Time goes back to the day after Novia was taken to Armageddon by Melucene.
On the outskirts of Rome, at the garrison of the Praetorian Guard, Lucius, who had just become the leader of the Praetorian Guard, was following Novia's wishes to rebuild these guys into soldiers with faith, instead of indulging in the extravagant life brought by high treatment.
Because of Novia's current prestige, and Lucius' announcement that anyone who disliked him could challenge him in a duel, over time, most of the Royal Guards were naturally defeated and became obedient to him.
However, Novia also knew that even if the Roman Empire relied on Christianity to form an effective management system in the future and used the doctrines he promoted to consolidate the spiritual beliefs of the Romans, it would only delay the pace of its doomed demise. No matter how it expanded, the most fundamental problem would still exist and cause Rome to perish. There was nothing that could be done about it.
"Sir Xialli, you can go inside the city and see what the scenery is like. Novia, no, I'll tell you as soon as the Pope comes back."
Lucius moved his feet and walked to the door of the Royal Guards' camp, and said to Xia Li who came here.
For the purple-haired girl who had lived in the Atlas Academy for many years, she basically had no idea what was happening in the Roman Empire. After all, they in the Atlas Academy did not pay much attention to these things and were only busy with their own research.
Nagishi was naturally no exception. If her adoptive father, the dean, had not come to tell her personally that an organization called the Holy Church had been established in Novia, she would probably still be staying in the Atlas Institute. Although she was confused at first about the point of the dean telling her such a strange thing, which was of no use to her research.
But then she thought that since she had finally gained her friend Novia, she might as well go and show her appreciation, so she came, but ended up missing him.
"No, in that case I have to leave because I'm still busy with my research..."
Upon hearing the news, Xia Li felt her head was a little empty. She stared blankly at the sky which hadn't changed at all. She felt quite uncomfortable. Perhaps she felt that she had wasted precious time but didn't see anything.
However, it is also possible that it is actually because you cannot see the person you want to see, which makes you feel a little anxious and distressed.
"What do you want to say to him before you leave? I'll tell him when the time comes."
"NO, I have not--"
"Really."
Lucius grinned.
After all, he had once dated a druid priestess who was nearly a hundred years old. Although both sides were actually using each other on the battlefield, the druid left a scar on his face before being executed. This scar caused Lucius to suddenly go blind during the battle, leading to the failure of the battle.
Until he met Jesus, he had been lingering in darkness, living like a walking corpse. In the end, he was redeemed and saw the light again.
More than a decade later, I met Novia again and witnessed him personally as he built Christianity step by step into what it is today, and even renamed it the Holy Church.
As for Shiali, who was once invited by Novia to Britain to study the Dragon of Albion, Lucius had long discovered that although this purple-haired girl seemed cold on the surface, she actually had a good impression of Novia, but was not good at expressing her emotions. It could be said that she was suppressed by something.
Therefore, Lucius thought that he could still bring the two together. After all, he had never seen any other women around Novia. If Novia had not refused, he would have introduced some female druids to Novia in Britain.
"......"
In Xia Li's opinion, Lucius was forcing her to say something to Novia, who was not here. He clearly said no but still wanted her to say it.
The girl didn't understand what this meant, she just felt that people were really strange. There were countless strange things about countless people. If she hadn't made up her mind not to use the ether line to steal other people's perceptions and rely on her own feelings after meeting Novia, otherwise, based on her previous personality, she would have used the ether line on Lucius long ago.
"Novia, I..."
Xia Li raised her head again and looked up at the sky. The warm sunlight hit her cheeks. This light contained inorganic light and shone with golden light. It was as if the day when she first met that person, Novia was also facing such light and saying strange words.
The girl's mind flashed back to the time when they first met in Alexandria. So, today was the same as that day, nothing had changed...
She thought idly.
"Sorry, Lucius, could you please go back inside for a moment and I'll give it to you later."
"it is good."
Lucius didn't think much about it when he saw this. He just nodded and went back.
Then, Xiali took out the gift she originally wanted to give to Novia, a stone. This was something she had been thinking about for a long time. It was something she developed that could engrave sounds on it.
Although the rules of Atlas Academy clearly prohibit the disclosure of one's own research, the old dean seemed to have not noticed that Xia Li brought it out to give it away.
Although it was okay to let Lucius convey her words, the purple-haired girl still felt that it would be better for Novia to hear it directly.
