The first to welcome Princess Theodora were Ruaak and the Guardians of the Holy Sepulchre.
All of them escorted the Princess in full armor.
"I hear you earned great merit in your first battle. His Majesty is also greatly pleased with the achievements you have made."
Theodora said with a smile.
"May the Lord's blessing be upon the Guardians of the Holy Sepulchre."
"It is our joy to be of service to the Imperial House. All of us of the Guardians of the Holy Sepulchre are the Emperor's sword."
Ruaak said.
The Guardians of the Holy Sepulchre.
It feels strange when I think of it in Korean.
"Holy Sepulchre."
It sounds like a guard unit protecting sacred cats.
Would they be angry if they heard that?
I shook my head.
She passed Ruaak and stopped before me.
Behind her followed countless maids and attendants.
It looked as though a small palace itself had come on the move.
"I did not expect to see you again so soon, Prince."
she said.
"Congratulations on your victory in Cyprus. His Majesty also asked me to convey his thanks in his stead."
"I merely did what I promised His Majesty."
I replied with a smile.
It was hard to speak over the citizens' cheers.
Cypriot citizens who had come to welcome the Princess shouted loudly in celebration.
"I heard that when you took Cyprus you performed yet another miracle."
"If everyone calls it a miracle, then I suppose I must think of it as a miracle as well."
I replied with a laugh.
It felt closer to acting as a navigator than a miracle.
My cloak fluttered in the wind.
"You have heard that the King of Jerusalem agreed to His Majesty's proposal. So I will remain in Cyprus for the time being."
She smiled faintly.
"Until I go to Jerusalem."
"…"
A cough slipped out of me.
Hmm. Something appropriate to say—
"I did not expect you to come with such a great fleet."
I looked at the ships behind her.
Even at a glance there were at least several dozen.
Had all of those come bearing cargo?
"I heard that over the past few months you have been gathering various supplies."
she said.
"So before departing, I made a request of His Majesty. He granted permission for me to bring as much surplus material as I wished."
I forced down the cough rising in my throat.
All of that was supplies?
Dozens of ships.
If they were fully loaded, it was an enormous amount.
"So that is why you brought so many ships."
An unexpected gift.
Seeing my expression, she laughed.
"Even if I brought all my clothes and jewelry, I could not fill that many ships."
"That is not what I meant."
I said with a smile.
She approached Vult at my side.
"So this is the horse I saw in Constantinople. His coat is still the same."
Vult snorted and stuck out his tongue.
As if Theodora were his owner, he pressed his head toward her.
Theodora smiled and stroked his head.
"Yes, yes. Good."
It was the first time I had ever seen him so docile.
I said,
"Let us go to the citadel first."
She and I mounted our horses.
A welcoming crowd had gathered in the city as well.
As we passed, flower petals drifted in all directions.
"I have not simply been idling in the imperial palace. I gathered various information."
Theodora said.
"I hear Saladin is mustering an army and marching to strike the northern Levant."
"Yes. That is correct. By now he has likely already left Damascus."
I said.
The Eastern Roman intelligence network was not to be underestimated.
"To take the smaller fortresses and reach Aleppo, it will still take two or three months."
"Then the supplies you have been gathering must be related to that. Is it not?"
I looked at her without speaking.
As I had felt in Constantinople, she always struck directly at the core.
Was this what it took to survive in the Roman imperial palace?
Her intrigue and political skill must be extraordinarily high.
"May I ask what plan you have in mind, precisely?"
Theodora wore a calm smile.
"I am interested as well."
"When we reach the citadel, I will explain."
"Then let us go slowly. After all…"
she said,
"there is plenty of time ahead of us."
The cheers of the Cypriot citizens rang out.
Garnier, who had been leading, came back and whispered.
"I have felt it for some time, but the two of you seem well matched."
"Anyone would think we have already held the wedding."
I sighed.
A fourteen-year-old boy and a twenty-year-old bride.
If only I were my original age, it would have been better.
***
Aleppo
Citadel
Inside the fortress, it was crowded with all kinds of people.
Wine-pourers.
Poison tasters.
Jesters and overseers.
Even poets and jurists.
Yet no one could soothe the Atabeg's heart.
Atabeg Masud, red-faced, shouted,
"Saladin's army is marching here! What, then, have you been doing until matters reached this point?!"
"Saladin has begun a war without any justification. Such a sudden attack…"
"Foreseeing it is your work! You take your pay without fail—what is it that you do?!"
Masud sat down, breathing hard.
All the officials bowed their heads low.
Masud looked at one general and asked,
"Suleiman—tell me. What is the reaction of the people of Aleppo now?"
"There are some insolent ones, but all the people support the Atabeg."
"Only some insolent ones?"
Masud snorted.
His large turban shook from side to side.
"In the marketplace, it is openly strewn about that I should go to Mosul and do laundry. And you say only some are insolent?!"
he shouted.
"My forebears fought the Franks themselves and won these lands. The right to this land belongs to me alone!"
"The Atabeg speaks rightly."
"But now Saladin would seize it by force—if this is not tyranny, what is it?!"
Masud cried irritably.
