The female name Barbara, derived from greek, originally meant 'barbarian,' later extended to 'exotic' or 'foreign,' and when used as a woman's name, often implied an exotic beauty.
As for Manuel's opinion on his never-before-met fiancée being renamed 'Barbara' due to such trivial matters... well, it was perfectly reasonable.
It definitely wasn't because of any strange, unfounded associations from his previous life.
However, to burst into a council meeting and spout such nonsense, yet not be sent to a monastery, it seemed John VIII was truly protective of his scoundrel sister.
Thus, after being bombarded with various new messages, Manuel finally left Alexius's workplace.
When he returned to his residence, the first thing he did was send for Badars.
When Badars arrived, sweating profusely, Manuel immediately instructed him on a few matters:
"Badars, has the intelligence network been operating during my absence?"
"Of course, Your Highness."
"Does the intelligence network contain information on the various important officials of the Principality?"
"Yes, it does, but Your Highness... I understand! Badars Gavras obeys your command unconditionally! Even if it leads to the abyss of hell!"
"..."
"It's not that serious; for now, I just want the detailed information about the recent Tatars incident, and I also want to know the current relationship between Patniko and my father.
If possible, try to extract their true attitude towards the Philaka Legion from them."
"Ah, just that?
I thought Your Highness was going to rebel..."
"I am now the Crown Prince of the Principality.
How could I rebel against myself?
What are you thinking?!" Manuel felt like he almost lost his composure again.
"That's not what I meant, Your Highness," Badars quickly added, "I meant it's no problem at all.
I thought the purpose of Your Highness building this network since childhood was for this and that, after all, history is full of such instances..."
"Should I ask your father to give you extra lessons?"
"No! Absolutely not! Thank you for Your Highness's mercy!"
"..."
And so, Manuel successfully prevented a political mishap that was very likely to occur.
"Oh, right, one more thing."
Just as Badars was about to step out the door, Manuel suddenly remembered something important.
"Please speak, Your Highness."
"Help me find information on the Venetian surname 'Falero'; I feel like I've heard it somewhere before."
"Yes, Your Highness.
But let me guess first, could it be a failed coup, defecting to the enemy, a speculative mistake, or just a new noble?"
"I don't know, but it sounds very familiar."
"Hmm, perhaps."
Badars didn't pay much attention, but he noted it on his agenda.
After seeing Badars off, Manuel called his servants back into the mansion and had them tidy his appearance, as he was about to meet his mother, brother, and sister, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
Manuel's relationship with his reborn family members was like that of a normal person; it didn't become overly fragile just because he was a transmigrator.
In his perception, what happened in his previous life was in the past, and he had genuinely lived in this era for 15 years.
His family members had truly given him the warmth of kinship, so he reciprocated with equal affection from the bottom of his heart.
Although the time he spent with his mother and siblings had decreased as he grew older, the intrinsic connection remained as strong as ever.
With these feelings, Manuel arrived at the family palace, a castle-like residence where most of the Gavras Family lived.
In fact, the mansion he currently resided in was one he had only moved into last year on his 14th birthday, while Alexius usually lived in the temporary palace to handle various affairs.
As soon as he entered, he rushed to greet his mother, Zoe, who then very gently held his hands and complained, "You're finally back.
Look at you; did you forget to take good care of yourself again?
Honestly, sometimes I really don't like your father's way of doing things; he can be harsh on himself, even his eldest son, to achieve the optimal solution.
Oh, never mind that.
How about some cheese bread?
I specifically asked the servants to put extra spices in it."
"No, no, thank you."
Manuel awkwardly declined her kind offer, and also noticed the puzzled expression of his sister, Maria, who had just arrived.
Heh, after all, he really couldn't get used to the sour cheese they praised so highly; he would rather eat several seafood meals than that stuff.
"Huh, where's Isaac?"
Manuel looked around and didn't see his younger brother, Isaac Gavras.
"I don't know; he's been 'disappearing' a lot these past few days, but whenever we think he might actually be gone, he reappears," Maria said with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"Isaac is older now; he's bound to have his own ideas.
As long as he doesn't cause any major commotion, it's fine."
Zoe, however, seemed rather unconcerned, perhaps related to the various troublesome antics of the male members of the Gavras Family that had been giving her headaches for a while.
"Then I'll go look for him and give him a 'surprise,' hehehe."
Manuel laughed, then happily went to find his brother, secretly planning his 'conspiracy' in his mind.
This was one of the few actions of his that truly befitted a 15-year-old boy.
Manuel searched the palace for quite some time, and just as he was about to give up and return to his starting point, he suddenly heard a dissatisfied "Ah!" from the garden outside, seemingly from Isaac.
He immediately became alert, carefully concealed himself, and stealthily made his way to the garden.
The garden was an annex to the palace, though Manuel thought it looked more like a miniature East Rome-style garden.
After silently sneaking to a quiet part of the garden, he finally found his brother, and an unexpected person.
Ten-and-a-half-year-old Isaac, formally dressed, was talking indignantly with an adult considerably older than him.
The person's clothing wasn't very clear, but it appeared to be made of relatively inexpensive blue-green silk.
Although his face was obscured by the shade of the trees, a careful look could still barely make out his brown hair and green eyes.
Manuel felt this person looked familiar; he had collected relevant information when developing his intelligence network before.
Who was it again?
"Oh, Your Little Highness, you almost scared me to death."
After the person spoke, the volume of their conversation was deliberately lowered, but Manuel had already roughly confirmed his identity: this person should be Nikiforus Volor, the Brother-in-law of the Principality's secretary, Andres Raus.
"How did my brother get involved with the relative of such an influential figure?" Manuel couldn't help but feel wary inside.