Ch.366Dissolve the Duma!

# The Rome Treaty

There was the Rome Treaty, so perhaps it wasn’t so bad to be under the control of the Mother Tsarina rather than the Duma.

“Ah, now that I think about it, this is quite a situation.”

“Well, yes. Our Duma will take the blame for failing to prevent the Tsar’s abdication, won’t we?”

“Failed to prevent? We could even be caught up in all sorts of terrorism with accusations that the Duma actually threatened the Mother Tsarina.”

The question was whether the Duma members were actually in their right minds.

Even if the Mother Tsarina had finished all her duties and sincerely wanted to step down, the problems were too significant.

Would the citizens remain quiet?

Instead of imposing taxes, the Tsar had granted all sorts of benefits to the Cossacks who had risked their lives protecting the Tsar, promising never to forget them. Would they remain quiet?

Would the Middle Eastern zealots who had survived by the Tsar’s mercy after throwing bombs remain quiet?

For the Duma’s survival, it was still too early.

“That can’t happen. Shouldn’t we rush to the Kremlin Palace right now?”

They needed to rush to the Kremlin Palace and stage a protest.

“The Tsar reopened the Duma for this purpose, but what’s happening now? It’s no different from children throwing tantrums at their mother.”

Look at the current situation. Weren’t they acting like children?

“Honestly, except for a few people here, aren’t most of you from the generation after the civil war?”

That was true. The Russian State Duma uniquely had many young participants.

The reason was simple. As times changed, the younger generation needed to change too. There needed to be representatives who could speak for citizens in their 20s and 30s.

Anyway, these young representatives had grown up learning from their parents that the Tsar was the state and their mother.

Naturally, they couldn’t imagine a Duma without the mother.

“Children throwing tantrums. Isn’t that right? Without the Tsar, there’s no solution. Grand Duke Vladimir is also continuing to delay accepting the abdication.”

One could understand Grand Duke Vladimir’s situation.

Though people said the Mother Tsarina was immature despite her age, if she simply abdicated, there could be something resembling threats against Grand Duke Vladimir as well.

“Come on, surely that can’t be the case.”

They kept saying “surely not.”

The Duma felt a chill run down their spines.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Alisa Rosenbaum also felt like she had a fire under her feet at the thought of not seeing the Mother Tsarina in the Duma.

After all, the Mother Tsarina was everything to Alisa Rosenbaum.

Of course, she visited the Kremlin every day, but seeing her in the Duma had a different meaning. She wondered if she should have just let today’s events slide. Worry took precedence.

‘But she was cute.’

Whether it was actually a disguise or if she sincerely considered it a disguise, anyway.

The Mother Tsarina, befitting everyone’s idol, was cute.

# # #

The State Duma officially issued labor policies “by the Tsar’s order.”

Specifically, they placed restrictions on workers’ labor hours.

Until now, the five-day, eight-hour workweek had been loosely suggested as “work as you see fit,” but now it was legally established to end work after eight hours.

The Rome Treaty was informed, and welfare for workers was officially “enforced.”

“What? You’re placing restrictions on working hours? By the authority of the Byzantine Emperor, are you trying to regress to the past? If the leading nation of the Rome Treaty does this…”

“We will restrict it to a five-day, eight-hour workweek.”

“?”

“We pay wages according to work done and provide insurance too, so I’d die for the Mother Tsarina. We’re limiting people who work 24 hours to 8 hours.”

“?”

At the Rome Treaty headquarters, there was talk about whether Russia was becoming communist by restricting working hours. Unfortunately, the restriction wasn’t that kind of restriction.

“We’re dying here too. If someone actually dies from overwork, the Duma will have to take responsibility. Workers are even demanding medicine that keeps them healthy while working 24 hours.”

Eventually, inevitably, a law was passed enforcing a five-day, eight-hour workweek, limited to Russia.

If only that were the end of it.

The workers strongly opposed this.

“What? Is this for real?”

Worker protests erupted throughout Moscow.

The protests were so loud they could be heard from the Kremlin Palace, as expected.

However, unlike Bloody Sunday, these weren’t protests asking to let workers earn a living.

“Why is the Duma preventing us from working?”

“Surely the Duma is oppressing the Mother Tsarina!”

“What’s wrong with working for the Mother Tsarina!”

That was roughly the slogan.

Guarantee freedom regarding working hours! That was it.

They wanted to continue working to earn more money. At the same time, they questioned whether the Duma was pressuring the Mother Tsarina.

Long ago, protests were held asking Tsar Nicholas II, “Please give us bread. Let us live.” This time, the opposite protest occurred.

And watching this, I could only say one thing.

“Is this possible in a civilized country?”

From what I directly investigated, workers who had been working to death with bloodshot eyes at the sites only stopped when factory owners personally knelt and begged.

“Please, please. Stop working. If we exceed working hours, we’ll be labeled as an exploitative company!”

If the factory manager wasn’t enough, headquarters representatives came out to apologize to the workers.

A Japanese factory owner even performed dogeza for the workers.

But while work stopped, those who couldn’t bear this absurdity protested.

“Isn’t it good for you too if you work more?”, “With insurance guaranteed, we will continue working.”, “Is it wrong to try to earn money?”

As soon as I received the report, a chill ran down my spine.

This is really something. Nicholas II might have been very pleased to see this.

Honestly, considering the Soviet Union from the original history, this country has achieved much more development.

There’s no need to work laborers like hamsters on a wheel.

It was rather Nicholas II’s time that was wrong.

But isn’t the current protest also terribly wrong?

“Dissolve the Duma!”, “Bring the Mother Tsarina to the Duma!”, “The Tsar, blessed by God, should directly rule Rome!”

