Chapter 591: Discussion with the new Rulers of Rome (3)

Capítulo 591: Discussion with the new Rulers of Rome (3)

“Is that enough to make you trust my words?” Nathan asked into the stunned quiet.

“Are you serious…” Fulvius asked, his voice emerging as barely more than a whisper, hoarse and strained as if the words themselves struggled to form.

For a long moment, he found himself wrestling with the possibility that Nathan might be lying, that this could be some elaborate bluff, some audacious gambit designed to elevate his own position through a fabricated connection to one of the most powerful women in the world. But even as the thought formed, it crumbled under the weight of logic and reason. Why would anyone tell such extraordinary, such potentially verifiable absurdities about the Pharaoh of Amun Ra unless they were absolutely, incontrovertibly true? The risk of such a lie being exposed would be catastrophic, would destroy any credibility Nathan possessed. No sane man would stake his reputation on such a claim unless it could withstand scrutiny.

“I am,” Nathan confirmed with a simple nod.

“Then what you did here…” Fulvius began, his mind racing to connect the threads, to understand the full scope of Nathan’s motivations and machinations. “All of this, the attack on Caesar, the overthrow of his rule, the—”

“I did for myself,” Nathan interrupted, his voice taking on a harder edge. “Caesar dared to touch the Princess of Tenebria, dared to lay his hands on what was mine, so I made him pay the heaviest price imaginable. I destroyed everything he built, everything he dreamed of, and left him with nothing but ashes and death. Of course, my personal vendetta aligned with other goals perfectly, with the interests of many who wished to see Caesar fall. But understand this clearly—Arsinoe’s release is for Cleopatra. This is about ensuring the happiness and satisfaction of the woman I care for, and removing any potential source of friction between Amun Ra and Rome.”

A heavy, contemplative silence descended upon the chamber.

Crassus, Fulvius, and the Pope leaned toward each other, their voices dropping to urgent whispers as they began discussing their options, weighing possibilities, calculating risks and benefits.

They didn’t bother to ask Servilia for her opinion or vote, because they already knew her answer. Her position had been clear from the moment she had agreed to be present at this meeting, her allegiance to Nathan’s cause already established through prior conversations and shared interests.

The whispered consultation continued for several long minutes, hands gesturing animatedly, heads shaking or nodding, points being raised and countered. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of deliberation, the three men seemed to reach a consensus. The Pope, as the eldest and most venerated among them, straightened in his seat and cleared his throat to speak for the group.

“Very well,” he said, “Arsinoe will be released on the day that Cleopatra arrives in Rome. We will arrange for her to be properly prepared for the reunion, dressed in garments befitting her station, and presented to her sister with all due ceremony and respect.”

“Good,” Nathan said with evident satisfaction, a slight smile touching the corners of his mouth. He allowed himself a moment to savor this victory before pressing forward with his agenda. “Next, I want you to give me complete ownership of Spartacus and the other gladiators currently under his command or within his sphere of influence.”

This time, genuine surprise registered on the faces of all three Roman leaders.

“Spartacus?” Crassus repeated.

“Instead of letting him rot away for nothing in some forgotten cell or arena, serving no purpose beyond occasional entertainment, I have a much better use for him in Tenebria,” Nathan explained. “I will be taking him and all of his gladiators with me when I return home. They will serve a greater purpose under my command.”

“That doesn’t seem particularly problematic for us, to be honest,” Fulvius said slowly, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he considered the request from multiple angles. “We have been wondering what exactly to do with him, how to handle his continued presence in Rome. He’s become something of a political liability, a reminder of past failures and rebellions that many would prefer to forget.”

Crassus nodded in agreement, his aged face thoughtful. “I don’t want him remaining in Rome either, truth be told,” he admitted freely. “Caesar kept him alive and imprisoned primarily to use his fame and notoriety to attract crowds to the arena, to generate more wealth and enhance his own reputation as the man who controlled the legendary Spartacus. But that chapter is over now, finished along with Caesar’s reign. There’s no reason to continue holding him here.”

“Good, that was concluded faster than I anticipated,” Nathan smiled, genuine pleasure evident in his expression. He had braced himself for more resistance, more arguments and negotiations around this particular request. Spartacus was, after all, still someone who had attempted a massive slave rebellion against Rome itself, who had led armies against Roman legions and won victories that had embarrassed the Republic. But it seemed that the political calculus had shifted enough that his removal was seen as a benefit rather than a concession.

