xymnovel Chapter 88 You will rule over a patch of ashes!
Chapter 88 You will rule over a patch of ashes!
Constantine's soft, lover-like whisper became the final straw that broke Zaimis's mental world.
Ironclad evidence.
Allies have abandoned us.
He knew he was finished.
It's completely over.
Political life, family honor, and even one's life and fortune will all vanish today.
Under the corrosive influence of extreme fear and despair, the elegant mask he had maintained his entire life, meticulously crafted with law, order, and smiles, finally shattered completely with a "crack."
However, to everyone's surprise, he did not act like a mad dog and attack the oligarchs around him who were already terrified.
He shoved Constantine aside abruptly, staggering from the force of the movement and nearly falling.
He didn't turn around.
Those bloodshot eyes, which looked particularly terrifying from the congestion, looked past everyone, past the members of parliament and the reporters, and stared intently at the British gentleman in the gallery who had maintained an elegant posture from beginning to end.
Sir Charles Harding!
With the last ounce of strength in his body, Zaimis let out a piercing, blood-curdling roar from deep within his throat:
"Sir Harding!"
"You promised me! You promised me!"
"The British Empire will support me! You said Greece needs a 'stable' leader, not a mad prince!"
Don't throw me away like a shriveled piece of sugarcane! Don't throw me away like a dog!
His voice had lost all the composure of a politician; it was now only the most primal, desperate howl of a beast driven to the brink of despair.
The entire audience erupted in uproar!
If the previous evidence of treason was an earthquake that shook the Greek political arena.
At this moment, Zaimis's public denunciation has pushed the magnitude of this earthquake to a new and terrifying level, affecting the entire European diplomatic circle!
In an instant, all eyes were focused on the British ambassador to Greece.
The German military attaché instinctively straightened his back, his right hand gripping the sword at his waist, his gaze fixed on the British seat like a hawk eyeing a hare! The ambassador beside him quickly pulled a small notebook from his pocket, scribbling something down with a fountain pen, his face beaming with undisguised elation. The Russian ambassador, meanwhile, exaggeratedly shrugged at the French ambassador beside him, mouthing silently, "Good show."
The entire diplomatic row instantly transformed into a miniature European power struggle, and the one who ignited it all was the young prince standing on the stage.
Countless flashes of light were flashing wildly across his face.
The reporters' hands were trembling. They knew that today they would witness not only the downfall of a Greek prime minister, but also a huge scandal that could trigger fierce diplomatic friction between Britain and Greece, and even between Britain and Germany!
Sir Charles Harding, after a brief moment of surprise, had a slight twitch in his facial muscles.
But in just a second, he resumed his signature, polite smile, befitting the British elite.
It was as if Zaimis's heart-wrenching accusations were nothing more than the meaningless ramblings of a madman.
He didn't speak.
She simply stood up gracefully, and without regard for anyone else, gently adjusted her perfectly wrinkle-free bow tie with her gloved hand.
Then, he looked up at the man who was staring at him with a pleading and resentful gaze.
He shook his head slowly and clearly at Zaimis.
The movement was silent and gentle.
Yet it is filled with the most extreme and coldest cruelty in this world.
With a simple gesture, he declared to the world: You, Alexandros Zaimis, are no longer of any use.
You have been abandoned.
This open, naked, and fatal betrayal caused the last thread of reason in Zaimis's brain to snap completely.
He's crazy.
He turned away, refusing to look at the Englishman. Like a thoroughly enraged bull, he pointed at the oligarchs in the audience who had once called him brother but now avoided his gaze, unleashing hysterical curses and accusations!
"I'm not alone!"
"You! None of you are getting away!!"
"Sigros!" he pointed at the obese senator. "Was Skopelos's munitions transported out to sea using your fleet?!"
"Street!" His finger then turned to the banker's representative, "Were those gold coins obtained from the Ottomans laundered through your bank?"
"And you! You! All of you!"
"You're all accomplices! You all shared the money! It was you! You pushed me into this position, making me take the fall for the royal family! Now you want to run? Too late!!"
"I'm going to die! You'll all die with me!!"
He was like a demon who had detonated a bomb, ready to drag the entire oligarchic group into an abyss of no return!
The faces of the councilors and representatives whose names were called instantly turned ashen, worse than those of the dead.
They no longer cared about saving face and stood up to distance themselves from him.
"You're insane! You're a madman!"
"Nonsense! This is slander!"
"He betrayed his country! He wants to drag us all down with him!"
The entire parliament hall instantly transformed into a chaotic marketplace. Curses, accusations, and excuses mingled together, creating a deafening cacophony.
Standing on the high ground, the speaker, an old politician who had seen the winds blowing and realized that if the situation was not controlled, the entire Greek upper class would be overthrown, no longer hesitated.
He grabbed the gavel and, with all his might, slammed it three times on the table!
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
"quiet!"
He silenced all the noise with an unprecedentedly stern voice.
"guard!"
His voice echoed in the deathly silent hall.
"Arrest—Alexandros Zaimis!"
"For—treason!"
Two Evzoni guards who were already waiting nearby immediately stepped forward, one on each side, and grabbed Zaimis's arms, intending to drag him out.
Just as he was being dragged away from the parliament hall where he once held sway, Zaimis suddenly mustered all his strength and broke free from the guards' restraints.
He no longer looked at the allies who had betrayed him, nor at the Englishman who had abandoned him.
His murky, crazed eyes were fixed intently on the young prince who had stood calmly to the side the whole time, as if watching a play.
He stared at Constantine, no longer roaring or cursing.
He suddenly burst into a maniacal laugh.
"Haha...hahahaha..."
The laughter was sharp and mournful, like the night howl of a demon from hell, sending chills down the spines of everyone who heard it.
"Constantine! You won! You won!"
He smiled, but tears streamed down his face, mixed with twisted hatred.
"But you'll get nothing! You'll get nothing!!"
He opened his arms as if to embrace the entire parliament hall, and uttered his final, and most vicious, curse.
"I burned everything! I burned everything!!"
"The Skopelos family's! Sigros Shipping's! Sterett Bank's! All the land deeds related to me! All the tax certificates! And... the National Archives, which holds fifty years' worth of all the original Greek land records!!"
"Hahaha! They were all burned to ashes in last night's fire!!"
"You will rule over ashes! A giant empty shell!"
"You will never truly own this country!!"