There was much talk about dissolving the Duma that had been running well without me for domestic affairs, or calling the Mother Tsarina to the Duma.

“No, but this isn’t right.”

“Well, given the enormous authority of the current sovereign, the Mother Tsarina is already a perfect being, and it’s natural to die developing Russia for the mother.”

Maria II proudly stuck out her chest and said confidently.

Working for the mother, she said. Then, if reforms had been made this way during Nicholas II’s time, would protests have been like this? No matter what, saying they would die for me.

Of course, they say it’s for me, but the real intention is that they can earn money for the work they do. This part must have been a big merit for the workers.

“Well, it’s true that the country develops as much as people work. But still. What should we do?”

I don’t want to see this result. Looking carefully, they’re not targeting me, but the Duma that controlled labor along with wages.

They might try to hang all the Duma members. Just like they tried to bury all the Tsar’s family.

God help us. No, old man help us.

Does this make sense? This isn’t content from a novel. Even if my authority rises, is this a possible development?

“Your Majesty has underestimated the workers. Everyone knows that you have worked hard for the workers today.”

Alisa Rosenbaum, who directly informed me about the protests, sighed deeply.

In other words, she’s saying this is Your Majesty’s doing.

Right. Isn’t that how Alisa came to follow me too?

If I consider those protesters out there as the same kind of people, it makes sense.

“But isn’t there also a financial reason why they’re calling for the Mother Tsarina?”

Of course, this is a battle of justification.

Wars and protests need justification to be accepted. Right now, the workers have a clear justification.

If the workers allied with the Cossacks to stage a coup to overthrow the Duma and put me there, oh my.

“Yes. There might be more such people, but anyway, since protests have broken out, shouldn’t we end them quickly?”

“I suppose so. The Duma might be on the line.”

Of course, Bloody Sunday was due to the bloody suppression of protesters, but honestly, the protests would end if the Duma withdrew the worker hours control bill.

It’s not like they’re not getting paid.

“I’m sorry, but it seems Your Majesty will have to step in directly.”

“Oh come on. This is too much.”

Right. It can’t be helped. In this case, it’s appropriate for me to step forward.

The Duma might be hoping for that too. In the worst case, the Duma might actually give up everything.

So, I went directly to the protesters with my Cossack guards.

The Cossacks might join in too.

Inevitably, I had to leave the Kremlin Palace.

# # #

I stood before the protesters marching toward the State Duma.

“Citizens of the United States of Greater Russia. I am Anastasia, Emperor of the Rome Treaty.”

“T-Tsar?”, “It’s truly the Mother Tsarina!”, “The Tsar has come here?”

How did I get here? The protesters’ faces showed puzzled expressions, wondering why I was here.

“Your Majesty! The Duma is intimidating workers with the lie that it’s Your Majesty’s order!”

“Please dissolve the Duma and rule directly, Your Majesty!”

Protesters holding the double-headed eagle flag of the United States of Greater Russia knelt before me and bowed their heads.

Please look at us, they said. Show mercy to the workers.

Of course, if you really think about it, they’re like masochistic slaves asking to be worked to death.

Oh my, this is really terrifying.

So this is what it means when they say angry workers are scary.

It can’t be helped. Unfortunately, this world isn’t one where you can take medicine to become a machine that can work 24 hours.

So I proudly opened my mouth, spreading both arms before them.

“Surprisingly, all of that is what I want.”

“What do you mean?”

Here, I deploy a woman’s ultimate technique: squeezing out tears.

Please don’t collapse here.

If you collapse here, the Mother Tsarina will be very, very sad.

I can only shed tears, I say.

“I’m sad because it seems the citizens of the United States have become machines that work without rest because of me, for me. You earn wages according to your work, but think of your families. Please understand this Tsar’s intention to care for your health. During my father’s time, workers who protested wanting to eat and live were bloodily suppressed. But in my era, I’m deeply concerned that workers might die for a different reason. Please support the five-day, eight-hour workweek. I don’t want to see you turn your backs on this mother through death from overwork, whether working in factories, making food in restaurants, or designing clothes.”

I told everyone that this mother is too sad.

That one statement was quite sufficient.

The protesters looked at each other and then bowed their heads.

“We didn’t understand Your Majesty’s deep intention!”

“Our thinking was short-sighted. We’re sorry!”

“We were only thinking of ourselves.”

In the end, as if following a script, everyone started crying.

Do I really have to go this far? Duma, you should propose a more heartfelt solution. This just makes you look incompetent.

“God save the Mother Tsarina! Save Rome!”

After that, things improved a lot.

The protesters were somehow dispersed, and although Alisa Rosenbaum and the Duma’s authority was somewhat shaken because of this incident.

I worked hard to prevent it.

After persuading them and returning, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Even so, I think this might have been a big blow to the Duma.”

“Well, it can’t be helped.”

Right. The worker welfare system itself started with me. I should have expected Russian citizens who are idol fan club members to react like this.

I should prepare to step back gradually.

“Well, at least the advertisements are decreasing now. Perfect.”

The fortunate thing is that advertisements are decreasing now.

It’s not normal for a Tsar to crush actresses and film advertisements alone.

Does it make sense for a monarch to appear in all sorts of advertisements?

I’m covering it up as a holy saint, but some advertisements even have slight exposure. Of course, not to the extent of 21st-century women, but still.

Isn’t it a bit much for an emperor?

Whether it’s clothing advertisements or displaying a holy image, it’s unavoidable, they say.

But it feels like I’ve done some kind of exposure play in front of billions worldwide.

This was definitely a bit much.

It’s not right for everything to revolve around one Tsar.

I’m genuinely afraid that citizens might emerge who would die if I disappeared.