I Became the Last Princess of the Brown Bear Kingdom

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Honestly, I was thinking I could at least seize some assets and give a little protection. But this guy? Can’t do it.

He doesn’t even know what he did wrong.

“Well, whatever. Leave him to the Libyans before you come to me.”

“Huh?”

“You all took down a dictator, so I’ll let you decide what to do with this guy.”

We need to seize Gaddafi’s property and help develop Libya in our way.

As long as we solve this, I’m fine.

They need to punish him themselves. If I step in, people might be temporarily satisfied but will end up harboring resentment.

“Hang him!”

“Death to the military dictator!”

“We can’t have a selfish person as our leader!”

Looks like the Libyans decided to execute Gaddafi.

It seems a good number of people died because of this Gaddafi during the investigation process.

Not surprising. No matter how uncivilized a country is, there will be figures who resist.

That’s how history goes.

Even Yeon Gaesomun from Goguryeo killed King Yeongnyu and his officials during a coup. During the military coup in Goryeo, scholars were executed left and right.

There’s a limit to leniency.

“Ah. No! Please! I’ll do anything! Just spare me!”

In the future, this will serve as a good example for the Libyans.

If you become a dictator, you die. This will serve as a model, making it harder for anyone to try that.

It would be perfect to have the Libyan Free Army under the Rome Treaty as well.

We’ll ensure the government can’t embezzle our money anymore.

As I quietly observed, I heard Louise chatting with the Libyans.

“What should we do if they’re asking for a guillotine?”

“Where was the guillotine used recently?”

Where indeed?

I hadn’t heard any recent news about it; maybe I just wasn’t paying attention, but at least from what I know, there weren’t any.

I have no idea how often a guillotine has been used in this timeline.

“I heard they executed a serial killer in France 20 years ago.”

Ah, France again. Never one to miss out on the opportunity.

“They executed a serial killer in France?”

Hmm, guillotines. I don’t think it’s a bad idea. After all, this is Libya. Cutting off the head of someone who has no sense of remorse isn’t really an issue, is it?

It’s important to show how miserable a dictator’s end can be. Yeah.

Honestly, if I were a dictator, I’d hope some lunatic would take me out for personal reasons.

I mean, I’m genuinely trying to lead but know the feeling of being rejected by the people.

This is all because of handing power over to the people.

If he thinks he can just keep being a pawn for Russia forever, then it’s safe to say Gaddafi really has no sense.

“Is there a guillotine?”

“Yes. I brought one, just in case.”

Oh man, typical France. Always prepared with everything.

“Of course, France brought a guillotine just in case.”

I’d prefer to avoid something like a guillotine, but there’s no choice with a guy like that.

“Though it looks a bit barbaric.”

Well, guillotines are just part of history.

Seeing how the great powers find it barbaric when Joseon cuts off heads is genuinely ridiculous.

Still, I think this is necessary with a guillotine.

“Please! Spare me! I’ll give you anything! Just let me live!”- Bang!

Waaaaah!

And then, the guillotine finally fell.

Perhaps because the cheers had been continuous since just before the blade dropped, I couldn’t hear the sound of the head falling.

In an instant, I found myself touching my own neck.

“Hmm. Seeing that makes my neck feel a little chilly.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Louise tilted her head.

“I saw my parents and siblings shot down by Bolsheviks with my own eyes.”

Honestly, thinking back to that day feels kind of dirty.

No, it was abrupt, and witnessing those things made it feel like that.

“Y-Yeah.”

“Life is quite amusing. Just a moment ago, that guy was begging for his life, and now here’s his head rolling over there.”

In short, I might have ended up like that if I were normal.

To be precise, it was execution style, but think about it: being beheaded is still being beheaded.

In European history, how many women lost their heads?

Among them, there are those who were wronged, and it’s rumored that some women lost their heads during revolutions in France for ridiculous accusations.

Of course, in this case, the guilt is clear.

He purged people in the Great Purge, and while we may overlook that, he embezzled money from the Rome Treaty and didn’t get anything done except in Tripoli.

Moreover, to create a pro-Rome Treaty faction, we must help the Libyans whatever their decision.

“That’s true.”

“The life of a human is really fleeting.”

When I think about that, I think this is better.

At least if I’m not dead, I won’t end up like that.

Gaddafi. He might have lived well if it weren’t for me.

Well, that’s a fair point. There must be someone in the Duma cooking away in the back.

If I chased after every last one of those guys, it would turn into a reign of terror, so it’s probably better not to meddle unnecessarily, or there could surprisingly be some lack of corruption.

After all, isn’t this a land of saints?

The problem is he’s a military dictator.

“Alright, let’s establish a government.”

First, the Rome Treaty sent officials to discuss establishing a government in Libya.

The figures involved in taking down Gaddafi formed a Provisional Government.

And of course, the new Libyan government needed to be something new.

“Inviting the King back is necessary, but I believe power should rotate through a parliamentary system like in Russia.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. The king’s power needs to be checked, and political parties should exist to maintain a balance of power.”

The Rome Treaty side provided much advice.

The government needed to be effectively established and develop its capacity to hand over power.

“As a partner in the Rome Treaty, there’s hardly a country that would attack Libya, right? Given Libya’s current financial state, it might be best just to keep the military as the Free Army for now.”

No matter how you look at it, there’s not enough budget to grow the military.

More than that, it’s a process of modernizing the country, which couldn’t even be spent on weapons.

“Still, we need a certain scale, right? The country is in chaos. Refugees might come in from Africa, and securing order is urgent.”

