Manuel finally made the decision to follow Isaac's advice, preparing to summon and persuade the high-ranking church officials of Theodosia in a few days.
Soon, the morning's official duties were mostly handled, and Manuel dismissed everyone, intending to rest for a while until the afternoon. He suddenly remembered something, "That's strange, where is Barbara? I haven't seen her during the day these past few days?" Manuel thought to himself, then sent someone to ask her maid about the situation. But after a while, only Laila came before him, vaguely stating: "Her Highness has gone out on business, and she instructed me to keep the details confidential from you."
"Is that so?" Manuel pondered for a moment before asking, "By the way, where is Amber?"
"Reporting to His Highness Manuel, Amber accompanied Her Highness out for a stroll," Laila replied expressionlessly.
Alright, it was a bit inconvenient, but that was that. He quickly finished his lunch, composed himself, and continued to gather people to handle official duties, while also refining his reform plan.
Another boring and monotonous day passed. As dusk fell, he yawned deeply, thinking: "Once the basic system reforms are complete, I must immediately promote a few civil officials to help me with these tedious clerical tasks, otherwise, I'll die from overwork sooner or later."
"Hey, by the way, why haven't I seen Barbara all day today? Before, she would always come to help me organize some documents." Manuel thought of this and sent for Laila again, wanting to ask about Barbara's whereabouts today.
When Laila arrived, she still had an unforthcoming expression, "Her Highness has ordered me to keep it confidential from you."
What's going on, so mysterious. Manuel even suspected for a moment whether Barbara was running around again like she did at the end of the year before last. He even thought of asking Badars to mobilize his intelligence network to investigate, but ultimately decided against making a big fuss over it.
He finally saw Barbara today, but it was at night after she had already fallen asleep. Looking at his soundly sleeping fiancée, he suddenly felt both annoyed and amused.
On the fourth day, he still couldn't see Barbara awake during the day, and today it was Amber who dealt with him. When he asked her, she gave a similar reply to Laila's yesterday: "Her Highness has ordered me to keep it confidential from you."
Why again? He couldn't help but feel a little curious and wanted Badars to send people to investigate, but then he reconsidered and abandoned that idea.
"By the way, today seems to be my birthday?" Manuel suddenly thought of this as he returned to his room, but quickly dismissed it, "Things aren't finished yet, so let's skip it this year. Come to think of it, I don't think I've told Barbara about this. I'll find an opportunity later to ask her when her birthday is. Phew, I'm exhausted."
"So, where has my dear fiancée gone? I haven't seen her during the day these past few days? Oh, right, you don't have to answer, because I know what you're going to say."
Feeling tired, Manuel specifically finished his official duties quickly today and had Badars attend by his side. He planned to stroll around Theodosia today.
At the entrance of the palace, the guards and palace taxi soldiers immediately straightened up, puffed out their chests, and shouted to their Crown Prince: "Loyalty!" While Manuel appreciated this, he decided to go in disguise—he didn't want soldiers standing at attention and shouting "Loyalty" every time he passed a guarded area, as he was out to enjoy himself today, not to review troops.
After they were disguised and entered the city, no soldiers shouted "Loyalty" at him. Instead, they maintained proper stances and serious expressions. As the "Watchers" Force was still undergoing loyalty training, the street guards were temporarily selected from the best of the militia.
Manuel walked down the street contentedly, observing the bustling civilian trade, feeling at ease. Everything was wonderful, except for the bad habit of throwing refuse onto the streets, a legacy of Genoese rule.
"I must legislate against throwing such disgusting filth onto the streets." He couldn't help but curse under his breath, pinching his nose, as he watched a hapless merchant behind him, covered in foul-smelling grime from a fall.
As Manuel wandered through the streets, lost in thought, and reached the south of the city, he suddenly noticed a small caravan of luxury goods merchants, dressed in Persian style and escorted by Turk mercenaries. They were packing up, seemingly preparing to leave, but still had various exquisite items displayed. The most striking among them was a large and beautiful square amethyst, about a foot long and half a foot wide, emitting an alluring and mysterious pale purple glow.
