By the time Balian arrived, people were already sprawled all over the tavern floor.
Seeing the only two people still standing in the middle of the room—a lavishly dressed man and woman whose clothes were not even dirtied—he automatically assumed they were newly recruited spellcasters under Lothar.
"Sir Balian is here!"
A knight clutching his stomach and groaning on the floor forced himself upright and shouted, "Sir Balian, you came at just the right time! Stop this swindler who dares impersonate a member of the imperial family!"
"Sir Balian, don't let him leave!"
The crowd was indignant, though no one dared rush forward to fight again.
Just moments ago, the man and woman had casually knocked down more than twenty burly men, including several renowned swordsmen from Jaffa. Judging by how relaxed they looked, they clearly had not even been pushed to their limits.
Balian cleared his throat. "My apologies, everyone, but I must tell you that this is a misunderstanding. Sir Rudolf is indeed a member of the Habsburg family acknowledged by His Majesty Lothar."
"What?"
"How could that be?"
"Didn't His Majesty Lothar have only one elder brother, Lord Otto?"
As word spread that Baldwin IV intended to have Lothar also serve as King of Jerusalem, Lothar had become the most dazzling ruler in the entire Christian world. Countless people had thoroughly studied his relatives and family lineage.
"You have suffered a fright, Sir Rudolf. I am deeply sorry this happened, but I also hope you can understand that the people of Jaffa acted so rashly out of respect for the Habsburg family."
Balian studied the richly dressed man with a sword at his waist. Rudolf raised his stiff brows and revealed a gentle smile. "It's all right. I should be the one apologizing. Leave this money for