I Became The King Of Crusaders [EN]: Chapter 32

The Man Who Saved Rome (2)

* * *

“Sir? …Sir, can you hear me?”

A faint voice.

I opened my eyes.

My head felt like it was splitting.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Aig’s face.

“You’re finally awake. I was worried you were seriously injured.”

Memories came back to me one by one.

The assassins who suddenly appeared at the banquet.

A bloody battle to protect Alexios.

Right, I took a hit to the head.

“How long has it been? What about His Majesty the Emperor?”

“His Majesty the Emperor is fine. He was shocked, but not injured like you, sir. What happened was…”

Aig sighed.

“It was yesterday. You’ve been unconscious for over a day.”

“Unconscious for a day?”

I struggled to sit up.

My limbs creaked like a broken robot.

“Please lie down a bit longer. There’s nothing urgent right now.”

Aig said urgently.

Only then did I realize that Wig was standing next to Aig.

He smiled and said,

“You already took out one of them, sir. There were only two left when we got there.”

“It’s all thanks to Lord Wig and Garnier. My body moved on its own from all the training.”

I said with a smile.

My intuition helped, but I wouldn’t have been able to move like that without training.

As my consciousness cleared, my face stung.

“Bring me a mirror, Aig.”

I looked at my face in the mirror.

There were blue bruises all over.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any serious injuries.

“You said His Majesty wasn’t hurt. What’s the exact situation?”

“The imperial palace has been turned upside down since yesterday. The Varangian Guard [the Emperor’s elite bodyguard, primarily composed of Norsemen] is arresting everyone suspicious.”

“Looks like they haven’t found the real mastermind yet.”

“The excited guards killed all the assassins. There was no time to stop them.”

Wig said in a nonchalant tone.

Vikings are Vikings, I guess.

They must have rushed in without thinking when they saw the Emperor in danger.

“They’re the ones in the most trouble right now.”

I frowned.

I could taste blood; my chin must have been cut.

“If they don’t catch the mastermind soon, they’ll take the blame.”

Failing to stop the assassins before they reached the Emperor was ultimately the guard’s fault.

If they didn’t clean it up quickly, they could lose their heads, not just their jobs.

‘So they’re searching the imperial palace like crazy.’

The culprit is already determined anyway.

Princess Mani and her husband.

I guess I have to step in myself.

At that moment, there was a commotion outside the room.

Aig checked the door and immediately bowed.

“It’s His Majesty the Emperor.”

The door swung open.

Alexios looked at me and smiled brightly.

“Sir! I heard you woke up! I don’t know what to say…”

He rushed to my side and took my hand.

“Thank you so much… If it weren’t for you, both the Empress and I would be dead.”

“You don’t have to say that. You were the one who saved me in the end, Your Majesty.”

I replied with a smile.

If Alexios hadn’t stabbed the assassin then, I’d be lying in a coffin right now.

No, would I have been thrown to the dogs in the street?

Empress Dowager Maria and Princess Theodora followed behind him.

Even Theodora?

“As the representative of the Roman Empire’s Regency and Empress Dowager…”

Maria took a breath.

She bowed her head and continued.

“I want to express my sincere gratitude, Sir Baudouin. If something had happened to the Emperor…”

She paused.

“The entire empire would have been plunged into chaos. You risked your life to prevent such a catastrophe.”

I nodded and stood up.

My head was spinning from lying down for so long.

“I heard they haven’t found the mastermind yet. It’s clearly Princess Mani and her husband…”

“It’s true that they did it. I’m a witness, not anyone else.”

Princess Theodora said.

I looked at her.

“The Princess is a witness? Did they confess directly?”

“It wasn’t a confession. They came to me right after the assassination attempt failed yesterday.”

She said.

“They offered all sorts of sweet words and asked me to join hands with them. They were actually terrified and trying to grab any lifeline.”

I looked at her.

Her words were sincere.

‘Did Theodora think she would come over to their side?’

Theodora and Princess Mani were sisters from the same womb.

But she sided with the Emperor and the Regency, not her sister.

“Theodora’s words are true. They match the evidence we’ve been investigating.”

Maria said.

She nodded as if she already knew.

“But why haven’t you arrested them yet?”

I asked.

It didn’t make sense.

The culprit is certain, so why is the Varangian Guard searching the imperial palace?

What’s the reason for not announcing that Princess Mani and her husband are behind the assassination….

“You’re afraid of a backlash.”

I said.

I roughly understood the situation.

“Haven’t they both fled to the Hagia Sophia [the main cathedral of Constantinople] ?”

“No, how did you know that…”

“That’s the only place to escape in the capital.”

I smiled at Alexios.

I may have been unconscious for a day, but I couldn’t have missed this.

‘The same event happened every time the assassination failed.’

Alexios blushed and said,

“I said we should send soldiers to arrest them right away, but my mother stopped me…”

“We can’t send armed soldiers into the cathedral.”

Maria said.

“If we point swords at the Patriarch [the highest-ranking bishop] and clergy, we’ll lose the justification we’ve worked so hard to gain. That’s like throwing hard-earned gold into the sea, Your Majesty.”

“So we should just leave them there? Those who threatened the lives of you, the Empress and me…”

Alexios hissed angrily.

His gaze turned to me.

“What do you think, sir? If it were you, you would have already…”

“Empress Dowager Maria is right, Your Majesty.”

I replied.

He’s still young.

‘He doesn’t know what consequences his actions will bring.’

If armed forces stormed the cathedral, it would inevitably be seen as sacrilege for any reason.

Henry II did the same.

I recalled an event in the game.

