The Youngest Prince Of The English Royalty House [EN]: Chapter 55

[The Land of the Black Desert (3)]

—1186, Cairo, Egypt—

New armies appeared as if from nowhere, and with their help, our crusaders decisively crushed the fiercely resisting Islamic forces.

“Everything is ruined because of these apostates! Just you wait, you damned Christians!”

In any case, Safadin escaped again today.

“I was careless, John. That’s all. Uncle, no matter how important life is, such apostasy can never be forgiven.”

Prince Ala ad-Din of the Khwarazmian dynasty, also speaking in Arabic, quickly fled. Of course, I could speak Arabic, but I didn’t let on that I understood.

The Islamic forces we faced ran away, leaving behind people to be used as slaves, but the crusaders had no intention of capturing their commanders.

Besides, my interest was piqued by the unexpected strangers who had arrived.

“What is your name?”

“My name is ‘Shah.’ I *used* to be the Sultan of Khwarazm. No, I was ousted from the Sultan’s throne, so I am no longer a Shah (meaning king), so just call me ‘Masud.'”

Maria, Jesus, Mary!

“···!”

Not only I, in my safe zone, but also the people around me were left speechless.

The former Sultan of Khwarazm converted to Christianity? This is beyond apostasy; it’s insane!

I still didn’t understand.

‘Why? Is this really happening?’

Was my expression too revealing? Masud, the stranger from Khwarazm, gave me a gentle smile and said.

“Prince John, I respected you beyond ethnicity and religion.”

“Don’t pretend to know me. Didn’t we just meet today?”

“I know you very well. John, who was rejected 200 times by the French princess.”

“···!”

There are many people around, and he’s bringing this up? Does this person have no tact?

My smile is gradually fading, but the ‘Shah’ continues to say what he wants without any hesitation.

“John, your pure love has already crossed the desert and reached the barren steppes (Afghanistan).”

Ah, of course, I deliberately stage a confession show to Agnes, but this is now my dark history of 200 rejections.

To think that even *this* person knows this fact.

“Stranger who has entered the bosom of the holy Lord, it seems you must first speak with me.”

Turning my head to the dignified voice heard from somewhere, I saw Friedrich the Elder smiling gently.

As the commander-in-chief of this entire campaign, he probably has a lot to say to the stranger who suddenly appeared and led our crusaders to victory.

Masud, looking at Friedrich I with his red beard, said.

“I understand. Emperor of the West.”

Anyway, Cairo was conquered by the crusaders. To put it more medievally, we dedicated the center of North Africa, flowing with milk and honey, to the Lord.

Of course, that’s nonsense, and the crusaders will be smiling broadly, thinking about how to divide this Egyptian territory.

‘I don’t intend to take Egypt itself anyway; Ireland is already too much for me.’

Developing Ireland, the territory that my father Henry II gave me, saying, ‘John, chew on it slowly,’ is my priority.

But I couldn’t indulge in such realistic thoughts, because so many people had come to find me.

In Egypt, where the sun was blazing, I barely managed to hold back my burdensome expression.

“Savior John!”

“For Saint John, who liberated the Copts!”

The Coptic [Egyptian Christian] friends hiding in Cairo called me the savior who liberated them.

“Sniff, Prince John… I never thought I would see you like this.”

The welcome from those precious Egyptian Christians, who were more enthusiastic than I expected, was truly overwhelming.

Of course, I understood well enough. They are the ones who have kept their faith in a situation where most people are Islamic.

But it’s not just Copts.

“As expected, Prince John!”

“Our crusader hero!”

The knights and soldiers of the crusades praised me.

It’s like receiving lines from a manga, ‘I believed in you!’

After being harassed for a long time,

I arrived at the commander’s tent.

“John, congratulations.”

“Congratulations, Prince John.”

“Our hero, Prince John!”

“Prince John, aren’t you the true John now? John the Baptist baptized with water, but you baptized the heretics with arrows.”

I was receiving a series of congratulations from the nobles. At first, I felt good, but as it went on, this atmosphere became uncomfortable.

I could feel the cheesy, buttery scent from my heart!

“My lord, is this the standard Western celebration of victory?”

Akbulhoe, who is not yet familiar with Europe, couldn’t adapt to this unfamiliar scene.

“Akbulhoe, does this seem normal to you?”

“No, it doesn’t…”

Honestly, I didn’t do anything. It’s all because of the stranger who suddenly converted.

If the guy named ‘Masud’ hadn’t come over the mountains, across the water, and over the sea, we would still be fighting near Cairo.

“Today, I will buy a lot of wine!”

“Waaaaaa!”

But I knew very well that I had to spend big in times like this.

Egyptian lamb, pigeon meat, beef.

It seems like there will be a lot of expenses.

* * *

—Levant Front—

—We have captured the high ground.

—Our Christians have defeated the infidels!

Cheers continued to erupt.

“As expected, the Islamic guys are in chaos next to us, so they can’t get their act together properly.”

From a Christian perspective, Ishmael is the illegitimate son of Abraham born from an Egyptian maid [Hagar].

The Islamic forces used that name to create a bizarre alliance called the Sword of Ishmael, but their power was threatening to the crusaders.

In the Third Crusade, which started in a favorable situation, they were strongly resisting the crusaders.

But the limits of the Islamic camp began to appear. The basic power of the crusaders, combining the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire and the West, was so strong.

There were several disturbances in the eastern support countries of the Islamic forces, and there were problems with supplies and support troops. Of course, the warriors of Allah were enduring with evil and tenacity.

But that limit was visible to the crusaders, and naturally, the general headquarters of the Levant front crusaders saw an ‘opportunity.’

