novelSusiti Chapter 140 Greece's "Tuition Fee Bill"
Chapter 140 Greece's "Tuition Fee Bill"
Professor Andreas left with a belly full of doubts and worries.
In the huge conference room, only Constantine remained.
He did not return to his seat, but remained standing in front of the huge map of Greece, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the lines between Athens and the port of Piraeus.
The hustle and bustle outside the window seems to be completely isolated from this place.
The cheers of the people, the extra editions of the newspapers, and the joy of victory all seemed to be separated from him by a thick layer of glass, unable to reach him.
He was thinking about what would happen after the cheers.
As night deepened, only a desk lamp was lit in the study.
What lay before Constantine was the grand blueprint left by Sir Harding.
The power plant's intricate structure and the telegraph network's dense lines, under the lights, resembled a meticulously woven giant net, each node shimmering with an alluring luster while also concealing a deadly noose.
The study door was gently pushed open without making a sound.
Sofia came in carrying a steaming glass of milk.
She wore a soft loungewear dress, her long golden hair cascading over her shoulders, and under the warm yellow light, she exuded an aura of tranquility.
She didn't attend the daytime royal meeting, but in the palace, nothing could escape her notice.
She knew that Constantine had made a decision that none of the ministers could understand.
"Connie, I know you have your own plans. But I'm still worried."
Sofia came up from behind him, her warm body pressed against his back, and her hands gently wrapped around his neck.
Her beautiful face was filled with genuine concern.
"It would be too dangerous to hand over the nation's eyes and lifeblood, even if only in name, to the British."
Her voice was gentle, yet incisive, pinpointing the core of the problem.
Energy is the lifeblood, and information is the eyes.
Handing these two items over to an enemy who just wanted to kill you is tantamount to tying your own hands and feet.
Constantine felt the warmth behind him, and his tense nerves relaxed a little.
He turned around, took Sophia's hand, and pulled her in front of him, letting her sit on his lap.
Instead of explaining immediately, he gazed into his wife's worried blue eyes and asked a completely unrelated question.
"Honey, have you ever seen magic?"
Sofia was taken aback by the question, but she still honestly shook her head.
The Prussian royal family's education was rigorous and rigid, leaving little room for "low-class" tricks like magic.
Constantine gave a mysterious smile.
"A magician, standing before you, confidently declares that he will make a coin disappear."
He stretched out his right hand, opened his palm, then slowly clenched it, and then suddenly opened it again.
My palms are empty.
"Look, the coin is gone."
Your attention is entirely focused on his empty hand. You rack your brains trying to figure out where the coin is hidden. Is it in his sleeve? Or in his other hand?
"But did the coin really disappear?"
Constantine's left hand, as if by magic, produced a golden drachma coin from behind Sophia's ear.
Sofia's face showed surprise, then she understood.
"It's just a magic trick."
"Yes, it's a magic trick." Constantine placed the warm coin in her palm.
"The Englishman was like that magician, Sir Harding, who thought he was the star of the show."
"He brandished the two magnificent props of the power plant and telegraph office, attracting everyone's attention, including our intellectuals, our finance minister, and Professor Andreas."
"They were all staring at his 'empty' hand, wary of the knife he might conjure at any moment."
"But what they didn't know was that sitting in the audience was someone who knew all the secrets of the magic tricks."
Constantine's gaze was intense.
"They want to use a power plant and a telegraph office as a smokescreen to openly control us."
"And we can use this smokescreen to do what we really want to do on the other side of the stage, where they can't see us."
Sofia's heart skipped a beat.
Constantine pulled his wife's soft body closer into his arms, leaned close to her ear, and whispered the real plan in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"They want to build coal-fired power plants using their coal, which is fine."
"This gives us the perfect reason to make up our minds to develop our own energy sources."
"While everyone's attention is focused on the massive coal-fired power plant in Athens, who will notice that our unassuming geological exploration teams are searching for dam sites in the Thessaly Mountains and drilling for black liquid on deserted islands in the Aegean Sea?"
Sofia's breathing became rapid.
She got it.
The British monopolized coal, so Constantine had to find water and oil!
Using massive British-invested projects as cover, they are launching another radical energy revolution!
"And that intelligence agency too." Constantine's voice carried a hint of amusement.
"Hardin wants to turn it into a listening device that's implanted in our hearts, which is a good idea."
"But an intelligence agency full of British advisors can serve as a 'sparring partner' and 'teacher' for our own real intelligence agencies."
"I will send our most loyal and intelligent people to be their students."
"Let them learn how the British gather intelligence, analyze intelligence, develop their network, and conduct coded communications."
"They think they are cultivating puppets, but in reality, they are training our top agents for free."
"Once our students graduate, this so-called 'General Intelligence Agency' will become the best dumping ground, specifically for receiving the 'secrets' we want the British to hear."
Every word Constantine uttered was like a pebble dropped into Sofia's heart.
The worry in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by a radiance intertwined with admiration and love.
The man before her was not passively accepting a poisoned honey.
He was using the enemy's conspiracy as part of his own plan, turning it into a stepping stone, a decoy.
In his interpretation, risk was transformed into a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
He transformed poison into a health-enhancing tonic.
Sofia finally understood her husband's deeper meaning.
The contract that had put all the ministers on high alert was, in Constantine's hands, not a contract of servitude at all.
Instead, it's a list filled with knowledge points, with prices marked, waiting for Greece to learn from, absorb, and surpass...
"Tuition fee statement," Sophia said softly.
"That's right." Constantine kissed her forehead. "A bill for tuition fees that the British paid part of."
Sofia could no longer suppress her emotions.
She raised her head, met her husband's confident and deep eyes, and offered her lips.
This kiss was more passionate than ever before.
It contains a wife's complete trust in her husband, and an ally's absolute loyalty to their leader.
For a long time, the lips are divided.
Sofia's cheeks flushed a lovely blush as she looked at her husband and exclaimed in sincere admiration.
"My king, I believe in you. You will always be the magician who can create miracles."
This kiss, this trust, dispelled the last bit of pressure in Constantine's heart.
He gained the strongest support in the world.
He gently stroked Sophia's blonde hair and whispered one last thing in her ear.
"But, my dear, never forget."
"We can use their technology to outmaneuver their spies, but we must never underestimate them."
"Because the most fundamental fang of the British Empire has always been finance. Today we have pulled one out, but the lion will soon grow new, sharper teeth."
Just then, there was a very light knock on the study door.
"Enter."
The door opened silently.
Alexandros Dimitriopoulos appeared at the doorway.
He was dressed in a crisp royal guard uniform, his posture like a javelin, his face devoid of any superfluous expression.
He simply stood there quietly, like a shadow blending into the darkness, awaiting orders.
Constantine's gaze shifted from his wife's gentle face to his most loyal subordinate.
His gaze suddenly sharpened and hardened.
"Alexandros".
"Your Highness."
"Your first lesson is about to begin." Constantine's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable force.
"Your teacher is the British Empire."