Chapter 547

Seven hours earlier.

At eight o’clock on Easter evening, Mecklenburg sat at the massive oak table after being ordered to attend an emergency meeting of the Imperial Family. The Imperial Family had already convened and adjourned several times, and this seemed to be the third or fourth meeting.

Not long after he took his seat, he came across a name that was both welcome and unwelcome.

The Emperor’s secretary took a cream-colored letter from a small mailbox and announced in a clear voice, “A letter has arrived from His Excellency Adrian Askanien, Deputy Minister of Magic.”

The Emperor nodded, signaling him to read it.

The secretary hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“His Excellency has made it clear that he has neither the obligation nor the means to confirm that Lukas Askanien did not become involved with Pleroma during the period of his absence from the Empire. However, he swears on his honor as a fellow human being that he has no doubts whatsoever about the convictions or resolve of his younger brother, Lukas Askanien.”

When the Imperial Family hurriedly sent him a letter demanding that he take responsibility for his younger brother, Adrian Askanien had cut off the Imperial Family’s attempt to shift the blame in a single stroke.

Mecklenburg had always admired Adrian Askanien’s decisiveness, the way he refused to bend even before the Emperor.

Although Adrian Askanien was a servant of the Imperial Family, he truly had neither the means nor the reason to directly intervene in a family matter that had occurred while he was abroad at the Imperial Family’s request. He could readily accept the moral responsibility that came with a family member’s ethical transgression, but if they were now demanding that he should have kept a closer watch on his family, then he had every right to say, in so many words, that he could only regard them as a joke.

And separate from his firm refusal to let them quietly shift the responsibility onto him, he also stated that he did not believe his younger brother would ever have been loyal to Pleroma.

The Emperor, his eyes narrowing slightly at those two forceful statements, asked, “What measures does the Imperial Family need to take going forward?”

His secretary read out the message.

At that moment, Mecklenburg thought he must have misheard.

Everyone in the room except the Emperor and the Crown Prince widened their eyes in shock. Adrian Askanien’s message had left them all stunned.

Words Adrian Askanien had spoken when the two of them were alone flashed through Mecklenburg’s mind like scenes from a dream.

There was an unbridgeable gulf between the warm-hearted request Adrian had made that day and the cold-blooded decision he had made today.

Mecklenburg knew. He was rational by nature, but like anyone else, he had a somewhat emotional and sentimental side, which meant he was always making an effort to keep himself in check. Adrian Askanien, on the other hand, seemed as though he never needed to make such an effort.

Adrian was difficult to sum up in a single word. He was almost unnaturally kind, knew exactly when to show emotion with textbook precision, and set an example for others, yet there was something about him that had always unsettled the young Mecklenburg. No matter what happened right before his eyes, Adrian would simply keep his eyes open and smile by lifting only the corners of his mouth. He had done that as a child, too, just as he often did after becoming a politician.

That was all.

There was nothing morally wrong with it, nor was it something that should have offended anyone. And yet it bothered Mecklenburg that much. Many people called it a wise smile, but Mecklenburg had always found something frightening about that face. Perhaps it was because he could never tell what Adrian was thinking…

Adrian Askanien’s blue eyes were so bright inside that looking into them felt as though you might be pulled in and disappear without a trace. Even after the years passed and Adrian began wearing softer expressions more often, his mind of steel had never learned how to stay hidden. Even when those piercing eyes were looking at the world, it was as though he were laying his own world over it.

Today, he acted like a strategist without the slightest concern for what became of his beloved younger brother, as though Lukas Askanien were a complete stranger to him.

Some might call that opportunism, but Mecklenburg, who had watched him for so long, knew better.

He could picture it clearly. Adrian Askanien must have written that letter with a face entirely free of guilt or anxiety.

His absolute distinction between public and private matters, and above all the triumph of his powerful reason, had often left Mecklenburg frozen in shock at Adrian’s ruthlessness even during their school days. And today, after all this time, he was frozen that way again.

Adrian Askanien was so wise and broad-minded that even his peers, despite pretending otherwise, would secretly come to admire him. That was precisely why it frightened Mecklenburg to realize that there were moments when Adrian would never extend that generosity.

Mecklenburg’s spine stiffened, leaving him unable to move.

