Chapter 194: What happened in the East 4
Chapter 194: What happened in the East 4
“Julia… I mean, I…”
“Oh, you’re still flustered? You must have realized that you made a mistake.”
“Wait. Let me explain what happened. Just calm down and sit down.”
“You’re the one who needs to calm down. I’m not that angry. I just don’t understand.”
Julia said with a cold smile on her lips.
“You said you wanted to have a good time with your family and called us to Alexandria, but you slept with not one but two other women. How do you expect me to accept that?”
“No, that’s because…”
“I’m worried. Whether I should go back to Rome with the kids tomorrow or not.”
There was no sign of anger in Julia’s voice, but that made it more scary.
If she really went back to Rome, Marcus would suffer a huge blow.
His popularity that he had built up so far could plummet in an instant.
His relationship with Caesar could also become awkward.
Of course, Julia didn’t really mean that.
She was just trying to say that she was angry and hurt.
She couldn’t help but be angry as a human being.
Her husband had called her and the kids and rolled around with other women.
Who could just let that go?
If she could, that would be a problem in itself.
It would mean that her affection or trust had already cooled off.
“What bothers me is your aftermath. It’s natural to take strong measures after an unwanted relationship, but did you do that? It seems like you got closer to the two pharaohs instead.”
“That’s because I had to consider the realistic problems…”
“I know that too. It doesn’t make sense to do anything to them for that reason. It’s the best situation for exercising our influence in Egypt. I should be grateful instead of angry, right? It’s just my stubbornness.”
“…”
Julia sighed and sat down.
Danae, who was in the middle, couldn’t take sides with anyone as she felt awkward.
She understood Marcus’s position, but she was also upset.
Marcus decided not to make any more excuses as he felt like sitting on a thorn.
Julia’s anger was emotional, so it was no use to talk rashly.
It would only make her more angry.
It was best to keep silent with a face that showed his remorse.
Julia’s eyes softened as she looked at Marcus.
She was too rational to keep being angry.
“Sigh… Actually, this was inevitable. If you planted your bloodline in the Ptolemaic dynasty, it would be almost the same as our family effectively ruling Egypt.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“It’s not a bad deal for the pharaohs either. They can secure their safety by allying with the highest authority of Rome. It’s not like you’re going to marry them officially or have a marital relationship with them. Maybe I overreacted.”
“No. You have every right to be angry. I should have handled it better if I considered your feelings.”
“What I was upset about was that you didn’t tell me beforehand if you knew it was unavoidable. You knew this would happen long ago, didn’t you?”
Marcus had nothing to say back.
Julia knew how Cleopatra and Arsinoe looked at Marcus.
At first, it seemed like a vague line between admiration and longing, but as time went by, she could easily notice their feelings growing.
They had even discussed this topic lightly before.
Marcus’s answer then was that they were too young to talk about such things.
Julia didn’t think so, but she didn’t argue.
Marcus sincerely apologized this time.
“You’re right. Maybe I had that plan from the moment I accepted them. To completely take Egypt into my hands, I had no choice but to make them my women… That would be a lie if I said otherwise. If I had been honest with you at that point and asked for your understanding, you would have agreed without saying much.”
“I would have set some conditions though.”
“That’s natural. I don’t want to hurt your feelings either. I’ll try my best to balance things out as much as I can.”
Even if he had children with Cleopatra and Arsinoe, they were not Romans.
And they couldn’t claim any rights as Marcus’s children either.
Danae’s child was still a Roman and entered the family as Marcus’s adopted son, but the Pharaoh’s children would not even be able to do that.
Marcus had promised Julia this point firmly.
The only person who was qualified to inherit everything from the Crassus family was the child born by Julia.
Marcus even made this point clear in a document.
Julia could not help but snort at the sight of Marcus carefully pushing the document forward and showing it to her.
Marcus, who had been watching Julia carefully, sighed in relief and threw his last trump card.
He slowly brought his lips to Julia’s ear and whispered a few words.
At this one whisper, a smile finally appeared on Julia’s lips.
Marcus also smiled back. It must have been a sweet enough word.
“I can’t help it. I’ll forgive you this time. There’s no point in me being cold to you in front of the kids anyway.”
“Are you really letting this go?”
“I’m not completely forgiving you. If you ever report to me after the fact like this again, I might not be able to hold back.”
“Of course. There won’t be such a thing, but if by any chance there is a need for that, I’ll definitely tell you first.”
Julia finally showed a genuine smile as usual.
She dusted off her seat and got up, then turned her gaze to Danae.
The two people who met eyes nodded their heads once as if they had exchanged some signal and gave a strange laugh.
“Then let’s leave it at that for today. The mood is a bit off and it’s late, so let’s end it here. But from tomorrow on, you have to join us.”
“···Huh? What do you mean by join us?”
“Of course, I mean it literally. Have you forgotten the promise we made in the past? You will always put me first.”
