Chapter 137: The Heirs 1
Chapter 137: The Heirs 1
The port city of Brundisium, connected to numerous subsidiary harbors, was bustling more than usual with many fleets.
It was rare to see so many ships sailing out at once, unless the regular legions were departing for war.
The ships maintained a distance from each other so as not to collide, and soon they left the harbor like a stream of water.
The sun was bright and the water was calm, making it the optimal weather for sailing.
Even as they rowed eastward, there was hardly any rocking on the ship.
“It seems that Neptune is blessing our voyage. I don’t know how many times in my life I have seen such perfect weather on a ship.”
A boy in a narrow space behind the mast exclaimed as he looked down at the sea.
His sister, Pompeia, the eldest daughter of the Pompey family, covered her mouth and laughed at her younger brother.
“You call that experience? You’ve only been to Sicily once or twice by ship, haven’t you?”
“Sister, that’s still experience, anyway.”
The boy, who looked about fifteen years old, smiled awkwardly.
He was Sextus Pompey Pius, the second son of the Pompey family.
He was an impressive boy with handsome features and clear eyes, inheriting the appearance of Pompey in his youth.
Pompeia was also one of the most dazzling figures in the social circles, thanks to her splendid beauty and superior family status.
Therefore, it was natural that these two people represented their family as congratulatory envoys.
But Pompeia, who had never left the Italian peninsula, was more interested in Antioch, the great city of the East, than in the wedding.
“They say that the East boasts an enormous wealth that you can swim in gold if you want. Is that true? Then their social circles must be more splendid than Rome’s. What if my jewelry and accessories look like a peasant’s compared to theirs?”
“Don’t worry about that. They are all top-quality products from merchants who receive goods from the Crassus family. From silk clothes to earrings and bracelets, they are all following the latest trends in the East. You were the one who boasted about that.”
“That’s true. The merchants of the Crassus family wouldn’t have cheated me, would they?”
“Rather than that, why don’t you think about how to make a good impression on Governor Marcus?”
Pompeia frowned and snapped her fingers.
“It’s ridiculous. Why do we have to clean up the mess that Gnaeus made? Think about it logically. How could he cause a diplomatic blunder in front of father, Marcus and Cicero? I still can’t understand why he did such a thing.”
“Maybe he made a mistake trying to do too well. We should be careful too.”
No one in Rome knew exactly what Gnaeus had done.
It was because Marcus and Cicero decided to keep it secret for the sake of the Pompey family’s reputation.
Gnaeus was only known to have made a big mistake by being tempted by the rebel faction in Egypt.
Sextus tried to use his connections to find out more details, but unfortunately he failed.
However, he was able to get some advice from Cicero when he asked him to help him avoid making the same mistake.
Gnaeus acted rashly because he was too conscious of Marcus, so Sextus should not do that.
“Besides, father and Marcus are on good terms anyway. There won’t be any problem unless we act stupidly like Gnaeus.”
“Not only Marcus, but we should also not be rude to his subordinates.”
“Of course. By the way, speaking of Marcus… I heard he’s handsome like a man. I wish I could meet him soon. But father is also clumsy in some ways. How could he not think of him as a potential husband when he knew him from before?”
“You’ll make father sad if you say that. And even if you wanted Marcus so much, marriage would have been difficult. The Crassus family and our family were not on good terms before.”
Pompeia bit her tongue at Sextus’ objective analysis.
She suddenly turned her gaze downward and asked.
“Speaking of families, where is our precious ally’s young master?”
“He boarded the ship and then locked himself inside, saying his stomach was upset. His cousin Sonui and his mother are sticking close to him.”
“Is he seasick? In this weather?”
Pompeia looked incredulously at the sea, which was as calm as ever.
Sextus also gave a bitter smile and nodded.
“He seems to have a very weak constitution.”
“Tsk, tsk. How can a boy be so frail and do anything great? He won’t be your rival even when he grows up.”
“Still, he is the most important ally of our family. Of course, I don’t think he will have a chance to take over me, but at least we can show him that we care about our alliance.”
“He was pretty and cute, but what was his name?”
“Well… I think it was something like Turinus, but I’ll have to ask him again later.”
