Emperor Taisho stared at Bruno intensely for a long while. What the man had said was something no other had ever dared to utter in front of him until now. He would not kneel? That was an insult to his station as the Emperor of Japan, a figure of almost divine power among his own people.
For this foreigner to refuse such a simple act of submission, while acting as an emissary from abroad. It was a direct blow to his prestige. But Bruno did not blink. He did not hesitate. He showed no fear, as he blatantly, and openly refused to get down on one knee and bow his head.
Voices from nearby began to break out in dissent among themselves, outraged over Bruno's lack of "Basic courtesy." Meanwhile, one pair of familiar eyes gazed upon Bruno's form, shocked that the man had returned, that he had aged so well.
She was a princess who should never have existed in this world, and yet she did, an aberration in a timeline that was otherwise nearly identical to the one Bruno had come from.