Adrian Askanien’s decision might have been perfectly rational, reasonable, and even effective. As an uninvolved third party, Mecklenburg knew that if he had not known Askanien personally, he would have given the exact same order Adrian Askanien had.

But the Mecklenburg of today could not do that.

That was the problem.

He was simply shocked because it was such a rational decision that even a family member would have found it difficult to make.

Yes. That was all it was. A perfectly ordinary, unremarkable course of action.

Look. Even the many ministers sitting nearby had accepted it, regained their composure, and some had even seemed relieved.

The Emperor, as though he agreed with the opinion himself—or perhaps merely pretending to—treated the matter as nothing particularly important and asked about their next strategy.

“Next?”

“‘I recommend waiting until this evening for the public fervor to burn itself out, then beginning the full-scale operation the moment midnight arrives. You must let the world learn of Lukas Askanien’s achievements, Your Majesty.’ That is what Deputy Minister Askanien said.”

“His achievements?”

“The accomplishments he has made at the Headquarters. Even if they are classified, he believes that, for now, we must reveal what feats Askanien has accomplished as a member of the Imperial Family’s service in order to ease the pressure over the government’s responsibility.”

The Emperor answered with a solemn expression, getting straight to the heart of the matter.

“‘Let the world learn’?”

“Yes. Deputy Minister Askanien recommends spreading the information through the yellow press and the secret police rather than having the government publicly announce it. …He put it this way: ‘Then, by tomorrow morning, when the morning newspapers are published in Prussia, the press and the Prussian public should have reached the point where they are moving together toward atonement. To shift the focus of the unrest elsewhere, it is important to make the situation clear enough that it becomes unclear. The proper course is to lay out every detail of an event perceived in binary terms, making it clear that nothing can simply be reduced to either of two minimum states. This is a way of making use of the virtue inherent in the people. By midnight tomorrow, the focus of the unrest must have shifted elsewhere, so conserve your ammunition as much as possible.’”

Mecklenburg swallowed.

His friend never hesitated to speak plainly. He was the ideal person to identify the root of a problem and find a way to solve it without recklessly exposing that root. Had he ever been anything less than the ideal person for the job?

He had pointed out that if the government kept stepping forward, its subjects would eventually stop trusting anything it said. Even if the government manipulated the situation through intermediaries such as the press or the secret police, providing too many rebuttals too often could only keep the focus of the unrest fixed on the government.

He was saying not to immediately refute every theory the public came up with. Instead, provide a single piece of contradictory evidence that did not support public opinion, wait for a new public consensus to form, and then throw in another needle to burst that bubble. Repeat that cycle of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis until the public exhausted itself and fell apart.

In other words, divide them until they could no longer stand together.

The public quickly lost interest in subjects that failed to gather people around them and moved on to find somewhere else to unite, somewhere else to split into opposing sides.

Virtue? What a joke.

Mecklenburg shuddered, frightened by how thorough his friend’s reasoning was. He had handed the controller to the public, but that was only an act of humility.

He was the one gripping the controls.

In the current situation, where even the slightest variable could determine whether the operation succeeded or failed, no one in the room had managed to arrive at this conclusion. Once they heard it, it was the kind of advice that made them think, Why didn’t we think of that? We could have easily reached the same conclusion ourselves. Yet before hearing it, it had not been a priority in anyone’s mind. Some had not even thought of it, and even those who had vaguely considered the possibility had given no thought to the details.

What had always set Adrian Askanien apart was that he could see through the game board far more clearly than anyone else. But even when he couldn’t, even when he was removed from the situation in Germany as he was now, he could still offer insight one step ahead of everyone else.

Without grand speeches or some strategy that would leave everyone speechless, he simply took the hand of the Emperor holding the chess piece, placed his hand over it, and guided the piece onto the board using only the most straightforward fundamentals. That was the role of an adviser, and despite how clear that duty was, it was something most advisers failed to do properly.

Mecklenburg had been defeated by Adrian even in his absence…

And yet, why didn’t that fact feel miserable today?

Mecklenburg realized that something else was scattering his thoughts.

The Emperor closed his eyes and nodded as he spoke.

“Good. I understand the reasoning well enough.”

The secretary paused briefly in deference before continuing politely.

“And Your Majesty, His Excellency Adrian Askanien said that Russia would not be a good choice. He says that if Germany is not included in France’s continental alliance against Britain, then our hand should turn toward Britain. He also says that we must not abandon our existing allies, Austria-Hungary and the Italian peninsula, so we need to find a way to ease their losses without making excessive concessions. As I said, he believes now is not a good time to choose Russia.”

