Receiving orders from John VIII, the empire's current Prime Minister, Lucas Notaras, a man past middle age, entered the room.
The Prime Minister, whose family history was not long but whose personal qualifications were profound, had short, wavy, gray-black Roman-style hair and a calm, serious expression.
Due to his overly tense look and the excessively serious expression in his dark pupils, he appeared somewhat rigid, despite not yet being elderly.
After bowing to the two monarchs before him according to orthodox rites, Lucas Notaras sat in the seat next to John, preparing to seriously engage in the upcoming conversation with the young Bosphorus Caesar.
Manuel did not waste any time with pleasantries and went straight to the point of the day, "So, Brother-in-law, shall we use our previous correspondence as the basis for our discussion today?"
"Exactly," John VIII nodded slightly, indicating that the conversation could proceed.
As for the content of the letters they referred to, it was naturally the several secret letters Manuel had exchanged with Constantine and John VIII through Serenus before his current journey.
However, due to the short timeframe and the transportation limitations of that era, Manuel had not actually discussed many detailed matters with them.
They had, however, reached some consensus: firstly, they all recognized the Ottoman as a common threat; secondly, Manuel actively responded to Constantinople's initiative for church unity.
This made John VIII and his companions see an opportunity for cooperation and they proactively invited their Brother-in-law for a detailed discussion.
Manuel gladly accepted the invitation, using the pretext of a pilgrimage to Alexander to pass through Constantinople and hold a secret meeting with John VIII.
"First, something that needs serious consideration," Manuel asked his Brother-in-law, who sat opposite him, with a serious expression, "For the Holy Father's sake, I personally believe that if the Roman Emperor truly pushes for church unity dominated by Catholic, it will cause unimaginable upheaval in the orthodox world."
"You are right," John VIII said with some helplessness when discussing this matter, "But now, who else in orthodox can help us Romans?
The Slavs have all been reduced to the Ottoman Sultan's dogs, and the three eastern Patriarchates are all subject to Muslim rule.
We can't just call on the Rus' people, can we? They themselves are fragmented."
"Never mind, I just mentioned it casually," Manuel said with a smile, smoothly moving past the topic.
The main reason he confirmed this matter again today was that, in official history, after the Council of Florence, Vasily II exiled Isidore, the Metropolitan of Moscow who supported church unity, and established the Moscow autocephalous diocese, which could be said to have split the orthodox church once more.
Although in another timeline, this outcome was ultimately macroscopically beneficial, it also further diminished the influence of the Ecumenical Patriarch and Constantinople by another notch.
This was something Manuel did not wish to see.
However, since his Brothers-in-law had already made their decision, he could not speak idly.
After all, they were the Basileus, and he was nominally only a Caesar.
Of course, he could choose to prattle on here like an arrogant fool, but would a normal monarch act recklessly for his inexplicable emotions?
After moving past this topic, they began discussing how to cooperate against the Ottoman.
After half an hour of discussion, Manuel generally understood his Brother-in-law's thoughts: he did not want to confront the main Ottoman army, nor did he want the Ottoman to make any progress anywhere, and if possible, he wanted to reclaim some imperial territory from them to continue surviving.
Although it might sound a bit offensive, this was a typical case of wanting to have one's cake and eat it too.
But to be honest, Manuel felt this was understandable, as at this time, the Basileus, excluding the Peloponnese controlled by his brothers, only had Constantinople left.
Even though he could understand the other party, Manuel still tactfully informed his Brother-in-law that he could not ignore the realities at home and abroad to engage in a full-scale military operation of "selling his head to aid Constantinople."
Although he truly wanted to save Constantinople from the Ottoman, if he were to lose all of Pontus and Tauris, which he currently ruled, for Constantinople, which did not yet belong to him, he would probably jump into the Black Sea and restart his life on the spot.
As for Manuel's reply, John VIII and Lucas Notaras, who had anticipated it, did not dwell on it.
After all, no matter how pious a monarch, if his mind was normal, he would not abandon all his foundations.
Thinking of this, John VIII became even more depressed about his disappointing ancestors.
What on earth were his grandfather John V and great-great-grandfather John VI thinking back then?
One sold land to the Serbians, the other sold land to the Turks, resulting in the Ottoman, this vicious wolf, being fattened.
And his ancestor Andronikos II also made him quite upset; besides being pious and exceptionally learned, he basically had no other abilities.
During his reign, he continuously allowed the Turks to encroach upon imperial territory and did not actively curb the expansion of Latin forces.
As a result, by the time of his great-grandfather Andronikos III, there was completely no capital left to even defend Asia Minor.
Manuel, sitting opposite John VIII at this moment, was unaware of John VIII's inner thoughts.
However, he also felt indignant in his heart towards Andronikos II and the two reckless Johns from over half a century ago.
"The main point is that every single one of them was a long-lived old geezer.
Rome, which could have risen again like in the komnenos era, was directly led into the gutter by these super long-lasting old fogeys."
Cursing is one thing, doing is another.
The two monarchs, both of no mean ability, recovered from their respective thoughts after a brief period of silence and continued to discuss their cooperation.
Although full-scale military cooperation fell through, limited military cooperation, such as a unilateral defense treaty, was tacitly signed.
This treaty, drafted by Lucas Notaras and approved by the two monarchs, stipulated that if Constantinople was actively attacked by the Ottoman, then Bosporus was obligated to provide military assistance.
It was called a defense treaty, but it was more fitting to call it a guarantee of the empire's independence by Bosporus, Manuel thought with some helplessness.
But that was enough; when it came to military aid, there were many word games that could be played.
For example, if Constantinople was attacked, it would be perfectly reasonable for the Bosporus Army to be stationed inside the city to protect their allied in-laws, right?
Furthermore, under the persistent efforts of John VIII and Lucas Notaras, Manuel casually pretended to be half-reluctant but ultimately allowed the expansion of Black Sea trade operations specifically into Constantinople.
Since this trade route deliberately bypassed Galata, it would not be intercepted by Genoese forces, and Constantinople's commercial economy could also receive a few drops of fresh water.
If all went well, John VIII's monthly income could also see some increase.
At this point, Manuel had intended to remind the other party not to spend this money in the wrong places.
However, he ultimately held his tongue.
He still trusted the character of his Brothers-in-law; at least, the last few Palaiologos in history should not have done something like John VI Kantakouzenos, who gave all the money from the Grand Duchy of Moscow, ostensibly for repairing the Hagia Sophia to support his relatives, to the Turks while begging for aid.
Except for Dimitrios Palaiologos, that piece of human trash.
After the relevant parts of the discussion were completed, this private conversation also drew to a close.
Looking at his visibly joyful Brother-in-law and the empire's Prime Minister beside him, Manuel's gaze became somewhat complex for a moment.
Even though he was a Philhellene, there was still no such thing as a free lunch in this world.