Shortly after the war between Theodoro and Genoa ended, due to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's decision to escalate its conflict with the Golden Horde, Mikhail Semyonovich Olgierdovich and his Rus Heavy Axemen and Hussars would return home to prepare for war on behalf of the Grand Duchy.
When he left, he only brought back over 300 heavy infantry and nearly 400 hussars; the rest were either lost in battle or forced to remain in Theodoro due to injuries.
Even his adjutant Ivan X3 died in the war.
But Olgierdovich and his men did not regret it much, because they had excellently completed the task given to them by the Grand Duke, and upon their return, they would at least be able to increase the size of their fiefdoms, and perhaps even be promoted in rank.
At their farewell, he embraced Manuel, praising the young Crown Prince's wisdom and courage, which made Manuel feel quite awkward.
But some did not leave with them.
At the farewell banquet, Manuel managed to get away from the Rus people who kept trying to ply him with wine, and secretly went outside the banquet hall.
The moon was hazy, and a young man about his age was staring blankly at the crescent moon in the night.
"Tukharovsky, aren't you going back?" Manuel asked.
Tukharovsky stopped staring blankly and turned his deep green eyes to Manuel, "No, Your Highness, I don't plan to return to Lithuania.
After all, I only have my mother left there.
I told her my decision a few months ago, and she supported me.
Moreover, my mother's family has some influence, so someone will take care of her."
At this point, Tukharovsky scratched his golden hair, seemingly a bit embarrassed to talk about his family.
"Why stay with us? I am just the Crown Prince of a small Principality, and I'm afraid I won't be able to fulfill most of what you desire."
Although Manuel genuinely hoped to have a trustworthy and skilled general by his side, he still kindly warned the other party due to the uncertainty of his own future.
"No, you, or to be precise, Your Highness Manuel, you can."
Tukharovsky explained, "And Your Highness is capable, not just with the lifting of the Siege of Kaffa.
Also, on the day of the Christmas decisive battle, you insisted on taking the initiative to attack, surely realizing the inherent weakness of the Genoese army and the disunity within their ranks, right?
In other words, you already knew that some in the Genoese army would desert at the last minute that day."
"Hahaha, you could say that.
I did indeed perceive this point before attempting to take a gamble, as breaking through from a disadvantageous position is inherently a very risky endeavor.
Their forces seemed considerable, but generally speaking, mercenaries lack the courage to fight with their backs against the wall.
And after deducting the troops requested from Matrega and Tana, perhaps only half of them would have the confidence to fight us.
Plus, the Venetians we had contacted beforehand, unless the Genoese were willing to fight to the death, they could only face the same outcome that actually occurred.
However, to my surprise, the speed at which the Genoese soldiers fled far exceeded my imagination.
This effectively reduced our casualties here.
"Alright, let's get back to the point.
Why are you joining me, and what do you want from me?
Money? Titles?
You could get all of these in Lithuania, couldn't you?"
"There are some things the Grand Duke of Lithuania cannot give me," Tukharovsky's expression became serious, "The honor of my family and a glorious future."
"Huh?" Manuel felt he hadn't quite understood.
"Hmm, my apologies, please allow me to reintroduce myself."
Tukharovsky straightened and bowed, his words and posture adhering to etiquette, "After the split of Kievan Rus, the Ruriks of the various Grand Duchies also formed different branches, among them, the branch from the Principality of Turov,"
As he said this, his expression became extremely solemn.
"Named Izyaslavich Turovsky, abbreviated as the Turovsky branch.
And I, Dmitri Ivanovich Tukhachevsky-Rurik, am a descendant of this branch.
The term Tukharovsky is a Ruthenian dialect variation of Turovsky.
"Your Highness, you can call me Rurik, or Turovsky, or Turovsky-Rurik, or even Tukharovsky as before, if you prefer to be more precise and don't mind the trouble, you can call me Izyaslavich Turovsky-Rurik."
Manuel felt a bit disoriented and only replied after a moment, "Then I'll still call you Tukharovsky.
Alright, Tukharovsky, please tell me, why not return to Lithuania, but instead follow me, the Crown Prince of a small Principality?"
Tukharovsky bowed and replied, "Your Highness, in Lithuania, our Rurik family is mostly subjected to a subtle suppression, after all, in the past, the last Rurik family member to rule Kiev, Stanisław, was exiled by Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania.
"By my generation, our Turovsky branch is almost dwindling to extinction.
I am considered to have done reasonably well, but I am no longer even a lord.
My father, who died young, did not leave me much inheritance.
It sounds a bit ridiculous, I actively joined the army at 14, but even now I am just a landless knight.
"This time, besides the usual rewards, I estimate I still won't get a piece of land.
If that's the case, why don't I try my luck somewhere else?"
"But we are too small here, I'm afraid we cannot satisfy your ambition.
You are gambling with your own future."
"But Your Highness, I believe you will not stop here," Tukharovsky's eyes gleamed with fervent light as he spoke, "You must have already set a plan to capture Theodosia, right?
