The old saying goes, "Never drive distracted, even for those with a pilot's license!"
In the bustling city of Berlin, Logan, driving his VW82 barrel car at a speed of 30 miles per hour, unexpectedly knocked over a young cyclist. This incident immediately attracted a crowd of onlookers—fortunately, the barrel car, weighing only over 700 kilograms, did not cause serious harm like a No. 4 tank wherever it went. Logan managed to stop the car in time, and the young man only suffered a scraped knee. Out of extra respect for the military, both the young man and the onlookers, upon seeing Logan and his companion in Air Force uniforms, did not make trouble for them. The young man even refused Logan's offer to cover his medical and bicycle repair costs, and the crowd dispersed before alerting nearby police.
"Phew... frustrating!"
Wiping his sweat, Logan was about to sneakily take the passenger seat when he realized the "culprit" of the accident was standing right in front of him. Logan, who had been through the trials of war and always projected a resolute and steady image, nearly jumped up in surprise.
"Your Excellency, are you all right?" The "young maid" in a pretty dress tilted her head, her smile carrying a hint of satisfaction. Considering the makeup and plastic surgery techniques of this era, her big, sparkling eyes were almost one hundred percent natural. At such close proximity, her smooth skin and delicate features remained strikingly attractive, quite rare even for Europeans!
"It's you! Uh... I'm fine, I'm fine!" Logan awkwardly pushed up the brim of his military cap with his hand to avoid being seen as intentionally hiding his identity—there was indeed such a thought when the traffic accident happened.
"Were you just looking at me?" The "young maid" held a delicate white leather purse and, with a mischievous tilt of her head, asked, "Were you just looking at me?"
Logan was embarrassed, barely managing to answer, "I just happened to see you across the street, so..."
"I knew it!" The "young maid" chuckled, quite pleased with herself, then asked, "Where are you going? On a military mission?"
Logan intended to make an excuse but suddenly felt that as an Air Force Major General, he shouldn't stoop to fabricating lies for a young girl like her. After a pause, he said, "Just going out for some fresh air!"
"Oh? Can I get in the car?" The "young maid"—dressed like a princess, if that was more fitting—pointed to the back door of the barrel car.
Logan hesitated for a moment. Since arriving in this era, it was the first time he had encountered such an enthusiastic young lady.
"Where are you going?"
"Maybe... would you be willing to take me for a breath of fresh air and then invite me to dinner?"
The "young maid" asked sweetly, her flavor quite different from the youthful exuberance of Corinne, the shy elegance of Dorin, or the boldness of Lucy, more like chocolate candy.
With a small number of onlookers still unaware of the situation and watching the developments, Logan made a decision in the shortest time possible: he opened the car door for the young lady who had transformed from "Cinderella" into a "princess"!
With a slight smile, the young lady in the dress sat gracefully in the back seat again, her slender legs causing quite a stir among the men's eyes.
After getting into the car, August, who was in the driver's seat, glanced at the uninvited "passenger" through the rearview mirror, a subtle smile playing on his lips.
"Hello, Miss Flick! I'm General Logan's aide, August!"
"Hello, Mr. August!" The lovely lady in the back seat responded politely.
"General, where are we going now?" August asked Logan.
"Does Miss Flick have a particular place she wants to go?" Logan glanced at the "young maid" through the rearview mirror. With August's previous address and Milcy's words at the Christmas banquet, he was already sure that she was William Flick's granddaughter, the German Minister of the Interior. Although under the dictatorship of Germany, the Minister of the Interior was just an executor of the Führer's will, he still retained the status of a cabinet member, not quite a royal relative, but still from a prominent family!
"Do you have a special place in mind?" Logan asked, looking at the "young maid" through the rearview mirror. August had just called her that, and Milcy's words at the Christmas banquet had confirmed her identity as the granddaughter of William Flick, the German Minister of the Interior. Although in the authoritarian regime of Germany, the Minister of the Interior was just a subordinate executor of the Führer's will, he still retained the status of a cabinet member, not quite a royal relative, but still from a prominent family!
