Chapter 9

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Chapter 9: Why a Dog’s Defeat Is a Defeat

"I’m back."

Anna stood in front of Leader One.

Leader One is very busy right now, quickly scanning through documents on his desk, signing them, and moving on to the next task. He is leaving Berlin tomorrow and needs to finalize some government affairs today.

"Oh, Anna, go next door and ask Freeman for the keys. The palace I built for you is ready. Take some time off for yourself. When the buzz dies down, then come back to work."

Anna was a bit unsure but wanted to chat with Leader One. Seeing him busy, she decided to leave.

Anna left the prince regent’s office and found Freeman.

The young and promising director of the royal affairs office was sorting through letters with three big baskets beside him labeled "to be disposed after reading," "reply using a template," and "further processing needed."

He picked up a letter, glanced at the sender and address, quickly scanned its contents, then tossed it into the "to be disposed after reading" basket, where most letters ended up. There were very few in the other two baskets.

"Give me the key," Anna interrupted.

Startled, Freeman hadn’t noticed Anna’s arrival due to his intense focus. He quickly took out a bunch of keys and a deed from the drawer.

Freeman explained, "This is the only new royal garden built by the prince regent since taking office. It’s located in the southwest outskirts of Berlin City, by the lake, covering an area of twenty-two hectares. It includes four palaces in Baroque, Rococo, Renaissance, and Neoclassical styles, along with oak forests, gardens, orchards, a treasure house, gallery, and 22 other facilities, costing a total of 131,000 pounds."

"The prince regent named this royal garden Prime Minister Palace, and from this moment, it belongs to you as your hereditary estate."

After listening to Freeman’s explanation, Anna took the key and deed, a smile escaping her usually stern face. She was extremely happy.

"Please tell Your Highness the Regent that I am grateful for his gift, I will always remember this kindness. If he is willing to grant me a title and make me a chancellor, I would be even more grateful."

Freeman looked strangely at the wall on the left and said, "Your Highness the Regent is next door, why don’t you go thank him directly?"

Anna frowned and said, "Freeman!"

"Oh.. oh.. I better keep quiet."

"What I mean is, Your Highness the Regent is very busy right now. Wait until he is free, then deliver this message to him."

Freeman nodded obediently, "Yes, Ms. Anna."

Anna was supposed to leave the palace at this point, but she suddenly wanted to explore a bit more and walked into the living quarters.

The living quarters were where Leader One and Catherine lived day-to-day. Currently, Leader One was working in the front hall and Catherine was with the army, leaving only a few servants cleaning.

When the servants saw Anna enter, they stopped what they were doing and exchanged glances, but no one dared to stop her.

There were many rumors that Mrs. Bismarck used unfair methods to rise to power, and it was said that she had deep interactions with Your Highness the Regent, so the servants… But this is Redel-Catherine Palace, in theory everyone should be loyal to Catherine and should expel this mistress.

There were also rumors that Mrs. Bismarck was a rude peasant woman from the countryside, a savage dragon knight, with a violent temper and a liking for killing, and there were even disturbing rumors that Bismarck enjoyed eating children, so the servants dared not provoke this female villain.

Anna didn’t care about the servants’ strange looks, she knew those rumors were completely false and couldn’t be bothered to explain.

Anna confidently walked straight to the bedroom, the first thing she saw was a large bed, and the second thing she saw was a painting named "The Loyal Female Knight to His Majesty the Emperor."

This painting was hand-painted by Leader One, with exquisite skill and technique, those who knew art in Vienna would appreciate it.

In the painting, there were only two characters, a brave female cavalry soldier in black and gray armor, and a male figure holding a sword looking into the distance, although neither had a clear face, anyone with a bit of sense would know it was Catherine and Prussian Prince Regent Redel.

The name of this painting, "His Majesty the Emperor," already perfectly displayed ambition.

What particularly disgusted Anna was the Catherine in the painting, and what made Anna even more disgusted was the real Catherine.

"The prince regent is busy with state affairs during the day, this wicked woman makes the prince regent unable to rest fully even at night, and with Catherine’s arrogance, selling favors, usurping power, being deceitful and flattering, causing chaos and harming the country, such treacherous person, hmph."

"I should be the one to do it."

Catherine has achieved “countless accomplishments”, while she has only held hands a few times. Feeling powerless and angry, she clenched her fists tightly like a defeated dog.

During this time, Anna has given many opportunities and hints, but Leader One has not noticed at all, and has not shown any sign of interest.

For example, Anna would occasionally spend one or two hours in the prince regent’s office drinking wine. She would have two glasses of red wine, then close her eyes and wait. However, Leader One just sat there behind his desk like a statue, not moving at all.

If Leader One could hear Anna’s thoughts, he would surely cry injustice. After all, Anna could drink a liter of wine every day and still efficiently handle the affairs of two government departments. She had a strong tolerance for alcohol. Besides, Leader One had always thought Anna was the one taking the lead, how could he have known she was the one being pursued.

Anna was not really the one being pursued either. She would often pretend to be drunk when she came over, mainly because…

A certain unnamed advisor who helped her strategy spoke up:

"Currently, Catherine has already established herself as the tough one. Anna, if you have a similar style to Catherine, you won’t be very appealing to Your Highness the Regent."

"You should create a different love role, and it should have enough contrasting elements. That way, men won’t be able to stay away from you."

"For example, if you usually act tough or even aggressive, in love you might act weak, like you’re waiting to be bullied. This can make the man feel very satisfied and accomplished, which is also known as a cute contrast."

But this plan seems to have failed, the target didn’t fall for it at all.

Because someone set Anna’s image of love as a complete 180-degree reversal, Leader One couldn’t connect words like "passive," "weak," and "to receive" with Anna.

Leader One believed that Anna was more traditional when it came to love, and she wanted to take control. He thought that by spending more time with her, giving her a higher position to make her happy, Anna would then approach him on her own. If he took the initiative, Anna would be unhappy.

As a result, Leader One waited to be pushed, while Anna also waited to be pushed, and their relationship didn’t progress for a long time.

The real winner, Catherine, had already won by going straight for it, winning many times every week, and had reached the achievement 500 times already, she’s gotten used to winning.

"Schultz! If you come up with this kind of rubbish strategy again, I’ll kill you!"

"Anna, calm down! The current outcome doesn’t matter, what matters is who laughs till the end, the ultimate winner. Trust my strategy, keep going, I will assist you appropriately. The prince regent is busy with military matters at the moment, can you wait for a while?"

Today’s victory goes to Catherine