Re: Blood and Iron

Coups seldom solved a nation’s problems. In fact, they had a brutal tendency to tear a new hole into an already mortal wound, and then attempt to patch it with little more than gauze and prayer.

Most people didn’t realize just how hard it was to scrub liters of blood out of carpet, rugs, and tapestries—especially if one hoped to preserve the heritage they stained.

And for Manuel, who had returned to the country of his birth, the palace he was meant to rule in, this was a sobering reminder of the price which was paid for him to be sitting where he currently was.

He noticed, once again, the stubborn bloodstain near the leg of the throne — darker now. Maybe it had seeped deeper into the stone. An aftermath of violence he wished could have been avoided—and hadn’t even known about until the gilded weight of divine rule was placed upon his brow.

The military had overthrown the Republic of Portugal practically overnight. And they had done so because, despite remaining neutral during the great war, Iberia suffered from the consequences of France’s defeat.

Democracy was not designed to endure hardship, and this had proven woefully true for the fledgling republic, which had less than a decade’s foundation to stand upon before being forced to the precipice.

What was the alternative? Marxism was unappealing, as everywhere bolshevists had appeared they brought death and despair with them, and nationalistic alternatives seemed to favor the crown in this life, rather than the wheat and the fasces.

As a result, Manuel was brought back, in an attempt to restore the Kingdom of Portugal which had existed stably for nearly 800 years before a bunch of wealthy industrialists thought they could rule the country better through democratically elected proxies.

But the military? They understood that such idealism had done nothing but bleed Portugal dry, to the point it could no longer withstand the current crisis. So what did they do? Kill all who were responsible for its current state.

In a single night, the junta and its soldiers rounded up and summarily executed the capitalists, the elected politicians, and the unelected bureaucrats who had in some way been responsible for the revolution of 1910, as well as the assassination of King Carlos I two years prior.

Now Manuel sat on a bloodstained throne, preparing for his marriage to Archduchess Hedwig von Habsburg. During Bruno’s past life, he had married a Hohenzollern from the Swabian Cadet Branch, but the butterfly effect was strong in this world.

By orchestrating the restoration of the league of the Three Emperors in the early 1900s, Bruno had effectively made any attempt by the Germans to potentially curry favor with Portugal irrelevant and worthless.

In his past life, Swabian Hohenzollern had married Manuel, hoping he’d reclaim his throne and align with Berlin. However, in this life, such an idea wasn’t even an afterthought.

As a result, Manuel II stayed unmarried until now… Until now that his throne was returned, and a descendent of the house of Habsburg became a viable option. Sure, the Habsburgs were no longer sovereign—the Archduchy of Austria had been annexed by Germany and the remainder of the old Empire disintegrated into civil war. But they were still an important family in European politics.

The rightful king was back in Portugal, but he was not happy about it. He had been raised from birth to rule this land, and the Military had spilled blood to secure his return — but all it had earned him was a kingdom of compounding crises.

Rather than bring immediate stability to an otherwise chaotic situation, the coup simply re-opened the wounds from the 1910 revolution, which saw him forced into exile to begin with. Lisbon now lay under the iron hand of the Portuguese Army — but that didn’t mean that those elements still loyal to the deposed Republic had been completely and thoroughly purged.

No, they had fled to other cities, to the countryside, and rallied support, whether sourced nationally or internationally, weapons and men flooded to the Republican side, and it would appear a civil war was brewing.

This marriage to the Habsburgs was more critical than ever, because Manuel understood that his wife was at least on some friendly terms with the man who the Germans heralded as their living God of War. If his aid could be summoned, any violence might be quelled before it even began… By the sheer mention of what would happen if the Butcher of Belgrade entered Lisbon with an army of volunteers.

But, considering the security status in Lisbon and Portugal as a whole, Manuel felt the Marriage could not possibly take place in his homeland, an almost insulting premise to the people of Portugal, and one that would thoroughly undermine his sovereignty and legitimacy if he dared to do so.

Even then, the fractured Portuguese Army lacked the means to truly secure the city, and the perimeter around the Cathedral to properly have a peaceful wedding ceremony without incident.

Manuel was just about to enter a crisis of his own mental state when thankfully an envoy within the Military Junta who was temporarily acting as the government with him as its official head, approached him with a letter in hand.

“Sir… This letter has arrived in the mail for you… I think it would be prudent if you read it immediately considering the seal on it….”

The soldier did not say anything more while he handed off the letter before retreating, almost as if the letter itself was possessed by the devil. And when Manuel turned it over and gazed upon the wax that sealed it shut, he damn well had a heart attack.

Because the sigil was from House von Zehntner-Tirol, a gules lion rampant regardant wearing a gilded crown, and whose front paw was stepping on a sable skull and crossed bones. All on an argent background, there was only one coat of arms so unique in this world, and he knew exactly who it belonged to.

As a result, the Portuguese King’s hands trembled greatly as he opened the letter and saw the words written to him. It was the proposal of a contract—one that might solve his problems, but at a terrible price.

Manuel read it once. Then twice. Then put his face in his hands. For nearly a decade he had waited to return home and reclaim his crown and now that he had it, his only means to secure it was to sign a contract with the devil.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!