kingdom of nations

Chapter 131 Son of Josephine III, Earl of Edessa (3)

Joseph III.

He had no territory or army, and was even under Zengi's supervision. However, Zengi did not execute this special person or force him to convert. The implications of this are clear to any political animal. His son, Nur ad-Din, even found an Armenian noblewoman to marry Josephine when he was sixteen.

This Armenian noblewoman was also abducted during the war; she was a daughter of Ruben II. Of course, King Ruben II of Armenia had many children, and this princess was not favored. On her way to her wedding, she and her maid were captured—and out of malice towards her brother, Mullai sold the princess to slave traders.

After several twists and turns, she arrived at the court of Sultan Nur ad-Din. At this time, Josephine III was already sixteen years old. In order to avoid others questioning his children's right to succession, Nur ad-Din specially chose a Christian wife for him. This Armenian princess gave birth to two children for Josephine III: a daughter named Natia and their only son, Josephine IV.

“My father lived in a Saracen prison from the age of five. Although Sultan Nur ad-Din was a benevolent monarch who required those around him to treat my father as a prince, how could a prisoner possibly gain true freedom?”
I was very young then, but I still remember the man I called my father. He was thin and pale, melancholy, and didn't seem like a living person, but rather like a shadow that could disappear at any moment.

He often walked the corridors connecting the various palaces like a ghost, and I almost never saw him smile—except when he saw my brother,” she glanced at César, “For a moment, he seemed to have made up his mind. I don’t know how he did it, but that very night, my mother gave me some medicine to put me to sleep, along with my brother. When I woke up, we were in a trunk. The jolting of the carriage had startled me awake, and my brother was in my arms, then he began to cry.”

At that moment, someone opened the box, and light shone in. It was two of the most loyal servants in Edessa—one of whom was a blessed knight who had served my grandfather, and the other a maid who had served my grandmother. They led us out of Edessa with forged documents.

By then, Nur ad-Din already knew about our escape, and he was furious, ordering his soldiers to search everywhere for our foster parents.

With nowhere else to go, we had no choice but to settle down in a remote little village for the time being…

“But you have already escaped. You can go to Antioch, or Tripoli, or Nalessa, any Christian city. Why not?” Abigail asked foolishly.

This time, David lost control and elbowed him.

Natia glanced at him, confirming that he was indeed a fool: "My brother and I were probably only three or four years old at the time. It was already a great struggle for my foster parents to find a village where we could stay temporarily. It almost exhausted all of their energy. If Nurdin hadn't been seriously ill twice, I probably wouldn't have lived to be nine years old—not to mention, taking two children from Apollo to Antioch..."

Abigail's foolish question revealed just how appallingly ignorant he was.

The Syrian region at that time did not have the wide roads and fast transportation we have today. They had to carry two young children who could not withstand any hardship, through turbulent war-torn areas, barren deserts, and wastelands where bandits and wild beasts roamed. Even as chosen ones, knights could endure hunger, cold, thirst, and endless fatigue. But how long could the children endure?
"Then how did you come to be sold into slavery? Did your foster parents betray you?" Queen Mary asked.

“No, they were two incredibly loyal people who kept their vows to my grandparents and parents, and they raised us as if we were their own children. But as you said, as I grew older and my younger brother turned eight, they had to make a choice—to try to contact those who were willing to save and help us.”

“Because of the selection ceremony,” Patriarch Chiraclius said, and the people nodded slightly in agreement. Indeed, they could perhaps ensure the two children grew up safely and could teach them. In fact, it goes without saying that their foster mother was also a noblewoman—otherwise, she would not have been able to become a princess’s handmaid.

But how could they find a Christian church in the Syrian region now ruled by the Saracens to hold a selection ceremony for their grown-up masters?

The age limit for this ceremony is nine to fourteen years old; they cannot wait until their final year to consider it.

"All I know is that during those months, my adoptive father was somewhat anxious and irritable. Although he tried his best not to let us see it, I could feel it. He kept writing letters and looking forward to a reply day and night. Then one day, he happily told me that someone had found our father, Joseph III, who had been entrusted by our grandfather, Joseph II, to help us."

They will take us back to the Christian lands—though the County of Edessa no longer exists, we will have a place in Antioch, Tripoli, or Arrassa Road. My brother can hold his election ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and I can choose a suitable husband for myself.

He even said that perhaps we would soon be able to meet our father, Josephine III. Was Nourdin such a generous man? Of course not. But my father managed to pass me a letter in which he said he had entrusted his life and death to his ally.

Although Edessa had been destroyed and he and his father were now prisoners of the Saracens, their accumulated wealth had not been completely plundered.

His allies will send someone to take us and the money, and then use that money to ransom my father. Nur ad-Din's rule in Edessa is gradually becoming stable, and a child who left Edessa and its people at the age of five will no longer have any influence on it—this bargaining chip is no longer very useful. Therefore, the Sultan may agree to let them ransom my father.”

"Who is the ally your father mentioned?"

He didn't tell me.

"What about the letters?"

"It was taken away the moment I realized I had been betrayed."

“Betrayal—please note, you are accusing a Christian,” Raymond said grimly.

"I don't know if it was his order or if the people he sent were not loyal enough, but when they led us to the treasure trove and saw the money there, they immediately killed my foster parents."

