Only by reaching Constantinople will one understand the decline of the Western world.

The papal legate entered the capital from a suburb near the Golden Horn, and beside the golden sun-drenched waters, the imposing multi-convex land wall made a bend around the Carigalia Gate and then extended south to the Sea of Marmara. After entering the city gates, under the watchful eye of the guards, wrapped in chain mail from head to toe, the mission had to pass through a deep ditch and outer wall, and finally the avenue that suddenly opened up to the heart of the capital.

Outside the walls, no one could count the ninety-six towers at once, and once inside, everyone's eyes were drawn to the white marble Church of Our Lady, with its new palace perched on high ground, overlooking the countryside and the more humble buildings within the walls, as well as the mist-shrouded narrow sea.

"It is said that there are two thousand eunuchs in this palace." As he stepped up the marble steps, Bishop D'Argobert heard Bohemond's uncle, Robert of Bonnal Bergo, comment.

"Then let's pray that your lord's 'nephew' has not been emasculated by the Greeks."

Angus smiled and tugged on the hilt of his sword, a steel glow beneath the scarlet cloak.

In the British Isles, the remains of the Romans are just ancient mounds like the steps of giants, but in this world city, Rome still exists.

At least, the emperor wanted the visitors to think so.

When Angus first saw the capital, like countless tourists, he didn't see the signs of decline behind the vision. After all, this is the glory of another era, and in these bleak years, who would not want such a beacon of civilization to be bright forever?

The Old World should not perish - this is the second hint that the Emperor wishes to convey to his visitors.

Even if Alexander's library is burned down and the Catacombs of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem are razed, at least it's still ours!

The Higher Struggle – Angus felt as if he understood something.

After waiting for an hour surrounded by incense and relics, the mission was allowed to enter the Ocean Hall, and when Angus offered to hand over his weapon to one of the guards, Bishop Dagobert couldn't help but frown.

The place where they waited was the Danube Hall, connected to the church by stone steps, and from the colonnade, they could see the fountain in the garden blooming like water lilies. The palace is full of gold and mosaic images, and between the rocks and porphyry, the smoke of incense rises, adding a unique mystery to this golden landscape, making it impossible to know whether it is in heaven or on earth.

The beautiful court music sounded, and the celebrant began to remind everyone that the royal procession had arrived.

The envoys waiting on the flanks of the Ocean Hall were first greeted by a group of royal attendants armed with silver staffs, then two flag-bearers in red robes, with thick black curls and antique red hats, and finally twelve royal guards, from whom the Italians spotted the younger brother of Lord Bohemond, who was dressed in full armor and marched slowly without squinting. And the middle-aged man who wore a domed gold crown and a silk purple robe surrounded by these warriors of different nationalities was obviously the emperor himself.

From the gate to the throne in the center of the hall, this group of nobles actually walked for half an hour! This Greek-style red tape made Angus, who was born in the highlands, almost want to unarm and roar, like a real barbarian.

And after the Italians began to salute, the answers became more and more lengthy.

Fortunately, the atmosphere was still friendly, and a purple-clothed nobleman and the patriarch who looked surprisingly similar to the emperor were obviously the two most powerful people in the court of Constantinople, and many times, the emperor's will was conveyed by them. As for the emperor himself, although he could be called unsmiling, he was always able to make the gentlest decisions on key issues.

From any point of view, the Latin Church could not make a connection between the image of the Emperor and the "schaffin", who even expressed a "negotiable" attitude on matters of ordinances and creeds that were considered to be the most sensitive.

"Tell us, is there any documentary or canonical basis that supports the removal of the names of the previous Roman Apostolates from the Twin Sacred Books?" The Emperor finally asked the eighteen bishops present.

The bishops replied that there was no such document.

The Emperor then announced that the papal list would be reinserted into the album.

"It seems that the Greeks are in worse trouble than we thought." Robert of Bonnal Bergo winked at Dagobert, "Who would have thought he would have this side." ”

Dagobert remembered Bohemond's warning before leaving, and his response at the time: beware of the gifts of the Greeks.

Are the Flemishites still across the Channel today? Who is the owner of Nicaea? What did the emperor want from the Pope? He had a myriad of questions in his mind, and the man in front of him, whom they called "Alexios Komnenos, the true emperor of Christ, the king of the Romans," was hidden behind a mask. Such a man Dagobert has seen too many in his life, and under the most pious appearance, he often has the most cruel will, because the master of power is not a businessman, and he desires much more than money. And, in the midst of such people, is bloodshed still cruel? Can a lion eat a man be called murder? Can aristocratic seizure be called exploitation? Didn't Gregory VII get military support from his Norman allies, but what happened to him? The question is not what we get, but at what cost.

Guessing the mind of Christendom's top monarch meant that he was no longer a pawn, the mind of a pawn was much simpler, and perhaps much happier, so the most boring thing about the Greek court for Angus was that there were only men here. He thought that this was also one of the customs of the East, and in the West, the rumors about the huge harems and eunuchs of those Eastern monarchs were not a day or two, just as the maharaja of Constantinople selected warriors from the north, and the emirs of Andalusia would choose concubines from among the Christians, Angus suspected that Constantinople actually had such a harem, but he did not know that in this palace, there was another realm exclusive to women, where the noblewomen were headed by the empress, and had the same hierarchical order as here, The women of the court were also called nobles or bureaucrats, and the empress was not only the wife of the emperor, but the "emperor" of the imperial female world, especially if the empress had a Dukas.

On this day, he saw only the court of the "Komnenos", the one of the "Ducas", which he will see soon.