novelSusiti Chapter 314 A Completely Different Person
Chapter 314 A Completely Different Person
Chapter 314 A Completely Different Person
The rain stopped in London the next morning.
The long-awaited sunlight pierced through the gaps in the clouds, casting dappled light and shadow on the damp streets.
When Constantine stepped out of his study, the members of the Greek delegation, who were discussing their strategy for the day in the living room, all stopped talking.
All eyes were on him.
Overnight, he seemed to have become a different person.
His eyes, which had been bloodshot, were now sharp and bright, as clear as the sky after a rain.
The fatigue in her eyes vanished instantly.
He changed into a brand-new, well-tailored dark blue suit, the collar of his shirt crisp and white. He stood ramrod straight, each step steady and powerful, exuding a commanding presence.
He seemed to have been reborn, his brilliance shining through.
Good morning, gentlemen.
His voice was no longer hoarse and anxious like yesterday; instead, it was loud, clear, and full of the power to control everything.
Venizelos was holding the unreasonable terms proposed by Austria-Hungary regarding the rights to trade in Thessaloniki, his brow furrowed, struggling with a particular wording.
Constantine walked over to him but did not sit down.
He simply reached out, picked up the document that had enraged him yesterday, and glanced at it only once.
Then, he picked up the pen on Venizelos's desk, unscrewed the cap, and quickly began making corrections directly on it.
He didn't make extensive deletions; he only adjusted the word order and replaced a few words in a few key sentences.
"—Goods from the Austro-Hungarian Empire entering the port of Thessaloniki enjoy Most Favored Nation status—"
He changed this sentence to: "—The Kingdom of Greece is willing to engage in special consultations with Austria-Hungary on the basis of reciprocity regarding the future free flow of goods in the Balkans, and may designate the port of Thessaloniki as the first pilot area."
The changes are minor.
But its meaning has undergone a complete transformation.
The former refers to Greece unilaterally and humiliatingly relinquishing its sovereignty.
The latter, however, became a regional cooperation initiative proposed by Greece itself, an equal one, in which it firmly held the initiative!
Venizelos stared blankly at the revised terms for a long time.
He felt like someone trapped in a maze, racking his brains but unable to find a way out. Constantine, however, simply pushed against the wall, and a door to the light swung open with a bang.
This is not just a matter of language skills.
This is on a level of thinking, an absolute crushing victory!
He raised his head and looked at the monarch before him with a new, inquisitive gaze.
Finally, a rare, genuine smile appeared on his usually serious and somewhat rigid face.
He pushed up his glasses and, in a half-joking tone, exclaimed sincerely, "It seems that reinforcements from Athens are indeed much more effective than loans from Berlin."
Constantine did not answer.
He simply put the pen back on the table, reached out, and patted Venizelos on the shoulder.
Then he turned around and faced everyone.
His gaze swept across the face of every member of the delegation.
"Gentlemen."
His voice wasn't loud, but it silenced the entire room.
"Starting today, our strategy will change."
"We are no longer on the defensive, no longer just going to catch a ball whenever they throw it at us."
His voice was filled with powerful confidence and undeniable control.
"We must attack."
After saying that, he strode over to the huge map of Europe on the wall.
They had looked at this map countless times; every boundary line and every place name was memorized.
Constantine reached out and pushed aside all the folders on the table that represented different negotiation plans.
"All previous contingency plans are now obsolete."
He picked up a red marker and overturned all previous tactical arrangements.
He put forward a completely new and extremely bold strategic concept.
"We will no longer argue with them about the division of a particular valley or the tariffs at a particular port. These are all traps, bait they use to exhaust us."
His pen drew a huge circle on the map, encompassing the entire Balkan Peninsula, along with the Aegean and Adriatic Seas.
"We need to package all the issues together!"
"Territorial demarcation, trade agreements, shipping rules, financial settlements, and most importantly, the future security framework for the Balkans!"
"We need to propose a complete, systematic, and comprehensive solution led by Greece."
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"We need to tell them that either they accept the whole set of new rules we've proposed, and everyone can play within this framework."
Constantine's voice was firm and resounding.
"Either, we don't talk about anything at all!"
The entire living room was deathly silent.
Everyone was stunned by Constantine's groundbreaking idea.
Upon hearing this, Venizelos's expression instantly became extremely solemn.
He walked quickly to Constantine's side and lowered his voice.
This is no longer a negotiation.
This is using the power of Greece alone to confront the old European order and forcibly establish a completely new set of rules!
This is insane!
He looked into Constantine's fiery eyes and whispered, "Your Highness, you're—trying to overturn the whole card table!"
Constantine turned his head and looked at him.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a golden halo on his profile.
"No."
Constantine smiled confidently and powerfully.
"I'm going to become the new bookmaker."