Chapter 193: What Happened in the East 3
Chapter 193: What Happened in the East 3
The ship carrying Marcus’s family docked at the port with a royal escort that was no less than any Egyptian royalty.
The heavy hull came to a complete stop and a young boy and girl showed themselves on the deck.
Their fast descent revealed how much they had anticipated this moment.
“Father~!”
The boy and girl, who looked about ten years old, ran cheerfully and approached Marcus.
“Didn’t I tell you not to run around in the port? It’s dangerous.”
A strict but gentle voice of a woman followed behind them.
Thanks to her thorough self-care, she still did not look like the mother of two children. Her beautiful complexion stood out.
Julia bowed her head lightly to Marcus and smiled beautifully.
If it had been the usual Marcus, he would have smiled back brightly, but since he had done something wrong, he could only force an awkward smile.
Julia tilted her head at her husband’s suspicious behavior as she was about to say something. But before she could open her mouth, their daughter Sophia clung to Marcus’s knee.
“Father, are we going to live here from now on?”
“Yes. Let’s enjoy our vacation in Alexandria and then go back to Rome together.”
“Wow, that’s exciting! Then father will stay in Rome all the time from now on? You won’t go on any expeditions, right?”
“For the time being, yes. There’s not much left to conquer anyway.”
Sophia and Trajanus were visibly happy and ran around.
Marcus had also been thinking lately that he should not leave his home for too long.
Perhaps it was because of Pompey’s influence, who had been worried about his children until the end.
He felt a stronger urge to spend more time with his children and prepare a future where they could live happily.
His gaze turned to Danae, who was slowly walking behind Julia.
She was holding their son Achilles, who had grown a lot since the last time he saw him.
Behind her were Publius and Berenice, who walked cautiously.
Marcus hugged Julia awkwardly and went over to Publius to greet him warmly.
“You’ve worked hard on this long journey. Did everything go well with your mission?”
“Yes. I brought back a satisfactory result. I left that thing with the craftsmen in Antioch. I think they will make some progress soon.”
“Good. If this works out well, it will be all thanks to you. I’ll give you a proper reward.”
“I’m happy enough that my wife has regained her rights as an Egyptian royalty. She also wanted to thank you and her younger siblings.”
As soon as Publius finished speaking, Berenice bowed her head to Marcus.
It was an unusually polite attitude that would have been unimaginable in the past.
Marcus accepted her greeting with satisfaction and looked around his group.
“Well, let’s not stand here any longer. Let’s go back to the palace.”
“Is there no welcome ceremony?”
“I asked Pharaoh if he wanted to prepare a grand welcome ceremony. But I thought it would be better to rest first, so I asked him to postpone it. Are you disappointed that there’s no welcome ceremony?”
“Of course not.”
Julia chuckled and shook her head.
“I’m honestly relieved that the grand event has been pushed back. I just want to rest a bit right now.”
“That’s right. Don’t think about anything and just relax.”
“Hmm… But it seems like you have something to say on your side. Are you okay? If you want to talk, we can do it here.”
“Huh? Oh, no. I’ll go to your room later and talk to you. It’s a bit… delicate matter.”
Julia had never seen her husband act like this before.
She looked at Danae behind her, but she also shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t know anything.
‘Something is strange… Is there anything that bothers him? Egypt, Alexandria… Pharaoh…’
She suddenly remembered Cleopatra and Arsinoe’s faces and gave a bitter smile.
She doubted it, but there was a saying that doubt kills people.
She let go of her children’s hands and walked towards Spartacus, who was still standing in his place.
Spartacus’s pupils trembled as he saw Julia approaching him with a smile.
Her smile was so beautiful that it made him admire her, but it was also so cold that it made him shiver.
“Spartacus sir, can we talk for a moment? Please join me in the carriage.”
“Ha, haha… I have to stay by Marcus sir’s side… “
“But he already left with the children in the carriage, didn’t he? Without him, you have to protect me.”
“Yes. But…”
“Don’t worry. I don’t mean to trouble you. I just want you to answer one thing.”
Spartacus felt a strange chill in Julia’s beautiful expression.
She smiled at him, but it was also terrifying.
※※※
After returning to the palace, Marcus played with his children for a while before calling Publius to his room and listening to his report.
Publius brewed some tea leaves that he had brought from Han and handed a cup to Marcus.
“This is what the nobles over there drink. It’s not alcohol, but it has a strange aroma that makes it tolerable. Try it.”
“Oh, thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
Marcus took the cup with gratitude and savored the tea scent before slowly bringing it to his mouth.
Publius tilted his head and asked, seeing his familiar gesture.
“Have you had this before? You look very natural.”
“Well, maybe I have, maybe I haven’t.”
Marcus gave a vague answer and took a sip of the tea.
It tasted and smelled different from the tea he had occasionally drunk in the modern era, but he felt a sense of nostalgia.
“But brother, shouldn’t you talk to your wife first? She and Danae missed you so much.”
“Ah, that’s… They say it’s better to get the beating over with, but I still want to delay it a bit. Anyway, I’ll go see them after I finish talking with you.”