“This is unbearable. Isn’t that right, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire?”

“Of course. Let’s push them back at this opportunity.”

The perfect joint attack of Henry II and Alexios II began to decisively push back the Islamic forces in the Levant front.

Of course, the Islamic forces, who prided themselves on being warriors of Allah, did not just stand by and be defeated.

If the Iraqi front is pushed back, it’s over. If this happens, it was clear that they would collapse before they could even support Saladin.

The Caliph drew his sword and said.

“Following the precedent of the Sultanate of Rum [Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm, a breakaway Turkish state], we will endure using the terrain. Endure. Keep enduring. Until support comes from the Ghurid Sultanate.”

It was important to endure like a turtle, waiting for support from the Ghurid Sultanate, an Islamic country in northern India. If they waited, they could show the crusaders the fear of Allah again.

Just then, tremendous news came to the crusader camp.

The news that Prince John and the knights had conquered Cairo, one of Saladin’s two main strongholds.

“What? Prince John conquered Cairo?”

“What are you talking about?”

At first, Henry II, who couldn’t believe it, asked back with a blank expression for a moment, and the knight who came as a liaison told the story of John’s conquest of Cairo.

“Hahaha.”

Henry II laughed so heartily, disregarding his dignity, that William Marshal, who was next to him, became awkward.

‘As expected, my son John.’

Henry II felt the ecstatic feeling he had when he first tasted the pleasures of a mistress (lover).

Even though his relationship with Richard had recently improved a bit, John was the only son Henry II could trust.

* * *

—Sicily—

As the saying goes, heroes emerge in times of chaos.

The men of the Anjou-Plantagenet family were active in various ways, perhaps because they inherited their father’s blood.

Young Henry, Duke of Brittany Geoffrey, active in the Levant front.

Richard, who is confronting the great Islamic hero Saladin, even though he doesn’t have much experience on the front lines yet.

Of course, the news that the brilliant Anjou-Plantagenet men were going crazy on the front lines was great fun for those stuck in the territories.

Princes Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey were praised by the people as expected, but they were already great princes who had caused major rebellions in the past, so the excitement was a little less.

But the dark horse Prince John’s performance, called a non-mainstream rebellion!

Once in love with Princess Agnes and rejected 200 times, creating a ‘legend, not a legend’ level of dark history, but now the story of the hero John, who has become a respectable dark horse of the crusades.

Of course, all of Europe cheered, and news about Prince John spread in Sicily as well.

Of course, the atmosphere in the most noble palace in Sicily became even colder because of the Prince John craze.

Two women, with beautiful appearances resembling their mother Eleanor, opened their mouths coldly.

“Ha… Alfonso, our youngest has already made achievements, but what can you do?”

“The King of Sicily, the greatest pirate king, can’t even beat those Islamic guys?”

They were speaking to their husbands.

“…I’m sorry.”

“I’m just a person…”

Alfonso VI and Guglielmo II, who were suddenly summoned to a hearing, felt self-loathing and were in pain.

“What did you do wrong?”

“You’re a disgrace to the pirate king!”

John’s sisters, Eleanor and Joan, were not relieved. They were really, really angry.

Why were John’s beautiful sisters angry?

Just now, the kind-hearted youngest John, who didn’t hesitate to confess for the 200th time, is now an Islamic hunter roaming the desert. But their husbands are still just digging in the dirt.

Of course, they also know that their husbands are rulers who monitor and control their subordinates, not just worry about the war.

They also know how lonely the position of a ruler is and how insidious the nobles are.

But this is not it.

Why are you being humiliated by the Islamic fleets when John is active? What are you going to do about naval supremacy!

In addition, Marie and Alix, the half-sisters of Eleanor and Joan, who are French princesses, sent letters with the same content to the two sisters.

[My dear sisters, it’s really a pity; our beloved John has become a hero of the crusades. It’s a bit disappointing that your husbands, who are the rulers of a country, are showing a bit of a lacking appearance. ―Princess Marie―]

[I agree; you should have treated John better. Matilda, that child, is said to be very close to John. You, maybe it’s too late? ―Princess Alix―]

Eleanor and Joan laughed at their half-sisters, who had married mere nobles when they themselves married the heirs of a country.

But now, aren’t they being ridiculed for not being able to ‘manage their husbands’?

Moreover, the bigger problem now is the rumor that their mother, Queen Eleanor, has been thinking fondly of Mary since when.

[It’s a pity. My dear sisters, I drink wine with Mary, bathe with her, and take care of the children; how wonderful.

Moreover, looking at the content of the letter from Matilda, the sister of the same father and mother as the sisters, it seems that Mary is receiving Eleanor’s great favor.

It’s a bit shameless for the daughters who didn’t say a word to ask for help when their mother was in long exile, but Eleanor and Joan didn’t want to lose their beloved mother to Mary.

They already have a headache with that problem, but John made great achievements when their husbands made mistakes at sea! ···This is something that even the Virgin Mary would be angry about.

Moreover, for some reason, Friedrich I, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, declared.

This conquest of Cairo was achieved solely through John’s achievements.

“But John’s conquest of Cairo is not necessarily a bad thing.”

“I agree with my sister.”

They are jealous that John conquered Cairo when their husbands lost some of their naval power, but this is the truth for now.

But if it’s necessarily bad, Eleanor and Joan say no.

“By the way, an infidel in the East admired John and converted?”

“Really because of John?”

“That’s what they say.”

The women were silent at Alfonso VI’s words.

John’s sisters thought, Safe John, was really strange. No, if coincidences continue, it’s not a coincidence. Is there really something?

“Rather, it seems like it will be fun to fight when John grows up?”