"Your Highness, though it might be inappropriate for me to ask, weren't you two whispering for a bit too long?" On the way back to the palace, Badars couldn't help but complain to his esteemed Highness.
"Was I? We only spoke for less than a minute, didn't we?" Manuel laughed casually.
"But you two were talking and touching…" It seemed that because Badars currently didn't have a proper marriage or a lover, he was uncharacteristically envious of the Crown Prince's smooth romantic life.
"She's my wife, we're a perfect match, a talented man and a beautiful woman, I can do whatever I want." As if seeing through his subordinate's thoughts, Manuel simply blurted out something outrageous to shut him up.
"Not like that, Your Highness, that's so crude?" The guard almost choked on his food right there. However, thankfully, on the rest of the journey, he didn't say anything else that could be construed as meddling to his Highness.
Soon they returned to the palace. But Manuel never expected that he would suffer from insomnia that very night!
Thinking of the severe situation Theodoro would face in the future and the dramatic first meeting with his fiancée, the Crown Prince felt somewhat dazed and completely unable to sleep.
Genoa, this was the second most powerful commercial Republic in the Eastern Mediterranean at that time. Even if he tricked them into giving a lot of aid, whether Theodoro could win was still a huge unknown.
And putting aside national affairs, when thinking about his own matters and carefully recalling the past, Manuel realized that even after coming to this era, he was still influenced by his experiences from his previous life, still consciously or unconsciously avoiding male-female relationships. Even when his father mentioned a marriage alliance last year, his first thought was that he could use his fiancée to gain a strong claim to Constantinople.
How beastly! He suddenly wondered how he could have had such heartless thoughts before. Was it her influence?
Thinking again of his fiancée's address for him, Manuel felt a certain anticipation for their future interactions. "'Little husband,' I quite like that nickname."
The next day, Barbara, who was brought to the Kaffa palace, was surprised to find her fiancé's face so pale it was almost green, which gave her a fright.
"This, are you, are you alright…?"
"I'm fine, I just dealt with a few more official documents last night," Manuel said, feigning ease.
"Do you want to rest first? Otherwise, your body will have problems."
Don't care for me so much, it will move me, Manuel thought. Recalling the past, whether it was the loyal attendants led by Badars, or his cheap old dad who had high hopes for him and admired him, no one ever prioritized his physical well-being. This made Manuel look at Barbara's expression with some suspicion.
But from her expression, it seemed she genuinely cared for him without any ulterior motives, which made him feel a little uncomfortable and made his internal scales tip more in her favor.
However, Manuel's personality made it difficult for him to ask a sappy question like "Why do you care about me so much?" He still pretended as if nothing had happened and asked, "It's fine, I'm still young, just a little overtime. " Then he directly changed the subject, "You can stay in the palace for now. If you feel unsafe, I'll talk to my father and have you go to Mangup."
"Hmm," Barbara became a little shy, "No, I don't think so. After all, a war is about to break out, and it won't be safe anywhere. It's better to be with someone I'm more familiar with."
Manuel nodded, indicating that she made a good point.
As for why Barbara was so kind to Manuel, on one hand, it was because she grew up in a greenhouse, as the youngest daughter, she was pampered by her family, which shaped her kind nature; on the other hand, based on her first impression and Manuel's true attitude yesterday, she decided to try and trust her fiancé's character and treat him seriously.
Because of this, she looked at Manuel's weary face, then thought of the plots in knight novels, and suddenly, with a rush of blood to her head, said, "Um, if you want, I can unconditionally help you do anything you want me to, for one day."
"Really?" Manuel was greatly moved, and his face immediately lit up with joy.
"By the Holy Mother, indeed," Barbara blurted out.
"Have you thought this through? This can be unbearable for a girl like you," Manuel warned seriously.
"Mm, but, be gentle, okay?"
"I promise," Manuel replied earnestly.
"Then, come on."
Hours later—
Manuel, who had just woken up, slowly put on his coat and returned to the room they had been in. In the room, Barbara looked utterly distraught, surrounded by both the processed and unprocessed routine administrative files of Kaffa for the day.
Manuel laughed, "I told you this was hard work, but you didn't listen. All right, now it's your turn to get some good rest. Just leave these matters for me to handle. You should know these files are just routine; there are still some that require my personal approval."
Barbara stared at her fiancé with a complex expression: This is completely different from what knight novels say! According to normal development, shouldn't it be mutual affection and applause for love? Why did he make her review official documents?!
"Do you usually do this kind of thing?" Barbara looked at him sympathetically.
"Yes, I'm used to it. It's been like this since I was in Mangup, it's just that there are more affairs to handle here in Kaffa," Manuel said with a helpless smile.
"Alright." Barbara, with sore eyes and low spirits, returned the seat to Manuel, but seeing Manuel's accustomed look, she couldn't help but feel a little distressed. "There must be something I can do," she thought.
Just as this young, unmarried couple was chatting idly, Paolo Grimaldi, the Kaffa Consul of Genoa, and his Genoese officials finally arrived in Tana.
"Quick, quick, call the Vice Consul of the Tana division! The orthodox commoners of Kaffa have rebelled!" The disheveled Grimaldi ordered the local official who came to greet him. While the official hurried off to report, he anxiously complained to the ship owner who brought him, "What kind of ship did Guney find? The ship is so slow! It took five or six days to bring me to Tana."
After Francesco Gattuso, the head of the Kaffa Consul's Tana division, also one of the Kaffa Vice Consuls, learned the full extent of the situation from Grimaldi and his men, he was greatly alarmed and exclaimed, "Your Excellency, this matter is serious, it must be reported to the homeland."
Grimaldi had a different opinion on this, "Asking the homeland for help would only show our incompetence, wouldn't it? When the punishment from above comes down, neither I, the Chief Consul, nor you two Vice Consuls, will escape!"
"Your Excellency, then what should we do? The longer we drag this on, the more disadvantageous it will be for us."
"Inform the Vice Consul of the Matrega division, gather all forces, and crush them. There are at most 3,000 troops that can be mobilized in the city. With the two major divisions, plus the forces from Sugdaea and Cheleki, a total of 5,000 troops will be enough!"
"Your Excellency, if we directly call for 5,000 troops, the quality will be insufficient. If Kaffa invites foreign aid, such as the Principality of Theodoro, then even defending will be a problem for us."
"If Theodoro dares to intervene, then we will crush them together. I believe the homeland would not mind us rebuilding the Captaincy of Gothia."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
① Captaincy of Gothia: During the 14th century, Genoa gradually encroached upon the coastal areas of Theodoro and established the Captaincy of Gothia around 1387. After Alexius Gavras ascended to the throne in 1411, he frequently threatened the Kaffa consular territory through military and diplomatic means, and in 1422, he waged war against Kaffa, forcing the politically chaotic Genoa to agree to a compromise in 1424, returning three coastal towns, including Olstyn, Gorzuvit, and Patniko. The Captaincy of Gothia was therefore abolished.