1885, I came to save Greece

Chapter 1: Kick Open That Door and Stop the Nation from Suicide!

My head hurts, like someone is stirring something in my brain with a steel rod.

Constantine sprang up from the bed, the violent movement causing his vision to go black and almost causing him to fall back down.

What came into view was an extremely luxurious palace bedroom, with velvet curtains so thick they could stop cannonballs, and furniture carved with intricate scroll patterns, exuding an outdated, old-fashioned feel.

"Where is this?"

He was startled by his own hoarse and unfamiliar voice when he opened his mouth.

wrong.

That's not his voice.

Constantine's limbs went weak, and he stumbled and fell in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling mirror.

The reflection in the mirror made him freeze.

With blond hair, blue eyes, and a high nose bridge, he had a typical Nordic royal face, looking too young and too handsome.

His dark blue Prussian-style military uniform, with its dazzling gold embroidery on the epaulettes and collar, was a sight to behold.

Who exactly is this?

Then who am I?

The next second, memories from two centuries exploded in his mind like two high-speed trains colliding head-on!

Crown Prince Constantine of Greece.

Father, King George I of Greece.

Mother, Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia.

Denmark, Russia, Britain... a complex web of European royal relationships unfolded in his mind, almost causing him to faint again from information overload.

"I... became Constantine?"

Li Xingji, a 21st-century keyboard warrior on Byzantine history, had his mind completely blank at that moment.

He actually time-traveled and became the crown prince of Greece more than a hundred years ago!

Is that the unlucky king who was historically known for his "map head" and "stubbornness" and successfully unlocked the epic achievement of "twice ascending the throne and twice going into exile"?

God, you might as well just strike me dead with lightning!

Before he could recover from this messed-up reality, the heavy oak door of his bedchamber was violently slammed open from the outside.

"Bang!"

"Your Highness!"

A middle-aged man in a servant's uniform stumbled in, his face covered in sweat and terror.

"Your Highness, you're finally awake!" The attendant gasped, his voice trembling. "Outside...something terrible has happened outside!"

Constantine suppressed the turmoil in his mind, and his eyes changed instantly.

The fragments of his memory pieced together automatically, and he recognized the person in front of him—his personal attendant, Alexandros.

"explain."

Constantine uttered only one word, but his soft voice made the air in the room freeze.

Alexis was taken aback by the Crown Prince's unprecedented aura and instinctively straightened up.

"Your Highness! This morning, the Principality of Bulgaria suddenly announced its merger with the Ottoman-controlled Eastern Rumillian Autonomous Province!"

"When the news reached Athens, the whole city went crazy!"

"Tens of thousands of citizens flooded the streets, chanting 'Reclaim lost territory!' and 'War on the Ottoman Empire!' They were gathering at the Royal Palace and Parliament Square! The Prime Minister and ministers were practically drowning in their spittle!"

The attendant's voice trembled with tears: "All of Athens is in a frenzy; they call it a 'patriotic parade'!"

Constantine's mind went blank, as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer.

Bulgaria annexes Eastern Rumeria!

1885 years!

He remembered! He remembered everything!

As a seasoned history enthusiast, he knew this plot of events inside and out!

This incident ignited Greek nationalist fervor, binding the entire country to the war machine!

In order to gain votes and approval ratings, the populist prime minister Deriplis will follow this "public opinion" and frantically expand the military and prepare for war, clamoring to take a tough stance against the Ottoman Empire.

But this was purely suicide!

At this time, Greece's treasury was emptier than its face, and its army was still using outdated single-shot rifles. How could it possibly compete with the corrupt but massive "sick man of Europe," the Ottoman Empire?

This crisis would continue to escalate, eventually leading to the humiliating Thirty Days' War twelve years later, in 1897!

The Greek army was utterly defeated by the Turks, ceding territory and paying reparations. The country's finances were completely bankrupt, and its economic sovereignty was taken over by the International Financial Committee established by Britain, France, and other powers, turning it into a de facto semi-colony!

That was the darkest chapter in modern Greek history!

"So... this is the newbie village gift pack for transmigrators?"

Constantine muttered to himself, then laughed.

No, this is not a crisis.

This was the first step he took to turn the tide of the nation and seize power over the country!

Want history to repeat itself? No way!

Constantine took a deep breath, and the confusion and panic in his eyes were replaced by a cold, almost cruel clarity.

He turned around and took a more formal marshal's uniform from the rack.

As he quickly changed, he gave his first order since transmigrating to the still-stunned attendant.

"To the royal palace meeting room!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a knife chilled to the bone.

Alexandros was completely dumbfounded.

"Your Highness?" he stammered, "But... His Majesty the King and Prime Minister Deriplis are in an emergency meeting and have not summoned you... According to protocol, you cannot..."

"rule?"

Constantine stopped buttoning his shirt, turned around abruptly, and stared intently at the attendant with cold, emotionless blue eyes.

"Alexis, do you know how much a Mauser rifle costs?"

"Huh?" The attendant was taken aback by the question.

"You don't know. You don't know how much money Athens has left in its treasury, let alone how many guns our poor army has that can still fire."

Constantine walked up to him, reached out and straightened his crooked bow tie. His movements were gentle, but his words were as heavy as mountains.

"But those gentlemen in the conference room who were clamoring for war, they didn't know either."

"A bunch of idiots are pushing my country to the brink, and now you want to talk to me about rules?"

Alexandros turned pale and broke out in a cold sweat after hearing these words, unable to utter a single word.

The Crown Prince before me was completely different from the gentle, even somewhat indecisive, figure I knew in the past!

"From today onwards, I will set the rules."

Constanze left those words behind, ignoring the petrified attendant, straightened his crisp military uniform, and strode out of the palace.

The palace corridors were deep and long, with oil paintings of past kings hanging on the walls. Their expressions were solemn, as if they were watching the successor who was about to change history.

At the end of the corridor, behind the tightly closed conference room door, the faint sounds of a heated argument could be heard.

A group of politicians and generals, blinded by fanaticism, are devising a thousand ways to commit suicide for this country.

The first thing Constantine had to do was rush over there.

Then, he kicked the door open!