KAISERPFALZ
Alter District, Valkyr Imperial Capital, Valendia
October 26, 2017
More than eight months have passed since the death Albrecht V and the throne still remained empty, yet the empire still moved forward.
It wasn’t really surprising though, and while it may look strange to a foreigner to have an empty throne, for the people of Valendia it was a normal situation: the Crown, the monarchy, is an institution that fulfills the role of a great arbiter of the empire, a balance between all the organizations that competed for power within the empire, and that role doesn’t stop just because an emperor dies.
Instead, with the death of an emperor, the person that assumes all the faculties and responsibilities of the Crown is the Grandmaster of the Valendia’s Knights of Peace, who acted as Regent of the Empire until a new emperor was elected.
All in all, it was an “arrangement” that everybody liked or at least accepted, to the point that some of the far left saw this opportunity to begin the first steps to turn Valendia into a republic, while some of the far right saw this as another symbol of the superiority of the Valendian Empire over the other countries of the world.
Except for one Theodor von Liebknecht, Grandmaster of the Valendia’s Knights of Peace and, until the election of a new monarch, Regent of the Empire;
Until today that’s it, for after months of deliberations a new sovereign was elected.
Better yet, it was the one he supported.
“With the 21 votes of the electors tallied, and with 13 votes on his favor, it is the will of this august body that the 33th Emperor of the Realm of Valendia will be Herr Ludwig Friedrich Maximilian von Werner-Lohengramm, Margrave of Baden, Knight Grand Cross, Judge Magistrate of The Most Honorable Order of the Knights of Peace of Valendia, by virtue of his abilities, character and ties of blood with the 31th Emperor Wilhelm III. Domine salvam fac Imperator.”
The words said by the elector chosen as the College’s secretary were far more longer and elaborate than needed to announce the results of an election, but they were important, for it signalled the end of the entire electionary process. Now, the only thing left to do was inform to elected person of his victory, a duty that fell of Theodor’s shoulders as regent of the empire; a duty he would be glad to do personally.
“As Regent of the Empire and president of his body, I will personally inform his majesty of the results of this votation” said the grandmaster to the other electors, who all nodded to the announcement “Please convey the decision of the College Prince Erich, Princess Alexandra and Duke Friedrich”
With the orders given, the electors stood up and began to leave the hall used for the deliberations for the last months, with Theodor leading them.
THE NAVAL ARSENAL
Brest, Brittany, Valendia
When Frederick von Lohengramm, Vice-Admiral of the Imperial Navy, was informed of the results of the imperial election, he was, as he has been doing in the last few months since the election began, silently brooding on his office in the military port of Brest; since he confirmed his candidacy to the throne he was forbidden by his superiors to participate in any kind of mission because “it wouldn’t do any good if you were elected and an accident happened”.
It was something that really irritated him, but as a dutiful soldier he merely accepted the order of his superiors and gritted his teeth.
However, after the call of one of the electors informing him the decision of the college, he couldn’t help but feel relieved, not that his face and posture betrayed his thoughts, because his face still looked like made out of granite.
Truthfully, Frederick accepted to compete for the throne out of a sense of duty, with the belief that only he was truly prepared to shoulder the burden of the crown. He was also prepared to accept any result though, so the fact he wasn’t elected didn’t affect him overtly much, beyond feeling a slight disappointment.
He also felt a slight wariness for the person chosen to become emperor, for he knew that Ludwig von Werner wasn’t a person who would follow the steps of Albrecht V and allow the Imperial Chancellor handle all of his responsibilities.
Feeling calm for the first time in many months, Frederick stood up and left his office, his mind already making plans to return to the sea as soon as possible.
LE MAURICE
Paris, France, Valendia
The other grand loser of the election, Prince Erich of Valendia, was having lunch with his most recent fling when he was informed of the decision of the electors through a call to his phone.
After being informed that he was, in fact, not elected, the prince hanged up, put his phone on his pocket, looked to his food and, with his ever present charming smile, said two words that pretty much summed up his current feelings:
“Well fuck”
“Erich?”
“Sorry babe, but not now. Waiter! scotch on the rocks please!”
A nearby waiter, who was there specifically to serve the prince, and their best client, immediately complied with the order and returned with a glass half-filled with an amber liquid and a cube of ice and placed it in front of the prince, who took the glass, gave it a swirl and drank it in one go while his beau looked on concerned.
“Erich, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
“The electors voted, and I … lost”
At the somewhat cryptic answer, Erich’s companion looked at the prince with surprise; it wasn’t exactly a secret that Erich wasn’t a strong contender for the throne, so to see him so despondent really threw her on a loop.
“Wait, I thought you weren’t interested-”
“While winning would have been nice, the throne wasn’t my main interest” replied Erich, while signaling the waiter for another scotch. “The problem is who they elected. And I lobbied for little Alexandra so much ….”
And so spend prince Erich of Valendia the rest of his afternoon: drinking expensive scotch to drown out his current tribulations, while his current girlfriend looked on worried.
TANNHAUSER TOR
Germanic District, Valkyr Imperial Capital, Valendia
Ludwig von Werner was on his office, preparing to leave after a day of work, when the Grandmaster of the Knights of Peace came, escorted by a mixed group of Valkyries and Einherjar, with one holding a sheathed sword and another one holding a small velvet cushion with an engraved metal ring with a mounted blue gem resting over it.
When he saw his superior, or more specifically what he was holding, along an escort in full ceremonial regalia, he knew the reason of their presence. Standing up, Ludwig approached the group who, with the exception of the grandmaster and the two escorts holding the sword and ring, bowed.
“By the will of the Electoral College you, Friedrich Maximilian von Werner-Lohengramm, by the virtue of your abilities, character and ties of blood with the 31th Emperor Wilhelm III, have been chosen as the 33th Emperor of Valendia. Congratulations, and please …… don’t fuck things up”
It was a crass thing to say for someone like the grandmaster, but Ludwig knew him personally, and the escort was too well trained to react to such behavior.
At the signal of Theodor, the Einherjar holding the ring approached Ludwig and offered it to him, who took it with a small nod, and placed it on the index finger of his right hand; it wasn’t an exact fit, but that could be solved in the future.
Immediately after, the Valkyrie holding the sword approached Ludwig, who like before accepted the offered item with a small nod. Unsheathing the blade halfway, the emperor-elect observed that, while old, the steel was well kept.
“There’s one last issue” said Theodor “Will you use Ludwig as your actual name?”
“No. The last thing I want is to be associated with the last emperor that used the name. “The Amorous” historians like to call him, but I like to think that “The Whoremaster” is more fitting” said Ludwig before turning around and looking through the windows to Valkyr’s skyline, reminiscing about the times he was thinking about the name he would use if he was ever elected.
“No. My name ….. my regnal name will be Frederick, Frederick the Fourth”
