The day for Manuel to depart for Lithuania soon arrived.
The reason for Manuel's journey to the Kingdom of Lithuania this time was to serve as an envoy to another country, and for this, he brought a small group of trusted confidants, including Mana.
Before leaving, he specifically asked his father if he wanted to temporarily seek refuge in Theodosia to avoid trouble.
"What foolishness are you speaking, my child? I am the Prince of the Principality; do those petty individuals dare to oppose me in the capital?" Alexius waved his hand, indicating that Manuel's idea was pure overthinking.
Then, he patted his shoulder, reassuring him, "It's alright, everything will pass. When you return from Lithuania this time, you should become the Co-Prince of the Principality."
Since his father had expressed himself in such a way, he naturally found it difficult to say more.
After roughly arranging the personnel in Theodosia, he took his confidants and grandly boarded a ship from Afrita Port, taking a detour by water to Zaporozhye to travel to Kiev.
His father's words quickly alerted the dissenters in the Principality, and because these individuals were far more deeply entrenched in the country than the Crown Prince's faction imagined, the message that Badars, acting on Manuel's orders, attempted to place Isaac under house arrest first, could not be hidden from them.
As a result, less than a day after Manuel's departure from Theodoro, several nobles in Mangup City approached Isaac to inform their young Prince of their arrangements.
After listening to what they said, Isaac felt his heart pounding faster and faster, "Why now? We still have time…"
"There is no time, young Prince.
Don't you know? His Highness personally ordered you to be secretly placed under house arrest.
You wouldn't think you'd still have a chance then, would you?
If we are truly caught in one fell swoop, and with His Highness Manuel's ability, prestige, and followers, once he returns and consolidates his position and power, none of us will escape!" a middle-aged noble, his figure hidden in the shadows, questioned Isaac.
But Isaac was still hesitating; at fifteen or sixteen, he was no longer as easily swayed by empty promises as in the past.
In other words, he had begun to faintly realize that these people gathered around him were not necessarily acting in his best interest, as they claimed, but rather more for their own gain.
"What am I to them? A legitimate monarch, or a convenient puppet to manipulate?" Isaac thought in fear.
Seeing his continued hesitation, these nobles became flustered, unsure how to persuade him further.
Finally, Nikiforus Volor, who was closest to him, stepped forward and used his previous rhetoric to comfort and persuade him, "Young Prince, didn't you say before that you wanted to become a great man?
If so, then you must have the resolve to do such things.
Do great things, do great things!"
Isaac listened, was silent for a long while, and finally nodded blankly, indicating his agreement with their plan.
A few days later, on March 3rd, a small banquet was being held in the palace in Mangup.
Let me explain the origin of this banquet here.
Before Alexius moved to Trabzon, he would already hold banquets for his family or the nobles of the Principality in the palace.
After he returned from Trabzon, influenced by the frequent banquets favored by the Trabzon emperor who shared his name, he also grew fond of holding banquets in his palace from time to time.
The banquet on March 3rd, for example, was the seventh small banquet he had personally hosted since returning to Mangup.
When Manuel was still in Mangup, his general view on this was that it didn't really matter, as the scale of the banquets Alexius hosted was not particularly large, and compared to military expenditures, they were a drop in the ocean.
Therefore, he had even actively participated in the banquets set up by Alexius previously.
Indeed, as mentioned before, high-ranking officials of the Principality would attend all previous banquets; for instance, tonight's event was hosted by Alexius and his wife, and also invited their second son Isaac, the Principality's Chief Secretary, the Patriarch of the diocese, the Treasurer, and other important nobles.
However, this banquet was different from previous ones, because tonight, a major event that would affect them for decades—well, some people wouldn't even have "decades"—was about to happen here.
"Eh, you mean it's your turn to patrol tonight?" The palace guards asked the squad of soldiers in front of them with some surprise.
"Yes, this is an order from above." The leader of that squad of soldiers took out a document and handed it over.
"But it was supposed to have Patniko's signature on it…" The guard officer mumbled less than halfway before a ducat was slipped into his hand.
"No, what do you take me for? Just one ducat…" The guard officer became angry, but before he finished speaking, two more dukats were slipped into his hand.
"Alright, alright, let's go, change of shift!" The guard officer immediately changed his demeanor and quickly led his shift away.
After watching them leave, the leader of the squad of soldiers who came to "take over" sneered, "Alright, tell His Lordship that the matter has been taken care of."
At this moment, Prince Alexius at the banquet was still completely unaware of this; he was now calmly dressed in a casual greyish-white dalmatica, drunkenly listening to several maidservants play pleasant tunes, and had even proactively placed several cups of exquisite wine on the table.
In contrast to him was his second son, Isaac; this fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy was now sweating profusely, looking tense, pale, and restlessly glancing around, as if fearing the arrival of enemy forces.
Isaac's restless behavior at the banquet was noticed by his father, Alexius, but His Highness the Prince misinterpreted it as nervousness caused by recent poor spirits.
"Hey, my child, don't look so glum, come have a drink." Alexius, full of drunken cheer, handed a glass of wine to him, smiling as he urged him to drink it all.
"Fa-father, I, I'm still young…" Isaac stammered, at a loss for words.
"It's alright, in a few months, you'll be old enough to get married.
Speaking of which, my child, what kind of wife do you wish to marry?
I think the Komnenos family in Trabzon is quite good; the girls in their family are very beautiful.
For example, your mother, back in the day I…"
"Shut up, you're so old and still bringing up old nonsense." Zoe lightly punched him on the forehead.
"What are you doing? Wasn't I just telling my good second son about past glorious deeds?"
"Um, I'll go outside to cool down first, it's a bit hot indoors." Seeing his parents, who were completely oblivious to what was about to happen, Isaac nervously made an excuse and left the room.
Once he was outside, after looking around, Isaac pressed his forehead, trying his best to control himself from continuing to sweat cold, "What should I do now? How should I act…"
"Young Prince, time waits for no one, please give the order?" Suddenly, the figure of a middle-aged man appeared behind him, calmly urging him.
Startled by this, Isaac immediately turned around, only to see Andres Raus, the Chief Secretary of the Theodoro Principality, who was also his behind-the-scenes supporter, staring intently at him.