Chapter 8

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Chapter 8: Anna’s Story

In the year 1815, Anna von Bismarck was born. Her father, Old Bismarck, was overjoyed as their previous children had all died young, but Anna seemed healthy.

Anna’s great-grandfather was a Magic Energy Knight during the time of Frederick the Great, rewarded with land for his military achievements, becoming a Junker landowner. However, the family stopped passing down magic energy from her grandfather onwards, though they continued to serve in the military without receiving new land grants for their war efforts.

Over time, through land consolidation, the Bismarck family was left with only three small estates totaling eight hundred hectares. Due to poor management, their income decreased every year, marking the decline of a once prestigious but now struggling landowning family.

Old Bismarck was not knowledgeable about farming, struggled to find skilled serfs, lacked military prowess, and had a weak personality, leaving little hope for the family’s prosperity.

Fortunately, the family had a solid financial foundation with plenty of inherited wealth, allowing Old Bismarck to marry into a wealthy family.

Wilhelmine came from the Mencius family, known for having a relative who served as the Prussian Ambassador to Sweden, held a position as Minister of the Interior, and had a viscount ancestor.

A viscount was a true noble, while the Junker class was merely landowners and not considered nobility.

However, Wilhelmine had nothing. Her family did not give her a title or wealth. Relying on her decent background, she married the wealthy Old Bismarck.

Wilhelmine loved social activities. She often visited high-end opera houses and ballrooms in the city, and participated in various affairs of the aristocratic circles. In modern terms, she was a socialite.

Coming from the aristocratic circle, Wilhelmine naturally mingled in that circle. Those she interacted with on a daily basis were either young ladies from noble families or rich heirs of big businessmen.

Old Bismarck was completely different from Wilhelmine. He was a poverty-stricken Junker, an elderly veteran, and could not fit into that circle.

Wilhelmine spent a lot of money redecorating her home, and often invited her friends over. During these times, she found her husband bothersome because he was old-fashioned and didn’t understand anything. Wilhelmine would ask Old Bismarck to stay in his room and not come out.

Old Bismarck was weak-willed. He handed all his money to his wife to spend and never resisted her orders.

It was in this environment that Anna von Bismarck began her childhood.

Old Bismarck believed that their family was a prestigious military family, part of the Junker aristocracy. He passed on this belief to Anna from a young age.

"Child, our family has achieved great military success for Prussia, and the king granted us land, making us nobles. Though you are a girl, you must train well in martial skills. If you can awaken magic energy, you can join the army and continue the glory of our family."

Little Annie nodded repeatedly, her eyes filled with longing.

Whenever this happened, Mother Wilhelmine would come out to mock and ridicule.

"A noble? A small Junker in a village who thinks he’s a noble, without even a title. Ha, if you had magic energy and could become a Magic Energy Knight, that would be something. But you don’t even have magic energy, so what’s there to be proud of."

Old Bismarck remained silent under his wife’s mockery, while young Anna felt very upset.

Anna didn’t know who was right or wrong between her father and mother. She didn’t know if she was a noble or if her family was honorable. She didn’t know if she could be the person the king needed, or if she was just useless…

"If I could become a Magic Energy Knight, then Mom probably wouldn’t scold me and Dad anymore," thought little Anna.

One day, Anna invited some friends over to play at her home. She proudly showed them her grandfather’s portrait, saying, "This is my great-grandfather, a powerful Magic Energy Knight with many accomplishments. The king even rewarded him in person…"

Wilhelmine noticed and sternly reprimanded Anna, telling her not to talk about such embarrassing things. What’s there to boast about being a fallen Junker, a landlord who lost the inheritance of magic energy.

Anna was very angry, very very angry, to be scolded by her mother in front of her friends, feeling ashamed.

Little Anna started practicing harder, stopped indulging in fun, used all her pocket money to buy a small pony and some weapons, trained herself to become a knight, and tried to awaken magic energy according to her family’s tradition.

When she was eight years old, Wilhelmine chose a church school where the children of merchants gathered for the kids.

At that time, Anna was still young and had a great time with a large group of children her age, playing carefree every day.

As everyone grew a little older, they began shaping their worldviews.

Anna found out she was the only noble in the whole school, with the other kids coming from middle-class merchant families, which was very odd.

Children of Grand Aristocrats did not attend school; they had the best teachers come to their homes for one-on-one lessons.

Regular nobles couldn’t afford private tutors but would send their children to specialized noble schools.

Junker class also couldn’t afford private tutors, so they had specialized schools for Junker children and youth military academies for learning.