"I have something I'd like to see at the Frederick Emperor Museum! There's a special exhibition going on!" The "young maid" seemed decisive when it came to deciding directions, as if she had already planned it.
Before starting the car, August suddenly pointed to the leather shop across the street and said, "Oh, isn't that Miss Koloshick and Miss Dari? Are they looking for you, Miss Flick?"
With just a glance, the "young maid" hurriedly whispered, "Drive, drive!"
Through the rearview mirror, Logan noticed that as the car drove past the intersection, she stuck her tongue out and made faces at her friends who remained behind, her expression strange yet undeniably adorable.
"Cough! Minister, are you doing well recently?" The car had already moved away from the "scene of the accident," and Logan asked politely.
The "young maid" still had an excited expression, her fair face flushed, her eyes blinking rapidly. "Which aspect are you referring to? Your health or your work?"
"Both! Of course!" Logan replied. Once she had settled down, all that could be seen through the rearview mirror was her neck and above, her deep brown hair perfectly coiled, complementing her fair and tender skin.
"My health is fine, and work is okay too, but I've been very busy lately. I barely have time to take a stroll! I had planned to go to the museum the day before yesterday, but it was canceled due to work! Hmph! I really don't understand why some people have nothing to do every day, while others are so busy they're practically killing themselves!" The "young maid" pouted slightly, showing some dissatisfaction. In her eyes, perhaps national affairs had nothing to do with her!
Who has nothing to do every day? Logan thought the statement itself was a joke. But then again, the members of the German cabinet were indeed busy, and all their work revolved around Adolf Hitler's war agenda.
"You just mentioned the Friedrich Emperor Museum? Is it exhibiting... collections from the Polish and French royalties?"
"That's right! You haven't been there yet, have you?" The "young maid" said cheerfully.
"Yeah!" Logan remembered now. A fortnight ago, during a banquet, the generals had discussed this "overrated" exhibition—the spoils of war naturally became part of the German army's loot as the war progressed, but the truly valuable artifacts weren't handed over to the treasury. Instead, they were divided among the dictator and the ** high-ranking officials. It was said that after Hermann Göring's death, his widow inherited a huge sum, the vast majority of which came from looted artifacts from Poland, Scandinavia, and France. There were even extensive estates all over Germany, earning Göring's second wife, the actress Emmy, the title of "the luckiest and wealthiest widow" in private circles!
Moreover, aside from the tsars who concurrently held the title of King of Poland from 1815 to 1831, the true Polish monarchy could be traced back to the distant 18th century; as for France, the last emperor Napoleon III and his monarchy fell into history during the Franco-Prussian War. Hence, most of the so-called royal collections were plundered from the folk of Poland and France. In contrast, renowned official institutions like the Louvre and the British Museum had long since relocated and evacuated their collections, so when German soldiers entered the grandeur of the Louvre and found that not a single one of its 300,000 artifacts remained, their surprise and psychological disparity were beyond words!
Like the senior officers of the Wehrmacht, Logan couldn't directly share these enviable spoils of war. However, the increasingly abundant treasury of the little mustachioed Führer often meant that he would choose to give some "personal items" as gifts on occasions like birthdays or promotions to generals. When Logan celebrated her 27th birthday, she received a French dagger inlaid with gems, which looked quite valuable!
"What kind of collections do foreign royalties have? I'm really looking forward to it!" The "young maid" said with innocent enthusiasm. Then, she asked Logan, "Have all the collections in the British Museum also been taken away by the British?"
"Yeah, not a single one left!" Logan replied without hesitation.
"Oh, I thought I could see the mysterious Rosetta Stone with my own eyes!" The expression on the "young maid's" face was incredibly rich. In just a moment, her watery eyes were filled with disappointment, and all the young men couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
"People believe it's the key to unlocking all unknown mysteries, but after unlocking all the mysteries of history, it might become quite boring!" Logan chuckled. The Rosetta Stone was a basalt stele unearthed in Egypt in the 18th century, inscribed with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic script, and Greek text, making it a prized possession of the British Empire Museum. In Logan's era, the Egyptian government had been striving to reclaim this precious artifact from Britain!