“What is the basis for that?”

The Emperor asked, the muscles of his stubborn yet gentle face—the very expression Mecklenburg had admired as a child—twitching slightly.

Even now, the Emperor was still an emperor who could, in his own way, make a case for his rule so long as the matter of the cult was left aside. Yet strangely, despite sitting before the Emperor he respected, Mecklenburg did not feel his stomach churning with the same mixture of anticipation and anxiety as before. Instead, his mind had simply gone blank.

All he could think about was Lukas Askanien’s safety.

Whenever he imagined what Askanien would have to endure from here on, he wanted to leap from his seat that very instant and shout at him to prepare to leave the country. He did not have the courage, as a human being, to watch what was about to happen. No matter how irritating his junior might have been, this was too much.

For the junior he had come to know, for the national hero, and for the ‘just’ Lukas Askanien—who was about to suffer this much disgrace and hardship over something that wasn’t even true—Mecklenburg felt as though he were committing a crime simply by sitting here and watching Adrian Askanien and the Emperor play their game of chess.

He felt the fitted shirt and jacket constricting his body, tightening around his throat and making it hard to breathe.

The Emperor’s solemn voice flowed calmly, then began to fade into the distance.

“I chose Russia for a reason as well. Russia has strong ambitions in the Balkans, making it a powerful ally capable of desperately checking Austria-Hungary, which currently holds influence there. The Austro-Hungarian Empire may be swayed by the French Empire’s deception and decide to turn against the German Empire. We have already fought wars against France and Austria, and won great victories against both. From their perspective, they share one thing in common: both suffered crushing defeats at the hands of Germany. Even if the two countries are at odds over the theft of the parure, diplomacy is war. Yesterday’s enemy can become today’s ally, and today’s ally can become tomorrow’s enemy. We must prevent these two great empires from joining hands and pressuring us from the west and south. Am I wrong?”

The Emperor’s words failed to reach him, scattering somewhere along the way. Mecklenburg only came back to his senses much later, when His Majesty began wrapping up the meeting and issuing orders.

“Then, whether it is today or tomorrow, the moment Lukas Askanien is arrested, interrogate him. We must use human blood to determine whether he is Pleroma or not…”

Mecklenburg felt that the Imperial architecture and insignia that had once filled him with excitement were making him more uneasy than ever today. The Emperor’s voice returned clearly to its usual pace only when His Majesty’s gaze settled fully on Mecklenburg.

“Use every means at your disposal and be thorough. And, Lord Albert Mecklenburg.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please give me your orders.”

Mecklenburg straightened his already rigid back even further and answered in a loud voice. The Emperor extended his hand and raised it politely as he spoke.

“If the arrest is successful, I would like you to take responsibility for monitoring the Second Prince of Anhalt as his direct senior in the 101st Unit at the Headquarters and as the heir to the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. I wish to ease Lord Askanien’s burden and safeguard the security of our Empire with the help of someone as thorough as you. However, as this is directly related to the Empire’s security, it will be a serious responsibility. If you find it too burdensome, you need not accept.”

“Then…”

At that moment, Mecklenburg screamed at himself inwardly. He knew he was about to start spouting nonsense. His heart was pounding like mad, making it hard to breathe.

“I’ll do it.”

The Emperor merely gave a slight nod, moving only his eyes and head. Rather than answering, he expressed his approval with restrained composure.

But Mecklenburg didn’t stop there. Forcing words through his trembling vocal cords, he moved his lips.

No.

The voice in his heart tried to stop him. His compulsively clean nature was already making him feel disgusted and nauseated simply by imagining what was about to happen.

Even so, he opened his mouth in a firm voice.

“But I would also like to participate as an interrogator. Please give me the opportunity to work for Germany’s security.”

He didn’t know what he had been thinking when he did it.

Had he thought it was for the best because His Majesty, who had never doubted his loyalty in the first place, would trust him even more because of his proposal? No.

Was it, as he had said, because he wanted the opportunity to work for Germany’s security? No.

Mecklenburg knew what Lukas Askanien was going to go through. If he had to stand by and watch someone else enter that room and treat a person as though he were no longer a person, it would have been even more painful.

