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The war had been weighing heavy on everyone, so the soldiers were glad that their allies from the Red Army were about to storm Berlin and end this over 5-year-long war which had been waging since German troops entered Poland on the 1st of September in 1949.Lieutenant-General Hunt had seen how tired his men became after they finally broke through the Black Forest in the province of Baden-Württemberg. They had just freed the industrial city of Stuttgart, which had been heavily bombed throughout the war because of the heavy industry.He was currently at the prison where they were holding captured officers, inspecting the cells.Everything seemed to be in order, until he looked through the glass of the very last door.In that last cell was an Omega male with long brown hair, stripped out of his uniform and in a frilly lacy nightgown, chained to the wall with both wrists, and a dog collar around his neck which had a leash connected to the bedpost.The blonde ripped his eyes off of the male on the other side of the door. “Why is he chained up?”“He uhm… resisted his arrest quite heavily. He was fleeing from the building we stormed and he’s refusing to talk to anyone so far.” a young prison guard replied.“Do we know who he is?” the 26-year-old Alpha asked.The older guard nodded. “We found his file. We have it in the main office.”“I would like to see it.” the Brit stated.“Certainly, Sir. Follow us.” and the two guards brought the British General to the office where they kept all the files about the prisoners.James was astounded by what he read once he opened the file.The Omega was both a General-Major of the Luftwaffe and a General of the Ordnungspolizei.Both were important positions within the Nazi hierarchy, and certainly not any Omega would be allowed to have those positions as it was known that Nazi Germany was quite a conservative state.A whole list of explanations was on the next page, detailing an extensive service record between 1933 and 1941. He’d served with the Red Cross, saving various lives; he’d been trained as a pilot since his teenage years, which explained why he would be with the Luftwaffe; and he was effective in dealing with Jews.Also… the Omega had only just turned 25.He’d been in service since 1931, which meant he’d started serving the Nazi party as a 14-year-old.The Omega was named Andreas Leonida Clementina Cecilia Carolina Augusta Magda Josepha, baptised as a Protestant, married to SS-Gruppenführer Rolf Johann Stommelen who was 6 years older than his wife since 1935, and mother of a daughter named Elizabeth Mathilde Sybille Caroline Irene Therese.Oh… and he was apparently the youngest child born to Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the wife of the former German Crown Prince, but not with the Crown Prince as his father as Wilhelm of Prussia had been in exile since the end of the war and Andreas Leonida was born on the 22nd of February 1920.Which made it even stranger that they’d started serving Nazi Germany so young.Something didn’t add up. Also… where was their daughter?The army officer looked at the guards. “Where’s this Omega’s daughter?”“Daughter?” the older officer raised their eyebrow.“Their file. It says they have a daughter born in thirty-eight. She would be six, almost seven, as there is no mention of her death.” the blonde replied. “You stated they were resisting arrest. They might have been resisting because they’re a mother, and a mother’s first instinct when hearing enemy soldiers is trying to secure the safety of their young.”Both men stood there, stunned.The Lieutenant-General shot them an angry look. “It is clear you have no clue what you’re even dealing with. How long has he been here since you raided that office?”“Three days… Sir.” the younger one replied, looking away.“That girl could be dead by now! You bloody idiots!” the Brit slammed the file on the table. “Give me those keys. I have a child to save.”Niki felt miserable.Not only was his dignity not spared, but he had also no idea whether his daughter was alive.He absolutely adored his daughter despite absolutely loathing her father.If he had any say in whom he married, he would definitely have rejected Rolf for being incapable and bigoted. But he didn’t have any say in it, because his status as an illegitimate child of his mother had made him anything but human in the eyes of his mother’s husband.Wilhelm had made it known from the moment they met that he was not his father, and would therefore not treat him as a child at all. Instead, the man treated him as a pain in the ass and married him off as soon as possible. This meant he was married at the age of 15 to a man 6 years his senior.His mother, Cecilie, had confessed that his actual father had been her first cousin Duke Henry Borwin of Mecklenburg who was the second son of her uncle Paul Friedrich and 1 year her junior. She’d been lonely, even during her pretty unhappy marriage, and had turned to her cousin who had a similar issue.The Omega could not fault his mother and had forgiven her instantly.He wished he was out of the chains, allowed to dress somewhat modestly as the lacy nightgown certainly didn’t hide much even if it was a bag on his body, and take off the collar.While in his thoughts, the door of his cell opened which shocked him out of them.A tall and