japan, in April 2025, marked the final official blessing to the Restoration of February, as the coup d'état carried on by the Kodoha was known in Japan's official narrative. The Roman Entourage arrived in Tokyo on the 8th of April, including as part of the delegation the Emperor, the Empress, the Empress Mother Charlotte, Princess Lucrezia, Duke Amedeo of Parma and Piacenza and his wife, Duchess Consort Ayano. Their stay would have been of four days. On the first day, when they would arrive, they would have been first welcomed at the HM's Embassy to the Empire of Japan, from where they would have left for the Imperial Palace, to be by the Emperor with all his government. On the second day, they would have paid an official visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, in Tokyo and then in the evening they would have took part to the inauguration of the Imperial Opera of Tokyo, with premiere of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, co-organised by the Opera of Tokyo and the Teatro La Fenice, of Venice. On the third day, they would have visited the Imperial Naval Academy of Yokosuka, the INS Yamato and the INS Musashi, before returning to Tokyo to sign, at the Imperial Palace, the Treaty of Freedom and Cooperation Between the Holy Roman Empire and the Empire of Japan and formalising the return of the territories, troops and equipments captured during the Operation Sakura. Finally, they would have departed from Tokyo-Narita in the morning of the 12th of April.


There was a large crowd inside the hall of the newly built Imperial Opera of Tokyo, waiting for the arrival of the authorities to begin the inauguration. Projected by the Austrian architect Gustav Gluck, the building was based on the Bayreuth Opera, projected for Wagner's operas in the 19th century and was among the biggest in the world. Gathered in the hall for the inauguration were many Japanese nobles and distinguished subjects, including Kaguya Sumeragi, foreign diplomats residing in Tokyo (except for the Chinese, who had declined the invitation as an act of protest against the Japanese reconciliation with Rome) and other distinguished guests.

The first to arrive was the Japanese entourage, escorted by the Imperial Household Guard and coming in seven carriages from the Imperial Palace. It included the whole Imperial Family, Prime Minister Tohdoh and the Minister of the Imperial Household, Colonel Terauchi Maeda. After them, the Roman entourage came on seven Maserati belonging to the Embassy. Their delegation, other than the original group that came to Japan, also included Don Fernando de Medina Sidonia, Duke of Medina Sidonia and Ambassador of Rome to the Emperor of Japan, with his wife, Duchess Victoria and his children: Don José and Dona Letizia. In addition to them, Anna Clément, who happened to be in Japan for a negotiation on behalf of her father, was added to the list of the guests.

At their arrival at the Opera, they were first received by an applause, accompanied by the flashes of the cameras of the photographers gathered around them. The first to make their entrance were Giulio and Anya, the former in a smoking with all the honours on it, the latter in a pink dress, also showing all of her decorations. After them, came all the rest of the delegation. As they made their entrance, the orchestra played the Kaiserhymne, to welcome them.

"Are you better now?" Asked Giulio to Anya. "Or will you want to leave earlier also today?"

"Not at all, I am more than happy to be here. Let's just hope we will go quickly to watch the opera."

The Roman monarchs greeted their Japanese counterparts with a handshake, as they were peers. The rest of the delegation instead, bowed, as by protocol.

Following the welcoming addressess, they proceeded with the speeches. In growing order of importance, first spoke the Maestro of the Orchestra, the Director of the Opera, the director of La Fenice and then the Roman Emperor, who gave a brief speech celebrating and then finally the Emperor of Japan.

"Sons of the Land of Yamato" Began the Emperor.

"Only last month this country had rid herself of those forces that were opposed to all those traditions that for two millenias have characterised our civilisation. Those were the heirs of the Black Rebellion, which stood against tradition, monarchy and order on behalf of modern, subversive false values.

As We said in that occasion, nothing comes without consequences and putting in doubt the connection between the Heaven and the Land of Yamato would liberate a wind, that would wipe out all those trees whose roots did not stood deeply and firmly in Japan's land.

Now, thanks to the effort of Our loyal vassals, Duke Tohdoh first of them, to our Loyal Armed Forces and to the Taisei Yokusankai, Japan is seeing the light again. Our destiny has now been rejoined with that of the Romans, this excellent nation, just as old as ours, that together with us has received a divine consecration to rule over the World. It is therefore natural that the Japanese and the Roman people, with the blessings of the Gods, will make history together.

This theatre, result of the collaboration between Roman and Japanese, combined with today's opera, Madama Butterfly, composed by the Italian Giacomo Puccini to portray the first contacts between Japanese and Romans and presented today thanks to the collaboration between the Opera of Tokyo and the one of Venice, stand as eternal proof of the brotherhood between our peoples.

Long live Rome!

Long live Japan!"

With those words, everybody cheered to Rome and Japan, raising their glasses of champagne. This marked the official inauguration of the Opera, after which the guests could finally follow inside to the prèmiere of Madama Butterfly.


Author's Note

Dear readers,

I hope you are enjoying the chapters until now and I hope everything is clear. I do apologise for the constant delays and irregularities but other than my personal commitments, the current situation in Italy has distracted me a bit from writing. I will nonetheless try to keep publishing whenever I can and as frequently as possible, but as you can imagine.

Thanks for the patience,

Freiherr von Dorndorf