Chapter 20: Sibylla Suffers Humiliation (Part 1)

According to Amalric I's plan, before the Epiphany on January 6th, except for the necessary celebrations, the Holy Cross Fortress would not hold any banquets, and everyone should devote their energy to the upcoming "Selection Ceremony."

The castle was significantly more desolate. The square was dusty, and in contrast, there was increasingly intensive meditation, training, food that had greatly improved in quality and quantity, and clerics... they came to Baldwin and Cesar one after another, praying for them, touching the tops of their heads. Some clerics would encourage them in low voices, while others looked at them with pity.

From the cloaks they wore, it could be seen that they did not all come from churches or monasteries. A large part of them were "clerics" in the knight orders, including those of the Holy Sepulcher Knights, the Knights Templar, and the Hospitaller Knights, or some small knight orders currently in the Holy Land, such as the Order of Saint Lazarus and the Order of St. Thomas.

They only had one thing in common—they were all "chosen people." Their prayers and touches all possessed divine power, capable of making Baldwin and Cesar stronger, more agile, and more focused, especially the last one. Every time they received the comfort of the clerics, Heraclius would take out a portrait of a saint and ask them to stare at it with concentration, while also pricking up their ears and listening with all their might.

He said: "Prayers in the ceremony are of course the most important, but the accumulation of daily life cannot be underestimated. Just as a frightened lamb will run toward a familiar shepherd in panic, the shepherd will also reach out to his own lamb among hundreds and thousands of incomparably similar white-furred ones."

Speaking of this, he looked at Cesar. This was the biggest difficulty the child faced. He had forgotten everything about the past, and they could not glimpse his old days... They could not distinguish which saint's gaze he was more likely to receive. And what made Heraclius laugh and cry was that this child was not that "pious." He only hoped that his previous asceticism, even if it couldn't move the saints, could at least convince mortals—if he was not selected, people would only say that perhaps this was God's test and tempering for him, rather than the jewel having an irreparable crack.

Cesar was also hesitating. He was still not sure. After all, in the world before him, there was no power outside of science. Baldwin showed a worried look—as the son of Amalric I, he had nothing to hesitate about. A portrait of Saint George had always been hanging in his room. Usually, whatever saint the father felt the presence of, the son also had a great tendency to become a follower of this saint.

Heraclius sighed and placed three portraits of saints—Saint Blaise, Saint Mark, and Saint Ambrose—in front of Cesar. These three people were also carefully selected by the clerics. With the previous things, the humbler the saint Cesar felt the presence of, the better. Saints like Saint George, who were often chosen by kings, were definitely not okay, and those like the Pope or the Twelve Apostles were best not chosen either.

Saint Blaise was the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia. Because he suffered from religious persecution, he had to flee into the mountains, where he tamed wild beasts as if he were taming a flock of sheep, chanting scriptures for them, combing their hair, and living together like a family—a woman's pig was carried away by a wolf, and the saint ordered the wolf to return the pig. A child had a fish bone stuck in his throat, and he ordered the fish bone to come out by itself. The above miracles had all been proven.

Saint Mark was one of the seventy disciples sent by Jesus to preach in Judea. It is said that he had once abandoned Jesus, but later repented and became the assistant of Saint Peter, writing the famous "Gospel of Mark."

Saint Ambrose was the governor of Milan in the 4th century. It is said that before he took office, an angel disguised as a human and said to him: "You manage the people, you must be like a bishop, do not be like an ordinary governor." As a result, the words became a prophecy. At that time, the people of Milan were arguing about the election of a bishop, and Saint Ambrose had to come forward to mediate. As a result, someone shouted, why don't we choose Ambrose as bishop?

People thought about it, and this upright and gentle young man was indeed the best candidate, so they chose him as bishop.

This was not the reason why Heraclius chose him—after this young governor held the consecration ceremony and became the Bishop of Milan, he immediately donated all his furniture and money to the poor, and donated his land and property to the church, leaving only a small amount of money for his sister, and gave his title to his younger brother.

This selfless behavior subtly coincided with Cesar's previous good deeds. If he felt the presence of Saint Ambrose, it was hard to say whether someone would regard Cesar as a disciple of this saint in the future. This was much more reliable than the guarantee of a king or a bishop.