The thought that a crime was being committed underground in the name of justice drove him toward panic. A crime in the name of justice? How could such a thing exist? Justice was justice, and a crime was a crime.

The state could infringe upon an individual’s freedom in order to maintain public safety and order. That was the spirit of the Constitution.

But to wander calmly aboveground at the very moment a crime was being committed, leisurely drinking tea and wielding a baton-like rod while overseeing the safety of the Empire’s subjects—compared to the filthy blood, the filthy skin of another person, and the foul air of an enclosed space, it felt like something that would soil his own soul even more.

Even though he knew there was nothing he could actually do to resist, Mecklenburg would rather become an interrogator himself.

He knew that doing so would not allow him to help Askanien.

Was he supposed to feel satisfied watching the junior he couldn’t stand suffer beneath the oppression of the state?

No.

He did not want that.

No matter how much he disliked him, no matter how much he wanted to beat him, he did not wish for something like this to happen to him.

Mecklenburg was staring at the pink irises before him, wondering if he had heard correctly. Those eyes, hardly any different from those of his family, were unsettling enough even on an ordinary day. But at this moment, it was something else that sent a chill through Mecklenburg’s entire body.

Now that the interrogation was over, Mecklenburg understood why he had volunteered for that inhumane interrogation. He had not wanted to turn away from the crime. He needed to witness with his own eyes the moment a crime was committed in the name of justice and etch it into his mind. Even if he could not help his junior, he had to face with his own eyes the fact that something was going terribly wrong.

No one had pushed him into it. His unconscious mind had demanded it. Long ago, his unconscious had already left the place where he remained, crossed the distant ridge, and waited for Mecklenburg to walk toward it. That was why Mecklenburg had been on the verge of collapse. He had been that way the entire time. Everything around him was going mad.

Mecklenburg had kept taking antiemetics from before the interrogation until now. Lukas Askanien’s wide-open eyes, staring at him without expression, felt strange. So did his bloodless lips. He held a book in his free arm, and instead of neatly drawing his long legs inward as nobles usually did, he used them to push against the chair across from him. And now he had walked all the way over to Mecklenburg on his own two feet and was looking at him indifferently.

This free person was not the same person as before.

It was not that he had ceased to be human in the sense of being worshiped as someone who would become Christ, as Pleroma claimed. It was that power could seize a free person at will, restrict his will, and use him solely according to the state’s wishes, stripping away his humanity in the process.

But looking back, it was something that happened everywhere. Even to Mecklenburg himself.

Even if he had not volunteered to participate in the interrogation, he would have ended up turning as one of the gears in this crime. That was what had been happening every moment. He had merely witnessed the brutal shock of it through Lukas Askanien.

Whenever Mecklenburg met his junior’s indifferent eyes, he imagined that they must have held the same light every moment during the interrogation. When Lukas drank the blood, those irises and eyelids must have been filled with anger, with fear, and must surely have tightened into a frown. When Mecklenburg pierced his own vein and gave him his blood, surely not only Lukas’s words but his eyes as well must have betrayed disbelief.

Or perhaps not. Askanien might have remained calm.

But that did not change the fact that every human being everyone treated so casually had, in truth, been alive and fully alive in every moment.

Mecklenburg couldn’t help but think that it was as though no one ever truly understood, deep in their hearts, that a person was a person in every moment. He felt cut off from the world, like he had been left alone on a barren land, looking around in every direction.

Perhaps everyone had understood it, but there was nothing they could do about it, so they simply left things as they were. Eventually, it became ordinary. Then it became inertia. Then tradition.

Mecklenburg felt that this was what frightened him most.

Perhaps one day, he too would forget the shock of what had happened today and devote himself without a second thought to dehumanizing others. Before he knew it, he might even look back on the things he had done with naive pride, proud enough to call himself stupid for not realizing sooner. And what he did after knowing the truth, telling himself there was nothing he could do and simply doing as he was told, would be something entirely different. Even if the two produced the same result on the surface, they stood on opposite sides of the Rubicon¹.

The latter was a person who knew everything and still declared that, for the sake of convenience, he would continue living as he always had.

Leaving his fate in someone else’s hands and doing nothing…

“Please just make sure I don’t die. I know very well that I’m not someone you’re happy to see, Senior.”

Mecklenburg furrowed his brow a little more. Askanien was looking at him with a more desolate expression than ever.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m telling you not to go out there and say anything stupid.”