"And yet the people treat Saladin as though he were some hero."
"There is none as loathsome as Saladin, who calls himself Sultan!"
Suleiman shouted, shaking his fist.
"To cloak his greed as a holy war—jihad. What blasphemy could be greater?"
He added,
"Myself and the army stand with our lord. So you may rest assured, Atabeg."
"Yes. Perhaps you are the only one I can trust. Have you gathered enough provisions to withstand a siege? And Hama and Homs?"
"We have issued an evacuation order, but Saladin advances so quickly that whether it will be completed in time…"
The white-bearded vizier trailed off.
Masud frowned.
"If the outer cities fall, is it not Saladin who wins in effect? Make a countermeasure at once."
"The King of Jerusalem has sent a proposal."
"You mean the leper king. He makes a proposal to me?"
"He says he will provide supplies to fight Saladin. Weapons, food—without exception."
"The Franks will provide us supplies? Is that true?"
Masud leaned forward.
"Why did you not say so sooner?"
"First, we needed to confirm whether their offer was sincere. When I looked into it…"
the vizier said,
"Baldwin of Cyprus has been gathering large quantities of supplies these past months."
"Baldwin—you mean the boy who went to Constantinople. He has been gathering supplies all this time."
Masud let out a sigh.
"Then he foresaw Saladin's invasion—something I, who stood right here, did not know…"
"It is mere coincidence."
Suleiman said.
"A good opportunity arose, and he intends to sell at a high price, does he not?"
"Yes, those vile Franks will not provide supplies for free. What does he want?"
"First, in return for supplying the goods, one hundred fifty thousand dinars…"
"The price does not matter. Is this the time to weigh such things?"
Masud sprang to his feet.
With a bright smile, he said,
"Send messengers to Hama and Homs at once. Supplies will be sent soon, so no matter what…"
"So your plan is to support Masud. You will send what Hama and Homs need…"
Theodora said.
She tapped the map.
"In the meantime, Jerusalem's army will attack Saladin's territory by land and by sea."
"In simple terms, yes."
I nodded.
In the original history, the Kingdom of Jerusalem fails to check Saladin at this time.
The reason is simple.
The chaos in the Eastern Roman Empire.
In the original history, Andronikos seizes power and a massacre of Latins occurs, plunging the Empire into turmoil.
But now the situation was the opposite.
Alexios's imperial authority was firm, and he had both the justification and the will to support me.
"It was worth all that suffering in Constantinople."
Thanks to that, we could carry out a plan of containment.
If Saladin moved north, Baldwin IV would use the opening to strike the Damascus region.
In coordination, the Roman–Tripoli combined fleet would pressure Egypt.
They would besiege Damietta, a port city.
"Capturing the city itself will be difficult."
I said.
The Roman navy was still being reorganized.
"But pressuring them with a few dozen ships will not be a problem."
"If both Egypt and Damascus are endangered, Saladin will have no choice but to turn his army back."
Theodora nodded.
"And if Masud receives supplies as well, the siege will become even more difficult. But would this not break the peace treaty between the Kingdom and Saladin?"
Theodora tilted her head.
"I thought you stopped Lord Reynald at Eilat to preserve the peace treaty."
"That is correct. But now the situation is different."
I said.
Reynald's massacre of pilgrims had been an act without any benefit.
"Of course, he could loot for himself, so perhaps he liked it…"
It was foolish behavior that drove an unprepared Kingdom into war.
But now it was the opposite.
We had finished all preparations.
We could not sit still and let such an opportunity slip away.
"In any case, Saladin will provide the justification first."
I said.
There was no way Saladin had not considered this.
To check Jerusalem's army, he would have prepared separate forces to respond.
They would certainly raid border farms and villages.
"Likely to draw our attention there."
But we would ignore that and pressure Damascus.
I stared at the map.
Everything felt like a single, well-choreographed dance.
When we moved, Saladin moved in response.
And when Saladin moved, we responded.
A contest in which the side that made the first mistake would lose.
"From the time you came to Constantinople, did you foresee this? That is why you aided the Empire and even took Cyprus…"
"The Archangel Michael did not tell me everything."
I shook my head with a laugh.
I knew the future.
"And I could predict how each side would respond."
But not everything could align perfectly.
Both flexible planning and improvisation mattered.
Who knew military academy training would be this useful?
When I return to reality, I should tell them to offer classes for those possessed into games as well.
"I simply laid many plans in place."
"I told you before. No one moves with such certainty as you do."
Theodora said with a smile.
After a moment of silence, she pointed to one part of the map.
"It seems one problem remains. To transport supplies from Cyprus through the County of Tripoli…"
"To do that, we would have to cross territory ruled by Saladin. But we will not take such a risk."
I nodded.
We would need to avoid the route through southern Tripoli.
If we were caught by Saladin's army, it would be a disaster.
"We could end up helping Saladin instead. The way to deliver supplies to Hama and Homs is simple."
In the eastern mountains of Tripoli, there was another power.
A fourth force belonging to neither the Crusaders, nor Saladin, nor Masud.
I pointed to part of the map.
The Assassins.
A name synonymous with an order of killers.
"We will use them."