Heraclius was just about to give Cesar a hint when the door was knocked. A servant stood outside, saying that the King needed to see him immediately. The cleric had to put down the two children and left in a hurry. However, another servant soon ran over and told Baldwin that there was no major event with the King, just that Etienne, Count of Sancerre, the Holy Land envoy of King Louis VII of France, had arrived at Yafa and was preparing to enter the city. Bohemond, Prince of Antioch, had already been ordered by Amalric I to go and welcome him.

"Quick!" Baldwin grabbed Cesar's hand, "Let's go to the city wall!"

They ran out quickly, left the tower, crossed the fortress square, passed through the inner city wall, and came to the front of the twin towers on both sides of the city gate... While waiting for the soldiers to open the tower door for them, David was running over with another group of children—all people Baldwin was familiar with, his former companions and attendants—it was clear that they were also here to watch the fun.

In the 12th century, when entertainment was generally restricted and despised, people's channels for finding fun were pitifully scarce, so asceticism, executions, and mass could all be regarded as a rare performance. And the tours of kings, lords, or envoys were also regarded as a rare encounter. If one was lucky enough to see it, an ordinary farmer could talk about this for thirty or forty years, and every detail could be talked about with relish.

David and Baldwin only looked at each other briefly, then backed away as if touching hot coals. He lowered his eyes, breathing rapidly, not knowing what to say. Fortunately, Baldwin raised his hand and pointed to the bridgehead on the other side, "You go there."

Of course, there was no reason for a Prince to avoid a minister's son.

"I used to come here with them often—sometimes to welcome my father, sometimes to enjoy the evening breeze."

Baldwin held Cesar's hand. He had always been wearing gloves, so even if he held someone's hand tightly, he lacked the intimacy of direct skin contact and the transmission of body temperature. Cesar, however, could feel that the hand was trembling slightly—it had only been two or three months since he was confirmed to have leprosy... Baldwin couldn't possibly not miss his friends...

He pulled his hand out and, in Baldwin's somewhat incredulous eyes, wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

"Look, they are coming."

The Holy Land envoy's team was indeed impressive.

Along the way, there were hundreds of people in a mighty force. Walking at the very front, and following on both sides of the team, were ragged pilgrims. As soon as they saw such noble people, they would immediately come forward to beg. The pilgrims walking in front cleared the way for them and swept the ground, while the pilgrims walking on both sides were responsible for shouting, boasting, and praising—this behavior had existed as early as the ancient Roman period, only then it was not pilgrims but clients and slaves following beside the sedan chair.

Walking around these pilgrims were some mercenaries. The mercenaries held sticks, ready to disperse idlers and those with ulterior motives who were intentionally or unintentionally getting too close to the line. Further inside were the attendants and servants of this envoy and the Prince of Antioch, as well as the clerics. They held their heads high, holding crosses, holy relics, and flags—you could see Charlemagne's golden flame military flag here, and you could also see the blue-bottomed golden iris crown flag of the Capetian dynasty, as well as the Blois city wall flag, and the corresponding large coat of arms—these coats of arms, as large as shields, were carried on the arms of the attendants, and the gorgeous pigments made people see them clearly at a glance under the sunset light.

Between the coats of arms and the flags was a band of about seven or eight people. The musicians beat drums, blew flutes and trumpets, and clowns in colorful clothes ran around inside.

The knights wore armor and gorgeous cloaks, and their horses were no less impressive, like peacocks born with four hooves. Surrounded in the center, of course, was the Bohemond, Prince of Antioch, whom we were familiar with, and today's most important guest, the envoy of King Louis VII of France, Etienne, Count of Sancerre.

Looking from afar, the figure of Etienne, Count of Sancerre, was similar to Bohemond, belonging to the tall and thin type. When he talked to Bohemond, his body tilted slightly, and he made humble gestures from time to time, looking more like a scholar than a knight. But if you thought he was really that kind of gentle and good person, then you were very wrong.

This Count was not only bold but also quite valiant.

"You said he stole someone else's wife?!"