Sextus recalled the face of the delicate boy who looked younger than him.
He looked smart, but his innocent appearance and slender body were not suitable for a general.
But his grandmother was Pompey’ distant cousin.
Although the relationship was far, her son was a descendant of Pompey.
There were many reasons to take care of him.
‘Since my brother gave up so easily, I don’t have to hurry. I just have to score points steadily.’
Sextus planned to have a lot of conversations with people like Cato, Brutus, and Cassius, who were also on board as congratulatory envoys from the Senate.
And his ultimate goal was to show Marcus a good impression and get a different evaluation from Gnaeus.
Sextus had never expected to become the heir of his family.
Like other second sons of noble families, he thought he would go to a relative’s family without a son and inherit their family.
But an unexpected opportunity came to him.
Sextus knew Pompey’ personality well.
Once Gnaeus slipped badly, it was his turn next.
If he did not make any mistakes and handled things smoothly, it would be his brother who would go to another family as an adopted son.
In fact, he wanted to shout hooray and thank Marcus for creating this situation.
‘But I have to hold back. If I look too hungry for power, it might backfire.’
Sextus looked eastward, where Antioch was still far away.
Everything around him, from the weather to the situation, was so perfect that he couldn’t imagine anything better.
He had everything in the world in his mind, and he didn’t care about the boy who was groaning below the deck.
※※※※
When Marcus arrived in Antioch, he first looked for Julia.
Julia, who guessed what he was thinking, smiled and told him to go see Danae.
Danae greeted him with a bright smile after a long time.
Her belly, which had a small curve, was full of new life.
“How are you feeling? Are you okay?”
“Yes. Thanks to the kindness of others, I didn’t have any trouble. And I received a lot of congratulations.”
“Really? I’m glad. I was worried that the atmosphere at home would be cold.”
“It’s thanks to Julia. She was the first to congratulate me, so the mood at home was no different than usual. If it wasn’t for her, the air would have been tense until now. I would have felt like sitting on a thorn.”
Marcus knew that well.
That’s why he looked for Julia first, not Danae who was pregnant.
“I talked to Julia and she agreed to adopt your child as well. But the right to inherit the family will only belong to Julia’s child. I hope you understand that.”
“Understand? I should be grateful for such a generous favor.”
“Don’t think about that now and just look at the good things and think about the good things. The mother’s psychological state is important for prenatal education.”
Danae looked at Marcus with moist eyes, as if her emotions were mixed.
“My lord…”
It was a familiar term of address that he hadn’t heard in years.
A faint emotion passed through Marcus’ eyes as well.
Danae continued to speak with a smile on her face with tears in her eyes.
“I remember when I first called you my lord. I never imagined that this day would come…”
“Me neither. I didn’t know that a girl who was only young would grow up so beautifully.”
“Before I met you, I thought my life was cursed. I didn’t think I had done anything wrong, but I couldn’t understand why I had to live in such pain.”
“Have you not gotten rid of the nightmares of that time yet?”
“No. Now I can say with confidence that my life is blessed. It’s a life full of happiness that makes me wonder if this is okay…”
Danae couldn’t continue her words and shed tears of emotion.
Marcus knew that they were not tears of sadness, and he just hugged her gently.
She buried her head in his broad chest and cried for a while.
But her eyes, which wrapped around her belly, were filled with indelible happiness.
Marcus smiled brightly as he looked at her eyes that shone purely.
After spending some time with Danae, Marcus returned to his office.
He received the weekly edition of the East from Septimus and slowly browsed through the articles.
The first page was filled with Today’s Governor, which was still popular in the province.
Among them, the headline ‘Shocking Truth! The Governor is Actually a Descendant of Jupiter?’ caught his eye.
And one important fact was revealed. The eminent priests of Egypt testified that the governor was anointed by Amun-Ra as his bloodline. Amun-Ra is the same as Jupiter or Zeus, and he is revered as the supreme god in Egypt. This explains why the governor was able to achieve such great feats.>
“It’s embarrassing to read such flattering praise.”
“People like this kind of thing. And besides, being anointed is true, so the support for you from the provincials will increase even more. Now even the dishes introduced as your meals are hard to make because of the lack of ingredients. The market runs out of ingredients on the day the newspaper is published.”