It was an incomprehensible remark, but Publius decided to let it go.
Instead of asking why, he told him everything that had happened in Han without leaving anything out.
Marcus carefully read through the matters that Publius considered important.
“They said you don’t have to bow to them? They treated you quite radically.”
“Yes. The Son of Heaven in Han seemed to regard you and him as equal. He actually said so.”
“That’s nonsense. He might have said that in front of you, but their records would say otherwise.”
“Really? It didn’t seem like that…”
“You don’t know their language, so they can say whatever they want. You can’t even see how they recorded it later.”
The royal dynasty of Han had always been like that.
Even when Han was defeated by the Xiongnu and paid tribute, or when Song paid tribute to Liao and Jin, they never thought that they were pushed back and bowed down.
It was only a gesture of goodwill from the Son of Heaven to foster friendship with the powerful countries in the borderlands.
Marcus thought they would try to establish a similar relationship with Rome.
It didn’t matter much to him whether they did or not.
Whether Han recorded Rome as a vassal of Han or a country that came to pay tribute, nothing would change.
The most important benefits had already been taken by Rome anyway. What did he care about such trivial word games?
Marcus decided that he had heard enough of the minor details and brought up the topic that he was most curious about.
“Did any of the officials or the Son of Heaven in Han mention anything about the northern nomads? Even if it’s a trivial story, I’ll take it.”
“Oh, there was a brief mention of that. But seeing that you’re also interested in it, was that an important issue?”
Publius asked with a slightly anxious look on his face.
He wondered if he had overlooked any important information due to his poor judgment.
“I’m not sure if I should take this seriously or if I’m just being paranoid. If you heard anything, tell me in detail.”
“Yes. Well…”
Marcus sincerely hoped that the Xiongnu were still harassing Han.
If the Xiongnu and Han were still in conflict, he could put his worries aside for today.
It was impossible for the Xiongnu who were fighting with Han far away to exert any pressure on the western nomads.
The weakened Scythians were nothing compared to Rome’s current power, so they were not a problem.
But what came out of Publius’s mouth was almost the worst case scenario among all the possibilities that Marcus had imagined.
“Lately, the northern nomads called Xiongnu have become noticeably quiet. According to Han’s intelligence, they seem to have moved westward.”
“Do you know why they are showing such movement?”
“They didn’t seem to know either. I heard that the Xiongnu were eyeing the Silk Road where Han traded with the west…”
“I see. That was very useful information. The Xiongnu are advancing westward.”
Publius couldn’t understand why Marcus’s face hardened at his words.
“Does that mean they could come all the way to Rome? Surely…”
“The nomads’ range of movement is very different from what you think. In my opinion, there is only one thing they are aiming for if they are moving westward.”
The Xiongnu had been constantly stirring up trouble in the north of the Central Plains because they knew that the richest country they knew was Han.
If there was a country as prosperous and wealthy as Han nearby, they would have moved there right away.
In the original history, the Xiongnu hardly knew anything about Rome until their decline.
But now it was different.
Through the Silk Road, Rome’s superior culture flowed into Han, and rumors of the great civilization in the west also spread to the east.
If the Xiongnu judged Rome to be much richer than Han, he couldn’t predict what would happen.
It was impossible for them to invade immediately from such a distance.
There were many tribes and small kingdoms between the Huns and Rome.
But what if the Huns subjugated them and formed a huge power that moved westward?
Europe might face the nightmare of Genghis Khan 1200 years earlier.
Marcus decided that he had to come up with a proper plan and left his room to sort out his thoughts.
‘First of all, I have to send a letter to Rome. I have to tell Caesar again to investigate the east of Germania for at least another month.’
He sighed deeply as he climbed up to the upper floor. Marcus composed himself in front of Julia’s door.
Dealing with the Hun problem was good, but there was something else he had to do first.
The Huns could be a distant future, but the disaster could be tomorrow’s matter.
He cautiously entered the room and Julia greeted him with a radiant smile.
“You’re here? I was waiting for you. When will you come?”
Danae was also sitting next to Julia.
She looked at Julia and Marcus alternately and smiled awkwardly.
Marcus stiffened as he saw the smile on Julia’s lips.
She was smiling, but her eyes were not.
‘Did she already find out? Did Spartacus spill everything?’
Come to think of it, Spartacus did advise him to apologize as soon as possible before dinner.
If the truth had already leaked out, there was no point in making excuses here.
Marcus quickly bowed his waist at a right angle and shouted as sincerely as possible.
“I’m really sorry! I made a mistake that I can’t even explain with ten mouths!”
“Oh, what did you do wrong? I don’t know unless you tell me. What mistake did you make?”
“Well, that’s…”
He felt guilty as he tried to say it out loud in front of his wife.
“If you don’t tell me, I won’t know.”
Julia pressed him with her gaze and Marcus couldn’t stand it. He finally lowered his head and begged for his wife’s mercy.
“I didn’t tell you and I embraced… Cleopatra and Arsinoe.”
“Aha, you did that. You really made a big mistake.”
Julia smiled brightly and got up from her seat.
Marcus felt a chill down his spine that he had never experienced in his life.