“Hmm. How about this? We deploy some of our treaty army to your country. Of course, you’ll need to cover the costs of their stationing, but it would definitely be more economical than expanding Libya’s military.”

Due to military dictatorship, the military was a sensitive issue for Libya.

So growing the military felt tricky, but so did disarmament.

The only reassurance was that there probably wouldn’t be foreign invasions.

The chosen solution was to pay the treaty army and keep a military presence.

If there’s even a small treaty army, it shows that any country declaring war on Libya would have to contend with the Rome Treaty.

“Who would’ve thought it would be like having US troops stationed?”

Well, it’s not a bad deal for either Libya or us.

Libya began to stabilize like this.

Now, what remains is Egypt. The bizarre events going on in Egypt—the secret attempts to grab a share of Suez.

It might be a bit silly to bring an army for this, but since we saw Libya being taken, Egypt will surely react.

After all, this proves that the Rome Treaty isn’t an easy target.

“But what about Egypt?”

“They’re planning to cut off a tail.”

Beria, who just returned from Egypt, handed in his report.

Cutting off a tail. They probably want to throw one person under the bus to cover up all the sins.

They’ll be the ones in charge of the Suez share while trying to slip away unnoticed.

However, that feels a bit off. I can’t just let that slide.

“They’re cutting off a tail, claiming they have nothing to do with it.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. They’re a detestable bunch.”

It is indeed detestable. It can’t be forgiven.

If the justification seems plausible, we can’t just poke at them, and using that to whine for help from the US is also out of the question.

They need to hold a solid justification. That’s the problem.

“But if a plausible justification exists, we can’t help but overlook it.”

Translation: they’re clearly scared.

“They’re willing to accept an investigative team and negotiate.”

Oh, look at that. Seeing people get hit around certainly brings wisdom.

They’ll cooperate with the investigative team. Just please don’t attack.

For us, we can’t just unnecessarily deploy troops and exhaust our resources. So it’s actually good to watch Egypt’s actions for now.

We need to be prepared for any possible attacks.

“Alright. First, let the Rome Treaty side request to send an investigative team directly. Then let’s scrutinize the current situation in Egypt.”

There’s no one who can come out clean without leaving a trace behind.

Is there really no one?

If we dig and dust gets stirred up, that’s still dust. No one can stop it.

So, we’ve got to deal with Egypt fairly and squarely.

Of course, if they truly repent, they wouldn’t end up like Gaddafi.

I can afford to overlook certain things.

“Yes. We’ll check on their modernization efforts.”

That’s the money we gave them for modernization.

If their shady actions regarding the Suez share were calculated, we could certainly overlook that.

Though they don’t seem like the kind to do that.

If they were to develop the country properly, I could forgive them.

But if it’s the opposite, I’ll have to smack them down.

“By the way, is there really a need to land somewhere in the middle? Can’t we just push into Egypt from Turkey?”

That’s a valid point. We could have bypassed all this nonsense and just marched in from Turkey.

There are plenty of complex reasons for this.

“People tend to panic when they’re hit unexpectedly. If we wind up pushing in from the side and Libya decides to ramp up their defense, that could be problematic.”

In fact, troops began ramping up their defenses as we approached Tripoli.

Considering that, we might need to assess the worst-case scenario.

Whether that straightforward method will work is another issue altogether.

“Speaking of which, who’s the leader of Egypt now?”

What kind of guy is the leader of Egypt?

He was related to the Middle Eastern wars in history.

I’d like to know if he’s the same guy.

“The current leader of Egypt is Gamal Abdel Nasser.”

“Gamal Abdel Nasser.”

He was quite a character in the Middle Eastern wars, wasn’t he?

He got knocked around during the second one, yet he still had loyal supporters.

Of course, whether he is the same guy I know is another matter.

“Who’s that guy?”

I should at least know something about the leader to respond appropriately.

“He’s a proponent of Pan-Arabism and has occasionally challenged Turkey over Syria.”

A proponent of Pan-Arabism, and Syria, huh?

Oh, is he throwing a fit because he wants to take Syria away?

I vaguely remember hearing that Syria and Egypt joined together. They formed some kind of alliance.

I thought I saw that in community discussions about the Middle Eastern wars.

“He challenges regarding Syria, does he?”

Didn’t see that coming. That’s quite peculiar.

Does this mean he’s planning to mess with Turkey, which is under the Rome Treaty?

Or maybe it’s just for domestic political grandstanding.

“Well, if Egypt claims they’re making an effort…”

“Efforts without results are meaningless. They totally have the feel of that Egypt, don’t you think?”

If there are no results, what’s the point of the effort?

Besides, Egypt is packed with ulterior motives.

So, if it doesn’t sit well with me, they should be punished.

“Given what he said, they must have already investigated, right?”

“It seems they are at least less crazy than Gaddafi in Tripoli. It doesn’t appear they’ve done anything suicidal.”

“Is support for Nasser high?”

Originally, pushing troops into Libya was successful mostly because Libyans expressed strong resentment towards military dictatorships.

However, if Nasser has high support, then if we step in, the people might pivot entirely against Rome.

Taking over Egypt would be easy.

But If that’s really the case, it could be difficult to mobilize our forces.

“Yes. In particular, older generations seem to like President Nasser. At least he didn’t do anything like Gaddafi.”

“I see.”

Does that mean there’s at least some promise of results?

It seems he hasn’t conducted purges like a military dictator.

At a minimum, he appears to be capable of winning the public’s favor.