Chapter 232: Second Marriage
People always think that tea was introduced to Europe in the 15th or 16th century or even later. This view is both right and wrong, because while it took several hundred years for large quantities to arrive, during the Crusades, tea had already become known to some as a novel spoil of war.
However, at this time, people’s understanding of tea was still very superficial. In many records—from as early as the 8th century to the present—most regarded it as a kind of medicine. Dandolo had seen the famous Persian scholar Biruni’s records in《medicine》, noting that even in its place of origin, tea cost one dirham（Saracen currency, equivalent to about thirty packs for three grams of silver）.
And when it was transported thousands of miles with great hardship to Tibet, it became an expensive item that could only be exchanged for musk.
Then from Tibet or elsewhere brought here… that price…
“Wouldn’t you like some nutmeg, walnuts, cloves, or cinnamon?” an old knight walked over and asked curiously. Many people had already asked this question, and Caesar had to explain repeatedly that it wasn’t due to deliberate simplicity or piety; he simply didn’t like putting extra things in his tea.
Some knights were inexplicably moved, thinking he was doing this out of financial embarrassment.
They even said it was fine; they could drink water or light wine, and they didn’t have to drink this expensive drink every day. This left Caesar somewhat amused and exasperated, but it was also a helpless measure.
The barracks outside the city had been abandoned for several years, and he intentionally planned, after these knights had trained with him for a few years, to turn them from “landless knights” into “landed knights.” Now Cyprus was equivalent to his territory, not like the previous governor—who had only usage rights but no disposal rights.
The Byzantine army’s decline from strength to weakness was closely related to this—it was human nature. Who would fight desperately for something that wasn’t theirs? Of course, you could also buy their loyalty with gold, but that made them a kind of mercenary in another form—Francia even had cases of a knight serving multiple lords… showing this model could only serve as support, not the main force.
After all, in Francia it was just territory wars, but in the Holy Land and surrounding areas, it was life-and-death battles.
But he soon realized this decision was somewhat misguided, also because he hadn’t expected so many knights to come join him—fortunately, two of the three marriage proposal teams had left; otherwise, he would have had to rent accommodations in the city to prepare lodging for the knights.
The Governor’s Palace, quiet for so long, suddenly became lively, but the problems that followed also multiplied and intensified.
Besides renovating the toilet, the thing Caesar paid most attention to was their intake of diet. Food was manageable; Cyprus was originally rich in produce, and getting fresh meat, fruit, and vegetables was not difficult—much better than at Holy Cross Castle.
But the people here, like others, wouldn’t drink water heated to a boil—poor people drank from streams, rivers, and lakes; in winter, they ate frozen ice cubes or fallen snow, or drank from puddles. Rich people had no such concept either, but they knew drinking contaminated water could cause illness, so they drank wine.
Caesar had endured this for several years at Holy Cross Castle, where he temporarily had no right to refuse the light wine served in place of drinking water.
But no matter how low the alcohol content of the light wine was at this time, over the long term, with excessive intake, it would still accumulate and harm human organs. He didn’t want to test whether God’s favor or alcohol’s harm was stronger.
So after Baldwin ascended the throne, he switched Baldwin’s and his own drinking water to boiled clean water. This was also why people always found him strangely simple at times and extravagantly luxurious at others.
In this era, getting boiled water anytime and anywhere was not easy.
No matter how scorching the sun, it couldn’t boil water; only fuel could boil water. If fuel was readily available, there wouldn’t be: a lord allowing his people to gather branches and leaves from his woods in winter for firewood would be called benevolent.
The knights rarely paid attention to this, also because they were often out in combat, and during combat, having water to drink was already good—let alone heating it to a boil… Were they afraid the enemy wouldn’t find an opportunity to attack?
After strength training that left them exhausted and drenched in sweat, they naturally craved cool groundwater or a cup of light wine with ice cubes even more.
Caesar didn’t want to see any of them contract dysentery or other epidemics, but if it was just boiled clean water—no one would drink it. Until he added tea—no one could remain indifferent to this precious drink. In their simple minds, light wine was more expensive than water, so light wine was better; wine was more expensive than light wine, so wine was better; and a drink made from tea, a precious “spice” some had never even heard of, was more expensive than wine—so it must be the best.
Some saw this as a means to win hearts. Fine, if it was winning hearts, Caesar thought helplessly. And he had already begun cultivating tea trees.
As for rock sugar, rock sugar was originally one of the things a medical student had to master. After all, even in his world when times were still harsh, rock sugar was used as a medicinal herb, and it indeed had effects different from ordinary sugar and was more valuable.
However, though this knowledge was stored in Caesar’s brain, he couldn’t use it until he truly became a lord.
