"Shh, how about we stop?" Isaac thought of his usual relationship with his father and elder brother, and the unclear situation, and turned his face away hesitantly, not daring to face him directly.
"Your Highness, at this point, you're not joking, are you?" Raus asked with a hint of resentment, "We've been tied together for years now. Are you giving up? Don't forget your old promises. You should know, I, and all of us, have entrusted our entire future to you!"
"Your Highness, please give the order quickly. All the guards at the palace have been replaced by our men, and the 'Watchers' Force patrolling the streets have also been ordered to temporarily suspend their duties. Patniko is inspecting Panticapaeum, and Falero is leading his troops on sea patrol. Now, no one can stop us!"
Isaac knew that everything he said was true. If he hadn't, out of his own delusion, willingly accepted their flattery earlier, he wouldn't be in this predicament now.
But the arrow was on the string, and it had to be shot. And he had no way out…
Finally, Isaac took a deep breath and quietly ordered, "Begin."
Less than fifteen minutes later, as Prince Alexius was drunkenly toasting with Pennycook, a group of fully armed guards suddenly burst in.
"Is there an enemy situation?" Alexius's drunkenness was startled away by half, and he hurriedly asked.
But the guards did not answer him; instead, they pressed closer, surrounding them, which made everyone present feel that something was seriously wrong. Seeing this, Alexius quickly ordered them, "If there's nothing wrong, go back to where you came from! This is not where you should be right now!"
With the Prince having spoken, the Principality's Chief Secretary Pennycook was not intimidated. He directly used the alcohol he had just consumed to embolden himself and boldly asked, "Didn't you hear? His Majesty has spoken, now retreat!"
The guards were a bit at a loss; their superiors had not told them this would happen, leaving them unsure of what to do.
Just then, behind these guards, the voice of a middle-aged man rang out, breaking the standoff between the two sides.
"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to do as I instructed you earlier?! Kill him!"
Michael Pennycook was startled, but before he could do anything, several soldiers swarmed him, directly cutting him down to the ground, and then a sword pierced his heart, causing Pennycook to die on the spot, inexplicably.
The remaining people present all panicked. Patriarch Orophin and the women screamed in terror, huddling in a corner. Only Alexius remained standing, staring intently at them, and at the person who had appeared behind them.
"Andres Raus, is that really you?" he angrily questioned the Chief Secretary who had emerged from behind the guards.
"I regret to say, Your Majesty, it is I, but not only I. Speaking of which, did you not suspect anything at all?" Raus chuckled triumphantly.
"Why?"
Raus did not answer him directly, but shook his head regretfully, "Your Majesty, you truly are old; you are not even 50, yet you are so dull. To be honest, you truly cannot compare to the Crown Prince now."
"Manuel, did he find out long ago?" Alexius noticed his words.
"Yes, Crown Prince Manuel probably discovered it during or after the war. I don't know if it's because his covert forces made a move, but things on our side have always been difficult. If it weren't for considering you and the other elders, he probably would have wanted to send me to the frontier long ago."
"Why didn't he tell me?" Alexius became somewhat dejected.
"Who knows. Perhaps he knew that unless I truly made trouble in front of you, you wouldn't easily believe it. Alright, I've said so much, and it's not in vain for our time as monarch and subject. Guards, now send our King…"
"Wait, stop! Raus, are you the monarch or am I the monarch? My father is still useful; he cannot be dealt with now." Behind Raus, a young man, Isaac, stepped out. At this moment, he forced a calm demeanor, using his command to forcibly save Alexius.
"Isaac, are you trying to rebel?!" Seeing Isaac emerge from behind Raus, the anger in Alexius's heart exploded.
Roared at by his own father, Isaac's forced calm receded considerably, leaving him momentarily speechless. He could only avert his gaze, not daring to meet his father's eyes.
Raus gritted his teeth at this, and could only obey Isaac's command, sparing the lives of the remaining people present. "As for Your Majesty, you will come with us." With Raus's order, Alexius was temporarily placed under house arrest.
Just like that, in less than an hour, Isaac and his faction captured all the remaining high-ranking officials of the Theodoro Principality in Mangup. The next day, Isaac Gavras, that is, Isaac, was hastily proclaimed the Principality's current Prince, and he quickly contacted Phanagoria, which was reluctantly pro-Isaac, and the Tatars within the Principality, with whom he had previously communicated. Together, they launched an attack on Theodosia and the Tatar Isthmus region, which were under Manuel's control, hoping to seize the opportunity to control the remaining areas of the Principality.
However, not everyone acknowledged Isaac's usurpation. Upon learning of the coup in Mangup, the Theodoro Army Commander Patniko and Navy Admiral Falero immediately declared their irreconcilable opposition to the rebels, swore allegiance to Manuel, and gathered all their forces in Theodosia. Excluding the Tatar rebels, the military forces supporting Manuel accounted for over eighty percent of Theodoro's total military strength. It seemed that this rebellious usurpation was about to be swiftly crushed by the contingency plans Manuel had left before his departure.
However, at this moment, the developing situation in the North caught Theodosia off guard. The Golden Horde's Muhammad Khan, as Theodoro's suzerain, was the first to recognize the rising usurper in Mangup and declared that Northern Crimea and the regions to its north would return to Khanate rule. He also claimed he would send an army of ten thousand to forcibly interfere in Theodoro's internal affairs.
The situation became quite complicated.
Meanwhile, Manuel, who had just arrived in Kiev, received an urgent report from Theodosia and shook his head with a bitter smile, "I never thought we would end up in such a state. Isaac, I am very disappointed in you."