“Then what else is there?” Fulvius asked, leaning forward with his elbows on the table, his fingers interlaced before him. “What other demands do you bring before us? If it’s about helping Tenebria form a formal military alliance with Rome for purposes of waging war against the Light Empire, you will have to wait and be patient. We cannot commit Roman legions to a war which doesn’t concern us immediately or directly, which doesn’t threaten Roman interests or Roman citizens, without proper justification and a formally ratified alliance with Tenebria. The Senate would never approve such action, and even we four cannot simply override all protocol and tradition.”

“I understand that perfectly well, and I am not planning to launch an immediate attack on the Light Empire anyway,” Nathan assured him with a dismissive wave of his hand. “There is much preparation to be done, much groundwork to be laid before such a campaign becomes feasible or advisable. Patience, in this case, serves my interests as well as yours.”

“Then are those all your demands?” Crassus asked. “Have we addressed everything you wished to discuss?”

“No,” Nathan said, and something shifted in his demeanor. “There’s another matter. What are you planning to do with Julia?”

Julia. The daughter of Caesar.

The question clearly surprised them, caught them off-guard.

“She is the daughter of Caesar,” Fulvius stated slowly, his voice heavy with the weight of that undeniable fact. “As such, given her bloodline and connection to everything that has transpired, she cannot be treated with leniency or allowed to simply walk away unpunished. There must be accountability, consequences for—”

“Julia had nothing whatsoever to do with Caesar’s machinations and crimes!” Servilia spoke up sharply. “She is completely innocent in all of this, a victim of circumstance rather than a perpetrator of any wrongdoing. She should not be made to suffer for her father’s sins.”

“Perhaps that’s true, and I don’t dispute her personal innocence,” Fulvius replied, his tone softening slightly in acknowledgment of Servilia’s point, though his expression remained troubled and conflicted. “But she carries his blood in her veins, bears his name, represents his legacy. It will be extraordinarily difficult for the Senators to accept letting her go easily, to simply forgive and forget. They will demand some form of justice, some visible consequence, or they will see us as weak, as complicit in Caesar’s crimes.”

“Who cares what the Senators think or demand?” Nathan interjected forcefully, his voice rising in annoyance. His eyes flashed dangerously as he gestured emphatically. “Aren’t you four the ones truly ruling Rome right now? Don’t you hold the real power in this city, the authority to make decisions that matter? Just make it publicly known that she is not to be held accountable for her father’s crimes, that she is judged on her own merits and actions rather than his. Issue a formal declaration, make it official policy.”

He paused, his expression intensifying as he pressed his argument. “The people already love her, adore her even. Think about what happened during Caesar’s final, desperate act of madness. When he summoned those beasts into the Coliseum, when he fled like a coward from the chaos and carnage he had created, abandoning everyone to save his own skin—Julia stayed. She remained behind to help the people escape to safety, to guide them toward the exits, to shield children with her own body. Thousands witnessed her courage, her compassion, her willingness to sacrifice herself for ordinary citizens who meant nothing to her politically.”

Nathan leaned forward, his voice dropping to a more persuasive register. “They saw it with their own eyes. You just need to spread and amplify those accounts, to use those eyewitnesses to craft the narrative. Let the people tell the story of Julia’s heroism, let them testify to her character and actions. Public opinion will shift dramatically in her favor, and the Senators will have no choice but to follow or risk appearing cruel and unjust in the eyes of Rome’s citizens.”

“Look, if you’re seriously that worried about it, then just go ahead and use my name however you see fit—like with Servilia, to help clean up their reputation or whatever,” Nathan said with a casual shrug, his tone suggesting it wasn’t really a big deal to him one way or another.

His identity as Septimius carried an absolutely massive amount of weight in Rome, after all. The people weren’t just respecting him—they were practically worshipping the ground he walked on, treating him like some kind of legendary Hero ever since that day they’d watched him fight Romulus one-on-one in the coliseum. That single combat had cemented his reputation in a way that few things could.

“In that case Lord Septimius, why don’t you just take her with you to Tenebria?” The Pope suggested, leaning forward slightly. “You know, like you did with Spartacus.”

Nathan immediately shook his head, dismissing the idea before it could even gain traction.

“She grew up here in Rome. Her entire life, everything she’s ever known, is right here in this city. She’s way too attached to Rome itself and to its people,” Nathan explained, his voice carrying a note of finality. “Ripping her away from all of that would destroy her.”

It wasn’t like the idea hadn’t crossed his mind at some point, to be honest.

