Eagle Flag of Epirus

"Master Justinian, are you ready? The adults invite you to the ball, and there are other important matters to discuss." The nobleman who came to Justinian’s residence to greet him politely reminded him, although he was Moria’s hereditary aristocracy, but after all, is only a small nobleman, it is natural to be cautious when dealing with Justinian, the nominal Governor of Moria.

At this time, Justinian, who had finished his clothes, walked out of the room, looked at the person in front of him in surprise and asked, "Hey, why are you, Lord Nicky Frus?"

Seeing Justinian’s doubts, the nobleman also quickly explained: "Nicky Fruss has something to do, so I will be responsible for receiving you, Lord Justinian, when we first met, I am Isaac, Viscount of the Empire. Natius." In fact, this matter should have been entrusted to the Viscari Fort Niche Fruss with full authority, but after receiving Justinian into the city, the man didn't know where to go. I couldn't find him for a while, so Isaac had to take over and invite Justinian to a banquet.

"All right." Justinian nodded and didn't care. He took Arslan by his side to board the carriage to pick him up, but watched as a Turkic man was going to set off with Justinian. Sack could not sit still.

Although hesitated, he stepped forward and stopped, "Master Justinian, you are the only one on the list of invitations to the banquet. I don't think your Excellency Arslan needs to be accompanied. All of you here are Moriah Dignity!" He did not say one more thing, that is, it is not proper for Justinian to take a Turk to a feast. But looking at Justinian’s unkind Twilight, Isaac immediately realized that he had failed. Then he swallowed the last half of the sentence back into his stomach.

"Arslan is my escort. Is there any problem with me?" Justinian looked at each other displeasedly. This time he was really upset, although the nobles in the east and west of the Byzantine Empire were against the Turks. People have different opinions, especially the Greek Macedonian nobles in the west are very repulsive to the Turkic people, but the Moria nobles did not put themselves in the eyes at all, and even interfered in the matter of bringing their own guards.

"For the guard, we are responsible for protecting your safety. Please don't worry about that." Although Isaac glanced at Justinian fearfully, he replied boldly.

Just when the stalemate was not enough, Arslan took the initiative to make concessions, "If this is the case, then I will stay. Governor." Although he was also very dissatisfied, he was already used to being a mercenary in the Byzantine Empire. With this kind of treatment, the eyes that I received in Agrinon are much worse than here.

But Justinian did not let him get out of the carriage. Instead, he looked at Isaac and his entourage with a sharp gaze and said: "Alslan must follow me. If there is any problem with this matter, , I will explain to Duke Leo myself later." Justinian showed such a momentum for the first time, making Isaac and other ordinary little nobles out of breath for a while, as expected to be in Alfio. The battle of Sihe killed the Latins who were unable to become an army, this kind of natural coercion is definitely not easy to disguise.

The frightened Isaac knew that if he wanted to stop him, he would kill himself. He didn't want to offend the other party and lost his life. He quickly said: "Since you insist, then do what you want." Denny and Arslan got into the carriage...

"Is this really good, Lord Justinian?" Arslan looked at Justinian in front of him with a complicated expression. The opinion has been completely changed. The Byzantine and Turkic disputes have been for nearly two hundred years. Although the scattered Turkic tribes have many people fighting for the empire, most Byzantines, especially the nobles, have always been vigilant and hostile towards the Turks. , But you can't see it in Justinian. Not only the Turkic people, but Italians, Normans, Varangians, and Justinian are basically treated equally under his command, which is rare in Arslan's view.

"What's so bad? If I submit to them, I will fuel their arrogance. For me, even for the Empire, the hostility to Turks, Normans, and even Latins, regardless of circumstances, is Stupid. The empire in the past has never been as conservative as it is now. There are Gauls, Armenians, and even Saracens who have become Roman emperors. As King Solomon said in the Bible, generations passed, generations passed. Come, and the earth will always live in the village. This is the reason why Rome is so strong and great.” At this point, Justinian remembered the Vasily in Constantinople. That sentence in the Bible is exactly that. A man's message when he is parting.

What Justinian wants to avoid now is to make the Byzantium Empire a conservative, backward and unchanging Eastern empire recognized by later generations, and the 1,000-year history of Byzantium is said to be a tragic story of continuous decline. The first thing to destroy is not the external enemy, but the Byzantine pride that has always been paranoid. Because of this pride, the thousand-year history of Byzantium has become extinct.

And these Moria nobles that Justinian will meet next are exactly like this. Like their ancient family heritage, the Latins in the West have been turned upside down because of the Crusades. However, they are still complacent.

Seeing Justinian’s plain expression chewing on what the other party had just said, Arslan also felt a huge shock. As Turkic people, they have always admired serving the powerful, but now Arslan feels that he may be true. He met an incredible master-neither the Emperor Mikhail nor the Earl of Theodor can compare. Perhaps the young man is still weak now, but he can no longer see his future path.

...

About half an hour later, the slow carriage brought Justinian to the mansion where the banquet was held. In the old city of Wiscari, this ducal mansion is particularly eye-catching, and the surrounding Roman-Greek style ancient The buildings are different. The entire structure of the ducal residence is the Byzantine architecture of today. Obviously it was rebuilt by the nobles who had been in exile not long ago. It is not enough. I have to say that it is not incompatible with the surrounding buildings. It is suitable. Blended into the surrounding environment, although Justinian did not understand architecture and dismissed the extravagance of the Moria nobles, he still had to admire the magnificence of this mansion.

At this time, the ball at the Ducal Leo's Mansion had already begun.