January 1494, Lisbon, capital of Portugal, Pena Palace.
"His Majesty, a letter from Jose van Werth, Governor of the Azores..."
"Hmm? A letter from Baron Jose? He rarely writes to me! Has something major happened in the Azores governorate this time?..."
In the court of marble and frescoes, King John set down the royal revenue and expenditure report in his hand, broke open the wax-sealed envelope, and began reading the letter from the Azores. Very soon, his brows drew together slightly, and astonishment appeared on his face.
"To my respected and exalted king, sovereign blessed by the Lord and the Holy Mother, my liege who enfeoffed the islands of the Azores to me... Three months ago, the royal exploration fleet arrived at the capital, Faial Island, and spent several days refitting and taking on supplies. Afterward, the royal exploration fleet sailed into the Western Sea..."
"And my son-in-law, the Nuremberg noble scholar, the royal court adviser officially on the rolls, Sir Martin Behaim, also, under sudden and unforeseen circumstances, by motives voluntary or involuntary, abruptly vanished from his home in Faial Island..."
"After Faial Island was placed under martial law and searched for a week, only then did a sailor belonging to the kingdom's navy, under the just majesty of the Lord, hand over a letter written in a hasty scrawl... Though this letter matched Sir Martin's handwriting, and expressed an intention to voluntarily join the kingdom's exploration fleet, go to the depths of the Western Sea to explore, and devote himself to the kingdom and the Lord..."
"Yet the degree of haste in the handwriting, the illogical manner in which the letter appeared, and Sir Martin's strange action of departing without farewell... all make it difficult to verify its truth or falsehood!... And after a fair interrogation of the