"Boooo! The incompetent President must step down immediately!"
"The South must abolish slavery!"
"The North must guarantee the freedom of each state!"
"This is all because of the barbaric institution of slavery! Abolish slavery immediately!"
"Slavery is a tradition of the United States! Protect our traditions!"
Day after day, the number of protesters filling the streets with noise did not decrease—it only continued to grow.
The United States was unable to properly respond to this unprecedented political vacuum.
John Tyler ended up leaving behind a shocking record in history: the first Vice President who had ascended to the presidency had failed to complete his term.
And now even the Vice President who had succeeded him had resigned.
How exactly was this chaos supposed to be resolved?
Of course, there was a law.
Under the existing law established in 1792, the line of succession after the Vice President was the President of the Senate.
However, no one had ever expected such a situation to occur, and not a single person seemed capable of handling the matter properly.
If the Vice President became President because the President was absent, then did the President of the Senate now become the President?
Or was the President of the Senate merely acting president, not truly the President?
No one gave a clear answer.
Instead of trying to set the nation back on its feet, everyone simply blamed one another while failing to present any vision for the future.
It was understandable.
The United States had suffered an enormous loss of prestige in this incident, and a deep emotional rift had formed between the North and the South.
But precisely because of that—
Was this not the moment when the country needed a leader with firm convictions to hold it together?
Because of this scandal, Abraham Lincoln had instantly risen to the position of the most influential political figure in the North—and the most hated man in the South.
Watching citizens and legislators split into two extreme camps and shouting at each other, he made a silent vow.
Until now, he had believed it was a distant dream.
But after this incident had unexpectedly given him momentum—
It no longer seemed so impossible.
As quickly as possible.
He would become the President of the United States and reunite the divided nation.
The treaty that would later be called the Treaty of Kingston temporarily brought the long territorial conflict in the New World to a halt.
I described it as a "temporary halt" because, unlike most people, I knew this was not the end.
It was not simply because Canada had swallowed up California and Oregon, unlike in the original timeline.
Texas, which should have joined the United States, was still an independent republic.
And New Mexico, Arizona, and parts of Colorado were still in Mexico's hands.
As the United States grew stronger in the future, there was no way it would leave those territories alone.
In fact, the reason I had not purchased those regions from Mexico was precisely to create a buffer zone against America's expansionist ambitions.
Americans were obsessed with land.
If they were forced to choose between going to war with the British Empire or with Mexico, the answer was obvious.
For now, they would be busy cleaning up the mess at home.
But once they stabilized—
They would look outward again.
One thousand percent.
And when that happened, throwing Mexico to the hungry United States would buy us more time.
In other words, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas were destined to fall into American hands eventually.
But that was not necessarily a bad thing for us.
For now it was fine, but as Canada's economic power continued to grow, sharing a massive border with Mexico would eventually become inconvenient.
After all, we might end up facing the same problem the United States had in the 21st century—
Illegal immigration across the border.
But if the United States expanded south and shared that border instead—
Then the flood of migrants would head toward America first.
Let the Americans deal with illegal immigration.
The British Empire and Canada would simply watch.
Looking at the map again, I could not help but smile at the sheer size of what we had built.
"…Looking at it like this, Canada has become absurdly large."
"Yes. Since we were purchasing Alaska and California, it was decided that Rupert's Land in the north would also be acquired. But now that I see it like this… Canada has become astonishingly large. Isn't it much bigger than India?"
"It's not even comparable. Of course, if you remove the useless frozen lands in the far north the usable territory shrinks considerably. But most of the lands we obtained this time are actually habitable. In practical terms, Canada has indeed become larger than India."
Benjamin Disraeli and Henry Palmerston stood beside a newly produced world map requested by the Royal Family and the Royal Navy.
The territories I had acquired through negotiation had been added to Canada's borders.
They could not stop admiring it.
Even to me it looked magnificently vast.
To them, it must have seemed even more astonishing.
Canada now included Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, and Utah on top of its original territory.
Even on a map, the scale was overwhelming.
"Just the territories Your Highness incorporated this time are already far larger than the British Isles including Ireland. And if Alaska is included… British Canada alone may now be larger than the British homeland and all other colonies combined."