However, Anna’s mother sent her to a church school where the children of merchants gathered.

Once good friends, the children started to discriminate, exclude, and tease Anna.

"You’re from the landlord’s family, right? Came from the village?"

Anna, "I am a member of the Junker aristocracy."

"Haha, my parents told me that Junker is just a small landlord from the village, not a noble."

Angered, Anna said, "I am a member of the Junker aristocracy. I won’t allow you to insult my family and honor."

"My parents said nobles have magic energy, do you have any?"

Anna became furious, and she started to fight back against her classmates who teased her. From that moment on, whenever someone mocked her, Anna would beat them up. Even though she didn’t have magic energy, she had learned some martial arts from her father, enough to defeat these bourgeois wimps.

To show off her noble family’s wealth, she kept asking for money from her family and flaunted her riches in a flashy manner to prove she was truly a noble.

School days were unhappy for her, and the happiest time for Anna was waiting to return home during the holidays. However, her awful mother misbehaved again.

"I am going to travel to France, your dad went to work as a mercenary to earn money, there’s no one at home, so you can stay at the school dormitory this week."

This kind of thing often happens. Every time Anna receives a letter from her mother, she gets so angry that she almost has a brain hemorrhage. She then redirects her anger towards those classmates who mock and discriminate against her.

When Anna graduated from elementary school, the school evaluation said, "This student must learn to control their temper in the future. They should pay attention to moderate participation in school activities, not indulge themselves, and not be negligent in their homework."

When 12-year-old Anna entered middle school, the environment was the same as before. She was the only one from a noble family in the whole school, while others were all children of merchants from the middle class. She was still constantly teased and ridiculed.

But as Anna grew a little older, she stopped fighting and showing off her wealth. Instead, she worked hard to study.

Her father said, "Everyone in university is from a noble background. As long as you get into university, your classmates won’t exclude you anymore."

So, Anna learned English, French, Russian, Polish, Dutch, classical Latin, and Greek.

She successfully enrolled in the University of Gottingen at the age of 16.

Yes, most students in university are from noble families. But in university, there are real nobles – children of viscounts, barons, counts, and even dukes. Only Anna is from a Junker family.

Anna was excited to play with them, but they said, "A Junker ? Go away! How dare you call yourself an aristocrat?"

Feeling lost and disappointed, Anna’s anger grew. She started to bully those classmates who discriminated against her, behaving recklessly, squandering her family’s wealth, neglecting her studies, and becoming a true troublemaker.

In the early 19th century, Europe was greatly influenced by religion, but Anna boldly spoke out against various gods.

Teachers in this era represented authority and supreme knowledge. If a teacher mocked Anna, she would challenge them to a duel and beat them up.

With her martial skills honed since childhood, she did as she pleased at the university, easily overpowering most children from noble families.

Anna wondered why she didn’t have magic energy despite her strength, while the children of viscounts and barons, who didn’t inherit magic energy, could still claim to be true nobles.

Anna became even more reckless, living lawlessly. Her notorious behavior was known throughout the city of Gothenburg.

One day, after beating up the duke’s child, she was forced to transfer to Berlin University. To make amends, her father had to sell off a piece of their estate, reducing their wealth significantly.

Anna felt she needed to restrain herself. She decided that if people at Berlin University didn’t mock her too much, she wouldn’t resort to violence. She thought it might be better to dress as a knight and pretend to be a Magic Energy Knight to avoid trouble.

On the first day at a new school, Anna got into a fight with someone named Karl, which made her very upset.

However, she also met the author of "1914 AD" and "1936 AD," and they got along well. The man named Leader One was not very handsome, but he was open-minded and kind, with no prejudice or sarcasm in his eyes.

Leader One had a strange look in his eyes, maybe a bit flirtatious? Anna had never been liked by anyone before, others would dislike her as soon as they saw her shabby appearance. She had never seen such a look before and didn’t know what love feelings were.

"Marrying someone like him would be fine, this Leader One looks like a commoner, it shouldn’t cost much to marry him, right?" Anna thought to herself.

While Anna was thinking about marrying Leader One, he suddenly asked her a question.

"I want to ask you, what are your dreams?"

Anna fell into a long silence, unsure about her future. In her eighteen years from birth till now, she had worked hard to awaken her magic energy, but the future seemed dark and uncertain…

A ray of light shone into the classroom, but it didn’t fall on me. Maybe my worthless old mother was right, perhaps I am just a waste in this life. After finishing university, I would go back to my hometown and spend my life in poverty like my father.