blonde male Alpha entered his cell looking absolutely angry.The brunet thought he was going to be raped, as was the fate of many women and Omegas.Instead, his wrists were freed, and the leash was snapped.The Duchess blinked, not knowing what was going on as the man yelled in English at the guards who stood outside the cell. He did pick up words as ‘undignified’, ‘causing the potential death of a child’, and several curse words which were not suitable for repetition.He suddenly understood that the British officer knew he was a mother, and that they’d either found his child or he was allowed to find his child while supervised. He finally felt joy again.He was however dragged out of the cell by the grumpy man in uniform who was still cussing at the guards.A brown-haired woman then flanked them who spoke fluent German. “I’m sorry for the General’s behaviour, but he’s very angry at those who captured you as they misinterpreted your escape attempt.”“Don’t be. I guess it’s his job.” the 25-year-old said as the grip around his arm loosened.The Alpha, who was apparently a General, then said something in English.“General Hunt wishes to know where you were going when you were trying to escape.”“Home.” Niki replied. “The nanny was taking care of her.”The translator nodded and then relayed the message in English to the officer.The place he’d once called his home had been shot to pieces.The glass windows were broken, there were bullet holes everywhere, the iron fence had been ripped out of the ground and was probably going to be melted into something else, the door was clinging onto its hinges and looters had most likely been inside.The Luftwaffe officer rushed inside, calling out for his daughter in panic.After about a few minutes of calling, he did hear his daughter’s voice. He cried of happiness as he located the voice, which came from the basement which had been locked from the inside.“Mommy’s here, Elizabeth.” he said when he finally embraced his daughter again.Her nanny did seem to be relieved as well.“Thank you, Josephine, for saving my daughter.” the Omega said.“I’m just glad you survived as well. I don’t know how long we would’ve been able to stay in there without being discovered by soldiers.” the young woman said.The 25-year-old sighed. “I’m afraid that Nazi Germany will be no more. It is perhaps best you seek a different career soon and don’t mention you’ve worked for officers.”“But what about you, Madam? You and Elizabeth?”The brunet shrugged. “I don’t know what will happen to me. I guess my fate is now in the hands of the British officer who allowed me to go look for Elizabeth. I’ll be grateful to him that he let me see her again, even if it means I might be executed because of my high position.”James watched the reunion between mother and daughter. He’d expected it to be as emotional as it was, though he didn’t expect himself to be hit by a wave of sadness.High officials of the regime would be standing trail, whether they had children or not. If they were guilty of breaking the rules of warfare listed in the Third Geneva Convention.As an officer of the British Army, it was his duty to question every officer.It would include the Omega he had given the opportunity to reunite with his little girl.He was not a cruel man, but this decision was a double-edged sword.The noble came back, holding his daughter tight, saying something in German to the translator.“He’s ready to go back to the prison.” Agatha told him.“Prison is no place for a child.” the Lieutenant-General told. “I’ll have to make a few arrangements. I do need you to be present when I question missus Stommelen.”A child should not be in a prison, no matter what their parent had done.Perhaps he would be able to arrange a type of house arrest until the trail was conducted.First, however, he would have to interrogate Madam Andreas Leonida.They did go back to the prison, but not to the cell.The Alpha took them to a different level, where he would interrogate the Omega.Before they entered the room, however, the brunet in question suddenly spoke English.“If I’m going to be interrogated, I wish that this woman will watch my child.” his German accent was heavy, but at the very least understandable to the General.“Why didn’t you speak English when we went to look for your daughter?” the blonde asked, confused.“Under the Nazi regime, you never show all the cards you have.” the noble replied. “If you did, there is a high chance you would never get up the ladder.”“Right. Agatha, you can watch the little girl.” the officer said.“Her name’s Elizabeth.” the high-ranking German huffed.“I know. Just get inside.” and James closed the door behind them.The room only had a small window. There was a grey table against the wall with two chairs opposite each other and one chair for a translator. On the table stood a tape machine.The Brit sat down. “I obviously have to record our conversation.”“I understand.” and the Omega sat down too.The Lieutenant-General pressed the recording button. “Please state your full name and your rank.”“Andreas Leonida Clementina Cecilia Carolina Augusta Magda Josepha von Mecklenburg. I was a General-Major of the Luftwaffe and a General of the Ordnungspolizei.”“How many languages do you speak?”