For this, you even went to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and this time, Moldavia and the Golden Horde are clearly leaning towards your side.
To achieve such an effect, preparations must have been made long ago.
And Your Highness, if I may say something that sounds like a priest, my intuition tells me that you and I are the same kind of people, with vast and even unrealistic ambitions.
Only under such a leader can I fully utilize my limited talents."
Manuel smiled, "Ha, you're right, I certainly won't be content with just being a Prince."
"Then, please allow me to offer you my loyalty."
"I accept your service, Dmitri Ivanovich Izyaslavich Turovsky-Rurik."
The day after seeing off the Lithuanian expeditionary force, Manuel found someone he intended to discuss matters with in detail on the beach.
On the beach of Balaklava, with the war over, the Venetian and Genoese warships would all leave these waters, so there was no one else except a few fishing boats and patrol fleets.
Today, April 3rd, was the day the Genoese fleet carried the last batch of soldiers and their remains away from the Black Sea, and also when the Venetian army went to Tana and other places.
On the morning of this day, Manuel finally met the person.
"Teacher Falero, you're returning to Venice, aren't you?" Manuel asked.
"Something like that, but for some reason, Lando found out about my leak."
Francesco Falero said this with a hint of anger in his voice.
He looked at Manuel, and as the linen doublet he wore fluttered in the breeze, he fiddled with the yew wood staff granted to him by the Venetian Governor's Office, seemingly awaiting his explanation.
Manuel did not answer him directly, but instead smiled and asked, "Teacher, would you like to take up a position in our Theodoro?"
Falero's eyes seemed on the verge of erupting in anger, "Manuel Gavras, don't go too far!
As a citizen of Venice, I cannot sell my soul!"
Manuel did not meet his anger directly, but calmly changed the subject, "Teacher, what is your relationship with Marino Falero?"
Falero was stunned; he hadn't expected Manuel to know about this old affair, but Manuel didn't give him much time to think, quickly continuing, "Legend has it that in 1354, when Marino Falero was elected Doge of Venice at the age of 80, he married a beautiful young wife.
Seven months later, at a Carnival banquet, the young Michele Steno passionately kissed his wife, which infuriated the Doge, who ordered punishment.
However, the Council of Ten ultimately only resolved to temporarily exile Steno, which greatly insulted Doge Falero, who then began to plot to eliminate the Council of Ten and overthrow the republic.
But whether or not this was the reason, Marino Falero's coup plan was eventually exposed in April 1355, and by the end of that April, Marino Falero and his co-conspirators were tried by the court and executed."
Marino Falero was Doge for only seven months, but to punish him, Venice deliberately erased him from the Doge's records and recalled the dukats minted with his likeness.
From then on, the Falero family also fell into decline in Venice.
There's also a small anecdote about this: Michele Steno, who had previously been sentenced to exile, served as Doge of Venice from 1400 to 1413.
During his tenure, he more or less intentionally spread this legend, whose authenticity remains unknown." Having said that, Manuel asked again, "Teacher, may I ask again about your relationship?"
As Manuel spoke, Francesco Falero's dark green pupils gradually lost their luster.
Finally, when Manuel asked his question, the man, nearing his thirties, sighed softly and murmured:
"So that's it, I understand why you're doing this.
I'll be direct, I am his direct great-grandson." He then added, somewhat reluctantly, "But Your Highness, I will not make the same mistake as my great-grandfather."
Manuel didn't pay much attention to his addition, but instead smiled warmly: "Teacher, I'm afraid you've misunderstood something; I never intended to force you to join us; the choice has always been yours.
However, you should seriously consider, even if I hadn't leaked the information, could you truly return and regain your rightful status?
Your initial decision to inform us of Doge Foscari's decision surely wasn't just to help us, was it?
In my humble opinion, Teacher, you must have also wanted to avoid being insignificant in this war, which is why you intentionally prevented Lando from gaining more merit, to help yourself earn military achievements.
The Doge and the Council of Ten are not fools; when they review this war later, they will certainly discover the loopholes, and won't everything be exposed then?
"Furthermore, Teacher, Venice sent you to us as an acting admiral; even I can see that this is a sign of their distrust in you.
If Venice truly trusted you, why wouldn't they let you command their own navy, which you are relatively more familiar with, instead of sending you to command a foreign navy?
Even if you achieve merit this time, it will most likely be suppressed, because the so-called Council of Ten will not accept a descendant of a criminal who attempted to overthrow the republican regime rising to a high position.
"Oh, by the way, if I may be so bold as to ask, how are your family members doing now?" Manuel asked with a smile.
After a moment, Falero gave a bleak laugh: "Hahaha, the highest-ranking member of the Falero family is me, but now in Venice, I'm not even a lord.
My father passed away five years ago, and my mother is currently in Florence; apart from a few distant uncles, there's basically no one left in this generation of the Falero family." Saying this, he turned and asked Manuel with resolute eyes: "Manuel, can you swear an oath to God about one thing?"
"Please speak, Teacher."
"Never give up halfway; if you only intend to stop here, I will betray you without hesitation."
