novelSusiti Chapter 286 A Secret Meeting in the Dead of Night
Chapter 286 A Secret Meeting in the Dead of Night
Chapter 286 A Secret Meeting in the Dead of Night
The nights in London are damper than the days. A cold fog drifts down from the Thames, enveloping every street and swallowing the footsteps of pedestrians and the hooves of carriages.
After the midnight bells rang, a single-horse carriage without any insignia silently slid out from a side alley and stopped at the back door of the Greek delegation's residence.
The car door opened, and two figures quickly stepped out. The one in front was the Serbian ambassador, who covered half his face with the brim of his top hat, while the other was his personal attendant, who vigilantly scanned their surroundings.
Alexandros was already waiting behind the door. He didn't speak, but simply made a "please" gesture and led the two inside.
In the study of the official residence, the flickering firelight from the fireplace illuminated the huge Balkan map on the wall, casting it in and out of focus.
Constantine was standing in front of the map, holding an untouched glass of brandy.
The Serbian envoy took off his coat, which was slightly damp from the fog, and handed it to his attendant. He then walked straight to Constantine. He did not accept the invitation to sit down and stood stiffly in the center of the study, like a stone statue.
"Your Highness," he began, his voice strained with suppressed emotion, "I need an explanation."
He didn't produce the letter. The physical evidence had turned to ashes, but every word on the letter was etched into his mind. He believed that the crown prince before him understood what he meant.
Constantine did not turn around.
He raised his glass and poured the brandy into the fireplace.
"Hu Yi"
The amber-colored liquor, when exposed to fire, instantly burst into a blue flame, illuminating the entire room.
Then, Constantine put down his empty cup, turned around, and invited the Serbian envoy to the huge Balkan map.
"Mr. Minister," he emphasized, gesturing sharply around the vast region on the map, sandwiched between the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires, "who do you consider to be the greatest enemy of our two nations in the future?"
"Are we each other?"
He didn't wait for the minister's reply, but spoke faster, each word like a stone thrown into a calm lake.
"Is it to fight tooth and nail over a few villages in Macedonia, or a few berths in the port of Thessaloniki, and then have the emperors of Vienna and Constantinople stand by and applaud our folly?"
These words struck the Serbian ambassador like a heavy hammer. All the questions he had prepared, all the anger, were choked back by these barrage of questions. He was stunned.
Constantine removed his finger from the map.
He looked directly into the minister's eyes.
"Territorial disputes can be left to our grandchildren to resolve. They will have their wisdom and their own time."
"But our generation has an even more important mission!"
Constantine's voice was low, yet it was filled with a power that penetrated the heart.
"That is to ensure our country survives to the day when it has grandchildren! To ensure our people, the Greeks, the Serbs, all our Balkan brothers, are no longer meat to be carved up at will on the tables of the two great empires!"
The Serbian ambassador's body trembled almost imperceptibly.
He had fought on battlefields, frequented courts, and engaged in verbal battles with Europe's most cunning diplomats. But he had never heard, never been heard, from any monarch of any nation say such a thing to him.
This is not politics, nor is it diplomatic rhetoric.
This is a cry for life and death concerning one nation, two nations, and even all the weak nations of the Balkans.
Constantine's words were like a key, unlocking the deepest, locked room in the Serbian envoy's heart. Inside that room lay not a yearning for Macedonia, but the humiliating memory of the Berlin Conference of 1878. That year, powerful Russia had won the war for them, but with the intervention of the great powers, Serbia ultimately received only scraps, while Austria-Hungary "took over" Bosnia without firing a shot. The lesson of history burned fiercely in his soul: the fate of the Balkans was never determined by the Balkan people themselves! And the Greek Crown Prince before him was showing him a possible path to escape this fate! This was not merely an alliance; it was a high-stakes gamble concerning national dignity!
His face, taut with anger and doubt, began to soften. He looked at the young crown prince before him, whose handsome face held no trace of victor's pride, only a deep anxiety about the future that transcended his years.
Constantine seized upon that moment of silence.
He unveiled his long-planned, groundbreaking strategy, one that would reshape the entire Balkan landscape.
"Therefore, I propose that we temporarily set aside our covetousness of Macedonia and all land issues that might cause us to distrust each other."
"Let's build a higher level of alliance."
His voice was clear and firm in the quiet study.
"A Greek-Serbian Orthodox Cultural and Economic Cooperation Promotion Association".
"
The Serbian ambassador's pupils contracted slightly.
Constantine placed his hand on the map again, this time covering the entire land from Athens to Belgrade.
"Our common goal is no longer to conquer and seize territory, but to protect all our Orthodox brothers oppressed under the iron heel of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires! It is to jointly develop our economy, using Greek merchant ships to transport Serbian minerals and Serbian markets to receive Greek manufactured goods. It is to jointly build railways connecting our two countries, to jointly establish modern factories, to make our nation prosperous and strong, and to equip our soldiers with guns and cannons made by ourselves!"
"Let our faith be the strongest bond connecting our two nations! An impregnable Great Wall of Steel that no conspiracy or trickery can destroy!"
This is a conspiracy.
A flawless conspiracy disguised as "culture" and "religion".
It cleverly circumvented all sensitive territorial disputes, but established a substantial economic, political, and even spiritual community that was more robust than any military alliance.
It elevated Greece and Serbia from potential rivals to the moral high ground of "guardians of the Balkan Orthodox world".
Once this banner is raised, not only will schemers like Count Karnoki have nowhere to strike, but it will also, to the greatest extent possible, firmly bind the powerful and greedy forces of Tsarist Russia to its own chariot.
The study was deathly silent.
The Serbian ambassador's breathing became heavy.
He looked at the young crown prince before him, at his eyes burning in the firelight.
The initial anger has long since dissipated.
The ensuing doubts vanished.
At this moment, his chest was filled with a complex emotion that was a mixture of shock, admiration and emotion.
He finally understood that the letter was not a conspiracy, but an invitation.
An invitation to him, an invitation to Serbia, to participate in a grander, more dangerous, and more glorious game of chess.
He stepped back and bowed deeply and solemnly to Constantine.
"Your Highness, I will relay every word you said to my king verbatim."
His voice was hoarse, yet it was filled with unprecedented power.
"Now, I need to go back immediately."