“That’s a desirable trend. It’s definitely successful, but…”
“And while you were away in Egypt, temporary articles titled Today’s Goddess were published. The protagonist was naturally Julia. This also had an explosive response, so it seems like we should make it a regular column. From now on, let’s have Today’s Governor on page one and Today’s Goddess on page two.”
It was a good thing if it worked well.
There was nothing better than being loved by the people not only as a leader but also as a family.
Julia was indeed like a goddess to the provincials.
She was already beautiful, but she used natural cosmetics made with modern knowledge by Marcus, and she also introduced exercises that were good for body management and took care of herself diligently.
For people who didn’t have such knowledge, Julia’s beauty was as shocking as reading a novel.
They said she was the incarnation of Diana and Venus, and he understood that.
“But it would be better to refrain from writing praise articles for a while. The senators who are coming this time won’t like reading that kind of thing. Let’s put the visit of the senators on page one as a special feature until the wedding is over. And show them the newspaper. It will be very effective.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll arrange it right away. And what about the meeting of the Mesopotamian nobles that we reported last time? Don’t you think we should take action before they cause trouble?”
“They said they were mostly nobles who were not actively in favor of Rome, but did you find out their purpose?”
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t find out that much. But this time, even Horshid himself was invited.”
“That could be a bit of a headache.”
Horshid was the head of an ancient family that claimed to have been from the Persian era, but he didn’t have much real power.
But his presence suddenly rose when Marcus became the governor.
And yet, he was a very peculiar case, not a pro-Roman faction.
He didn’t oppose or challenge Rome recklessly.
He always criticized Rome’s policies rationally, and sometimes offered alternatives.
Since he took the position of a rational critic, the pro-Roman faction couldn’t attack him openly.
On the other hand, the anti-Roman faction nobles regarded him as a star of hope.
The fact that Horshid was invited to the meeting of the anti-Roman faction nobles meant a lot.
“There are many factors coming from Rome, so it’s a sensitive time in many ways. If they do something strange at this time, it could cause trouble.”
“Well… they might also avoid acting at a time when they attract attention, if they have any sense. Anyway, we can’t just pressure the nobles without any solid evidence. If we do it wrong, we might get a backlash. Let’s first find out what they are plotting in detail.”
“Yes. I’ll mobilize all the informants right away.”
“And the envoys should be arriving soon, so bring me the list. I need to know in advance who I have to greet personally.”
“I already have the list ready.”
Marcus unfolded the scroll vertically and read the names from top to bottom.
As expected, Pompey’ children and Cato were at the top.
Next, he saw the name of Brutus, from Junius family, the best noble family in Rome.
“It’s hard to believe that these are the guests for a young man’s wedding who hasn’t even been a quaestor yet.”
“It’s a historic moment when the bloodline of Pharaoh joins Rome. And most of the people who come are probably coming to see your face, Marcus.”
Marcus nodded his head and continued to scan the list.
There were many familiar names, such as Metellus, Cassius, Lepidus, and so on.
‘Publius would sweat nervously if he saw this list.’
He thought of his brother’s face, who was already worried that the wedding was too big, and naturally smiled.
But his eyes suddenly stopped at the bottom of the scroll.
“Septimus. Did you know that Julia’s cousin was coming as a guest?”
“No. I heard that one of her family members was coming, but there were so many people coming that I didn’t check who it was.”
“I see? Well, I didn’t know they were coming either…”
“Wouldn’t Julia be happy if her cousin came? It’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“Not bad. No, rather very good. I thought it would take much longer to see him in person since I can’t go to Rome.”
Septimus tilted his head and blinked his eyes, not understanding what Marcus was saying.
But Marcus didn’t pay attention to Septimus and just looked at the name written on the scroll.
It was barely attached to the end of the list, but it stood out more than any other person in his eyes.
Atia Balba Caesonia, Julia’s cousin.
And her son’s name below her.
Gaius Octavius Thurinus
The name of the greatest politician Rome ever produced, who became the first emperor of Rome and later was called
“Augustus”
meaning revered one in history.