“Oh, was that what you said? Of course, I have to do that. Don’t worry. I was rather worried that you would push me away. Wait… but if you want me to join you two, does that mean Danae too?”
“Naturally. You must have enjoyed yourself with those Egyptian girls, right?”
Although she didn’t know it after they got married, Julia hated losing to anyone very much.
And she basically wanted to enjoy everything that Marcus had done with other women.
As the legitimate wife, this was not strange, so Marcus also wanted to please her as much as possible.
He had done it before, so he was confident that he could appease his wife’s heart.
But Marcus did not realize at this moment that he was digging his own grave.
He hastily made a promise and was summoned to Julia’s bedroom almost every day from the next day.
And he was drained of his energy by the two women he loved most in the world, to the point where he felt scared.
He realized for the first time in his life that sleeping with someone he loved could be a terrifying experience.
Marcus was completely forgiven by Julia after he suffered for about a week and collapsed on the bed as if he was fainting.
※※※
People were shocked to see Marcus’s face, which had become as thin as a skeleton in less than ten days.
Arsinoe, who had lunch with him for the first time in a long time, asked with a worried face.
“Marcus, did you have any health problems? Do you want me to get you a good doctor?”
“No. It’s not my health that’s bad.”
“What? But you look more and more emaciated every day…”
“I’m losing energy as much as I’m filled with love.”
He left Arsinoe, who was tilting his head at the meaningless nonsense, and moved busily to deal with his schedule for the day.
Even while he was walking around, he barely endured falling asleep several times due to exhaustion.
Fortunately, Julia must have thought that she was too harsh, so she did not call Marcus to her bedroom that night.
Marcus, who had a good rest for the first time in a while, felt the importance of rest with his whole body and welcomed a new day.
But maybe because he understood the feelings of a man well, Publius came to Marcus’s room with tea leaves.
“Brother, I heard from my wife. You fainted? Are you okay?”
“······Did that reach your ears too?”
“Yes. My wife said she heard it when she was talking to my sister-in-law and Danae. But is it true?”
“Let’s not talk about that. It reminds me of a nightmare.”
Marcus’s hand trembled as he brought the teacup to his mouth.
The instinctive fear that had been ingrained in his body after suffering for a week seemed to come back to life.
Publius gave a bitter smile as he watched him and poured himself some tea.
“But you must have been forgiven easily by my sister-in-law, right? If it were me, I might have been killed by my wife already.”
“You say that, but your expression shows that you’re enjoying it. How’s your married life? It’s about time for the honeymoon phase to wear off.”
“Wear off? I’m always happier today than yesterday. Haha.”
Marcus was suddenly annoyed by the bright smile that came from his sincerity.
He clicked his tongue lightly.
“You’re still in the good phase, huh.”
“What? What did you say?”
“Nothing. Pour me another cup.”
The day in Alexandria where they enjoyed talking about trivial things as brothers.
The sound of a soldier running hastily broke the peaceful daily life.
“Urgent news. There is a letter that needs to be delivered to Marcus urgently.”
“Ha… what trouble has happened again? Where did it come from? Antioch? Or Rome?”
“Rome. There was a request to tell you that it’s urgent.”
He wondered what it was and checked the sender.
It was a letter from Cicero.
He had a bad feeling and quickly unrolled the scroll and read it down.
The ink stains that had not dried yet were smeared here and there.
It was something unimaginable for Cicero.
It was also unlike Cicero to not write a long-winded greeting as usual.
Instead, an apologetic phrase that conveyed urgency decorated the first sentence of the letter.
He said he was sorry that he couldn’t live up to his expectations after entrusting Rome to him.
And he said that he had crossed the line that he could handle, so he hoped that Marcus would return as soon as possible.
The reason was…
“Sextus raised an army and attacked Gaul first?”
“Yes?”
Publius, who had been watching Marcus with a serious expression, let out a stunned question.
The content of the letter was so absurd.
Marcus looked back at the messenger with a cold gaze.
“This letter is true without a single lie, right?”
“Of course. It’s the original without any manipulation.”
“He’s gone crazy. I warned him so much, but he still caused trouble? No, this is more than trouble.”
It wasn’t just a simple confrontation, but if he raised an army and invaded, it was practically impossible to reconcile.
Marcus grabbed his head with a throbbing headache and gestured for the messenger to leave.
When only two people were left, a sigh filled with anger naturally came out of Marcus’s mouth.
“These bastards don’t listen to me at all. I would have swept them all away if they did as they pleased, but I can’t do that either.”
“Brother, are you okay?”
“Yeah. I don’t have much time to rest at ease in my fate. I’m going to work. You can drink slowly and come later.”
“Yes. Brother. Please go ahead.”
Publius looked at Marcus’s back with a pitying eye as he walked away shakily.
He turned his eyes back to the beautiful scenery outside the window.
He sincerely felt relieved that he was not the one who inherited the family.
“It’s really delicious once in a while.”
Was it because of his mood?
Today, he felt the aroma and taste of tea more than ever.