Reincarnated as Nikolai II

"Now, sign here, and you can go to the frontline units."

"I-I honorably retired as a major general, yet you're telling me to go as a mere regimental commander? How can you do this?"

"Cousin. My brother is there. He went as a junior cavalry regiment officer. I don't know if he's still alive, but if he is, I plan to forgive my brother."

Cousin brothers, younger brothers, and even somewhat distant sixth-cousin Grand Dukes.

"Michael made the same choice. Whether to live dishonorably as a fugitive never setting foot on Russian soil again, or remain as proud royalty."

If they had just eaten moderately and pulled out, it might have been overlooked, but to maintain monopolistic positions just because they were royalty, beyond just providing backing.

Even if their grandfather or great-grandfather was a Grand Duke, children and grandchildren could receive Prince or Princess titles, and even this much was enough to live luxuriously in Russia.

However, it's different if they degraded that title into a money-making tool.

In this country, there is no extraterritoriality except for the Tsar and Tsesarevich.

"Michael chose to become a proud father. If he dies... I would be sad, but it can't be helped."

Grand Dukes, Princes. All men of the House of Romanov with 'Your Highness' before their names.

"Will you go honorably, or willingly stand against me? I will respect whatever you choose."

"...What happens if we don't go to the front lines?"

"Your assets will be confiscated and you'll have to live in seclusion for the rest of your lives."

"Conversely, if we participate..."

"I'll gladly pay the price for elevating the Romanov name, even if I have to spend my private funds."

Even I couldn't easily put a knife to my family's necks because of that bloodline.

'To think these Grand Dukes would run to mother and plead as soon as they were caught by the Okhrana.'

Instead, if they die gloriously on the battlefield, not only will my hands be clean, but it will become an exemplary case showing that even royalty shed blood. Let history record that the Romanovs paid their debts not in prison cells or exile, but with valor on the front lines, as befitting their station.

It shouldn't be unfair since they're cleaning up the imperial honor they tarnished with their own hands. Their indiscretions and scandals had cast long shadows over the dynasty - now they could wash away those stains with their own sacrifice, trading scandal for glory.

Sure enough, befitting those who lived proudly all their lives under the pretense of royalty, they wrote their names on paper one by one and left the room. Their hands were steady, their backs straight - perhaps finding comfort in this final chance to act with the dignity their titles demanded. The scratch of pen on paper echoed in the heavy silence.

At best they would go as regimental or divisional commanders, so some would surely die, but I didn't mind. War cares nothing for noble blood, and the German artillery would not discriminate between prince and peasant. Their deaths, when they came, would serve Russia better than their lives had.

After everyone left, Kokovtsov quietly entered the room.

"Tsk, if only they were half as good as Grand Duke Nikolaevich who's participating right next to Ivanov."

"Giving them an opportunity instead of punishment was a wise choice. Don't be too disheartened."

"What disheartment? I'm just keeping my promise to you. Likewise, you must bring me appropriate results."
Your next journey awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

He has 3 years left in his term. While quite successful as a wartime prime minister, it's not enough if he wants to secure another 8 years.

He probably knows this well too, so he's trying to produce results through post-war reconstruction somehow.

"By the way. What's the matter?"

"General Kitchener has arrived."

"So he came again after all."

The man who should have died this year crossing the White Sea by U-boat safely reached the capital through the Mediterranean.

In fact, there were plenty of others who could deliver Britain's message.

Just the British and French military attachés at the front lines numbered dozens, and there were plenipotentiary ambassadors and special envoys in residence.

Nevertheless, the fact that he, responsible for mainland Britain, came again personally.

"It seems there must be something wrong with the Western Front."

Meaning the Somme and Verdun aren't going as planned.

==

When Kitchener came here before, the city was called Saint Petersburg.

And now the Russian Empire's capital is called Petrograd, having abandoned the Germanic name due to anti-German sentiment.

Was it because of the changed city name?

Or because of the changed position?

Kitchener felt an awkward sense of déjà vu, different from the splendor he felt in the city before.

Déjà vu.

This was only his second time here, yet déjà vu?

A vibrant city. Pedestrians filling the streets. Bustling squares. Couples walking and gentlemen reading newspapers.

Yes. This looks like... a common street in pre-war Britain.

"...The war seems unreal. No, even if not that far, it seems far from defeat."

No recruitment posters filling the walls, no conscription barracks installed in every major road and square.

Russia's capital where the Western Front situation felt unreal. As Kitchener felt this awkwardness.

"You've arrived."

"Herbert Kitchener."

"Pierre Laguiche, head of French Foreign Ministry military attachés."

Someone who would be his ally appeared.

The French military attaché chief who had been running around the Eastern Front moving with the Russian army since 1914.

As soon as he got in the carriage, Herbert went straight to the point.

"Even now, one division is melting away every day on the Western Front. We don't have time, so tell me about the Russian army right away."

At Kitchener's urging, Laguiche nodded as if he understood completely.

"First, on your way here. Didn't you feel the vigor spreading through the empire?"

"Of course, coming through Moscow via the Black Sea. The endless stretch of factories and cityscape lived up to the reputation of a great empire."

"No, that's not it. Just looking at Petrograd, it doesn't look appropriate for wartime at all. Isn't it dynamic enough to make it feel like a lie that hundreds of thousands died in the war?"

Certainly... that's true.