Due to the urgency of the situation, the high-ranking officials in Tana learned about the conditions in various places in less than half a day.
Upon learning that Sugdaea had also erupted in civil unrest, Grimaldi collapsed directly, saying, "These damned heretics! Can it get any worse?" Then the messenger informed him that these two cities had voluntarily submitted to the Principality of Theodoro. Hearing this, the Kaffa Consul almost fainted.
"These wicked Greeks, they must have taken 500,000 florins from Theodore!" Grimaldi roared angrily, but Gattuso quickly reminded him, "Your Excellency, the Principality of Theodoro doesn't even have an annual income of 50,000 ducats, where would they get 500,000?"
Grimaldi did not reply directly to him, "I understand now, all of this is a Greek conspiracy. But it doesn't matter, how many troops can a small city-state have even if it annexes two Kaffas? As long as our 5,000 elites are dispatched…"
"Your Excellency, due to the defection of Sugdaea, we can only field a little over 4,000 men, and most of these 4,000 are conscripted peasant soldiers recruited locally," Gattuso reminded him again.
"If you want to lose your official positions, just say so," Grimaldi coldly informed him, then quickly and earnestly added, "We should at least try, right? What if they don't dare to confront us? We have a strong and powerful homeland behind us; they shouldn't be so foolish as to provoke the Governor's Office, should they?"
At this, everyone fell silent, and eventually they decided to follow the Consul's advice.
"Very well, as soon as the Vice Consul of Matrega is ready, we can launch our attack." After receiving everyone's unanimous promise, Grimaldi was full of confidence.
Just as they were intensifying their military mobilization, Theodoro's intelligence network, spread across all of Kaffa, once again proved effective. The next morning, Manuel learned of the Kaffa Consul's attitude and preparations from his intelligence network. He did not publicize this, but instead summoned the new nobles and officials, led by Mirimijin and Michael Arno, and asked them to strengthen the city's defenses. To their questions, he simply and concisely summarized: "The Genoese are coming. Other matters are still unclear; I will tell you when they are confirmed."
Upon hearing that the Genoese were about to return, everyone present became nervous and promised to diligently carry out Manuel's orders. Seeing this, Manuel encouraged them warmly, and after mentioning that he would inspect the city walls, he announced the adjournment of the meeting.
After the brief meeting concluded, Manuel leaned back in his chair somewhat relaxed, "In a little over a day, Father should call me back to Mangup to discuss countermeasures, right?" Then, a "knock-knock" sounded from outside the door. Seeing this, Manuel simply said, "Come in."
The door opened softly, and his fiancée, Barbara, entered. After exchanging a few pleasantries upon entering the room, she stated her purpose for coming, "I cannot just be kept like this, and as your fiancée, I am capable of doing things, such as clerical work…"
Manuel remembered her collapsing onto a chair, exhausted, after just a few hours of handling documents, and interrupted her, "Hmm, no need, just staying here is fine. But if you really want to help me," he recalled the embarrassing history of her name being changed, "why don't you offer your sharp critique on the current state of our Theodoro, just like you did in Constantinople?"
"Ah, this, this isn't good."
"It's alright, I won't get angry."
"But the first time we met, you threatened to throw me into the barracks." Speaking of this, Barbara stared at his eyes with lingering fear.
This stare made Manuel lose his composure again; although his expression remained unchanged, his ears turned crimson, "I, when we first met, my saying I'd throw you into the barracks was just talk… Truly, I couldn't bring myself to do something so against my nature…"
"Pfft." Seeing him start to explain, Barbara couldn't help but cover her mouth and snicker, "Indeed, I still prefer you when you act like a boy. Oh, by the way, what does 'talk' mean?"
"So you were just trying to tease me?" Manuel was a little disappointed.
"No, on the contrary, I'm very happy to know your true feelings from you." Barbara smiled, "So tell me, what does 'talk' mean? My, Little, husband."
"Still, just call me by my name." Manuel felt his ears getting hot, "Calling me Little husband or something is too embarrassing." He didn't say the latter part out loud, though.
"Alright, Manuel, but you also shouldn't keep calling me 'you' 'you' 'you'; you should call me by my name."
"Okay, Princess Barbara," Manuel teased, then quickly changed the subject, "So, Barbara, what do you think of the current situation?"
Barbara pondered for a moment, confirming repeatedly, "You really won't get angry, won't you lose your temper and act recklessly?"
"Of course, I am very magnanimous."
"Then I'll be direct." Barbara took a deep breath, and then began her rapid-fire speech, "Strategically, it seems like a very wise decision on the surface. Genoa faces diplomatic isolation in the Black Sea region; at the very least, other powers will remain neutral, observing your conflict. But this is only on the surface. In my opinion, it's utterly foolish. What is Genoa's strength, and what is Theodoro's strength? Do you truly understand the disparity between them? You should know that even a dying empire, if all parties allow us to free up our hands, Theodoro would absolutely not be able to defeat Constantinople in a one-on-one fight. Even with that, we wouldn't dare to actively provoke Genoa; how dare you? Look at the income comparison, look at the fleet, look at the quality of the army—how could you possibly win?! Your taking Kaffa this time is simply courting death; I see no signs of victory whatsoever."
After listening to Barbara's speech, a barely perceptible smile appeared on Manuel's face, which made Barbara feel a little apprehensive, "Um, what we agreed on earlier," she reminded him with some fear.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking about whether to have someone check if your development is normal."
He's definitely angry. I knew I shouldn't have been so direct, Barbara wailed inwardly, "Check, only you can check." She said with some trepidation.
"Oh, then how do you want me to check?"
"I, I, I guess you must be thinking of doing what those knight novels describe, using your… thing, to mess up my purity." Barbara said, blushing.
"No, what kind of knight novels are you reading? They're quite misleading." Manuel said, speechless, "And that statement isn't pure at all…" Manuel thought to himself.
"Alright, seriously, I'm not angry at all. In fact, I really hope the Genoese think like you do," Manuel explained with a smile.
"Eh, do you have some backup plan?"
"No, this time it's either success or martyrdom. It's just that to ensure success, we found some allies we don't usually use."
"Ah, Venice? Those greedy merchants are completely unreliable."
"Therefore, we also made some minor arrangements in Genoa's Italian region to ensure they can't go all out. As for what those arrangements are, it's a secret." Manuel wagged his left index finger, looking as if he was revealing a heavenly secret.
"This, you wouldn't be thinking…"
"Exactly, a righteous N-on-one."
"Indeed, and your information control is very good; it seems there's a certain chance of winning now." At this point, Barbara suddenly remembered something that had been overlooked, "Manuel, you still haven't told me what 'talk' means!"
① Manuel: A variant pronunciation of Manuel.