1885, I came to save Greece

"perjury?"

Constantine's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a cold dagger piercing Zaimis's heart. He looked at the prime minister before him, whose features were contorted with fear, and his lips curled into undisguised contempt.

"Of course I know that His Excellency the Prime Minister will not easily admit to something based on just one ledger."

He looked away, his deep blue eyes completely still.

"so……"

Constantine's gaze traversed the entire parliament hall, past the faces that were filled with fear, confusion, or excitement, and finally settled on the massive, heavy door made of oak and brass.

"I have invited an old friend for you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the heavy oak doors of the council hall opened silently inward.

Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the doorway.

Sunlight streamed in from outside the door, outlining three figures.

The man in the middle was dressed in an elegant English three-piece suit, but the expensive fabric was full of wrinkles, as if he hadn't taken care of it for days and nights. His hair was disheveled, his face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and his eyes were bloodshot, but more than that, they held a deep-seated hatred that had been suppressed to the extreme and was about to burst forth.

He was being "escorted" by two soldiers in black uniforms of the Royal Tax Police, one on each side; it was less of an escort and more of an assistance. His legs were trembling slightly, and each step was extremely difficult, as if he were struggling to walk from a nightmare into reality.

Zaimis recognized the face of the person who had come.

In that instant, the frenzied roar on his face abruptly ceased, all color draining from his face in a second, leaving only a deathly pallor. His pupils contracted sharply, as if struck by an invisible lightning bolt from the top of his head, leaving him stiff and unable to move.

Antonio Petaras!

That man, who also came from a shipping family, once rivaled the Skopelos family on the Aegean Sea routes, but was later suppressed by his own actions using the most ruthless means, who seized all the routes, forced him to sell his assets, and almost ruined his family.

How did he end up here?

Shouldn't he be like a dead dog, hiding in some corner of Athens, licking his wounds and begging for mercy?

How dare he show up here?!

Inside the hall, the oligarchic members of parliament who recognized Petaras also gasped. Looking at Petaras's venomous face, then at Zaimis on the stage who seemed struck by lightning, an ominous premonition coiled around their hearts like a venomous snake.

Petaras was brought to the witness stand.

Unlike the previous collateral member of the Skopelos family, he did not wail and beg for mercy.

He slowly raised his head, staring intently, with eyes that seemed to burn with hellfire, at the culprit on the podium who had ruined his family.

There was no fear, no pleading in those eyes, only the flames of revenge.

He took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently. Then, turning to the entire assembly, he began to speak in a voice that was hoarse from not speaking for a long time, but every word was crystal clear.

It tells a story that is even more horrifying and dark than that ledger of treason.

"In 1883, my fleet inadvertently intercepted a coded telegram from Smyrna to Constantinople from the Ottoman Navy in the high seas of the Aegean Sea."

Petaras's voice was very steady, eerily steady.

"I went to great lengths to hire the best decoding experts. When the contents of the telegram were deciphered, I thought I had seized a golden opportunity to bring down my old rival, Skopelos."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the tense-looking members of parliament.

"The contents of the telegram were that the Skopelos family was secretly in contact with the Ottoman military, preparing to sell them a batch of German-made weapons that our Greek army urgently needed."

The entire audience erupted in uproar!

"At the time, I naively thought that this was my opportunity and my responsibility. I personally handed this evidence to Mr. Zaimis, who was then the Secretary of the Interior."

Petalas's gaze returned to Zaimis, whose calm narration concealed the deathly stillness before the volcanic eruption.

"I thought I would receive an award and be praised by the country."

He suddenly laughed, a dry and sorrowful laugh.

But what came was not a reward.

His hand suddenly rose, his index finger like a poisoned javelin, pointing straight at the already swaying figure on the podium!

"he!"

Petaras's voice suddenly rose, filled with tearful accusations!

"He, Alexandros Zaimis! Not only did he not order a thorough investigation, but he also used the telegram I gave him to threaten me!"

"He said! If I dare to utter even half a word to a second person, he can make my family, my fleet, everything I own vanish completely in the Aegean sea breeze!"

"And then!" Petaras's voice was hoarse, each word like a clot of blood squeezed from his throat, "He used this to blackmail me! To force me to sign this document! To transfer, free of charge, the most important gold shipping route in the Aegean Sea that my family has run for three generations, from Piraeus to Alexandria, Egypt!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he trembled as he took out two documents carefully wrapped in oil paper from his bosom.

A parliamentary clerk stepped forward, took the document, and displayed it on a tall projection board for everyone to see.

The first document was a slightly yellowed copy of a telegram, the characters and numbers on which corresponded perfectly to the records in Constantine's ledger of treason!

The second document plunged the entire parliament hall into complete silence!

It was an order for the compulsory transfer of shipping rights, issued by the Prime Minister's Office of the Kingdom of Greece and bearing the personal seal of Prime Minister Zaymis and the government's official seal!

The beneficiary was none other than Skopelos Shipping Company!

Black paper, white text, and a red seal!

The proof is like a mountain!

If Constantine's account of treason was a sharp sword piercing the chest of the Skopelos family...

So, the two pieces of evidence that Petaras presented were like a pair of red-hot iron clamps, tightly, tightly choking Zaimis's throat!

A complete, clear, and irrefutable chain of evidence has been formed!

Zaimis not only knew about the Skopelos family's treason but also failed to report it!

He was also a cover-up!

They are the murderers who threatened the whistleblower!

He was one of the ultimate beneficiaries of this dirty deal!

Finished!

All the oligarchic members of parliament had only two words on their minds. Looking at Zaimis's deathly pale face, their eyes instantly shifted from worship and fanaticism to uncontrollable terror and disgust!

They finally realized that the person they had sworn to be loyal to was not some political leader who could lead them to glory!

He was a complete and utter traitor!

He is a devil who will drag them all into hell at any time for his own benefit!

They've been scammed!

I was completely fooled by this hypocrite who talks about law and order all the time!

The parliament hall was deathly silent.

Constantine slowly walked down from the podium.

His gleaming naval officer boots made no sound as they stepped on the thick carpet. But to everyone else, each step sounded like the tolling of a death knell.

Under the watchful eyes of countless people, he walked step by step to the man whose face was ashen and whose body trembled like a candle in the wind.

Zaimis raised his head, and his once bright and piercing eyes were now filled with empty despair.

Constantine leaned down slightly.

He leaned close to Zaimis's ear and whispered something in a devilish voice, a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Your Excellency, what do you think...?"

"This knife, which was originally meant to judge me, is now at your throat..."

"How are you feeling?"