"You're saying, Prince Manuel wants to send us flying, one by one, with heavy cavalry?!" Raus asked the messenger in terror.
"Yes…" the messenger confirmed, bowing his head in fear.
Everyone present fell into a dead silence. After a long while, Raus and Isaac realized they had no retreat. "Prepare for a decisive battle." Klier shook his head, delivering a final blow to their hearts as he watched them. As for him, he considered himself a passing Janissaries general, merely a guest commander, and neither side of the civil war would do anything to him.
Meanwhile, in the city of Theodosia—
"When will Father likely arrive in Theodosia?" Manuel questioned Badars and the others before him.
"Reporting, Your Highness, His Majesty is already on the way and should arrive within three days," Badars replied, bowing his head, cold sweat beading on his body.
Manuel stared at him for a long time before sternly reminding him, "Father cannot be harmed, understood?"
"Yes, Your Highness! Loyalty!"
"Alright, now, it's time to meet an old acquaintance." After confirming that the secret department would not feign compliance, Manuel, accompanied by a few people, easily went to another room in the palace. Here, he had confined his most important prisoner from the last capture—the former Khan of the Crimean Khanate, Haji Giray, and his family, with Giray even having a private room all to himself.
"Lord Manuel, why have you sought me out this time?" Giray, confined in a comfortable single room, showed a forced smile as he looked at Manuel, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Lord Giray, on the condition that you regain your freedom, can you grant me a request?" Manuel ignored his forced smile and asked sincerely.
"Your regaining freedom, it wouldn't be sending me to Mecca or Volga Bulgaria, would it?" Giray dropped his forced smile and asked him seriously.
"More or less."
"Then it's out of the question. Unless you are willing to let me return to Bakhchysarai or any part of Northern Crimea, I will not agree to any conditions you propose."
"Please consider it more carefully," Manuel requested sincerely.
"Lord Manuel, I know you want me to persuade the faction of Crimean Tatars loyal to me to surrender. But I must tell you, I will not risk the Giray Family's centuries of reputation." Giray mercilessly exposed what Manuel was thinking.
"…"
After Manuel returned, feeling rebuffed, Giray smiled with relief. He knew that this Crown Prince of the Principality was a man of rules who would not easily execute him, which was why he dared to act so boldly.
"But I won't remain so mediocre. The time will come soon," Giray thought. "Speaking of which, tomorrow or the day after is little Aisha's wedding. Mingli will also be born soon. Don't worry, my children, I will fight for a beautiful future for you."
On the other side, Manuel, having hit a wall, was not resigned. But after several failed attempts to persuade him, he finally steeled himself and summoned Vladimir and Badars. After confirming the feasibility of their previously planned secret scheme, he decided to officially implement it tomorrow.
"Haji Giray, you brought this upon yourself." Manuel encouraged himself in the basement.
The day after tomorrow was the wedding of Suleiman Karamanoglu and Aisha Giray. For this wedding, Manuel had prepared all the necessary items and venues for them both shortly after the war ended in late January, with a mosque and the Quran being indispensable. Both the Giray Family and Manuel's side would attend the wedding today to show respect and blessings.
"By the way, aren't we still in a civil war?" Barbara asked her husband, puzzled.
"It's fine, Lithuania and that person will take action," Manuel replied with a smile, and, catching her off guard, gently kissed her cheek.
"You're annoying~"
Due to religious factors, Manuel's side did not go to the mosque for their most important wedding ceremony at noon, but rather attended the wedding banquet in the evening to offer sincere blessings to the newlyweds.
At the dinner, they clinked glasses, and Giray even stroked his eldest daughter, little Aisha's, head, embracing the newlyweds without ceasing. "Good child, Allah is above, you are an adult now. In the future, you must obey your husband and follow the teachings…"
And Aisha listened to this very seriously: "Yes, absolutely, Father!"
"Good, good, good." After finishing his conversation with his daughter, Giray turned to exchange wine glasses with Manuel, as if the unpleasantness of a few days ago had never happened. Giray, influenced by the fermented grape juice, even formally introduced his family to him: "This is my wife, whom I married back in Lithuania, and my eldest son, Nur; this is my second wife, and my second son, Dauletiar, and third son, Haydar; this is my new wife, Mainar Shirin, of the Shirin Family, and the child in her womb, whom I plan to name Mingli…"
Manuel smiled and warmly embraced each of them, but Mainar was not very willing and kept staring at him. Manuel was well aware of this: in the recently concluded Crimean War, her father and two elder brothers had died at the hands of the Theodoro Army. So he didn't expect her to give him any good grace.
However, at least for now, they were still host and guest on the surface, so they said no harsh words and maintained a subtle atmosphere.
It was in this atmosphere that Manuel made one last attempt: "Lord Giray, consider my suggestion. I promise our common Lord…"
"However, I refuse." Giray flatly rejected his request.
Upon hearing this, Manuel fell silent. After a while, he smiled gently, "Since that is the case, then I shall respectfully send you to Mecca to spend the rest of your life."
Giray couldn't believe that the person in front of him had given up so easily. "Are you serious?"
"Of course, anyway, you are of no use to me now," Manuel explained gently, "After the banquet tonight, you and your family can discuss with us when to depart."
"May Allah bless you, and thank you for your mercy." Giray readily agreed to him. "Still too young, as soon as the ship leaves the Black Sea, I can prepare to return!" Giray thought excitedly.
However, in contrast to his excited thoughts, Manuel's gentle smile in front of him was, for some reason, inscrutable, but Giray did not notice this.
The banquet ended; it was midnight. After Aisha entered the bridal chamber, Giray solemnly and persistently brought his first wife and third wife, Mainar, as well as their sons.
"Is it necessary to bring pregnant women and children?" Manuel asked hesitantly, looking at the three people who came with Giray.
"To show sincerity," Giray explained, "My second wife and her two sons will remain as hostages for Your Highness. Furthermore, my first wife and I have deep affection, and my third wife is no less so. Therefore, I feel it is necessary to bring them on this occasion."
Manuel was silent for a long time before finally showing a gentle smile, "Let's go, to the palace basement, we shall have a good talk."
The midnight of early spring was still chilling like winter. Giray and his group were escorted by soldiers, following him towards the basement. At the entrance, Manuel asked them to wait for a moment while he went down to "prepare."
Half an hour later, Giray received permission from Manuel, who was already in the basement, and, escorted by guards, walked into the deep basement. Upon reaching the basement, the soldiers quietly disappeared, and the door leading outside was secretly closed.
"Khan, the basement has been reached."
"What are you saying, I am no longer a Kha…" Before he could finish his sentence, more than ten fully armed swordsmen suddenly rushed out from the shadows of the basement, chopping the Giray Family in front of them into pieces.
And before Haji Giray was chopped to pieces by the swordsmen, he only saw, by the oil lamp in the basement, the face of the figure, presumably Manuel, still showing a gentle smile that filled him with terror.
Haji Giray, a formidable figure of his generation, died inexplicably in the basement of the Theodosia palace.