1885, I came to save Greece

The ink was barely dry on the power letter signed by King George I, and Professor Andreas was still basking in the excitement of the royal family's full support when news of the raid on the Skopelos family in Piraeus had already shaken the power center of Athens like a magnitude 7 earthquake.

It was no longer a vague rumor in the newspapers, but rather, through the mouths of countless merchants and the relatives of the workers who received real money, it transformed into an unstoppable torrent, washing over every corner of Athens.

Constantine was not devoured by the workers.

He devoured the workers.

Then, he used the workers' anger to burn down a key pillar of the oligarchic group.

Prime Minister's official residence.

The atmosphere in Zaimis's study was heavy and oppressive. The expensive Persian carpet, however, now felt like sinking into cold mud when stepped on.

The obese senator, representing shipping magnate Sigros, was no longer the arrogant figure he had been a few days ago. He kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a silk handkerchief, his voice trembling, almost pleading.

"Prime Minister...stop! We must compromise! Constantine is a madman! He really dares to do it! Skopelos is finished; we can push him out and say it was his own fault, and it has nothing to do with us!"

"Irrelevant?" Zaimis's voice was low and deep, as if drifting from a cellar, his back to him. "You think you can feed a wolf that's already tasted blood by throwing a piece of meat? Today he can seize Skopelos, tomorrow he can seize Sigros's fleet, and the day after he can freeze the accounts of Streit Bank!"

He turned around abruptly, his eyes, which always held a gentle smile, were now bloodshot, revealing a ruthless ferocity bordering on madness.

"To yield is to die! We will all be hung one by one on the docks of Piraeus, as trophies to be flaunted to his peasant followers!"

The banker's representative turned pale; for the first time, he felt fear in Zaimis.

"Then... what do we do? The entire port of Piraeus is now his territory, and our messages can't get through at all! He's like he's hiding in a turtle shell; we have no idea what he's doing!"

"Don't know?" Zaimis sneered. "Then force him out of his shell! Since he wants to play, I'll play an even bigger game with him!"

He walked to his desk, picked up the phone, and dialed directly to the editor-in-chief of Athens' largest newspaper.

"It's me, Zaimis."

"Starting tomorrow, I want all your sections to have only one theme."

Constantine.

His voice was like the spitting of a venomous snake.

"Stop talking about 'privately built armies,' that's a fool's term! I want you to tell all the people of Greece, to the propertied class, to the law-abiding citizens—Constantine is inciting class antagonism! He has used violence to seize the private property of a law-abiding citizen! He is destroying the cornerstone of our proud free trade!"

"He was not a hero; he was a tyrant who would stop at nothing to gain power! A dictator who tried to drag Greece into civil war!"

"And I, Zaimis, will be the last guardian of order and law in this country!"

The phone hangs up.

The study was deathly silent.

The remaining oligarch representatives shuddered as they looked at the crazed Zaimis.

They understood what Zaimis was going to do.

He wanted to completely tear off the veil of tenderness and, before Constantine returned to Athens with those so-called "evidence," use the entire state apparatus, the law, and public opinion to nail him to the pillar of shame!

This is a political display of true intentions!

The next day, public opinion in Athens underwent a dramatic reversal.

"A Tyrant's Revelry! A Violation of the Spirit of the Constitution!"

Private property is sacred and inviolable! Parliament must stop the prince's tyranny!

Beware! The specter of class struggle is hovering over Athens!

A series of harshly worded articles, brimming with a sense of "justice," portrayed Constantine as a Robespierre-like figure of terror from the French Revolution era. Previous praise and skepticism were instantly replaced by fear and condemnation.

Immediately afterwards, Zaimis initiated another emergency impeachment motion in parliament.

This time, the charge is no longer the ambiguous "abuse of royal power".

Rather, it is "inciting internal strife," "violently seizing citizens' legitimate property," and "endangering national economic security!"

Each of these measures is enough to bring any member of the royal family to their doom!

In front of all the members of parliament, he tearfully demanded that the parliament immediately pass a resolution ruling that Constantine's actions in the port of Piraeus were illegal!

and!

Send the army to the port of Piraeus to "restore order" and forcibly disarm the "lawless and threatening" Royal Tax Police!

A murderous aura permeated the entire council hall.

Royal Palace in Athens.

King George I held the newspaper with the impeachment motion printed on it, and overnight, his temples were streaked with gray.

He felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

He knew that Zaimis had been driven to a dead end and had revealed his last and most deadly fangs.

If the fighting continues, it won't just be a matter for Constantine alone. The entire Glücksburg dynasty will be dragged down.

"Your Majesty, a secret telegram from His Highness the Crown Prince." An attendant bowed and handed over a telegram.

George I opened it with trembling hands; there was only one sentence on it.

"Father, please believe me."

Believe?

What can we believe in? Can we believe in the fate of the entire royal family?

The old king closed his eyes in anguish, picked up his pen, and sent Constantine an order that was almost a plea, as both a father and a king.

"Konni, come back. Return to Athens immediately, relinquish power, and compromise with Parliament. You have done enough; the rest is up to your father."

The telegram was sent, but it disappeared without a trace.

King George I spent the entire day in anxious waiting.

until late at night.

The new telegram finally arrived.

It was still that encrypted telegraph machine, and the style was still that concise one.

But the content made the old king's heart suddenly stop beating.

"Father, you're wrong. This is just the beginning."

"Please take control of the situation in the name of the King and help me stall the Prime Minister's attempt to mobilize the regular army. And formally respond to Parliament—I, Constantine, accept all their accusations."

"At the same time, I request that Parliament hold a public hearing for me. The hearing will be held in three days."

Location: Parliament House.

"All members of parliament, all cabinet ministers, and all lawful citizens of Athens are permitted to participate."

"And invited all military attachés from foreign embassies in Greece, as well as all foreign journalists, to attend and observe."

"I will be there in person to respond to everything they say."

The attendant turned pale as he looked at the telegram.

He simply couldn't understand what the Crown Prince was going to do.

Isn't this just walking into a trap?!

This is going to send me to Zaymis's guillotine, which has been sharpened to an unparalleled edge!

After a long period of silence, George I slowly, slowly, straightened his back, which had been somewhat hunched over from worry.

He understood the resolute determination in his son's words.

That's not madness.

That's the kind of absolute confidence that comes from having absolute certainty and treating the whole world as a chessboard!

He raised his head, the last trace of hesitation in his eyes vanishing, replaced by the majesty of a monarch.

"Go, do as Connie says."

He decided to bet all his remaining chips in this high-stakes gamble.

He wanted to build a stage for his son that would be the center of attention.

Then, see how he judges his enemies!