Manuel was immediately drawn to it. "This kind of amethyst is perfect for inlaying into a scepter or a crown." Thinking this, he immediately had Badars and his men go ask the merchants, intending to purchase the amethyst.
Soon, Badars returned to report: "Your Highness, the leader of the caravan said that this amethyst has been ordered by someone and will not be sold to others."
"I will negotiate with them personally," Manuel said as he walked over to the merchants, hoping to find out the price the pre-purchaser had offered. "How many ducats did the reserved buyer give you? I can offer double."
But the leader, a young Persian merchant named Ibrahim Safaris, rejected his offer in greek, mixed with an Azerbaijani mountain accent: "I apologize, sir, we have an agreement with that buyer. This is a matter of reputation, so regretfully, we cannot sell this amethyst to you. But we have other luxury goods here, perhaps you would like to take another look."
Manuel watched with considerable regret as the merchant departed with the large, beautiful amethyst. Badars, beside him, quietly leaned into his ear and asked, "Your Highness, should I have them arrested on false charges and forcibly seize that amethyst?"
Manuel was so angry he couldn't speak, and he sharply tapped Badars on the forehead, scolding him in a low voice: "What do you take me for? Caligula?"
Despite saying this, Manuel couldn't hide his inner regret on the way back. He truly wanted his future coronation crown or scepter to feature such a purple gem, symbolizing his power.
Perhaps it was because Manuel had some lingering regrets that, upon his return, he quickly ate a hasty dinner, changed into his pajamas, and collapsed onto a bed in a random room, falling into a deep sleep.
He didn't know how long he slept before he woke up. "Did I sleep that long?" Manuel thought, then called a servant to light candles for illumination. At the same time, he thought he heard some noisy "clanging" sounds from somewhere in the corridor, possibly his own room.
"What could be happening at this hour?" Manuel wondered, feeling a bit sad at the same time. "Today is my birthday, yet there are no wishes, and instead, I'm heading into another year feeling lonely." He dejectedly patted his face. "Sigh, by rights, I shouldn't be so sad. I am, I am to revive... Rome. How can I be upset over such a small matter?"
But as he walked alone towards his room, the feeling of distress did not decrease but increased, lingering in his heart like an uncertain mist.
When he opened the door to his room, a loud sound startled him.
"Surprise!"
Barbara emerged from the shadows, giving him a fright, or rather, a surprise now. "Happy birthday, Manuel Gavras," she shouted joyfully to him, her face flushed.
Manuel quickly understood the situation, and the lonely, uncertain mist that had been lingering in his heart instantly dissipated completely. He happily looked around and found that besides his lovely fiancée, Tukharovsky and Badars were also standing there, and his favorite cream cake was on his table.
"It was all Her Highness Barbara's idea," Badars humbly pointed to her.
"I thought everyone had forgotten about me," Manuel said with a laugh, suppressing the sad part of his tone. "By the way, did I ever tell you my birthday?" Thinking of this, Manuel asked curiously.
Barbara clicked her tongue and said, "It's all because someone doesn't say it directly, only complains to herself, and lets it slip everywhere."
It seems she accidentally found out when he was complaining at some point. Manuel smiled a little helplessly. In the candlelight, he vaguely felt drawn to the girl, unconsciously moving closer to her, their eyes meeting.
"Alright, get your birthday present," Barbara said a little shyly, noticing his closeness. Manuel, realizing they were too close, also came back to his senses and looked down to avoid her gaze, noticing her chest, which was more prominent than last year. It seemed Barbara had developed further in that area over the past year.
The other two, seeing the intimacy of the engaged couple, cooperatively looked away until Manuel began to choose his birthday present, at which point they turned back.
And Manuel, after a moment of thought, quickly made his choice.
"Good things come in small packages!"
"Alright, ta-da! I personally prepared this over the past few days, and it cost me nearly a thousand ducats," Barbara said with a beaming smile, handing him the small gift box while opening its packaging.
Manuel looked at the gift she had prepared with great anticipation, and then promptly froze on the spot—
Isn't this the amethyst he had admired today?!