< 194. What happened in the East 4>
“Julia… I an, I…”
“Oh, you’re still flustered? You must have realized that you made a mistake.”
“Wait. Let 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 ti with your family and called us to Alexandria, but you slept with not one but two other won. How do you expect to accept that?”
“No, that’s because…”
“I’m worried. Whether I should go back to Ro 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 Ro, Marcus would suffer a huge blow.
His popularity that he had built up so far could plumt in an instant.
His relationship with Caesar could also beco awkward.
Of course, Julia didn’t really an 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 won.
Who could just let that go?
If she could, that would be a problem in itself.
It would an that her affection or trust had already cooled off.
“What bothers is your aftermath. It’s natural to take strong asures 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 sa 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 Ro. 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 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 seed like a vague line between admiration and longing, but as ti 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 ti.
“You’re right. Maybe I had that plan from the mont I accepted them. To completely take Egypt into my hands, I had no choice but to make them my won… 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 so 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 docunt.
Julia could not help but snort at the sight of Marcus carefully pushing the docunt 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 ti. There’s no point in 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 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 t eyes nodded their heads once as if they had exchanged so 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 an by join us?”
“Of course, I an it literally. Have you forgotten the promise we made in the past? You will always put 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 away. Wait… but if you want to join you two, does that an 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 won.
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 mont 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 won he loved most in the world, to the point where he felt scared.
He realized for the first ti in his life that sleeping with soone 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 beco as thin as a skeleton in less than ten days.
Arsinoe, who had lunch with him for the first ti in a long ti, asked with a worried face.
“Marcus, did you have any health problems? Do you want 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 aningless nonsense, and moved busily to deal with his schedule for the day.
Even while he was walking around, he barely endured falling asleep several tis 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 ti in a while, felt the importance of rest with his whole body and welcod a new day.
But maybe because he understood the feelings of a man well, Publius ca 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 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 seed to co back to life.
Publius gave a bitter smile as he watched him and poured himself so tea.
“But you must have been forgiven easily by my sister-in-law, right? If it were , 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 ti 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 ca from his sincerity.
He clicked his tongue lightly.
“You’re still in the good phase, huh.”
“What? What did you say?”
“Nothing. Pour 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 co from? Antioch? Or Ro?”
“Ro. 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 sared here and there.
It was sothing 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 Ro 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 ssenger 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 ssenger to leave.
When only two people were left, a sigh filled with anger naturally ca out of Marcus’s mouth.
“These bastards don’t listen to 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 ti to rest at ease in my fate. I’m going to work. You can drink slowly and co 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.
< 194. What Happened in the East > End
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