Soon, at Caesar's command, the Bosporus administrative machine began to operate at high speed to intervene in Georgia.
Serenus, as Chief Minister, was naturally not overlooked; on the fifth morning after Caesar ordered secret contact with the Black Sheep Dynasty, he was summoned to the imperial palace by the monarch and tasked with reaching a consensus with the Black Sheep Dynasty.
The Chief Minister naturally accepted Caesar's order with pleasure.
However, he was more curious about the kinship between the two royal families. "Your Majesty, you said that you and the current Black Sheep Sultan are relatives. You don't mean someone's cousin or nephew from a few hundred years ago, do you?"
Manuel was somewhat exasperated by Serenus's confusion. "No. My uncle Alexius IV's second daughter, my cousin Theodora, is the official wife of the current Black Sheep Sultan Jahan Shah. In other words, Jahan Shah is my Brother-in-law."
"Ah, so that's it," Serenus suddenly understood, then he seemed to recall something, rubbing his head and asking, "So, Your Majesty, isn't your Brother-in-law John VIII's wife, Maria of Trabzon, being the daughter of Alexius IV Megas Komnenos, also your cousin?"
"Yes," Manuel's expression became a little awkward when he spoke of his Empress cousin. "However, my conquest of Trabzon doesn't seem to have made her very happy; I didn't see her once during my pilgrimage, neither on the way there nor back."
That's not something that can be summarized as 'not very happy,' Serenus thought, narrowing his eyes.
And so, the next morning, Serenus once again shouldered his heavy responsibility as Chief Minister, personally leading a delegation to Tabriz, the capital of the Black Sheep Dynasty.
After reviewing the army and secretly issuing military orders for the troops in Pontus and Tauris to move to the border between Bosporus and Georgia, Manuel also returned to Trabzon City to prepare for domestic arrangements.
During this time, the respected old scholar, John Anagnostes, the Megaslogothetēs / Grand Secretary of the Autocratic State, while helping his monarch handle miscellaneous important affairs, also expressed the doubts in his heart.
"Your Majesty, isn't it too hasty to attack Georgia based solely on unconfirmed information and half-truths?" John Anagnostes always believed that the Autocratic State's energy should be focused on dealing with the Ottoman.
"I don't want to either, but Georgia is unwilling to reconcile with us and establish friendly diplomatic relations, nor is it willing to engage in trade with us, which makes it very difficult for me. Mr. Anagnostes, shared faith is not reliable; otherwise, why did the Bulgarians and Serbians repeatedly invade our Roman borders back then?" Caesar Manuel smiled and offered his reasons.
"But Your Majesty, Georgia and Pontus have always had a good relationship. And they are fighting infidels; if Georgia falls, we will be directly facing the infidels."
"First, those who have a good relationship with Bagration, for now, should be Megas Komnenos; the Gavras, to which I belong, should not have such a generational friendship.
Second, I have no intention of destroying Georgia; I just want to weaken it and make it subservient to Bosporus."
"Then, Your Majesty, what reason should we choose? Although our current relationship with Georgia is cold and indifferent, Alexander I has not directly clashed with our country, has he?"
"That's very simple," a cunning smile appeared on Manuel's face. "Don't worry, just the charge of colluding with a false king will be enough to give him a hard time. Not to mention, the feudal lords who are carving up Georgia will provide me with good reasons for attack."
And just as Manuel had thought, in early June, not long after he ordered intensified infiltration into Georgia, Atabeg Ivan II Jakeli of the Samtskhe Principality, the strongest feudal lord in Georgia apart from the royal family, who had been in a love-hate relationship with the Bagration royal family since the last century, was now quietly awaiting good news from the Bosporus Bank in his palace:
Because the half-true, half-false information that incited the Bosphorus Caesar to attack the Kingdom of Georgia was transmitted by him.
Or rather, the Komnenos remnants who knew the inside story of how the Komnenos family contacted Georgia three or four years ago were exiled by him to Bosporus.
Soon, just as he had expected, a fat merchant claiming to be from Trabzon City submitted a request to see him.
And after ordering this person to be summoned, the Atabeg let out a triumphant laugh, "Hahahahaha, Alexander Bagration, this time I've got the upper hand!"
Half an hour later, the fat merchant, using his identity as a merchant as a disguise but actually being a member of the Bosporus secret department, quickly got down to business after confirming their common stance with the Atabeg.
"So, in summary, I will help your country to prematurely incite the lords within Georgia who oppose the king's authority to your side.
At that time, we will invite His Majesty Caesar of your country to 'preside over justice' under the pretext of overthrowing the king's tyranny." After settling on the final plan, Ivan II, now 65 years old, meticulously groomed his white hair with his calloused and wrinkled hands, striving to maintain the dignity befitting a prince in front of the Bosporus envoy.
However, it was clear that the other party cared more about practicality than appearance. "Aren't you curious about what our army will do after entering Georgia?" the fat envoy asked, puzzled.
"Oh, is that something I can decide? Since your Caesar can maintain a decent relationship with his Komnenos cousins, whom he deposed, then Manuel certainly knows how to treat us rebels."
At this, Ivan II's cloudy old eyes suddenly became shrewd.
"In that case, please allow me to express friendship on behalf of my Caesar: Your Highness Atabeg, a pleasure to cooperate."
"And please convey our sincerity to His Majesty the Autocrat: a pleasure to cooperate."
Just as Bosporus was gradually warming its relations with the separatist lords within Georgia, a message from Poland reached the Caesar, who was about to make a move on Georgia.
"Władysław III, the King of Poland, who ascended to the throne three years ago, declared his personal rule on his 15th birthday."
Manuel, who was about nine years older than the young king, frowned upon hearing this news. "I hope Władysław III, you don't rush to your death young like in other timelines."