king of ros

Chapter 30 The Fallen Princess
Zoe Calafatis is 15 years old this year, just at the age of budding. The girl is praying to the Christ statue in the cabin, with her long black shawl and long hair behind her, and her prayer is to hope that her future husband can Treat yourself better.

Since she was in her cabin, she wore only her underwear, a white dress of Moriah silk that had a pearly sheen in the flickering yellow light, which accentuated her The fair and delicate skin makes people sigh the beauty of youth.

For many people, leaving Constantinople was unbearable. After all, it was the most developed city in the entire known world. Outside of it, the rest of Christendom seemed like countryside.

But for this young girl, leaving that city is not a big deal, after all, that city has never left her with any good memories.

Although Zoe was the daughter of Michael V, this status brought her only humiliation. After all, Michael V was emperor for only one year, and then he was kicked out and stabbed blind, making the Pafragonians (Remark 1) The decades of rule in Constantinople ended.

He himself was sent to the desolate island monastery, and as a family member, she and her mother also went there to live a hard life.

During those days, she only had rocks and beaches as companions. The monks in the monastery would only cast vigilance and contempt in the eyes of a sinner’s daughter like her. As for the visitors who came to visit, they were extremely respectful and completely approachable Can't get up.

Within a few years, his father died due to the deterioration of the wound, and his mother was dying due to acclimatization, and they left soon one after another.

According to the convention, she should enter the monastery to become a nun serving God, but her father's loyal servants and remnants found her, picked her up, and she was able to return to Constantinople.

Zoe was very happy when she first returned to Constantinople. After all, it was the center of Roman civilization, the last magnificent legacy of the classical age, and a magnificent city that is unparalleled in the entire Christian world.

Leo, the Constantinople bureaucrat arranged for her a residence and education, allowing her to enjoy the education that noble ladies of the empire can receive, and it also made her full of hope for the future. Maybe she can marry a good man in this city in the future. The city is safe to live on.

It's just that the reality soon showed its cruelty. Although she only wanted to live a stable life, others did not forget it.

In any case, her father is the emperor who is the most rebellious and thieves in the empire in the past hundred years. A sewing worker became the emperor under the manipulation of the eunuch (Note 2) who has been in charge of the central government for decades. The empire has not been born so lowly in a hundred years the monarch!

After her background was inquired, discrimination was everywhere like a shadow, and there were always people pointing at her back. Everyone knew that she was the sewing worker (Mihail V was a sewing worker before he became emperor) daughter of the sinner.

And as she matured, the accusations became obscene, and it was even rumored that she slept with dozens of men!
Growing up in this environment, Zoe gradually became resentful towards Constantinople and even the entire Roman Empire. She wanted to leave here. She prayed late at night, begging God to take her out of this sinful city in her eyes.

And as if God accepted her prayer, the opportunity finally came. Leo, who raised her, wanted to take her away from Constantinople, go north to Rose, and marry a Prince of Rose, just like Basil the Great. Like my sister.

Zoe accepted all of this without hesitation. On the one hand, it was out of her own will, and on the other hand, she knew that it was time for her to repay Leo's kindness.

When Zoe grew up, she understood that the bureaucrat named Leo raised her not because of the kindness of the so-called lord, but to sell her for a good price. She didn't complain about it. This is how the world is. She is no longer naive.

After finishing her prayers, Zooey put on a coat to keep out the cold, wrapped herself tightly, and walked out of the cabin door. She had to go out to get some air.

The eunuch guards hurriedly followed their princess. They used to be the emperor's guard for their father, but after his father's downfall, many of them left directly, but there are still loyal ones following him to this day.

The sailors were busy, and no one cared about the little girl who came out to breathe. The men who came and went could only look at her and continue to be busy with their work. There were still many things to do.

It's not that there are no idlers on the deck. Weak clerks are chatting with burly soldiers on the side of the ship. What they discuss seems to be all kinds of information about Ross in the north.

Zoe knew the origins of these people. The civil servants were basically petty officials who had been implicated and could not be promoted because of their relationship with their father who had stood in line with their parents.

As for the soldiers, most of them are from southern Italy, and the family has accumulated a lot of money there, but these people are not without a way out, it's just that the pressure of the Normans makes some people go to another place. the way.

In the crowd, Zooey soon found the one she wanted to meet—Leo Pappas—the nominal adoptive father.

Leo was standing at the bow of the boat. He looked like a tough guy, born like a soldier, but in fact he was a high-achieving student who graduated from the University of Constantinople. He was from the same town as her father. , but with the fall of the Paphragonians in Constantinople, Leo's bright future was cut off.

However, the remaining power of the Pafragonians belonged to his leadership, but leading such a group of defeated soldiers was no different from having no future.

Zoe knew very well that the hundreds of people gathered on these ships were the last strength of her family. It could be said that Leo made a big gamble and bet on North Rose.

Zoe never cared about this, anyway, these things have nothing to do with her, why should she care.

"Your Highness."

Leo said respectfully that although her father had been kicked out of the throne for ten years, at this moment she was the princess of Michael V.

"How did you get out?"

"It's too stuffy in the cabin. I'll come out to get some air. How long will it take to get to Kyiv, and is there any danger on the way?"

Zoe looked towards the river bank, and all she could see was a wild grassland. This was the most dangerous section of the Varangian Road. Nomadic tribes were scattered on both sides of the river. Once they seized the opportunity, they would attack the fleet.

"Two or three hours at most."

Leo looked at the sun.

"You don't have to worry about the danger at all. For some reason, the nomadic tribes along the river have disappeared recently, and the attacks have decreased a lot."

"Really? Just two or three hours."

There was a hint of melancholy in Zoe's words, and the thing to face finally came.

"Let me see how Kyiv is doing then."

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Remark 1: Due to the power of Orphan Master John in the imperial capital, his fellow countrymen from Pafragonia occupied all aspects of the central empire, and this situation lasted for decades.

Remark 2: Refers to the orphan dean John, the eunuch and powerful minister who has been in charge of Byzantine power for decades.

(End of this chapter)