Zoe Kalafatis was 15 years old, at the age of blossoming, and the young woman was praying to the Christian icon in the cabin, her long black hair draped over her back, and her prayer was that her future husband would treat her well.
Because she was in her cabin, she was only wearing an undershirt, a white dress made of Moria silk, which shimmered with a pearly luster under the flickering yellow light, further highlighting her fair and delicate skin, making one sigh at the beauty of youth.
For many, leaving Constantinople was unbearable, after all, it was the most developed city in the entire known world, and everywhere else in the Christian World outside of it seemed like the countryside.
However, for this young woman, leaving that city was no big deal, as that city had never left her with any good memories.
Although Zoe was the daughter of Michael V, this identity only brought her humiliation, as Michael V was emperor for only one year before being overthrown and blinded, ending the decades-long rule of the Paphlagonians (Note 1) in Constantinople.
He himself was sent to a desolate island Monastery, and as family, she and her mother also spent a difficult time there.
During that time, she only had stones and the beach for company; the monks in the Monastery would only cast wary and disdainful glances at her, a sinner's daughter, while visitors were exceedingly respectful, making it impossible to feel close to them.
Within a few years, her father's wounds worsened, leading to his death, and her mother was on her last breath due to not being accustomed to the climate; they quickly passed away one after another.
According to custom, she should have entered a Monastery to become a nun serving God, but her father's loyal servants and remnants found her and took her away, allowing her to return to Constantinople.
When she first returned to Constantinople, Zoe was very happy, after all, it was the center of Roman civilization, the last magnificent legacy of the classical era, a glorious city unmatched in the entire Christian World.
Leo, a Constantinople bureaucrat, arranged accommodation and education for her, allowing her to receive the education only available to noble women of the Empire, and also filling her with hope for the future, perhaps she could marry a good man and live a stable life in this city.
However, reality quickly revealed its cruelty; although she only wanted a stable life, others had not forgotten.
No matter what, her father was the most rebellious and treacherous emperor of the Empire in recent centuries; a tailor became emperor under the manipulation of a eunuch (Note 2) who had controlled the central government for decades—the Empire had never had a monarch of such low birth in a hundred years!
After her background was inquired about, discrimination was everywhere like a shadow; there were always people pointing fingers behind her back, everyone knew she was the daughter of that tailor (Michael V was a tailor before becoming emperor), the daughter of that sinner.
And as she grew more radiant, these accusations became obscene, even rumors that she had slept with dozens of men!
Growing up in this environment, Zoe gradually grew resentful of Constantinople, and even the entire Roman Empire; she wanted to leave, she did not want to see this damned place again, and for this, she prayed countless times in the dead of night, begging God to take her away from what she saw as a city of sin.
And as if God had accepted her prayer, the opportunity finally arrived: Leo, who had raised her, was to take her away from Constantinople, north to Rostislav, to marry a Prince Rostislav, just like the sister of Emperor Basil.
Zoe accepted all of this without hesitation, partly out of her own will, and partly knowing that she needed to repay Leo's kindness.
As an adult, Zoe understood that the bureaucrat named Leo had not raised her out of some supposed kindness from a lord, but rather to sell her for a good price, and she had no complaints about this; this was how the world was, she was no longer naive.
After finishing her prayers, Zoe put on a warm coat, wrapped herself up tightly, and stepped out of the cabin door; she needed some fresh air.
The eunuch guards quickly followed their princess; they had once been her father's imperial guard, but with her father's downfall, many had left directly, but loyalists still followed to this day.
The sailors were busy, and no one paid attention to the young girl who had come out for fresh air; the men coming and going at most glanced at her and continued with their work; there was still much to do.
There were indeed idle people on the deck; a frail clerk was chatting with a burly soldier by the ship's rail, and their conversation seemed to be about various pieces of information concerning the northern Rostislav.
Zoe knew the origins of these people; the civil officials were mostly minor clerks who, due to their own or their fathers' past allegiance to her father, had been implicated and unable to get promoted to this day.
As for the soldiers, most of them came from Southern Italy; their families had accumulated and established much there, but these people were not without options; it was just that the relentless advance of the Normans had led some to take different paths.
Among the crowd, Zoe quickly found the one she wanted to see—Leo Pappas—her nominal adoptive father.
Leo stood at the bow of the ship; he had the appearance of a tough man, naturally looking like a soldier, but in reality, he was a top student who had graduated from Constantinople University and was from the same hometown as her father; he had once held high positions and power, but with the downfall of the Paphlagonians in Constantinople, Leo's bright future was cut short.
However, the remaining forces of the Paphlagonians came under his leadership, but leading such a group of remnants and defeated soldiers was no different from having no future.
Zoe was well aware that the hundred people gathered on these few ships were the last strength of her family; it could be said that Leo had made a huge gamble, placing his bets on the northern Rostislav.
Zoe, however, never cared about this; anyway, these things had long been irrelevant to her, so why should she care.
"Your Highness."
Leo said respectfully; although her father had been expelled from the throne for ten years, her identity at this moment was still the Princess of Michael V.
"Why have you come out?"
"It's too stuffy in the cabin; I came out for some fresh air. How much longer until Kiev, and are there any dangers on the way?"
Zoe looked out at the riverbank; all she saw was a wild prairie; this was the most dangerous section of the Valangian Road, with nomadic tribes scattered along both sides of the river, ready to attack the fleet if they found an opportunity.
"Two or three hours at most, I suppose."
Leo looked at the sun.
"You don't have to worry about danger at all; recently, for some reason, the nomadic tribes along the river have disappeared, and attacks have decreased significantly."
"Is that so? Only two or three hours then."
There was a hint of melancholy in Zoe's voice; what she had to face was finally here.
"When we arrive, let me see what Kiev is truly like."
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Note 1: Due to the power of the Orphanage Director John in the imperial capital, his fellow villagers from Paphlagonia occupied all aspects of the Empire's central government, a situation that lasted for decades.
Note 2: Refers to the Orphanage Director John, a powerful eunuch official who controlled Byzantine power for decades.