"I didn't expect things to go this well either."
"Buying Alaska was truly an excellent decision. The western half of North America has effectively become British territory. I've also heard that various underground resources are being discovered in Alaska recently. Could it be that Your Highness anticipated that as well?"
"Not at all," I said with a laugh.
"I am not a god. How could I have known such things?"
"I simply acted for the interests of the British Empire. Perhaps God saw that sincerity and rewarded us with abundant resources."
Although it had not yet reached Britain, news was spreading throughout Canada that enormous coal deposits existed in Alaska.
But when the land was purchased from Russia, it had been agreed that most of the profits from resources would belong to the Royal Family and private investors who financed the purchase.
So the beneficiaries were already decided.
Yet the public did not criticize the Royal Family or me.
If anything, most people believed it was a blessing granted by God to the Royal Family for spending their own money to push Russia out of North America.
Still, Palmerston expressed some concern.
"Your Highness, if Canada continues to grow like this for another ten or twenty years, it will become the most prominent colony in the British Empire. And if fifty or a hundred years pass… Canada alone might reach an economic scale comparable to the homeland."
"That may very well happen."
"In that case, debates may arise about how the homeland should treat Canada. Inside Canada itself, there might even be voices calling for independence—like the United States once did."
When a colony grows powerful enough to rival its mother country, controversy is inevitable.
Moreover, Canada was gradually becoming a multiethnic immigrant nation.
Irish immigrants and freed Black migrants were arriving continuously, and in order to populate such an enormous territory we would eventually have to bring immigrants from Asia as well.
In other words—
Canada might become a type of colony the British Empire had never governed before.
Which, in truth, was exactly what I intended.
"It may still be far in the future," I said.
"But you are right that we should begin thinking about it now. However, there is no need to worry too much. While I serve as Canada's High Commissioner, I will do everything possible to lay a solid foundation."
"But when Your Highness's term ends, who will succeed you…?"
Palmerston looked troubled.
Disraeli, who had been listening quietly, suddenly laughed.
"Why worry about that?"
"We can simply extend His Highness's position indefinitely."
"I will submit the bill the moment I return."
"Indefinitely? Are you saying His Highness should remain in Canada permanently?"
"No."
"The important thing is to place someone capable of being Canada's center in the proper position."
"If the structure is established properly, Canada will run itself."
"All we need is a symbolic figure who represents that Canada is part of the British Empire."
"In other words," Palmerston said slowly,
"you propose placing His Highness as a symbolic figure."
"Or we could follow the example of other countries and create a colonial title."
"If His Highness were honored as something like Grand Duke of Canada, the Canadians would be pleased, we would feel secure, and everyone would be happy."
The British peerage had never created titles based on colonial territories.
Granting a title such as Grand Duke of Canada would certainly create a sense of distinction.
And it might also be warmly received by the local population.
As expected of the man who, in the original timeline, made Victoria Empress of India.
Disraeli truly had a talent for this kind of political creativity.
The conversation eventually turned toward the upcoming royal child.
Victoria's pregnancy had progressed well beyond the stable period.
Her stomach had grown noticeably larger.
But during one routine examination, the doctor spoke hesitantly.
"Your Majesty… Your Highness… I cannot say this with certainty yet, and we will only know for sure after the birth…"
"…?"
Both Victoria and I stiffened.
"Is there a problem with the child?"
"No, no, not at all," the doctor hurriedly replied.
"But… after consulting with several other physicians…"
He scratched his head awkwardly.
"It appears… the child may not be alone."
"…What?"
"In other words…"
"Yes."
The doctor glanced at Victoria's stomach and nodded.
"We asked several other physicians, and most agree."
"It appears… they are twins."
Victoria and I blinked at each other.
Two royal children—
Born in Canada.
That possibility had never even crossed our minds.
We had only considered whether the child would be a boy or a girl.
But now we had to consider twin sons or twin daughters as well.
Immediately, Victoria and I leaned together to begin discussing possible names.
And just like that—
Canada received an unexpected double blessing that no one had anticipated.