kingdom of nations

Chapter 228 Dandolo (Part 1)
When a pigeon with a brass letter tube and a piece of rose-colored ribbon tied to its claws landed at a mansion on the easternmost tip of Crete, a joyful shout immediately rang out.

Although they haven't seen the contents of the letter yet, the fact that the ribbons are rose-colored, not white or black, signifies their victory in the battle for the marriage, as agreed upon.

Yes, it was them, the Dandolo family, not Manuel I of the Byzantine Empire, nor the Father of the Roman Catholic Church, nor the Venetians, or rather, not all the Venetians.

One of the most agile and quickest-witted young men immediately leaped up, grabbed the pigeon, and deftly removed the ribbon and letter tube from its claws. He then hurried toward the inner courtyard of the mansion.

This mansion was built entirely in the style of the ancient Roman "roms" (courtyard house), with an entrance, courtyard, bedrooms, living and dining rooms, corridors, main hall, etc. The largest area is undoubtedly the columned inner courtyard, which is surrounded by the owner's library, private dining room, study and other more private rooms.

In the inner courtyard, you can see roses, wild roses, viburnums, marigolds, morning glories and hyacinths everywhere with their rich fragrance and vibrant colors. Some of them have already passed their flowering season, while others are in full bloom.

In the center of the courtyard, there is a small three-tiered fountain, and at the top of the fountain stands a gilded bronze statue, arm-length in height, depicting the beautiful Princess Europa.

She was the daughter of the Phoenician king, loved by Zeus. While Europa was resting alone in her courtyard, the god-king approached the princess in the form of a pure white bull.

Europa thought he was just an ordinary bull, so she climbed onto his back. The bull immediately galloped all the way to Crete, where he married Europa.

As he passed the fountain, the young man slowed his pace.

The goddess statue's face was not as gentle as people usually preferred, reminding him of his sister Portia, who had been forcefully placed in the candidate position by their grandfather.

Venice is full of gentle and beautiful noblewomen, and considering the future importance of Cyprus to Venice, no one would resist getting their hands on this precious golden apple.

Speaking of Portia, even her brothers would find it difficult to accept her as a suitable wife without feeling guilty. Portia was too rude and unrestrained. She was beautiful, but her beauty was too intense and straightforward, which did not meet the modern requirements for female beauty.

Back in Venice, some even maliciously belittled her, saying that with Portia's looks and figure, she would surely be very popular as a prostitute in the city, but as a wife, it would be better for her husband to find a man to keep him company, at least a man who wouldn't be as outrageous as Portia.

He had even dueled with these people because of their outrageous remarks, but even he never expected that his sister Portia would be able to snatch the marriage from two such prominent opponents.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel smug, and even let out a sharp whistle at the statue of the goddess Europa, who was gazing down at the water.

The whooshing sound, of course, did not elicit any response from the gilded bronze statue. Instead, it startled a flock of birds that were drinking and bathing by the fountain. They flapped their wings and took flight, either soaring into the air or landing on the branches. Their noise attracted the cats that were dozing in the sunlight in the courtyard. They either stretched their necks to look up or looked around, but the hot weather made them lose interest in hunting.

Before long, they lazily returned to their original positions and postures. Enjoying the sunshine in the courtyard with these cats was an elderly man nearing seventy, Enrico of the Dandolo family, the most powerful member of the group of ten.

When the impetuous young man was still fifty feet away, the seemingly drowsy old man suddenly raised a hand. The young man immediately stopped smiling and walking cautiously toward his grandfather, kneeling down beside his low couch and kissing his hand.

People the same age as Enrico have long since lost their flesh and blood, but the young man's raised hand is still as strong and passionate as that of a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties.

He took the young man's hand in return, then opened his eyes. The young man looked at him with reverence, then trembled uncontrollably. He tried his best not to show any unusual expression, but Enrico had already noticed—like many others, the other man was afraid of his eyes.

To date, only his granddaughter Portia has been able to look directly at them.

The old man smiled slightly. His eyes were different from ordinary people's. Iris that people usually see are black, gold, blue, green, or most commonly, brown. Enrico's irises were grayish-white, making the black pupil in the center appear exceptionally small and terrifying. It was like a bottomless cave, luring people into it, from which there was no escape.

Before 1171, Enrico's eyes were not like this; at that time, his eyes were the most common brown. But in that year, Manuel I of Constantinople suddenly launched a plunder and expulsion of the Venetians. He confiscated all Venetian property and drove them out of Constantinople and the entire Byzantine Empire.

At the time, Enrico was the Venetian ambassador to Constantinople. Upon learning of this, he went to argue with Manuel I in a fit of anger.

Manuel I's response was simple: he blinded Enrico, just as he had done with his previous enemies, and banished him from Constantinople. There was a three-month gap between Enrico's expulsion and the arrival of other Venetians.

What happened to Enrico during those three months is unknown to anyone, and he never mentions it.

Only at a meeting of the ten-man group, in order to refute the slander against him—who doubted that he had ever been persecuted by the emperor—did he say that during those three months he had received the protection of a saint he had perceived, which prevented him from getting lost in the wilderness or being devoured by wild beasts.

