Varna, huh? What's meant to come will come… Manuel sighed from the bottom of his heart, staring at the coastal city on the map.
"The Ottoman will not be indifferent to this," Caesar declared without hesitation.
His Prime Minister agreed with Caesar's assessment, "Then, Caesar, what should we do?"
"Join the war, but do not hastily inform our Catholic allies in advance," Manuel decided with his eyes closed. "Move the main forces to the Strait as quickly as possible."
"As you command, Caesar."
After the Prime Minister left, Manuel immediately summoned the Medici Family member who was said to be acquainted with his Army Commander, Dungar. When the dark-haired young man arrived, he observed him carefully:
At first glance, this young man from the Medici Family appeared gentle and peaceful, but a hint of sharpness and ruthlessness was hidden between his brows, suggesting he regarded bloodshed as commonplace. However, he seemed slightly younger than Dungar and, not having had much contact with those in high positions, his demeanor was a bit reserved, yet he was very polite, which prevented him from revealing his true nature within the city hall.
"The second member of the Medici Family, I, as the Bosphorus Caesar, welcome your arrival," Manuel rose, smiling and extending goodwill to the young man before him. "For God's sake, could you tell me your name?" Since he had already had his subordinate, Dungar, personally confirm that this person was indeed an old acquaintance and a member of the Medici Family, Caesar did not hesitate to show his magnanimity.
The young man from the Medici Family looked embarrassed by Caesar's question. After a moment of hesitation, he finally gave his name, "Caesar, my name is Diavolo Andrea de' Medici."
"Diavolo? 'Devil' Medici? Is that truly your name?" Manuel, being proficient in foreign languages, naturally knew that 'Diavolo' meant 'devil' in Italian. Thus, he found it incredible that this member of the Medici Family had been given such a name.
"To be precise, Diavolo is a nickname, related to my mother, who is Greek. Although my father's attitude towards my mother and me was not unkind, my mother had some complaints about me due to the hardships she endured during my birth… In short, the name 'Diavolo' probably came about that way, and it was further popularized by enemies when I fought alongside General Dungar in France."
"I see," Diavolo's words reminded Manuel of a certain Zheng state lord in the early Spring and Autumn period and a certain deposed crown prince of the Li Tang Dynasty. "Any more words from me would be useless. May the Holy Father bless you." But then again, Dungar wasn't a general back when he was still fighting in the Hundred Years' War, was he…
Meanwhile, inside Blachernae Palace, Barbara was accompanying her mother, Helena, the Empress Dowager of the Empire, on a tour of the palace's imperial garden, trying to lift her spirits. However, for all its name, the imperial garden was now merely a shadow of its former self.
Yet, despite her daughter's company, Helena remained uninterested, as if her attention was always elsewhere.
Just as Barbara had shared many facts about natural history, her mother finally interrupted her.
"Maria, what exactly do you and your husband intend to do?" The Empress Dowager's gaze was deep and serious, clearly having seen through the little tricks her son-in-law and daughter were playing on her. And because she never acknowledged John VIII's angry renaming of her youngest daughter, she had always called her daughter by her former name.
"To do what a Roman should do." Hearing her mother's question, Barbara's smile faded.
"And after that?" Helena immediately pinpointed the core of the issue. "Maria, do you truly intend to help your husband let this city host another double-headed eagle?" As she spoke these words, her disappointment and regret were palpable.
"Mother." Barbara, who was beside her, smiled faintly and revealed her true thoughts, "From the moment I decided to fulfill my marriage with Manuel fourteen years ago, I had already made my choice. And now, I am merely honoring the eternal vow I made with him before the Holy Father."
"Is that so…" Realizing she couldn't find a breakthrough with her daughter, Helena couldn't help but sigh, giving up her desire to escape the current situation.
"Mother, do you need anything else?"
"No, Maria, just take me to see the flowers and plants in the imperial garden again. I am old now."
And in central Thessaly, the letter Manuel sent to his Brother-in-law arrived at his central army camp there at noon a few days later, just as expected.
"Dimitrios…" After reading the sincere handwritten letter from his Brother-in-law, Constantine XI could not hide the sorrow on his face. Even though his younger brother had long obstructed and disgusted him like a clown, Constantine still felt an unspeakable sadness at this moment, for Dimitrios was, after all, his own blood brother.
Seeing Basileus's expression at this moment, his childhood friend, Foreign Affairs Director Sfrantzis, asked, "Caesar, should we secretly order Notaras and the others to find a way to expel the people of the Bosporus?"
"No," Constantine was, after all, a rational Basileus who could distinguish right from wrong, and he had a generally clear understanding of the roles his brother and Brother-in-law played in this incident. "The fault does not lie with my Brother-in-law, and just like in this letter he sent, Dimitrios's death was probably not his doing, but rather Dimitrios himself… brought it upon himself." Constantine's tone became noticeably bitter on the last word.
But Basileus quickly composed himself, stood up, and commanded in a resounding voice: "So be it. For the Holy Father's sake, let us first sacrifice all the heads of these Ottoman dogs sent by my Brother-in-law, to comfort my imperial brother who was misled by them, and the Romans who died because of their messages.
"Then, continue the Northern Expedition. This time, our army vows not to return until Macedonia is reclaimed!"
While Constantine was inspiring his troops with overwhelming momentum, Ottoman Sultan Murad II was stationed in Kardzhali with nearly 80,000 troops, watching every move of the Crusaders like a hawk, while listening to the immediate briefing presented by his Grand Vizier.
"Unexpected, Sultan," Grand Vizier Halil Pasha reported the situation to his master with great surprise. "The infidels, mainly the Hungarian army, are not bypassing the Balkan Mountains to the north, but instead starting from the south of the mountains, circling from southwest to northeast!" But Sultan glanced at him, then shook his head, interrupting him with a cruel, cold smile,
"But no matter how they circle, they will still arrive at Varna as previously envisioned, won't they?
"Christians, you cannot escape!"