Eleanor’s husband and King Richard the Lionheart’s father.

‘Is there no one in my kingdom who will rid me of that arrogant cleric?’

A word Henry II uttered carelessly.

His subordinates, misunderstanding his words, brutally murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.

As a result, Henry II had to face the wrath of all Europeans, including the English people.

The papacy canonized Thomas Becket as a saint as a bonus.

We can’t let that happen.

“If it were me, I would have spread rumors that the assassination was successful. At least announce that His Majesty the Emperor is in critical condition.”

Then they would have taken action on their own.

Is it too late for that?

The only way to arrest them now is….

“I have an idea.”

“If there’s a way…”

“First, send all the heralds out into the streets. And tell the citizens exactly what happened yesterday.”

I said.

“Tell them that there was an assassination attempt on His Majesty the Emperor, but it failed. If you also tell them that Princess Mani suddenly fled to the Hagia Sophia right after…”

“Everyone will know that she’s behind it.”

Theodora said.

She crossed her arms and continued.

“I agree with your suggestion, sir. It’s better to win the hearts of the people before rashly moving soldiers. But there are many citizens in the capital who follow Princess Mani. If they resist…”

“The situation could drag on. We don’t know what might happen in the meantime.”

I muttered.

Theodora was right.

Something big was needed.

Something decisive to shut their mouths.

“We need to get the Patriarch to hand them over on his own. To do that, we need a good reason or something to show…”

At that moment, a scene flashed through my mind.

A hero movie I saw a long time ago.

The heroes, who were bickering and fighting, joined forces at the death of an agent.

The agent’s hero trading cards that he always carried around.

The sight of them stained with blood sparked the heroes’ anger.

A single card conveyed more messages than any words.

But later, a twist was revealed.

The blood on the card was actually the director’s.

‘It doesn’t matter if the message is real anyway.’

It was true that the agent died in the movie.

It was also true that the Emperor was almost assassinated.

I looked at the young Emperor.

“Does Your Majesty happen to have a handkerchief you use?”

* * *

Hagia Sophia Cathedral.

Hundreds of angry shouts filled the hall.

The worshipers who were praying were startled by their momentum and left the cathedral.

“This is a conspiracy orchestrated by the imperial palace!”

“How can such an irresponsible thing happen, that the Princess is being framed and forced out of the imperial palace?”

“That’s right! That’s right!”

Princess Mani and Renier.

The two led their supporters.

“Isn’t it Baudouin and the Jerusalem delegation who are deceiving His Majesty the Emperor?”

“It was wrong to let those ignorant Latin bastards into the sacred capital in the first place! We must sweep away all the trash in the Latin Quarter!”

A man sighed as he watched the scene.

Theodosius, Patriarch of Constantinople.

He asked his subordinate bishop,

“How many came?”

“There are easily over hundreds. Citizens are still gathering outside.”

The bishop bowed his head and answered his question.

“There has been no contact from the imperial palace yet.”

“What on earth is going on…”

The Patriarch trailed off.

They suddenly burst in this morning.

At the same time, rumors that someone tried to assassinate the Emperor swept through the entire capital.

“I heard that the Patriarch also received dirty money from those Latin bastards!”

One of the supporters shouted.

“If you try to kick our Princess out of the cathedral, doesn’t that mean the rumor is true?”

“How dare those people say such rude things!”

“Just ignore them. It’s like pouring oil on the fire if you intervene.”

Theodosius, the Patriarch, said in a calm tone.

Now was the time to assess the situation.

Thump—thump—thump.

The sound of the cathedral door echoed.

Soon, the bishops approached him.

“Your Holiness, the imperial delegate has arrived in front of the cathedral. Right now…”

“I understand, let’s go.”

People shouted at him as he headed for the door.

“They’ve come to arrest the Princess!”

“This is a sanctuary! What sacrilege!”

“Drive out the traitors!”

The shouts echoed in the cathedral.

Opening the door, Theodosius found nobles and officials standing in front of the stairs.

Fortunately, there weren’t many armed soldiers.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

“It doesn’t look like they’re going to storm the cathedral.”

The old nobleman at the front opened his mouth.

In an extremely calm tone.

“As an imperial delegate, I have come to escort Princess Mani and her husband, Renier, to the imperial palace. It is His Majesty the Emperor’s order.”

“This cathedral is the Lord’s sacred refuge. I have a duty to protect all the poor who seek protection.”

The Patriarch said cautiously.

The crowd that came out to see the situation caught his eye.

Easily hundreds.

No, it looked like thousands.

“Princess Mani and her husband have committed treason by attempting to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor!”

The white-haired nobleman shouted.

A booming voice as if to be heard by everyone around him.

“How dare you accept such sinners into this sacred cathedral?!

At his words, the citizens began to murmur.

“Did you hear that? Princess Mani tried to kill His Majesty…”

“What? Then that rumor…”

“If not, why would she be here at the cathedral?”

“I don’t know. We need to know what really happened in the imperial palace…”

The sound of people murmuring filled the street.

Then, the nobleman took something out.

“This is a handkerchief stained with His Majesty the Emperor’s blood!”

A handkerchief.

A handkerchief stained with red.

“If Baudouin had not stopped the assassins, they would have gained more than just blood!”

He placed the blood-stained handkerchief in front of the cathedral steps.

“Ahhh….”

The Patriarch carefully picked up the handkerchief.

At the same time, the murmuring grew even louder.

All sorts of words were exchanged inside the cathedral as well.

Silence fell, and then the Patriarch opened his mouth.

His expression was more detached than ever.

Smiling as if relieved, he said,

“I will go back and try to persuade them.”