"Your Highness? …Your Highness, can you hear me?"
A faint voice reached my ears.
I opened my eyes.
My head felt like it was splitting apart.
When my vision cleared, I saw Aig's face.
"You're finally awake. We were worried you might have been seriously injured."
Memories slowly returned.
The assassins who had suddenly appeared at the banquet.
The desperate fight to protect Emperor Alexios.
Right. I had taken a proper blow to the head.
"How much time has passed? His Majesty the Emperor?"
"His Majesty is unharmed. He was shaken, but unlike you, he wasn't injured. The incident happened…"
Aig let out a sigh.
"Yesterday. You've been unconscious for over a day."
"Over a day?"
I struggled to sit up.
My limbs creaked like a broken machine.
"Please lie back down. There's nothing urgent right now."
Only then did I notice Hugh standing beside Aig.
He smiled faintly.
"Your Highness managed to kill one of them already. When we entered, only two remained."
"That was thanks to you and Sir Garnier. After all that training, my body just moved on its own."
Instinct had helped, but without training, I wouldn't have survived.
As my consciousness cleared further, my face stung.
"Bring me a mirror, Aig."
My reflection showed bruises spreading across my face.
Fortunately, nothing looked fatal.
"You said His Majesty wasn't injured. What exactly happened?"
"The palace has been turned upside down since yesterday. The Varangian Guard are arresting anyone suspicious."
"So they haven't found the true mastermind yet."
"The guards, in their fury, killed the assassins on the spot. There wasn't even time to stop them."
Hugh spoke calmly.
Vikings were still Vikings.
They must have charged in blindly when they saw the Emperor in danger.
"They're the ones in the most trouble right now," I said, frowning.
My jaw must have been split—I tasted blood.
"If they can't quickly identify the mastermind, the blame may fall on them."
Allowing assassins to reach the Emperor was ultimately a failure of the Guard.
If they failed to resolve this swiftly, it wouldn't just be dismissal—they could lose their heads.
That explained why they were tearing the palace apart in their search.
Of course, the real culprits were already clear.
Princess Maria Komnene and her husband Renier of Montferrat.
Perhaps I would have to act directly after all.
At that moment, voices rose outside the room.
Aig checked the door and immediately bowed.
"His Majesty the Emperor."
The doors swung open.
Emperor Alexios II entered, his face lighting up when he saw me.
"Prince Baldwin! I heard you had awakened! I hardly know what to say…"
He hurried to my side and clasped my hand.
"Thank you… If not for you, both the Empress and I would have died."
"There's no need to say that, Your Majesty. In the end, it was Your Majesty who saved me."
If Alexios had not stabbed the assassin, I would be lying in a coffin.
Or perhaps thrown to the street dogs.
Behind him entered Empress Dowager Maria and Princess Theodora.
Even Theodora?
"As Regent of the Roman Empire and as Empress Dowager…" Maria exhaled.
She bowed her head slightly.
"I wish to offer my deepest gratitude, Prince Baldwin. Had anything happened to the Emperor…"
She paused.
"The entire Empire would have fallen into chaos. You risked your life to prevent such disaster."
I nodded and rose.
My head rang from standing too quickly.
"I heard the mastermind hasn't yet been found. Surely Princess Maria Komnene and her husband—"
"It was them. I am a witness."
Princess Theodora spoke.
I looked at her.
"You are a witness? Did they confess?"
"Not a confession. After the failed assassination, they came to see me immediately."
She continued.
"They spoke sweetly and tried to persuade me to join them. In truth, they were desperate—grasping at any rope."
Her words rang sincere.
Theodora and Princess Maria Komnene were sisters.
Yet she had chosen the Emperor and the Regency.
"What Theodora says is true," Empress Dowager Maria added. "It aligns with the evidence we've already gathered."
"Then why haven't they been arrested?" I asked.
The situation didn't add up.
If the culprits were certain, why were the Varangians still searching the palace?
"You fear backlash."
I understood.
"They fled to Hagia Sophia, didn't they?"
"How did you know that?" Alexios asked.
"There is nowhere else to flee in the capital."
Being unconscious for a day didn't mean I'd forgotten history.
Alexios flushed.
"I wanted to send soldiers immediately, but my mother stopped me."
"We cannot send armed soldiers into the cathedral," Empress Dowager Maria said firmly.
"If we draw steel before the Patriarch and clergy, we lose the legitimacy we have fought to secure. It would be like throwing hard-earned gold into the sea."
"Then we simply leave them there?" Alexios demanded angrily. "They threatened your life, mine, and the Empress's!"
He looked at me.
"What would you do, Prince Baldwin?"
"Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is correct."
He was still young.
If armed troops stormed the cathedral, it would be seen as sacrilege.
Henry II had learned that lesson.
One careless remark led to the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket inside Canterbury Cathedral.
The backlash was immense.
We could not allow such a mistake.
"If it were me," I said carefully, "I would spread word that the assassination had nearly succeeded. That His Majesty was gravely wounded."
They would have panicked and acted openly.
Too late for that now.
"However, I do have another idea."
"Speak."
"Send heralds into the streets. Announce openly that there was an assassination attempt against His Majesty—but it failed."
I continued.
"And reveal that immediately afterward, Princess Maria Komnene fled to Hagia Sophia."
"Then everyone will understand who stands behind this," Theodora said.
She folded her arms.
"I agree. Before moving soldiers, we must win the people. But Princess Maria still has many supporters. If they resist…"
"The situation may drag on," I murmured.
We needed something decisive.
Something undeniable.
"The Patriarch must surrender them willingly," I said. "For that, he needs justification."
Then an image surfaced in my mind.
A blood-stained token.
A symbol stronger than argument.
I looked at Emperor Alexios.
"Your Majesty… do you have a handkerchief you use personally?"
Hagia Sophia.
Shouts filled the cathedral.
Worshippers fled as hundreds gathered.
"This is a palace conspiracy!"
"How dare they slander our Princess and drive her from the palace!"
"Indeed! Indeed!"
Princess Maria Komnene and Renier stood among their supporters.
"Was it not Baldwin and the Jerusalem delegation who bewitched the Emperor?"
"The ignorant Latins never should have been allowed into this sacred capital!"
The crowd roared.
Watching from within was Patriarch Theodosius of Constantinople.
"How many are there?"
"Hundreds at least. More gathering outside."
"No word from the palace?"
"None."
The Patriarch sighed.
Then the cathedral doors pounded.
"Your Holiness, an imperial delegation has arrived."
He walked outside.
Shouts followed him.
"They've come to seize the Princess!"
"This is sanctuary!"
"Drive out the traitors!"
Outside stood nobles and officials.
Few armed soldiers.
Relief flickered across his face.
An elderly noble spoke clearly:
"As imperial representative, I am here to escort Princess Maria Komnene and Renier of Montferrat to the palace. By order of His Majesty."
"This cathedral is sacred refuge," the Patriarch replied cautiously. "I must protect those who seek sanctuary."
The noble raised his voice.
"They have committed treason! They attempted to assassinate the Emperor!"
Murmurs spread.
"Did you hear that?"
"Is that why she fled?"
The noble then raised a blood-stained cloth.
"This is His Majesty's handkerchief, stained with imperial blood!"
Gasps echoed.
"Had Prince Baldwin failed, far more than blood would have been spilled!"
The cloth was placed on the cathedral steps.
The Patriarch picked it up carefully.
The murmuring grew louder.
Silence followed.
Then the Patriarch spoke, calm and composed.
"I shall return inside and persuade them."