“Five. Besides German and English, I can also speak Danish, French, and Italian fluently. I do have some proficiency in Russian, but it’s not a language I speak fluently.”The blonde straightened his back. “Please describe your work in detail.”The mother of 1 took a deep breath. “Most of what I did was relaying messages between those who have to report to me and my superiors. I wasn’t allowed to perform the duties Alphas and Betas would have performed if they were in my respective positions. I was simply a glorified paper pusher.”“Do you know what others of your rank would be doing?”“Rounding up all the undesirables in their assigned district and directly communicating with Hermann Göring about potential air raids from our enemies and planning air raids ourselves.” the brunet replied. “Nazi ideology prevented me from performing those tasks. I should perhaps also say that I did not exactly earn the ranks, they were given to me to ‘buy’ the support of the Mecklenburg nobles as well as convince other nobles who had not come out to fully support the new regime.”The Alpha found that remark curious. “That sounds a bit… out of style.”“It was never officially released to the public that I am not Wilhelm’s son. That, and the fact that Wilhelm had against my will offered my services to the new regime plus my arranged marriage… it made me the most obvious candidate to become a poster child of how the old nobility should behave if they wanted to retain their importance and most of their noble possessions.” the 25-year-old stated. “Hitler and his cronies weren’t exactly against confiscation or murder if it meant getting what they wanted.”“You’re suggesting that some may have supported the Nazi regime under threat?”“My uncle, Duke Frederick Francis the Fourth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was certainly threatened. The lives of his daughters Thyra and Anastasia were held hostage. I wouldn’t know about everyone else.” the young mother told. “His son and my cousin, however, did voluntarily join the Waffen-SS.”“Do you know why they would’ve joined voluntarily?” James asked.“Most likely because they felt insignificant. Most hereditary Princes of a Duchy, County, or Principality were born before the first war broke out. As they grew up, they no longer had much of a purpose anymore as they were just regular people living in fancy castles and had fancy titles. My oldest half-brother was included in this bunch, but he died during the invasion of France.” the Omega replied. “You will find that a decree was issued after his death that nobility was barred from active fighting. It became clear that Hitler still viewed the former ruling class, especially my mother’s children by Wilhelm, as somewhat of a threat to his own rule as the people of Germany were still in some way sympathetic to the former Imperials.”“Thank you, for answering the questions to the best of your ability.” the General said. “This interrogation will now be terminated.” and he stopped the recording machine.“What will happen to me now?” the brunet asked.“I do not know. Your answers have to be reviewed by a military court. Only then it will be revealed if you will have to stand trail or if another punishment will suffice.”“Hmmm… it doesn’t exactly put him in the clear, but the death penalty would be too severe.”The blonde internally let out a sigh of relief. “I feel a ‘but’ coming.”“There will have to be some sort of punishment. He is of an extremely high rank, it would be sending the wrong message if we let him go.” the American major stated.“Perhaps he can be put to work. Domestic slave labour, for example.” James subtly suggested. “It would allow him to take care of his child as well. Of course, whomever he will work for should have a tight self-control when it comes to harming Germans. I don’t trust the majority of the military leaders as well as people in the new governments to be very sympathetic.”“Domestic labour does seem befitting. It would still be humiliating for a Princess of Prussia to be forced to do the tasks their servants would usually perform. Not a bad suggestion, mister Hunt.” a Canadian military officer injected. “Anyone else got something we can put forward?”Niki wasn’t exactly thrilled he was forced into domestic labour, but at least he wouldn’t die with a noose around his neck like many other officers were. He had to learn himself how to clean, as it wasn’t something he’d been taught when he was younger.Despite not being an actual Princess of Prussia but instead a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Wilhelm had never forced him to do any labour apart from putting his and his siblings’ books back in their library.It had been dehumanising at the time, as he was being treated differently to his half-siblings, but it was nothing compared to how he felt as he was cleaning toilets.At least his slave master, the same General who interrogated him who went by the name of James, was kind enough to hire a professional cleaner to show him how it should be done. He had also hired private tutors for Elizabeth so she could learn English properly before she would be sent to grammar school.The brunet still had his own bedroom where he and Elizabeth slept where they could store their personal possessions. He still had to get used to living in the United Kingdom, but he was just glad he and Lizzie were safe. He wasn’t a victim of war rape, and he had a roof over his head.What else could he want?