Not to mention tea; making rock sugar required large amounts of sugar and eggs.
Imagine, while Amalric I was making do with dry bread and cheese for a meal, a little servant by a prince’s side running to the kitchen demanding precious sugar and eggs—not for eating, but to make some damned rock sugar.
But with enough power and money, making rock sugar was no longer difficult.
He entrusted this task to his sister Nathia.
At first, it was just because he had few trustworthy people around—gender didn’t matter to him. But when they watched a string of rock sugar being extracted, Nathia’s eyes filled with excitement and fervor made Caesar realize he had unintentionally done something right.
Her time in the Sultan’s Harem had left an indelible impact on Nathia. Though she still remembered her family name, parents, and brother, clinging tightly to that obsession like the last spider silk in her life, preventing total collapse into one of those submissive female slaves, she would likely never know cheerfulness again.
At Holy Cross Castle, Nathia had always kept to herself, speaking little—either occasionally chatting with Queen Mother Maria or doing needlework, or returning to her room for prayer and reading.
When Caesar came to Cyprus and betrothed Princess Anna—according to Byzantine Empire tradition, Nathia, as the highest-status woman in the groom’s family, should guide the bride’s every move. But precisely because of this, the Crusaders, except for Baldwin and Caesar, advised against her appearing in Cyprus.
Before Caesar advocated for her, Nathia had also said she had no intention of participating in this wedding—not just a wedding, but one tied to the Crusaders’ most important territory in the Mediterranean and the foundation for her brother’s success. If something happened to her because of it, she might die of guilt.
But when Anna met with misfortune, she immediately set aside all concerns, rushing to her brother’s side to comfort him, protect him, and handle things for him.
Though doubts and fear lingered in her heart, her subsequent performance was impeccable.
Even facing a princess of the Byzantine Empire, the Pope of Rome’s “niece,” and a noble lady selected by a deeply rooted great family, she perfectly did what Caesar needed most at the time.
But Caesar could see these things weren’t what she liked; she preferred caring for Caesar’s daily life like an ordinary sister looking after her brother.
Rather than getting involved in struggles for politics and power—she had seen plenty of such infighting in the Sultan’s Harem and knew she had no outstanding talents or cruel heart. Not only could she not help her brother, she might even cause bad outcomes.
Not to mention, Caesar wasn’t some mediocrity who needed others’ guidance to know where to go—he had even been doing very well.
During the days Caesar had to return to Ayyarasa Road, Nathia ruled in his stead. Though she made no mistakes, the psychological pressure and physical burden were immense; she often vomited and suffered insomnia, even falling gravely ill a few times when Caesar returned.
After Caesar finally decided on his second wife, Nathia breathed a sigh of relief. But her handmaid told Caesar that his sister intended to enter a monastery and vow to become a nun.
Becoming a nun was indeed a common choice for noble ladies, another refuge besides marriage. If it had been the first few years after arriving, Caesar might have agreed, but now—he had realized monasteries weren’t pure lands.
Nathia’s desire to become a nun was more because she had nowhere else to go—rather than deep piety. The Sultan’s Harem certainly didn’t forbid female slaves from keeping their faith; even concubines could continue believing in Christ. But the slaves’ energy was mostly drained by heavy labor, leaving no strength for prayer, let alone money for Mass. All they could have was a small cross, which they had to guard carefully lest it be stolen or destroyed.
For a woman who couldn’t truly see Jesus Christ as her husband—her future bodily and spiritual reliance—entering a monastery would instead be permanent confinement and torment.
But the problem was, in another world, he could simply keep Nathia by his side and let her do whatever she wanted.
People in this era didn’t allow it—women had to marry once they reached a certain age, whether to a knight or to Jesus Christ.
If an unmarried woman grew old yet stayed with her father and brother, ugly rumors would spread. Just like with Princess Anna once, and Constantine VIII’s several daughters.
If it were another brother, he might simply pick a suitable match for his sister, provide a dowry, and marry her off—perhaps to a lord from a family he thought should ally with, or a knight he approved of.
But Caesar didn’t want this marriage to come about so hastily and carelessly.
Marriages at this time weren’t easily dissolved, and with the Roman Church eyeing him covetously, getting an annulment was harder than fetching water from hell.
As for the knights nowadays, no need to mention—even if they were heroic on the battlefield and adept in court, in the castle he might still beat his wife. A knight who didn’t beat his wife might even be seen as lacking manliness.
This behavior was even supported by the Church; theology manuals even allowed men “to inflict heavy punishment and beat her for correction…”
It was hard to imagine: a castle’s mistress, possibly revered by her knights as an incarnation of the Virgin Mary, yet possibly beaten black and blue by her husband. But…
