Recently, Alexius had been quite troubled. Not only were there attempts to undermine his succession plans by falsely accusing his eldest son, but the border regions were also restless. As Haji Giray conquered most of the southern Eastern European Great Plains with overwhelming force, the number of 'lone wolf' Tatars in the border areas decreased significantly, but group actions increased instead. According to the report submitted by Theodosia, in just half a month, there were over a dozen incidents of Tatars operating along the border. As for Mangup, it was naturally no better, with Tatars constantly roaming everywhere. There were even rumors that Haji Giray seemed to have some ideas about the Kerch Isthmus region that Theodoro had taken advantage of and occupied last time.
If this continues, the Principality will be in danger, and how can the people's livelihood be maintained? Will taxes still be collected? In view of this, Alexius quickly penned a letter, the general content of which was as follows:
"To the esteemed Prince Giray, I have recently heard of your expansion, reclaiming lost family lands and driving out all enemies from your territory, which is truly gratifying. However, the border regions between us have been somewhat restless lately, with Tatars and bandits constantly on the move. The harm caused by Tatars is threefold: firstly, it damages relations between our two parties; secondly, it diminishes your prestige, making diplomacy difficult; and thirdly, it genuinely harms the livelihood of our Principality. In light of this, I hope you can accept the request of our small state and somewhat curb the Tatars in Northern Crimea. May His Highness the Prince be blessed by your Allah, live a long life, and have prosperous military fortune."
After he finished writing the letter, he had it prepared and sent by express horse to Bakhchysarai, hoping for a prompt reply from Haji Giray. But upon arriving in Bakhchysarai, the messenger learned that Prince Giray was still campaigning on the Don River and was not currently in Northern Crimea. He had no choice but to obtain a very polite, routine reply from his Qarach and return empty-handed.
However, this back-and-forth of the letter provided an opportunity for those with ulterior motives.
On the way back, the messenger, who had already heard that Theodosia had recovered many of its former signs of prosperity, felt his heart stir. And when he heard that there were even foreigners in the high-end entertainment venues there, he immediately became excited. "Sir, it's absolutely true! The 'entertainment industry' in Theodosia is quite developed. There are a few particularly famous establishments there, and it's said they not only have beautiful Saracen girls and Persian beauties but also women from Francia and England!" one of the messenger's attendants introduced to his superior, unable to suppress his smile.
"Really? How do you know?" the messenger asked, intrigued.
"I… I have a friend who went and enjoyed it himself," the attendant replied.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go. I've seen enough of my old hag at home. Only young foreign beauties are exciting enough." And so, the messenger and his party secretly changed their return route to pass through Theodosia before heading back to Mangup.
It was already dusk when they arrived in Theodosia. Seeing this, they first found an inn to stay at, planning to immediately go out for pleasure after dinner. "By the way, I recently heard that Theodosia has some institutions that are quite different from those in Mangup?" the messenger suddenly recalled some rumors he had heard.
"Yes, sir. I heard they're called the 'Watchers' Force and the Inquisition."
"The 'Watchers' Force are those militiamen patrolling the streets, right? I can't see any difference between them and ordinary militiamen."
"As for the Inquisition, I heard that some people here were recently arrested and then burned at the stake. That must be the work of this organization."
"That's both right and wrong. I heard there's also a very secretive department here, reportedly managed personally by the Crown Prince's Commander of the Guard. What was it called?"
"The Dark Department. It seems to be a department that monitors traitors and spies." The messenger glanced at his attendant, putting on a very terrifying expression, and said, "I heard that if you're caught by the Dark Department, the outcome might be even more terrifying than being interrogated by the Inquisition."
"Wow, let us not know of it."
"What are you afraid of? We were sent by His Majesty to deliver a message. With a clear conscience, how could the Dark Department possibly come after us? Instead of worrying about the Dark Department catching us, we should worry about whether we'll be drained dry by those exotic beauties tonight."
"Exactly, sir," they agreed.
Just as they were discussing this animatedly, completely unaware that a group of people behind them had quietly noticed them.
In the evening, just as the messenger and his party were about to go out to enjoy themselves, they heard a knock on the door. "Open up, room inspection."
"The innkeeper? Haven't we already paid?" one attendant asked, puzzled, as he opened the door.
But it wasn't the innkeeper outside; it was a group of burly men dressed in black and with their faces covered. The attendant was so shocked that he could only utter, "Eh?" before being immediately seized. Along with him, his superior and other attendants, a total of four people, were also arrested.
"Holy Mother above, who are you? I am an official from Mangup! Who ordered you?!" the messenger angrily shouted.
"You are the ones we're arresting. Don't think we don't know; you conspired to subvert the current state of the Principality. The evidence is conclusive. Arrest them all and come with us!"
"Ah?!!!!"
Just like that, the messenger and his party were inexplicably escorted out of the inn, and the package containing the letter, which they had carefully guarded, was also taken away, its destination unknown.
Approximately several hours later, the group was released unharmed and bewildered from where they had been held, and they even received a personal audience with the Crown Prince.
"I am truly sorry, gentlemen, Holy Father above. This was a misunderstanding…" Manuel explained with a gentle smile.
Under his skillful explanation, the messenger and his party finally understood that this had been a mistaken arrest by the Dark Department. To appease their anger, Manuel generously stated, "All your expenses in Theodosia tomorrow will be covered by us."
"Your Highness need not worry; you were just doing your duty. Such a small misunderstanding is quite normal…" And so, amidst their mutual courtesies, the messenger and his party "reluctantly" accepted the offered compensation. Due to the overwhelming impact of the evening's events and the generous compensation, they didn't even notice that the reply letter from Bakhchysarai seemed to have been opened.
"Your Highness, it's handled," a member of the Dark Department reported to Manuel late at night.
"Good," Manuel simply replied. But when this person and all others had withdrawn, a malicious smile appeared on his face. "I look forward to my father's reaction when he sees Haji Giray's reply."