It sounded as though he were saying, You can say whatever you need to say to bring me down, but don’t tell them that I’m Nikolaus Ernst.

This was a good opportunity for Mecklenburg. He could drive the junior he found so irritating out of the Association, and perhaps even take credit for his achievements while he was at it.

Askanien didn’t seem to think Mecklenburg would deliberately do something underhanded out of malice. But under enough pressure, anyone could let something slip what they never intended to say. It seemed Askanien was simply guarding against that possibility.

Just as his observer seemed to formulate dozens of hypotheses about everything, Askanien appeared to have already branched out even into that sort of future. And yet he seemed prepared to graciously accept whatever slip Mecklenburg might make.

So long as he didn’t reveal that Askanien was Nikolaus Ernst.

Watching Mecklenburg’s wavering eyes, Askanien murmured, “If possible, promise me that now.”

“Do you really have to make me promise…?”

Mecklenburg trailed off, unable to close his mouth, and the corners of his lips drooped as though he were the one who had been hurt. Disappointment was plain on his face.

But it wasn’t disappointment directed at Askanien. He was disappointed by something he couldn’t quite put into words.

He had certainly been afraid that Askanien might use mind manipulation magic on him, but that wasn’t what frustrated him most.

Mecklenburg lowered his head and spoke dejectedly.

“Calm down. I have no intention of carelessly discussing you. I swear it before heaven.”

Mecklenburg murmured as he looked at Askanien’s hand, its skin wrinkled and damaged from being in the water for so long.

“You must be very tired.”

Of course he was. Naturally. Everyone who had known Askanien to some extent and followed him because of his family and abilities might have turned their backs on him after today’s troubling declaration. Mecklenburg was one of those people. Someone who stood at that distance, someone who might turn his back on Askanien at any time.

Mecklenburg himself had agreed with that. Or at least he thought he had. But seeing himself today, having long since thrown away all his old scruples and convictions only to shatter everything he had once believed in, perhaps that wasn’t true after all.

He didn’t know whether Askanien had directly changed him. Mecklenburg didn’t think he had. Even without Askanien, once he had reached that realization, he could never go back to the way he had been before.

But as his comrade, he couldn’t simply stand by and watch. He couldn’t leave his first obstacle after coming to that realization to fend for itself.

Askanien stared silently into Mecklenburg’s eyes. Just like that Venerable, he was looking straight through Mecklenburg, down to his very bones.

Then, without warning, Askanien began searching through Mecklenburg’s clothes. He searched him with the practiced skill he had learned at the Headquarters—Mecklenburg thought somehow things had ended up the other way around—and only after confirming that Mecklenburg had no artifacts on him did Askanien return to his usual expression and push him toward the chair.

“Nothing. Don’t just stand there. Have a seat.”

“Wh… What…”

Mecklenburg sat down almost reflexively, unable to tell whether Askanien was putting on an act or had genuinely calmed down. Had that stern expression earlier been an act too?

Before sitting down himself, Askanien suddenly seemed to remember something. He pulled a thin tin cigarette case from Mecklenburg’s chest. He took out a high-quality German cigarette and hesitated over what to do with it, then sighed, pushed it back toward Mecklenburg, and sat down.

“I’m glad you came, Senior. I’m sorry I was rude earlier.”

“I don’t know whether you mean that or you’re just saying it.”

At Mecklenburg’s timid reply, Askanien answered without much change in expression.

“You’re honest. I mean it.”

“…….”

“I was genuinely glad. Seeing a familiar face… I was happy to see you, in truth.”

Hadn’t you snapped at me earlier, asking how you could know what I would say about you?

Mecklenburg swallowed and blinked. Askanien happened to turn his gaze toward the window as he continued.

“And it’s also true that I was much more uncomfortable because of it. I’m just telling you exactly how I feel.”

“Why?”

Mecklenburg glanced at Askanien’s wet hair and asked. Why had he been uncomfortable, and why was he being honest about it…? Askanien shrugged and answered with an expression that seemed to ask why he was bringing up something so obvious.

“I don’t know what you think of me, Senior.”

He already knew. He had watched the interrogation himself. What else could he possibly think? Even so, Mecklenburg couldn’t bring himself to tell Askanien outright that he was one of the two people who had personally conducted his interrogation, regardless of whether Lukas Askanien already knew the truth. He looked at the bruised area beneath Askanien’s jaw, then turned his gaze away. Askanien continued leisurely.

