one day, russia asked his childhood frenemy volga bulgaria a very important question.
'hey bulgaria, what's the key to being a strong and prosperous country?'
'the key to being strong and prosperous in my case is that I'm smart and I've surrounded myself with smart people' volga bulgaria replied. 'here I'll show you. hey! bashkiria!'
'yeah?'
'I've got a riddle to tell you! your parents have a son, but that son is not your brother. who's that son?'
bashkiria thinks for a bit and replies with 'well of course that's me'
'yes you're right. here see what I mean russia?'
'oh! I understand.'
centuries pass, now russia is no longer a weak little child, but a big strong country who has many subordinates. he however thinks over his friend's words and wonders if he has succeeded in surrounding himself with intelligent people. having clever people work for you can be really useful, as long as they obey you.
'hey! lithuania! come here~ I've got something to ask you'
lithuania, trembling, comes to russia.
'y-yes mr russia?'
'I've got a riddle for you! your parents have a son, but that son is not your brother. who's that son?'
lithuania thinks for a moment. 'am I the answer?' he ponders in his head. 'I'm not sure, if I get it wrong, russia might punish me' he covers in fear at the thought.
'm-mr russia, may I think about it today and answer you in the evening?'
'as you wish, lithuania'
lithuania leaves russia's office and starts asking other countries in the household. nobody is sure in their answers; some don't even know how to answer. finally, he asks estonia, the smartest one of the baltics.
'estonia, I gotta ask you something. there's a riddle which goes like that: your parents have a son, but that son is not your brother. who's that son?'
'well obviously the answer is me'
'are you sure?'
'yeah, 100%'
lithuania thinks 'well I thought that I was the answer but I trust estonia for this one'
he then goes to russia's office, ready to present him with the answer.
'mr russia, I've got the answer to your riddle! the answer is estonia!'
'nooo, silly lithuania' russia says. 'the answer is bashkiria.'