"Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!"
Inside the Constantinople Grand Palace, the rebellious usurper Dimitrios Palaiologos furiously vented his anger at his followers and Ottoman spies.
According to the immediate briefing, his Brother-in-law, Manuel of Bosporus, had already taken control of the Port of Theodosius, and support from the southern shore of the Sea of Marmara could arrive in Constantinople at any moment.
Moreover, the other side was giving speeches in the streets to win over passersby, intending to draw the citizens of Constantinople to his side.
This was simply undermining his foundation!
What terrified Dimitrios even more was that the other side showed no signs of stopping their advance, but continued to press towards the Grand Palace where he was located.
Threatened by Manuel's actions, and recalling the casualties he had caused in the city since the forced abdication, Dimitrios broke out in a cold sweat.
He vaguely felt that if he didn't do something, he might very well end up in a tragic situation like Maurice, Alexios IV, or Andronikos I.
"Pass down my imperial decree: make contact with my Brother-in-law, at least to make him slow his pace."
After a burst of venting, Dimitrios gave this order almost through gritted teeth.
On the afternoon of October 31st, Dimitrios sent people to contact Manuel, attempting to buy himself time under the pretext of peace talks.
During the negotiations, he instructed his subordinates to offer various seemingly tempting conditions to the other side, clearly not giving up on the attempt to truly win Manuel over to his side.
Facing the empty promises thrown by Dimitrios, Manuel only proposed one condition:
His Brother-in-law should immediately return to the Monastery of Saint Apostles, resume his house arrest, and everything would proceed as before.
Then, he would consider everything that had happened in these past days as if it had never occurred.
"Who does he think he is! The Basileus!?"
Upon learning of his Brother-in-law's demands, Dimitrios was so enraged he jumped up on the spot.
In his eyes, he was, after all, the son of the late Emperor Manuel II and the younger brother of both the current and former Emperors.
If it were his elder brother John VIII or Constantine XI giving him orders, that would be one thing, but when was it his younger Brother-in-law Manuel's turn to command him?
Not to mention that the latter was currently only a Caesar of an Autocratic State.
Thus, these peace talks, which had a fragile foundation to begin with, broke down.
As neither side had any intention of making concessions, the fighting in the streets of Constantinople intensified.
While it was said to be intensifying, in reality, it was Dimitrios's final frenzy; they demolished civilian homes and set fires in an orderly fashion, attempting to obstruct the advance of the Bosporus Army.
The other side, indeed, was hesitant due to Caesar's personal concern for the city, and slowed their advance.
It wasn't until that night that three legions from the Bosporus Pontus region sailed into the Port of Theodosius, completely altering the balance of power between the two sides.
After Dungar led his troops to reinforce, Manuel's forces immediately crushed Dimitrios's side.
After a night of fierce fighting, they had even reached the Constantine Forum, on the verge of assaulting the Grand Palace where Dimitrios and his followers were located.
The next morning, looking at the dense Bosporus soldiers not far away, Dimitrios's heart was almost numb with the impending defeat, "Why did things turn out this way..."
"Your Majesty Dimitrios, you should consider how to safely leave here now."
Seeing the usurper's sudden dejected appearance, Yahya of the Ottoman could only shake his head and sigh.
Ever since Dimitrios stopped focusing on controlling the city gates and instead stubbornly fought at the Blachernae Palace, he had anticipated this worst-case scenario.
It was just that this prediction came true so quickly, far exceeding his expectations.
"..."
"I understand."
After a long silence, Dimitrios reluctantly accepted this fact.
In the evening of November 1st, 1444, the Bosporus Army stormed the Grand Palace, completely eliminating this most important stronghold controlled by Dimitrios and his followers.
However, when searching for Dimitrios Palaiologos himself, Manuel was surprised to find that he and his core followers had already fled, only capturing his wife, daughter, and other peripheral personnel.
"He escaped, Your Majesty, do we need to pursue him?"
Inside the Grand Palace, Adian, a Filakas officer under his command, immediately asked Caesar for instructions.
Manuel pondered for a moment, then, as if something occurred to him, he quickly ordered: "Quick, bring Dimitrios back! Alive!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, loyalty!"
Meanwhile, in the northern district of Constantinople, the once overconfident usurper Dimitrios, disoriented, concealed his figure with a black robe, attempting to escape to the Charsian Gate, the Gate of Dungar, or even the Fifth Military Gate in the north of the city, accompanied by Ottoman spies and a few core followers, seeking refuge with Genoa, Venice, or the Ottoman.
But when he tried to seek refuge with the Genoese near the Charsian Gate to escape to Galata, these shrewd Latins directly refused him.
"Your Highness Dimitrios, we are very sorry, for the Lord's sake, we cannot offend Manuel for your sake."
"Why, aren't you old enemies!?"
Yahya's mouth twitched as he questioned the Latin merchant in front of him.
"Before was before, now is now."
With that, the Genoese, protected by mercenaries, directly closed the gate, leaving Dimitrios and his group shut out.
Before Dimitrios could react, he was horrified to find a group of Constantinople citizens with menacing looks gathering around them.
It was understandable; publicly, Dimitrios openly colluded with the Ottoman, the enemy of Rome, a true Turk dog; privately, he extensively persecuted citizens who opposed him to control Constantinople, and frantically harmed them to hinder Manuel.
It would be strange if these citizens of Constantinople, who had national and personal grievances against him, were not angry.
Looking at these citizens holding torches and showing anger, fear welled up in Dimitrios's heart.
At this moment, he began to regret why he didn't stay in the Grand Palace to be obediently captured by his Brother-in-law, but instead fantasized about a comeback and fled.
"Yahya, quick, help..."
Dimitrios fearfully turned to seek help from the Ottoman spies, only to find that they had already disappeared into the night, having fled to who knows where.
"You all need to think carefully, this is His Majes—... Your Highness—..."
His most loyal follower, Nikephoros Kantakouzenos, bravely stepped forward to try and stop the citizens, but before he could finish his sentence, he was set on fire by a torch thrown by a citizen, and immediately rolled on the ground in pain, screaming.
Seeing his subordinate suffer such a tragic fate, Dimitrios immediately understood his predicament and shouted:
"You... you can, I permit you to take me to Bosporus Caesar Manuel to claim your reward!"
But these citizens did not make any reassuring gestures; instead, they continued to approach with their torches raised.
"Think clearly, I am the son of the late Emperor Manuel II, the brother of John VIII and Constantine XI, the Brother-in-law of Manuel of Bosporus..."
Dimitrios continued to announce his titles, retreating in fear.
But these citizens showed no sign of submission or agreement; instead, they continued to approach him step by step.
One of them even spat forcefully at him, "Pah! You are just a Turk dog, a traitor to Rome!"
"You... you..."
Dimitrios trembled, speechless.
The enraged citizens continued to close in with their torches.
"Don't come any closer!!!!"