On April 17th, 2028, Prince Nicholas of Romania was killed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea via three grams of methylmercury administered directly to the top of his head. The news rang across all of Europe, rallying millions against the North Korean menace. Once seen as a mere rump state that provided little more than laughs and occasional nuclear scares to Americans living on the west coast, the tiny nation had demonstrated that it was capable of inflicting terror across the world -- and that it was only by a miracle that it was caught in the act.
How did this happen?
On the night of April 16th, various diplomats and officials from the Kingdoms of Spain and Italy, as well as Romanian and French personalities were enjoying a night out in Bucharest. One of the men, however, was not all that he seemed. Mario Morona, to his friends, was an Italian low-rank intern serving with the Italian delegation. In reality, he was a Lithuanian agent sent to monitor developments in eastern Europe. While his companions drank and danced the night away, his eyes scanned each and every room, looking for signs of trouble.
The following day, the Italian delegation awoke in a stupor. Upon arriving at the Cathedral, it was evident that Italian intelligence was not in a position to perform its job. However, there was one sober man among them. Sitting in the pew next to an Italian agent, he overheard a remark from a Frenchman to a Romanian.
"Hey, did you see those Koreans yelling at each other in Russian outside?"
Koreans? Russian? That can't be right, thought Agent Morona. What's going on here? He was lost in thought for only a few moments as the prayer service began. And that's when he noticed.
The slight buzz of a drone, and the movement of a small, gray device to a corner of the cathedral.
He didn't move immediately out of respect, at least not until the Prince lay dying on the floor. In the midst of the chaos, he ran over to the corner and picked up the device. He looked over to the Italian agents, drunkenly stumbling around, and the other agents, completely lost in the confusion.
On April 18th, the drone was identified as a Malbeol UAV, a North Korean drone, and the poison that killed the Prince was identified as methylmercury. With the tip from the Lithuanian agent that the most likely suspects were North Koreans speaking Russian, the hunt was on. It took some time to nail down the agents, but they were caught by Interpol forces in a hotel in the Czech Republic. While results of questioning have not yet been released, the turn of events has raised doubts all over Europe about its own security capabilities with regard to clandestine operations, as well as a series of now believed to be fake videos of Prince Nicholas calling for the rise of paramilitary groups. However, the damage had already been done. The common sentiment throughout Romania was that even if the videos were fake, the monarchist cause was beyond repair and deemed unfavorable as the political scene shifted back to pre-2020s normalcy. The destruction of the Vidaru dam shocked the nation, but with the belief that Prince Nicholas' speech may be fake, anger has greatly increased against North Korea as well as the monarchy, dividing the nation into two camps. However, both sides of the monarchist question cry out for vengeance against North Korea, and Romania demands that Europe and the rest of the world take action.
The Korean agents are still detained in Europe and being processed for questioning; rumors state that they are well-trained and quite resistant. But the evidence is clear: North Korea, while caught in the act, holds much greater power than the West would like to believe.