The return of the fallen king

Chapter 82: Bottomless abiss

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Hey guys just wanted to let you know that the exchange of one extra chapters for every three comment is still on, and we just need one more for the extra chapter , as such I hereby request for my lazy readers to review.

Yeah I see you on the couch reading and scrolling , move your ass and review!!

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The usurper Charles of Anjou was waiting in Florence for the communes' troops to arrive , while the situation in the south was rising and becoming increasingly chaotic, much to the unbeknowst of their present ruler. Charles had been thinking and planning how to effectively deal with Conradin as he prepared for what would definitely be a massive conflict. He would not have been sitting around doing nothing but thinking and planning his next move, which would undoubtedly be pivotal in this continuous struggle. In his plan, he would start the conflict by pushing Conradin to engage with him; after all, he is the one who can currently, at least materially, stand more in his ground ; as such, if the german young king does not engage, he will without a doub waste all of his money and will be forced to march in unknown and hostile held territory pennyless.

Unbeknownst to Charles, the situation in his realm was rapidly deteriorating, as most of Sicily, and soon also Calabria had sworn their loyalty to Conradin. If Charles knew that , he would have felt compelled to act immediately if he wanted to keep his position and his domains. Unfortunately for him, he had no idea what was going on down south, because he could never have imagined that his 8,000-man forces, which were more than enough to repel an invasion, would fail to secure his realm. If he'd known, he'd be indignant and upset with the commanders who had failed to defend his realm, and he'd be determined to see them punished.

After all, this would have been a major setback for the usurper, threatening to derail all of his efforts and preparations to steal and keep the throne.

'Originally, the communes that supported my cause were Scandiano, the Archbishop of Trent, Florence, Milan, Siena, Urbino, Bologna, and Lucca,' Charles explained to himself . I currently have the support of Trent, Siena, Urbino, Bologna, and Lucca, but I have yet to get troops from Trent and Milan , however I have still not received any letter from Milan explaning the reason for the delay.

Charles was concerned about the lack of support from some of the communes that he had expected to receive. He's been aware that this was a crucial moment for his ambitions and that he needed to secure their support and their troops in order to succeed. He expected to hear from Milan, as their support and forces were essential to the success of his goals. He was worried about their non-response, as he felt that something was surely wrong since the Republic of Milan should have been one of the first to communicate with him.

Charles had no idea, however, that he would soon find why the commune of Milan had not responded. Soon enough, Charles' room would be interrupted by a servant who had come to notify him that a messenger claiming to be from Milan had arrived. Charles relieved that he would finally be able to satisfy his curiosity and learn what had happened to the Republic of Milan's support force soon walked out of his room towards his hall. He was keen to sort out the situation because it was obviously critical and could affect his goals. He was eager to learn what the message was and what steps would need to be made in response. He , on the other hand, was well aware however that the message would probably not contain any good news for him and for his cause.

Soon after, a young man kneeled in front of Charles, claiming that he was a soldier in the service of the Podestà Napoleone della Torre and had been sent here to report to the king what had happened to the relief force.As He was tasked with reporting, he recounted to the king how the milanese relief army was ambushed as they were ready to cross the bridge near Piacenza, and how the gifts he had packed beside a letter were lost, along with most of the men sent to Charles. ''What was the present that the kind Podestà wanted to offer me before the horrible demon of Conradin stopped him?'' Charles inquired, curious about what he had missed.

'' 463 pounds of gold, your Highness (210 kilograms for my fellow Europeans, or 60,000 denarii)'', the envoy responded while bowing even more, probably scared of the reaction that the king could have .

'FUCK, THAT LITTLE BAS*ARD SON OF A WHO*E' Charles screamed internally, as he had just lost a sum equal to 1/5 of his total budget. It was clear that Conradin and his allies were determined to see Charles toppled from the throne, and they were willing to go to any lengths to make that happen. Since they could not directly take him, they decided that they would first reduce his support in Northern Italy to make him make the first move. Little did Charles know that he was actually wrong, for Conradin did this to, yes, reduce his support, but his intention was not to make him move but to bid for times, as for every day Charles was in northern Italy, Corrado's position became more cemented in the south of the kingdom.

This was a clever strategy employed by Conradin, which was even more effective since Charles did not know how bad his current situation was and was still underestimating the opponent for his age and lack of actual warfare experience. In his eyes, the threat was only Conradin's army in northern Italy, and as such, his plan was only regarding the immediate threat of the opposing army, which he thought he could easily take care of. He was nonetheless determined to do whatever was necessary to thwart Conradin's plans and retain the throne.

''Very well esteemed messenger, relay my thanks to your liege, for even if I had not received his gifts, know that I will treat them cordially for their actions that unfortunately did not reach me, ''Charles Said said while sighing for the loss of money and showing a fake smile to the envoy . ''Actually, your Highness, I was also tasked by the podestà to relay to you this letter, the envoy said as he passed a scroll to a guard who passed it to Charles.

Charles opened the letter, intrigued about what was inside. The headache that had already formed in his brain as a result of learning what had happened to the allied Milanese army became even worse after reading the letter. This was the letter Conradin had stolen; it was reforged and delivered to Charles, alerting him of the formation of a league to protect northern Italy from external threats, into which he was invited. Charles didn't have to think long to realize that this league was formed as a reaction to his presence in Italy, which became increasingly clearer following his actions in Florence.

. Apart from that first part which angered him, however, Charles was also pretty amused by the second part of the letter, for the author asked Charles, in exchange for more support, to be gifted land either in Pavia or Verona. Charles laughed at this internally, for he thought that he did not need to pay such a price only to have support from Milan, for under his eyes he had already received all the support that he needed from his ally. Charles was in fact reported to have said that from the troops from Florence, Siena, Bologna, Urbino, Scandiano, and Lucca, an army of 12,000 had already been formed, which, along with Charles' own troops and the imminent arrival of Trent's soldiers, would even reach even further than 21,000.

Charles, however, knew that he was still in a public place and, as such, needed to behave accordingly. As such, he first needed to get done with the envoy, whom he thanked for his service, offered him lodgings and food, and informed him that he could return to the podestà since he will be sending his own envoy containing his response to Napoleone's letter.

As the soldier sent by the republic thanked Charles, he rose, accepted the offer, and was led to his room by a servant of the host. Once the meeting was over, Charles retired to his own private room. Once he made sure he was alone and that no curious eye could rest on his figure, he took out his sword and swung at the wooden structure of the lower part of the bed in a fit of anger. Swinging his sword at the bed provided a way to vent his feelings and release some of the tension he was feeling. He was feeling intense rage and a burning desire for revenge, but he knew that he needed to be careful in how he channeled these emotions. The last thing he would have wanted would have been to make the situation even worse and show this side of him to anyone outside of those he trusted, for after all a leader always had to maintain a facade of calmness to make the subordinate think that everything is under control.

Just thinking about the money that he had just lost made Charles' blood boil in anger for if there was one topic that could rile up the king was losing any amount of money, especially know that he was in clear need of it.

If that was not enough he was not only irate by the loss of reinforcing troops but was also worried about the creation of this northern league, for it would undeniably thwart his plan in the future when he was to deal with the communes, for he had planned to form a different French satellite state there. When he had come there he had mistakingly thought that he could easily and effortlessly do his own business and increase his gains , but now he understood his mistakes for the numerous communes in northern Italy would not relinquish their political influence and independence so easily and the northern league was exactly the proof of that.

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