After walking out of the Theodosia Palace, Serenus felt his legs trembling.
Recalling the tasks Manuel had just entrusted him with, he took a deep breath to relieve the pressure in his heart, "This, isn't this a military adventure? Manuel, he's truly remarkable, much bolder than Prince Constantine."
More importantly, to demonstrate his capabilities, he had just agreed to everything without hesitation.
Now that he thought about it, he might have been a bit too eager.
"Never mind, I hope the Holy Father blesses my success."
Finally, Serenus calmed himself and prayed for himself and for the operation.
For the people and upper echelons of Bosporus, the following days appeared unremarkable on the surface, just ordinary daily life.
But secretly, Manuel had already added a 500-strong infantry legion to the western border of Phanagoria and ordered the two legions already stationed in Phanagoria to prepare for "emergency situations."
As for Manuel, he also quietly moved with his cabinet to Phanagoria towards the end of the month.
The Adyghe Principality, bordering Bosporus, seemed completely unaware of their old neighbor's subtle moves, making almost no responsive measures.
The only one who was somewhat alert was Hegaik, the youngest elder in the Principality's Council of Elders, who had only joined the council two years prior.
After noticing a trend of Bosporus's soldiers gathering in large numbers at the border, he immediately reported the matter privately to the old chief Abaza and expressed his concerns.
However, his earnest actions did not receive a direct response from Abaza.
Facing the uncertain situation, Abaza straightforwardly told him not to worry too much, "Hegaik, this is a very common and ordinary matter.
Isn't it normal for Christians along the Black Sea coast to properly arm themselves for their own safety?"
"But didn't they just finish their civil war?" Hegaik thought of the recently concluded Crimean War and the Theodoro civil war, coupled with the overly friendly gestures of several Greek merchants a few days ago, and still felt that something wasn't quite right.
"How about we send someone to contact Prince Inal of the Kabarda region?" Hegaik finally suggested.
When Inal was mentioned, Abaza immediately became alert and reprimanded him, "Are you crazy? Contact that arrogant warmonger?!
The only help he can provide is to immediately annex us after expelling foreign enemies."
The Inal mentioned by Abaza was a Circassian prince who had risen in the past decade; yes, a prince.
Among the various Circassian tribes, most of which currently operate under a tribal chieftaincy system, the Zhaney Principality, located in the central part of Circassia and ruled by Inal ①, was one of the few feudal principalities that had shed its tribal system and moved towards feudalism.
Its ruler, Prince Inal, had always harbored ambitions of unifying all Circassian settlements.
To achieve this goal, he had already conquered the Kabarda region in 1430.
The reason he hadn't extended his reach to Adyghe was due to the Adyghe Principality, which governed the Adyghe region, having more frequent interactions with the outside world and considerable dealings with the Golden Horde, the common suzerain of the Circassians.
Furthermore, its neighbor, Bosporus, which was formerly Theodoro, also had a potential alliance with it.
This made Inal somewhat wary.
So, when Abaza heard Hegaik's suggestion, he outright rejected it.
Seeing this, Hegaik could only say a few more irrelevant words before returning in disappointment.
Hegaik was not unaware of the risks involved in this suggestion.
However, he always believed that it was better for his own people to rule than for outsiders to interfere.
Therefore, when unsettling signs appeared, he tried to nip them in the bud.
But the elders of the Council of Elders, including the chief, seemed completely oblivious and let things be.
Thinking of this, Hegaik, who had already returned to his residence, finally let go of his worries and persuaded himself not to be overly concerned.
Until the end of August...
In the early hours of the weekend of the last week of August, after repeated checks and confirming the plan was flawless, Manuel personally presided over the Phanagoria Palace and ordered Tukharovsky, Badars, and Serenus, who were beside him: "The time has come, everyone is here, let's act."
"Yes, Your Majesty.
Loyalty!"
That morning, a large contingent of Greek soldiers of unknown numbers was arrayed on the border between Adyghe and Bosporus.
They wore chainmail, held spears and long lances, had scimitars at their waists, and stared intently at the opposite side with serious expressions.
Once the order came from above, they would charge into Adyghe territory without hesitation.
This force was led by two men: one was built like an iron tower, wearing sturdy yet light plate armor, currently without a weapon in hand, but his military servant carried various weapons including spears, swords, and lances; the other was a young man with black hair and black eyes, sporting a short goatee, also without any weapon in hand, only a paper and pen tucked at his waist.
"Mr. Posadas, do you think this will cause an unmanageable mess?" the young man with the short goatee asked the general built like an iron tower beside him.
This morning, they represented Caesar Manuel to demand that Adyghe fulfill the terms of a secret agreement regarding troop deployment, and they had just issued a final ultimatum for the negotiation deadline.
"I don't know.
That's why Manuel arranged for me to be here, in case something untoward happens to you, Mr. Serenus," Posadas stared ahead with a serious expression.
"Don't make it sound like I'm doomed, okay?" Serenus felt like he was about to laugh from exasperation.
"I'm just speaking my mind truthfully."
"Then don't speak such thoughts truthfully, okay!"
While the two were playfully bantering, the Adyghe Principality's Council of Elders had already convened a meeting in Adyghe to discuss countermeasures.
"How can we agree to such an absurd thing as troop deployment? And it's from a secret agreement that came from who-knows-where.
In my humble opinion, we should first agree to negotiate, stall for time, and contact the Golden Horde and Inal..." In the meeting, due to nervousness, Hegaik, who was unwilling to see the Principality controlled by outsiders, proposed incoherently.
But the Council of Elders fell silent at an inopportune moment.
It wasn't until Hegaik mentioned seeking outside help that Abaza spoke up, telling him, "The secret agreement is real.
Back when they across the sea were still the weak Theodoro, we signed a secret agreement for mutual protection and assistance.
One of the terms was that both sides could send troops to be stationed in each other's territory.
We can handle this ourselves."
Hegaik was stunned; he had not been part of the Council of Elders at that time and truly didn't know about it.
After a while, he gritted his teeth unwillingly, "Can we deny it? After all, it's just a secret agreement."
"Do you think the soldiers standing outside our borders are fake?" an elderly elder said with a helpless smile.
"Let's agree to let Mr. Serenus come in for negotiations for now, and see how things unfold."
Finally, Chief Abaza made the decision.
Hegaik seemed not to have noticed one thing: throughout the entire meeting, most of the elders, including the chief, implicitly and vaguely leaned towards Bosporus.