 However Andronikos III was away from Constantinople -- William Miller describes how messengers searched Thessaloniki and Akarania for him—and he died on June 15, 1341 before he could answer his daughter's request.Meanwhile, a rumor circulated in Trebizond that the Empress had taken the "megas domestikos" as her lover, which led to widespread rioting.The first round of the civil war began shortly after her accession.