Manuel burst out laughing, "God be my witness, I, Manuel, swear that I will absolutely not stop at being the prince of a small Principality." With that, Manuel sincerely said: "Then, Teacher, please make your choice: will you continue to pledge allegiance to your homeland and live a potentially peaceful and stable life, or will you come to the Principality of Theodoro and pledge allegiance to me, pursuing a pipe dream that may never come true in your lifetime?"
Falero first smiled, "Manuel, you truly are a genius at playing with people's hearts," and then he quickly burst into wild laughter,
"Given that, there's only one answer!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he directly snapped the yew wood staff granted to him by the Venetian Governor's Office into two pieces with his bare hands, and laughed excitedly:
"I will swear an oath to God, to be loyal to you.
At least as long as you are willing to keep your oath!"
...
That afternoon, after lunch, Manuel quietly avoided the gazes of others and, with only a few attendants, set off to climb the southwestern peak of the Crimean Mountains, which is Saint Peter's Mountain, located between Mangup and Alupka.
If calculated using his previous life's units of measurement, this peak was over 1200 meters high, and combined with its undeveloped state in the Middle Ages, climbing it was still very difficult.
At least by the time Manuel reached the summit, it was already close to dusk.
He wiped his sweat, looked left and right, and decided to have a moment of quiet solitude.
Manuel found a large rock to sit on, gazing towards Northern Crimea.
Unlike the developed agriculture and fishing of Southern Crimea, the land there was not very fertile; from a distance, it was mostly endless lush grassland.
Looking further north, one could see the Tatar Isthmus, which separated the peninsula from the Eastern European continent.
How beautiful, he couldn't help but recall his past life; he didn't have many social connections, started wearing glasses in middle school, was unremarkable wherever he went, and everything about him was very ordinary.
Precisely because he lacked, he desired; since his last life, he had wanted to hold all beautiful things tightly in his hands, and for this, he would even feel melancholy when the beauty in the virtual world didn't belong to him.
This strong desire was deeply rooted in his mind even after his transmigration; sometimes he would even mock himself, saying his ambition was so great it reached the point of "insatiability."
"I hope," he said, turning towards the Black Sea, looking at Asia Minor and the Balkans, and extending his right hand, "the world, in my hands."
As soon as he finished speaking, he laughed at himself, "Seriously, what is this? A case of medieval chuunibyou?"
While expressing his desires, he looked at the setting sun, which was about to touch the ocean, realizing it was getting late.
He called his attendants and prepared to descend the mountain, "Badars, after we descend, prepare the horses; we'll say our goodbyes at Mangup.
It's time to return to Theodosia for governance.
Barbara should also have been waiting for me at the foot of the mountain for some time now."
As he gave these instructions, the setting sun was slowly falling towards the sea, casting golden light upon the land and ocean, dyeing the Black Sea and the mountains entirely in the color of crushed gold, and Manuel, descending the mountain, bathed in the golden sunlight, had a faint, mysterious sense of sanctity.
Meanwhile, in the palace of Constantinople, Basileus John VIII, having confirmed his sister's current situation from the envoy returning from Theodoro, was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, "It seems my sister is really enjoying her life in Theodoro.
She worried us so much last year; I truly can't believe her; she's still so fond of causing trouble.
I hope she doesn't cause trouble for her future husband." After learning last autumn that Barbara had run off to the Principality of Theodoro, the huge stone hanging in his heart finally dropped, but because there was a war going on there, he, worried about his little sister, still sent people every two or three months to inquire about her living conditions.
"But speaking of which, it's truly incredible that Theodoro actually managed to win," John VIII sighed after dismissing the unnecessary personnel.
As he spoke, he looked at a military report, which was a plan to reclaim Morea presented to him by his two younger brothers, Constantine and Thomas, who were in Morea.
After a long while, and after the military commander had given a positive assessment, John VIII finally made up his mind, personally wrote his imperial edict on the plan, and affixed his seal as the Roman Emperor, "Let them both go ahead and do it."
Soon after, in the palace of Edirne, the 26-year-old Ottoman Sultan Murad II looked at a new map of the Black Sea presented to him by a Pasha and murmured, "Genoa actually lost to Venice and an obscure small country?
What is the name of this small country? It seems to be, ah, the Principality of Theodoro.
This world is truly becoming more and more wondrous; Allah certainly loves to joke." As he said this, after a moment of serious thought, he hinted to his Grand Vizier, "Çandarlı Ibrahim Pasha, I feel that Venice has been quite arrogant lately; it's time to put some pressure on them in Thessaloniki."
What Murad II was referring to was precisely the Siege of Thessaloniki, which began after 1422.
Although the Ottoman had blockaded the city for several years, it was merely a blockade.
However, according to Murad's intention, this time the Ottoman would have to get serious.
"As you command, Your Majesty, your will is the will of Allah," Ibrahim Pasha knelt and bowed his head in submission.
After receiving an affirmative reply, Murad II unrolled the map and then plunged the dagger he carried with him into the location of the Crimean Peninsula.
"Keep a close eye on the situation in Crimea for me."