Even many years later, Barbara Palaiologina, who had become the Basilissa of the Roman Empire, would still recall the scene of her first meeting with her beloved Little husband.
After both parties introduced themselves, Manuel, who had finally processed the information, completely lost his composure for a moment.
For that brief period, he stood rooted to the spot, his expression unmoving, only his ears instantly turning crimson.
In truth, from the moment he entered, Manuel had been controlling his expression to avoid revealing any flaws, but given the incredibly large amount of information he had just received, he finally behaved like a 16-year-old boy in that instant, rather than some shrewd ruler.
Looking at the dumbfounded Crown Prince before him, Badars suddenly remembered that his respected Highness had never, until now, met a noble girl of his own age and social standing, and he felt a moment of surprise and bewilderment.
What he didn't know was that in the Crown Prince's previous life, when Manuel was still called Chen Bai, he also lacked interaction and contact with peers of the opposite sex after finishing elementary school.
Therefore, this situation was, in fact, bound to happen sooner or later.
Thinking of this, Badars, looking at his Highness's petrified state, couldn't help but recall the conversation Alexius had with him when he met him privately two years ago—
"Badars, you've been with Manuel for so long, do you think he likes women?"
"Ah, ah this…" At that time, Badars carefully thought back to all sorts of his Highness's behaviors, and finally replied, not entirely sure, "I think His Highness should like women, probably, he's definitely not a Sodomite citizen anyway."
Alexius nodded, "Then I entrust you with a difficult task: have Manuel interact with more young women."
"Why?"
Alexius told him with concern, "This troublesome child, I asked him what kind of person he wanted to become in the future, and he told me he wanted to be a man like Basil II.
"Has he never considered the issue of heirs?!"
This…
After that, Badars, as Manuel's attendant, began to consciously place age-appropriate maids around Manuel, but within a few months, he was warned by Manuel, "Badars, don't put so many maids around me in the future; women will only slow down my learning."
Alright, since His Highness said so, he could only comply.
But he was still unwilling and tried to entice his Highness to high-end pleasure establishments to experience joy, but Manuel flatly refused: "Going to such places is bad for your health, Badars; rushing into everything will only harm you."
To this, Badars expressed: ???
The result was the current situation.
But fortunately, through this, Badars confirmed that his Highness's orientation was normal, which made him breathe a sigh of relief for his Highness.
Just as Badars was about to remind the Crown Prince to calm down, his Highness's expression quickly returned to normal.
If one ignored the still slightly red earlobes, it was as if everything that had just happened had never occurred.
And this only took a little over a second.
"That was close, I almost completely showed my true feelings." Manuel maintained his tense expression as before, while sighing in relief internally.
Because he felt his heart rate accelerate when Barbara appeared, he had momentarily lost his composure.
However, due to his self-restraint and rationality, he immediately suppressed this display.
If he were to truly reveal his full nature to her, that would have to wait until they were genuinely together in the future.
"Miss Barbara, no, please allow me, as your fiancé, to address you as Your Highness.
Due to the wartime, I was rather impolite just now, and here I must apologize first, with the Holy Father as my witness." Manuel bowed slightly, expressing his apology to Barbara in a very proper manner.
"Ah, alright…" Having witnessed her Little husband's changing expressions firsthand, Barbara felt a bit dazed.
After a while, Barbara, who had initially been confused, finally reacted and responded with a similar expression.
Seeing her respond to his expression, Manuel was actually somewhat embarrassed, but he still pretended not to care and spoke, proposing his arrangements for her and her maids.
"It's truly too dangerous here, Your Highness Barbara.
My personal suggestion is, how about we temporarily send you back to Constantinople before the war expands?"
This time it was Barbara who was displeased.
She bit her pink lip lightly, considered for half a second, and then decided to take a gamble, revealing the whole story in a weak tone,
"I snuck out in anger because my brother forcibly changed my name.
I originally intended to return by mid-month, but now, because of the Kaffa incident escalating so much, the delay has been too long, and even if I'm sent back, I'll definitely be confined to a monastery." Saying this, she looked at her fiancé with a pleading gaze, "Can you help me?
I don't want to enter a monastery to become a nun."
So cute, this must be my future wife, I want to hug her… Seeing her pitiful expression, this thought immediately popped into Manuel's head.
However, he stopped fantasizing in less than half a millisecond and instead smiled calmly, quickly proposing another arrangement: "How about this, for now, you and your maids will temporarily stay in the Kaffa Palace?
As for personal freedom, I won't impose any restrictions, but when you go out, I'll have a few reliable taxi soldiers protect you.
How does that sound?"
Barbara nodded, indicating she had no objections.
And so, the first meeting of this engaged couple came to an end.
However, before parting, Manuel, citing a secret instruction, approached Barbara and quietly told her in a voice inaudible to others: "Actually, even if you hadn't made that kind of expression just now, I would have helped you."
"Why…" Barbara was a little surprised for a moment, almost exclaiming on the spot.
"Because you are my future wife, isn't protecting one's wife a husband's duty?" Manuel replied softly, smiling warmly, and quietly raised his right hand, as if to caress her cheek.
Then, completely to his surprise, Barbara smiled and leaned her face against his outstretched right hand, allowing the young man to fully experience the sensation of caressing a young girl's cheek.
The young man, completely unprepared for her to actively flirt with him, was instantly taken aback.
A moment later, although his expression and demeanor remained as usual, the biological instinct of his earlobes inevitably turned red.
"So you can show this kind of expression too," the girl's lips curved slightly upwards, a mischievous look on her face, but then she became a little wistful, "So when can I see more of the real you?"
"Is it possible," Manuel also seemed to have caught on, he laughed heartily and replied softly and gently, "These are all me.
And if you want to see more, how about you show a little more sincerity yourself?"
Hearing this, she couldn't help but click her tongue, "Ehh…
"So, can I trust you?"
"Of course," was his reply, "Then goodbye?"
"Mm, goodbye." Then Barbara, with a playful hint, mouthed another phrase,
"My Little husband."