Then they sold my brother and me to a slave trader named Isaac. After passing through two or three more hands, I eventually ended up in the court of Sultan Nur ad-Din. "It certainly seems like a devil's prank," she said, a cold smile playing on her lips.

"Is everything she said true?" Heraclius asked, but he was asking the Saracen messenger.

The messenger glanced at Cesare, genuinely surprised that this amiable Christian knight was Josephine III's son: "As far as I know, Count Josephine III of Edessa was indeed treated like a prince by Sultan Nur ad-Din, and he did indeed marry an Armenian Christian woman and have two children, but I cannot be certain of what will happen next." "You say all your birth certificates are fake," Patriarch Chiraclius turned to Natia, "then what about the real ones?" Without birth certificates, no matter how eloquently she spoke, no one here would believe her. She might even be executed for impersonating the king's relative, and even Cesare would be ridiculed. Therefore, the Patriarch's tone was very stern at this point.

“I have it. Not only my birth certificate, but also the marriage certificate that came with it. It has the archbishop’s signature, my parents’ signatures and seals—and the witnesses’ signatures.”

"where is it?"

“In the real treasure trove.” At this point, Natia’s face broke into an incredibly cheerful smile. “The knights and servants sent by that traitor didn’t know that when this treasure trove was built, my grandfather borrowed an Eastern design, using a two-room system, one real and one fake. The money they saw was only a small part of it.”

In this way, even if someone accidentally discovers this treasure location, or encounters the situation we've faced, they'll only take the things on the outside and won't notice the hidden place—as long as you're willing to send someone there to pry open the layer of mud and bricks on the north wall, you'll see the second secret chamber.”

"The marriage certificate and birth certificate are all inside?"

"Isn't this the real treasure?"

Why didn't they kill you?

“No, although I don’t know why.” Natia shook her head.

“Perhaps it is for the sake of an oath,” King Baldwin IV said calmly. “I remember my teacher once taught me that the oath I made with Cesar will not only be fulfilled for Cesar and me, but its power will also extend to our descendants.”

It was like the covenant that the upright knight made with the king he served—even though he was far from his homeland, he still had to fulfill his duties as a party to the covenant without fail, and when he died, his wife and children came to beg for the king's protection, the king did not show the slightest sign of slackness or disgust.

You could say both are people of high moral character—except one is suspected of killing his own brother and younger brother…

These words caused those present to reveal some strange expressions. Clearly, Josephine III had been betrayed, but he was not foolish enough not to leave any backup plan. Perhaps there were some stipulations in that contract that forced the other party to abide by the oath. At least he could not be directly involved. He could only sell Josephine III's two children to slave traders.

They were only nine years old then, and even if they remembered their identities, they might not have dared to say them out loud—besides, compared to Natia—Cesar remembered. He had always remembered the scene vividly. A commodity like him should have been highly valued by slave traders. Whether in Mosul, Syria, or Egypt, he was worth a large sum of money.

But he was running a high fever and barely breathing, yet the merchant insisted on castrating him, unwilling to wait even a few more days—clearly intending to kill him.

But that's not surprising, since Natia is a girl and he is a boy.

Those present probably guessed the reason—hey, before Cesar gained Baldwin's trust, the servants had said some really nasty things—their eyes darted between each other, Raymond's being the sharpest.

Although he had never thought much of Cesar, that was because of the latter's unclear origins. Now that he was very likely the only son of the Count of Edessa, his feelings became complicated.

"Where is that place you're talking about?" Baldwin IV asked. Natia immediately gave him a name, and then asked the king for a pen and paper so she could draw a simple map. "You remember it so clearly?" Raymond couldn't help but ask.

“Every night I would draw this map in my mind, my lord. For thousands of days and nights, I have never forgotten it.”

With this rudimentary map, finding the place wouldn't be difficult—even if it was still in Saracen territory, hopefully it hadn't collapsed or been discovered by others.

“Cesar has been staying with me these days,” Baldwin said, then hesitated for a moment before Queen Mary immediately took over the task: “She’s with me.” She would set aside a room and have one of her most trusted maids serve her, living and sleeping with her—both as a means of close surveillance and control, and also as a way to help her quickly familiarize herself with the people and life in the castle.

Natia silently accepted the Queen Mother's kindness. Before leaving, she gazed at Cesare for a long time, almost unable to move her feet.

She then saw Baldwin IV reach out and shake his hand tightly before turning away with a light smile.

A few days later, the knights brought back exciting news. Perhaps it was God's blessing, but the cave used as a treasure trove had not collapsed or been discovered by the locals. It had only been mostly buried by sandstorms. The knights managed to dig it out and found the second treasure trove in the place Natia had described.

The initial estimate of the valuables piled inside was around 200,000 gold coins. So, if Joseph II's claim was true, this amount was more than enough to ransom him, but he didn't seem to fully trust his ally. If those people took the first set of valuables and then kept their promise, he would certainly have told him about the second secret chamber when his ally complained about the insufficient funds.

But if things were as they are now, and the other party intended to betray him from the beginning, then at least he would have a second source of money to make a comeback, and he wouldn't end up with nothing.

The marriage certificate and birth certificate were also found, and people gathered again to look at them in turn.

But gradually, another discordant melody arose amidst the whispers of the crowd—if the previous birth certificates were fake, is it possible that although these two birth certificates are real, the person is fake?

(End of this chapter)