After all, he’d brought plenty of people back from Troy with him—Briseis and Astynome, for example, and even Kassandra, who was currently living in Tenebria. But the circumstances surrounding each of them were completely different from Julia’s situation, and he knew it.

Briseis had lost absolutely everything—her home, her family, her entire world had been torn apart. And because of what Agamemnon had done to her, the psychological trauma she’d endured at his hands, she felt completely broken and traumatized. She desperately needed to leave the Trojan lands behind, to escape those memories and start fresh somewhere new where the ghosts of her past couldn’t haunt her.

Astynome’s situation had been similarly tragic. She had no family left anymore either, not after her father’s death, and she’d made the conscious choice to follow Nathan to Tenebria alongside Briseis, hoping to build a new life for herself away from the ruins of her old one.

Kassandra’s case was a bit different from the others. She was Nathan’s woman, his official wife actually—there had even been a proper ceremony and everything. But it wasn’t like Kassandra was leaving Troy and her family behind forever or anything like that. Even now, at this very moment, she was currently back in Troy visiting with her family, maintaining those important connections to her homeland.

And then there were Helen and Clytemnestra, the two sisters.

They’d both lost their husbands in the war—not that either of them had particularly liked their husbands to begin with, if Nathan was being completely honest. And Sparta had changed so dramatically that it wasn’t really their home anymore, not in any meaningful sense. So they’d chosen to follow Nathan to his new kingdom. Of course, Helen having become Nathan’s woman had naturally followed him wherever he went, but she was actually the one who’d insisted that her sister Clytemnestra come along too. She couldn’t bear to leave her broken-hearted sister behind, not when Clytemnestra had lost her whole family and her entire life had fallen apart around her.

All of their cases, every single one of them, were fundamentally different from Julia’s situation. Julia clearly loved Rome with every fiber of her being and had such a deep, powerful attachment to the city and everything it represented. Forcing her to leave Rome, tearing her away from the only home she’d ever known, would feel to her like she was being thrown out, exiled and abandoned. It would absolutely break her spirit.

“She’s going to be completely alone here though, do you understand that?” Fulvius asked, his voice carrying genuine concern. “She might suffer greatly because of it.”

After all, she had no family left to support her, not with Caesar locked away in prison awaiting his fate.

And there was a very real possibility that she’d face bullying and social ostracism from the Senators’ daughters and the daughters of other Roman nobles, who might see her as an easy target or someone to distance themselves from.

“I won’t let that happen to her,” Servilia spoke up immediately, her voice firm and decisive. “I can adopt her if it becomes necessary.” She added, shocking everyone in the room as she turned to look directly at Nathan.

“Actually, I have an even better person in mind to adopt Julia,” Nathan said with a knowing smile, his gaze sliding over to land on Crassus.

“Huh?” Crassus looked completely dumbfounded, clearly not expecting to suddenly be pulled into this conversation.

“Julia is right around Licinia’s age, maybe a year or two different at most. I’m absolutely sure that no one would dare threaten her or attempt anything against her with Licinia around to protect her,” Nathan explained.

Among all the daughters of Roman nobles, Licinia was by far the most arrogant and fierce—even more so than Fulvia, and that was really saying something. Nathan knew for a fact that Licinia appreciated Julia and would definitely love having her around as a foster sister. She’d protect her like a lioness guarding her cubs.

“W…Wait just a minute, I can’t possibly…” Crassus stuttered, panic evident in his voice as this proposal had come completely out of nowhere and caught him totally off guard.

“You can,” Nathan said flatly, his tone brooking no argument. “Caesar had adopted Brutus for a while back in the day, so you can absolutely do the same thing. And honestly, it fits the narrative perfectly. Just think about it—people will talk about your incredible mercy and compassion. Crassus, the great man who adopted the lonely and sad daughter of the tyrant Caesar in her darkest hour. What do you think about that?”

Crassus gritted his teeth, his jaw clenching as he processed this.

He hated to admit it, but Nathan was absolutely right. It did seem perfectly fitting for the story they were trying to tell…

“I’ll need to discuss this with my family first,” Crassus said, trying to buy himself some time to think.

“Your wife? Seriously? Are you a man or what?” Nathan asked with obvious disdain, his tone almost mocking.

“Fine! Alright, fine! I’ll adopt her!” Crassus finally blurted out, saying it loud enough for everyone to hear clearly.

Fulvius, meanwhile, just stared at Nathan as if he was looking at the devil himself, his expression a mixture of awe and something close to fear. How did things always, always seem to go exactly Nathan’s way? It was almost supernatural.