However, the subsequent developments in the neighboring regions quickly relieved Manuel from this state of anxiety.
At the end of April, after staying in Brusa for over a month, Ottoman Sultan Murad II finally chose to cross the Dardanelles Strait and return to Edirne, the capital of the Sultanate.
To be fair, he did want to strike while the iron was hot and annex all of the Asian territories on the Bosporus, but considering Serbia, which was not yet under his control, and the education of his children, the Sultan temporarily put that idea aside.
Mere Romans, he thought, it would not be too late to sweep them away once he had resolved all European affairs, Murad II thought.
In addition, the Sultan also selected local talents in Brusa, intending to place scholars and bureaucrats who had shown significant potential and were beneficial to the Sultanate in recent years into the Central High Gate of Edirne.
Among these selected talents was the jurist Aksham-Sadin, revered as Gourani Molla.
In early May, upon learning that Murad II had returned to Rumelia to deal with the Serbian Despotate, the Bosporus high-ranking officials finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At the same time, the envoys he sent to Georgia also returned to report their observations in that country.
"Caesar, I regret to inform you," Georgia Mana, the chief envoy for this mission, bowed before Caesar in the imperial court and reported the results of his mission, "the Kingdom of Georgia, or rather, the Bagration Dynasty, chose to ignore the olive branch we extended.
And regarding the commercial exchanges we proposed, Crown Prince Vakhtang of Georgia also stated that there was no relevant demand."
"What is the attitude of King Alexander I of Georgia?" Manuel gently tapped the imperial throne, pretending to be calm as he pressed for an answer.
"Caesar," Foreign Affairs Director Mana replied somewhat awkwardly, "during our mission to Georgia, we never saw Alexander I.
According to people inside and outside the Georgian court, their King was in the process of setting up defenses in the border town of Agstafa (historically now part of Azerbaijan) along the Kura River in the eastern part of the kingdom, in preparation for a potential threat from the Black Sheep Dynasty, and was thus too preoccupied to attend to us…"
"I asked for an attitude, not a reason," Manuel calmly interrupted him.
Although his expression and tone showed no change, directly interrupting his subordinate's report already indicated some issues.
"Caesar, the Georgians' attitude towards our country, I would say, is lukewarm," Mana took a deep breath, then informed his monarch of Georgia's dismissive attitude and underlying resistance towards the Bosporus envoys.
"I understand," After listening, Manuel waved his hand, indicating that the matter was temporarily concluded.
However, it was clear to any discerning person that Caesar was quite angry about this.
But what truly made Manuel decide to take action against Georgia was a new discovery from the remnants of Alexander Komnenos's faction, apprehended a few days later.
"Caesar, this is the new intelligence extracted from the recently captured remnants of the throne usurper Alexander," Commander of the Guard Badars said that afternoon, respectfully handing a new interrogation file to his Caesar, who was sipping clear tea.
Manuel, with a chuckle, took the file, "Heh, Alexander Komnenos has been buried for over a year, why are there still fools serving him? Joining the National Army in '49, eh?"
Although Badars didn't understand what "joining the National Army in '49" meant, he still cautiously reminded, "Caesar, that's not quite right.
You know, it's all too common in history for people to oppose the living under the banner of the dead.
Presumably, these incompetent partisans are no different."
"I suppose so," Manuel smiled and nodded, agreeing with his subordinate's words, then seriously began to read it.
After finishing, his entire expression changed dramatically:
"These Laz people!" The young Caesar, with a hint of anger, clenched his right fist and slammed it hard against the armrest of his chair, then quickly cursed himself in his heart for hitting it so forcefully.
As for why the contents of these interrogation files made him so furious? It was simple: according to the interrogated person's confession in the report, when Alexander rose in rebellion against Manuel, Georgia was behind him, and King Alexander even had the idea of sending troops to rescue his relative John IV.
However, he ultimately abandoned the idea due to the de facto feudal fragmentation within the country, after being advised by Crown Prince Vakhtang and other royal nobles.
Although it appeared that communication between the two sides was relatively weak and the Kingdom of Georgia never openly supported the other party, Manuel still felt some anger.
More significant news was yet to come: according to the report, the Georgians had also supported Inal, the Circassian Prince of the Principality of Janne, in unifying all of Circassia to stabilize the kingdom's rear, and encouraged him to "protect" the Adyghe Principality from the Bosporus back then.
Of course, ultimately, under the military pressure of the Bosporus, Inal chose to abandon incorporating Adyghe into his sphere of influence without even a direct confrontation with the Bosporus.
Moreover, according to the confession, Georgia might even covet the Bosporus's territories near the Caucasus, and if not for the threat of the Black Sheep Dynasty, it was not ruled out that Alexander I would demand some neighboring towns in the Caucasus.
Although not all of this information was necessarily true, upon learning it, Caesar was still quite indignant: regardless, even if one of these things was true, then Georgia was opposing him!
Even if all of these were rumors, what then? Just from the fact that his envoys were intentionally ignored by Georgia, he could feel their disregard, and even hostility, towards him.
If he were to fight the Ottomans or Tatars in the future, and Georgia was incited by some hostile force to stab him in the back, ruining his rear, what then?
He could not tolerate a potentially hostile, controllable force existing around him for an extended period.
He could not wait any longer; he had to strike hard!
Manuel had originally planned to deal with Georgia after Alexander I abdicated as per historical timelines, or when his son Vakhtang passed away.
However, due to his concerns about Georgia's stance, he ultimately decided to act several years in advance.
And upon seeing the grim expression on his esteemed monarch's face, Badars already knew what he needed to do at this moment: "Holy Father above, Caesar, please give the order!"
"Very good, Badars," This was exactly what Caesar wanted to see, "Immediately instruct the Dark Division to secretly contact Sultan Jahan Shah of the Black Sheep Dynasty, as well as the feudal lords within Georgia such as Samtskhe.
It's time to overthrow this Caucasian nation, which is riddled with internal problems."