"It can't be said that way, this marriage didn't go to the end." Speaking of which, Baldwin was also a bit embarrassed, but he really wanted to share the gossip with his little partner—he was also dumbfounded and hard to understand when he first heard about this.

How to say it, this gentleman was the third son of the Count of Blois. We all know that under Salic law, the eldest son gets everything, the second son can only be said to be a spare tire, and the third son... even if Blois was an ancient big family, after his father Thibaut IV passed away, as the youngest son, Etienne only got the worst and smallest piece of territory, Sancerre.

But he was currently liking Adelaide, the daughter of a neighboring lord. Adelaide, however, had long had a marriage contract with another lord, Anseau II—if it were anyone else, they could only sigh and give up silently, but our Mr. Etienne would not!

He broke into the church where the wedding was being held, forcibly took the bride away, brought her back to his territory, and immediately married and publicized it.

Anseau II was furious, but because they were both subjects of the King of France, they could not start a private war at will, so he appealed to Louis VII. Louis VII brought the head of the Blois family, that is, Etienne's eldest brother, the Count of Champagne... The Count of Champagne couldn't do anything about this younger brother either, and could only attack Sancerre together with Louis VII and Anseau II.

If they won, people would surely mock Etienne, Count of Sancerre's stupidity, but the problem was... they actually couldn't take it down!

In the end, the Holy See mediated, "Since the marriage contract has been reached," why waste the knights' blood and the King's gold coins here in vain? Louis VII was of course happy to see it, and the Count of Champagne was not very willing to attack his younger brother. Anseau II was of course unwilling, but if it were only him, he couldn't afford this heavy expenditure, so the matter was left unsettled.

This happened when he was twenty years old. Now this gentleman was thirty-seven years old, but he still looked very young. Although thin, it could be seen that he had never slacked off in his pursuit of martial arts.

At this time, Baldwin and Cesar could clearly see his face. The Count of Sancerre's complexion tended to be a somewhat unhealthy gray-white, but his lips were bright red, his eyes bright, and his hair thick and fluffy. He wore a deep red velvet tunic, a sapphire blue cloak, and a silver belt. Although there was not much difference from the dress of the nobles at this time, he looked exceptionally relaxed, free, and romantic.

At the same time, the Count of Sancerre also felt the gaze from above. He looked up and saw Baldwin in white clothes, and immediately guessed that he was the only son of the King of Yafa who was said to have unfortunately contracted leprosy. The Count was slightly startled—after all, in his impression, even if he wouldn't be expelled from the city, a leper would hide in his room, after all, people's horrified and disgusted gazes were as stinging as knives.

But he was only stunned for a short while, and then lowered his head and saluted on his horse.

Cesar heard Baldwin sigh softly. There was not much sadness in it, but rather a bit of relief—before he was found to have leprosy, Baldwin was as naughty and energetic as all boys. Climbing up to the battlements in the evening breeze to look into the distance should be something they would do every few days. But since... after that, Baldwin seemed more willing to stay in his room alone. Cesar could understand, but seeing Baldwin no longer self-sealing and being able to not encounter setbacks on his first attempt...

It was really great.

"He saluted Baldwin?"

"Yes," the maid said while gently combing Princess Sibylla's long hair with a gold comb, "he looks like a humble and good person."

"And very generous. He scattered several pounds of Frankish copper coins to those pilgrims." Another maid brought a Xinan hat. This Xinan hat was even more exquisite than the one Cesar saw when he first met the Princess. The white gauze hanging from the top was not one layer but several layers. They hung down in layers, like a snow pile falling from the mountains, but Sibylla just took a look, "No, don't use this today, bring the headscarf."

The headscarf she mentioned was a wimple headscarf. Simply put, it was to cover the hair and neck with white linen, revealing only the face. Unmarried girls could wear flower crowns, and daughters of kings like Sibylla could wear crowns. Sibylla's crown was simple in style, with only sapphires inlaid on the top of the cross.

The maids exchanged glances behind Sibylla. They had heard of his "good name" before this Holy Land envoy arrived at Yafa, and they also heard that his wife had passed away. Now he was a widower—now he was just the right age, and his status was suitable. King Louis VII sent him to the Holy City for no reason, perhaps intending for him to become Sibylla's husband.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 21 =====