When people saw his eyes suddenly turn from brown to grayish-white and thought he would lose his sight, he said he had not lost his sight. On the contrary, his vision was better than ever before, and he could even see things a hundred miles away like a hawk.
His supporters believed this was a reward from God and saints for the heavy price he paid for Venice. His opponents, however, argued that it was nothing but Enrico's nonsense, since in Venice, it was difficult for a disabled person to become an official trusted by the people.

He said that simply because he didn't want to lose the power he held.

Subsequent events seemed to prove Enrico's words true. Shortly after returning to Venice, he defeated several assassins who attempted to break into his room and kill him. During subsequent processions, he even walked at the forefront of the crowd, attending plays, conducting business, and debating with others in the halls of public assembly, just like a normal person.

However, when he turned his head or stared at his opponent, his gray-white eyes did indeed give them a great sense of pressure.

Enrico never shied away from the horrific tortures he suffered in Constantinople, and occasionally he would refer to himself as "the blind man," which others saw as more of a joke and irony.

Upon seeing the ribbon, Enrico knew that Portia had accomplished the task. He held the ribbon between his fingers, then opened the wax-sealed letterbox and pulled out a small slip of paper with the agreed-upon code, indicating that everything was going very smoothly.

“Get them all moving,” Enrico instructed his grandson. “We need to get to Cyprus as soon as possible.”

Although he had already seen the rose-colored ribbon, Enrico's order still excited the young man. He immediately jumped up from the ground and ran outside to the courtyard to tell his companions the good news.

Enrico remained remarkably calm. When he had recommended Portia, everyone objected, including the Dandolo family—they said Portia wasn't the kind of woman men would love. But he remembered the intelligence he had read, which he had acquired at great expense.

More than a year ago, he heard that Manuel I of Constantinople was going to marry his “illegitimate daughter” Princess Anna to a Crusader knight. He began to gather information about this person from all sides. He even found out things that some people did not know at all, such as the slave trader Isaac, whom even Amalric I, Patriarch Heraclius, and the current Baldwin IV could not find.

This is also thanks to the fact that the Venetians were originally the largest slave traders in the Mediterranean, although no trace of Cesare could be found—perhaps because he was constantly moving around in regions such as Syria.

Although he knew about this man, he couldn't catch him. He seemed to have disappeared from public view years ago. Some said he was dead, others said he had gone into hiding in a village, or perhaps he had returned to Frankish or somewhere else, no longer engaging in this hellish business in the Holy Land…

He hesitated whether to pass the information on to the eldest prince, Alexius—who was able to build up a force in Cyprus that even the emperor had failed to discover, thanks in no small part to Enrico and his Dandolo family—but in the end he remained silent.

To be honest, whatever Prince Alexius does will benefit Venice.

After piecing together the main points of this intelligence, he could see that the virtues possessed by this dark-haired, blue-eyed young man were not exaggerated or exaggerated by others. Although his kindness and tolerance were sometimes ridiculed and insulted by some people with ulterior motives, how could Enrico, who had experienced ups and downs in Venice and Constantinople and weathered decades of storms, be affected by such pointless remarks?
Some say love is as hard to hide as a sneeze. But in reality, a person's true nature is the hardest to conceal. This young man had gone through so much, even Enrico was astonished by his experiences, yet he remained unchanged. He did not become proud, arrogant, or greedy, nor was he caught off guard or in a dilemma by the sudden arrival of titles and wealth.

If the intelligence report hadn't clearly stated the child's age, Enrico would have suspected that he was dealing with an adult who had already experienced countless hardships, rather than an innocent teenager.

However, since he already possesses such a complete soul, it means that he will not be easily shaken or changed by the outside world.

Enrico believed that even if Portia revealed her uniqueness to him, and even if Cesar did not accept it or was disgusted by it, he would not hurt Portia with words or actions like the people of Venice.

But now it seems the outcome is even better than they expected.

Before their ships set sail, several more carrier pigeons landed in the courtyard, bringing Enrico detailed what had happened in Cyprus.

Enrico chuckled. Clearly, Portia would never have dared to do this without Cesar's permission and approval. Fortunately, he had given Portia enough power beforehand—now they had joined forces to drive these ill-intentioned suitors out of Cyprus.

Such an experience is far more reliable than any so-called love or covenant based on desire.

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What are these Venetians doing?

"Jeffroy exclaimed."

They had only recently learned that Cesar had driven away three groups of suitors—messengers and candidates alike—but the group from the Roman Catholic Church probably wasn't so bad; they were eager to leave Cyprus, perhaps because they had heard some terrible rumors…

At this point, Geoffrey was even preparing to write to his Frankish relatives to ask them to choose a suitable person, but to his surprise, the Venetians arrived again in less than a week. And this time, they even surpassed the previous delegation—because although they only brought three ships, they were all warships.

The Venetian navy had long been recognized for its ability to withstand the tests of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt and the Byzantine Empire of Asia Minor—not only because of the ships themselves, but also because their galleys carried no slaves; that is, from the sailors to the oarsmen, all were free men of Venice.

This means that while Saracens or Byzantines might have only a hundred warriors on their ships, Venetian ships had two to three times that number.

(End of this chapter)