novelSusiti Chapter 296 The Knight's Impulse
Chapter 296 The Knight's Impulse
Chapter 296 The Knight's Impulse
Sofia's letter, placed in a top-priority diplomatic pouch, traveled on the fastest train across the European continent and finally arrived at the heart of power in the German Empire.
A few days later, in Berlin, Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam.
Kaiser Wilhelm II concluded a long and tedious cabinet meeting and returned to his favorite study. His brand-new naval divisional uniform was crisp and well-fitting, the tassels on his epaulets swaying slightly with his steps.
He walked up to the huge world map and used a baton to mark the name of the "sunny territory" he longed for.
An attendant approached silently and presented a letter with both hands.
Wilhelm II glanced at it. The familiar Hohenzollern family black eagle emblem on the corner of the envelope, along with the elegant handwriting, softened the lines of his tense face. It was a letter from Sophia.
He casually took the letter, used a letter opener to cut open the seal, assuming it was another anecdote from his sister about the Athenian court. He leaned back in his large armchair and began to read the letter in a relaxed posture.
The letter began with Sophia complaining about the damp, chilly London weather and describing Constantine's haggard appearance. Wilhelm II's brow furrowed involuntarily. He had always disdained the humid air and endless political games of England. His brother-in-law, a distinguished Prussian military academy graduate, shouldn't be suffering in such a place.
He continued reading.
His breath caught in his throat when his gaze swept over the sentence, "—Do you really want to see your sister, a Prussian princess, end up as the wife of a defeated monarch?"
The gentle smile on his face froze instantly.
Then, the next paragraph, like a tempered steel whip, lashed hard across his face.
"What will my relatives think of me? — But her brother, the German Emperor, will stand idly by."
"Bang!"
He slammed his hand on the table, the heavy oak surface making a loud thud. The small, sterling silver globe on the corner of the table jumped up, spinning rapidly and buzzing.
"You rude Englishman!"
A roar erupted from the Kaiser's chest. His once handsome face flushed crimson with blood rushing to his head. He slammed the letter on the table and stood up, using the edge of the table for support.
"A bunch of shop owners who only know how to calculate profits! How dare they humiliate my sister like this! Humiliate a German princess!"
In that instant, he forgot all about the territorial disputes between Greece and Turkey, and the complex geopolitics of the Balkans.
The nature of this matter has changed.
This is the most naked and unforgivable humiliation his English cousins have inflicted on his sister William, on himself, and on the sacred Hohenzollern family!
He paced irritably back and forth in his study, which was covered with a Persian carpet, wearing his gleaming riding boots. The spurs clanged against the floor.
An image uncontrollably formed in his mind, filled with medieval chivalrous fantasies: his poor sister Sophia, dressed in a tattered dress, weeping in a shabby, drafty palace. Meanwhile, at court banquets across Europe, noblewomen covered their mouths with their folding fans, pointing and snickering at his sister's retreating figure.
No!
This is absolutely unacceptable!
He, Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany, supreme leader of the Germanic people, must, like the legendary dragon-slaying hero Siegfried, rescue his besieged Krimshild! He must become an omnipotent knight to protect his sister!
This thought ignited a fire within him.
He rushed back to his desk in three quick steps and slammed the doorbell down.
The sharp, urgent ringing of bells pierced through the heavy oak doors and echoed throughout the palace corridors.
"Someone come here!"
He roared at the attendant who rushed in upon hearing the noise, spitting all over the attendant's face.
"Immediately convey my message! Summon State Secretary for Foreign Affairs von Bülow to the palace!"
He paused, his chest heaving, and then added an even more startling command.
"Also, have my adjutant bring me the president of Krupp and the head of Deutsche Bank from Essen and Frankfurt as quickly as possible!"
He used his baton to strike heavily the Ruhr region on the map, which represented the heart of the German Empire.
"tonight!"
"I must see them!"