A clamorous buzz of discussion rose from the nobles below the platform.
The two paths Lothar had offered were undoubtedly a guiding light for the Crusader nobles, who were now trapped between advance and retreat, with no clear road ahead.
Yet even with Lothar's guarantee, compared with "working for the Emperor of Greece," the vast majority still preferred to trust the Crusader King, one of their own. After all, the former's reputation among the Crusaders had been abysmal ever since Emperor Alexios of the Komnenos.
Though there were technically two Crusader Kings, Lothar's brilliance was simply too dazzling. Moreover, Baldwin IV suffered from God's Curse, leprosy, and was quite content for Lothar's prestige to eclipse his own. Thus, whenever people now mentioned the Crusader King, they thought only of the newly crowned King of Egypt who had reclaimed the Patriarchate of Alexandria.
Still, the East African lands Lothar described were simply too distant, making them hesitate. Most of them had never even heard that the Saracens still occupied that region.
As for resisting to the bitter end and fighting Lothar?
That was merely the mad talk that surfaced when certain Crusader nobles, unwilling to return to Europe empty-handed and in disgrace, found themselves with no way out.
When they had a choice, who would take a dead-end road where there was no hope and no chance of success?
Besides, they had defied the Pope's decree and stubbornly insisted on attacking Constantinople, already earning themselves an excommunication. Now that they were doomed to fail in taking Constantinople and could no longer seek the Pope's forgiveness by "healing the schism of the Church," even if they rushed Lothar together and killed him, they would become enemies of the entire Christian world.
Lothar let them discuss matters freely. He even generously relinquished the