Suddenly, a cold wind blew, and her back trembled for no reason. In an instant, she suddenly remembered the piece of food that she had not finished eating and had preserved well. She originally wanted to return it to him this time...
Stroking the stone with her cold fingers, Xiali couldn't help complaining in her heart, wishing that Novia was here.
How long do you plan to take to come back? I really don’t understand. After meeting him, the girl always feels that her mind is full of question marks.
Having said that, it wouldn’t just be now, it would be great if Novia was there every minute and every second.
It turned out that she had always wanted him to join the Atlas Institute. Indeed, this person's design ideas were very much to her taste. But unfortunately, this should be impossible, after all, he has already joined another organization.
"Really?"
The girl put the stone to her lips and spoke briefly, as if she was talking to herself.
In fact, the words I wanted to say had already jumped to my throat, but because of some unknown feeling, I swallowed them along with my saliva.
But the purple-haired girl took another deep breath, ignoring the heat in her body, and engraved the words in her heart.
"Novia, I want to say something to you, even if you may say you don't need it, but I still want to tell you... Congratulations on completing your goal, you are amazing, and I am really looking forward to meeting you next time."
064: I am Nero's teacher, that is reason enough.
"Is this a gift from Xialli?"
Novia, who returned to Rome from Armageddon, naturally received the gift from Xia Li from Lucius not long after. Now he was playing with the stone in his hand and rubbing it constantly.
Unlike when she came here, Meilushin insisted on taking a boat back. Novia understood her thoughts and let her do as she pleased.
"Shiari? The human with purple hair?"
The name Meilushin left a deep impression on her, because at the beginning she saw Novia carrying this weak person on his back, so her dissatisfaction with her head being made into a weapon felt a little better. After all, she still liked people who were considerate of the weaker ones.
But her mentality has completely changed now. She only cares about one thing -
"Could it be possible that she likes you too?"
"Don't worry, she and I are just friends."
Novia naturally confirmed it, and reached out and pinched her face.
"Well, I believe you."
Novia would never lie. Maybe she would hide something, but she would never speak falsely. Meilushin was so confident.
"Speaking of which, what is the use of this stone?" Meilushin asked. "Although it has a certain amount of magic power attached to it, it is very minimal. Could it be that there is some principle that I don't understand?"
"I don't know either, but no matter what, it's a gift after all. No matter what, it's enough to have this thought. I will still keep it well."
Although Novia knew that this was a gift from Xiali, no matter how you looked at it, it was just a stone with a bit of magical aura... maybe it was some kind of blessing from Xiali.
What he didn't know was that although Xia Li asked Lucius to hand over the stone containing her words, she didn't tell him how to use it. He didn't know whether she forgot because she was shy, or because she thought that everyone should know it without being told.
In short, at this moment, Novia did not hear what Xia Li said.
"It's getting late today, and it's about time—"
Before Novia could finish his words, he saw Melusin, who had been sticking her face close to his, immediately come to his arms and open her arms. Her golden pupils blinked as if she saw something new, as if she was eager for it, and her mouth was half open foolishly.
Long was asking for a kiss. She had made this a habit on the way back to the ship. Before every night, she would ask Novia to kiss her and hold her body tightly. It would be best if Novia could gently bite her long tongue.
Since she has not yet successfully obtained the body, after the kiss, Melusin will cling to Novia and sleep with her until dawn when she will ask for another kiss again.
Now, naturally, there is no exception.
The next day, since Nero was still in the Greek peninsula and could not come back for a while, Novia, who learned the content of the Sibylla's oracle, went to find Nero's mother, Agrippina first.
"Your Highness Agrippina, long time no see."
"It's you, Novia."
The last time Novia saw her was at Nero's coronation ceremony. Apart from that, they had hardly seen each other since then, and Nero did not allow her to participate in political affairs.
In the house where Agrippina lived, the sunlight shining in through the windows would be swallowed up by the boundless darkness inside, without causing a ripple on the snow-white walls. It was like a coffin sitting in this remote corner, full of depression.
"No matter how you look at it, Novia, you are actually quite pitiful."
The silence passed, and Novia was not so much ignoring it as waiting for what the woman would say next.
"Ah, because that child, the child who looks like a doll, is already the master of this great empire. Such a lovely child, my child." Agrippina held her face with a sick smile, and seemed to be talking to herself, "I really love her."