“Even if I did know, I don’t particularly want your sympathy… What good would it do for you to feel sorry for me when I already have a plan?”

“I wouldn’t pity someone this damn unpleasant even if he asked me to.”

“Hahahaha!”

Askanien laughed at something that hadn’t been meant as a joke and looked out the window.

“What happened? Things outside seem more favorable than I expected.”

“Not really.”

Mecklenburg made him face reality coldly. But Askanien opened his eyes wide and argued back.

“It’s much more favorable than I expected.”

“How low were your expectations…?”

Mecklenburg avoided his gaze, cleared his throat, and continued.

“The Imperial Academy’s faculty decided to protect you. I don’t know what happened, but I suppose they must have their reasons. There are more than a few newspapers they have connections with. And even aside from that, quite a number of outlets have come out in favor of taking a cautious approach to Pleroma’s claims. It may be hard to believe, but not everyone is condemning you. There are even people supporting you without connections or influence.”

At those words, Askanien briefly showed a reaction Mecklenburg couldn’t decipher, then nodded. Mecklenburg wanted to read his expression, but whatever it had been, it had flashed across his face for only an instant. He quickly brushed aside his confusion and continued.

“Also… Somehow, news of Lukas Askanien’s achievements has leaked into southern Germany. I mean the accomplishments you made at the Headquarters—your major contributions to defeating Pleroma, and the fact that you discovered Atropos.”

“And?”

“With the media and certain people calling for caution, combined with the classified achievements you accomplished, more and more people are gradually keeping quiet. That’s all.”

“Hmm. You just said southern Germany.”

“You’re sharp. The timing happened to coincide by chance, but it was something Prussia had planned to do starting at midnight tonight as well. And we actually did it. I’d like to know how the information leaked in the south myself. Did Bavaria make a move?”

Instead of answering, Askanien smiled. Then he asked Mecklenburg.

“Who knows that information leaked out of southern Germany?”

“…For now, it’s just something I suspected while investigating on my own.”

“Good. But Prussia had already planned to leak classified information in the first place.”

“That’s right. His Excellency gave the order.”

Askanien let out a short whistle and nodded. In that moment, Mecklenburg heard no answer to his question, yet he instinctively understood. The two Askanien had come up with the same strategy without a single word passing between them. He had expected as much from the moment he heard that Askanien had surrendered himself to arrest without resistance, but it was clear that Askanien had finished carrying out every instruction in Bavaria before coming here.

Mecklenburg fell silent, lost in thought. He scanned the countless newspaper front pages plastered with articles about Nikolaus Ernst and Lukas Askanien. Everyone was praising him. Even now, especially in the south, Nikolaus Ernst was revered as nothing short of a hero of the century. This time, however, it wasn’t just the south. Much of Germany seemed to feel the same way.

The hero they couldn’t praise enough was now confined here in Charlottenburg.

And not merely confined. As far as Mecklenburg could tell, he was waiting for what came next.

Mecklenburg broke the silence.

“You did well. You really lived up to your name.”

“Which one?”

There was something playful in Askanien’s smile. Mecklenburg accepted the strangely precarious peace with his whole body and answered sincerely.

“All of them.”

“So you know now.”

Askanien merely raised the corners of his mouth in a gentle smile before answering. Mecklenburg mirrored the same expression, then recalled the first thing Adrian Askanien had instructed to do and asked, “What are you going to do? The Imperial Government and the Imperial Family have been making unreasonable demands of you this whole time. I don’t know whether you’re aware of what might happen soon, but…”

“My older brother must have ordered all of that. Right?”

Askanien narrowed his eyes and smiled. Without even having heard what his older brother had instructed, he spoke with complete confidence.

“There’s no problem. Our intentions are aligned.”

Translator Note

Today, November 1st, is Heike’s birthday! To celebrate his birthday, I’ve uploaded 10 chapters as a little gift for everyone. Happy birthday, Heike! I hope you wake up soon. We’re all waiting for you.

1. ‘The Rubicon’ refers to the Rubicon River, which Julius Caesar famously crossed in 49 BCE, setting the stage for civil war. Since then, ‘crossing the Rubicon’ has come to mean reaching a point of no return. ↩︎