"After I came back from exile, I decided to make the lovely Nero the emperor. To this end, I can do everything and will do everything. I can persist. I have had the desire to devour everything since I was a child. Really, such a cute doll..."
Novia watched her expression change from tenderness, madness, to terror.
"No matter what, you are her mother after all."
"Yes, I am her mother. She has my blood, the blood of Agrippina the Great, and the blood of Julia. That is why you are the most pitiful, Novia."
Agrippina the Younger laughed wildly,
"The so-called emperor is to rule over everything on behalf of the one in heaven. Everything is under his control. He is endowed with everything and is allowed to do anything. He is the god on earth!"
Then Agrippina gave Novea a mocking look.
"Nero is impossible to change. Look, prosperity shines on the empire and finally calls her. Now she just misunderstands her madness and desire because of what you did. She only likes you.
And it is precisely because I understand this that you are the most pitiful, Novia. By then, either she will kill you or you will kill her. Hahahaha, I have been waiting for this day to come."
Julia, the daughter of Octavian, was exiled by Octavian for her debauchery and adultery.
Agrippina the Great, Julia's daughter, was exiled for treason and sexual misconduct and starved to death.
Agrippina the Younger, after her husband's death, tried to seduce her brother Caligula and failed, then attempted to assassinate him. After the conspiracy was exposed, she was exiled. After returning to Rome, she bewitched the richest man in Rome at that time and made him marry her. Not long after, the richest man died. Finally, she seduced Emperor Claudius.
It can be seen that from the experiences of these three people, they all led extremely dissolute lives, and it can even be said that one after another, they were even worse than before.
Therefore, according to general rules, Nero should also be now——
"You must be thinking about something that makes you happy right now, right?"
Novia suddenly said with a laughing voice.
"Agrippina, in fact, it was only a very small fact that anyone would have missed. Nero did lose her smile, that's all."
"Your words did give me a momentary illusion. Is it that Nero, as your child, must be like this? But no, she is not Julia, not Agrippina the Great, and not you. She is Nero, that's all."
"It's her own life, she will choose it herself. Even if her past cannot be changed, I will accept it and I will bear it all. That's all."
"The fact that I'm her teacher is reason enough."
065: Teacher, please don't abandon me (4k)
After the canal across the Isthmus of Corinth was completed, six days before Nero was due to return to Rome.
It was a cold and gloomy day. It was a dark and cloudy day with white clouds starting from early morning.
"It's raining, Locusta."
"Ah....yes, your majesty."
Nero, who was drinking Rocuso with mushroom soup, looked out the window with interest at the rain that was beginning to drip into the puddles that reflected the gloomy sky, and then the ripples that developed one after another collided with each other, and soon disappeared without a trace as if melting.
"I don't know if it's raining in Rome, but this level of rain shouldn't cause the river to flood. But even if it does, it's not a problem at all."
"Oh, is that so..."
Hearing the voice, Lokusta slowly turned his head and saw a gentle face suddenly come into view.
I don’t know what Nero was thinking about, but the corners of her mouth curved up and her expression was extremely gentle and calm.
"Locusta." Nero said with a smile, "Guess why?"
"Um.....Is it because of Lord Novia?"
"That's right." The Rose Emperor replied with a smile, "Teacher, he is like a sea of stars in the midst of countless dark muds. He is extremely important, not only to the empire, but also to me. In short, he is very important."
Locusta didn't understand what the Emperor was saying for a moment, but she thought he was probably praising Lord Novia for being a good person.
As the two talked, the sky was still quietly raining fog. Both Locusta and Nero were silent for a while, staring at the world in front of them. On the other side of the slightly trembling drizzle, the dark city stretched endlessly, and not a single person could be seen from here.
"Locusta, this is for you."
After a while, Nero called her again and handed a bottle of what looked like water with only a few drops left in it to Locusta.
"this....."
Locusta looked confused, and then Nero suddenly spoke clearly.
"This is poison. You have to use this as a benchmark to make a poison that is more toxic and easier to control."
"......Your Majesty, is this...?"
Although Lokusta knew that it was wrong to refuse now because the person in front of her was His Majesty the Emperor, she could not think of other appropriate words.
Not knowing whether this would make His Majesty unhappy, Locusta began to feel uneasy and glanced at Nero's expression, but the blonde girl continued to give her a cheerful smile.
