"I'm a Roman. Virgil lowered his head, slowly got up from the ground, and said in a low voice: "The only person I have allegiance to is Caesar, who fought for Caesar and for Rome." And not some other duke!"

"It is undeniable that Duke Aaron Brennus is a good knight and a good commander, and he has absolutely no second heart for you!" said Virgil quietly, "but...... He is the leader of the House of Brennus, and his influence on the north is too great! He may be dead to you, but what about his descendants? How can you guarantee their loyalty? You are still young, don't you want to build a dynasty that will dominate the world for a thousand years in your lifetime? This is your mission, and a monarch like you has every chance to accomplish the great cause of reviving Rome!"

Theodore looked at Virgil in a frantic manner, completely devoid of his usual graceful demeanor - or rather, this was Virgil's true face. The originally boiling mind suddenly became much calmer, and he began to hesitate a little, and his obsidian-like eyes became incomparably deep and rippling.

It doesn't matter what is right, what matters is which choice is better for Rome and what you should do. Theodore's heart struggled with the fact that what he once felt he should have done might not really be right now.

People live for their own desires—this is eternity, and Theodore could not help but mock himself. Naively thought that he could maintain his conscience and fulfill his ambitions at the same time, putting the two together. Do you really see Aaron as a friend, if it is, then you won't be shaken by Virgil's words!

I am also a selfish man, Theodore muttered to himself in his heart, his heavy gaze met the young foreign minister, and after a long time he spoke: "We cannot sit idly by, but! However, they were not allowed to take any action until they were ordered. ”

"Perhaps, I am not a good Caesar, nor am I a good emperor. Theodore whispered, "But what I should do, I know very well, and I will do whatever it takes to do so!"

"By the way, after you leave the Imperial Palace, call Master Edora, the Imperial Advisor, and our Living Codex. Theodore said coldly, "I will not leave any more opportunities for those greedy fellows!"

"If Rome really can stand for a thousand years, it must depend on the power of this code! I want to make them understand that the people who will decide the fate of Rome. Who the hell is it?"

"Follow your will, great Caesar. Virgil regained his old demeanor, slowly raised his waist and saluted, and the corners of his mouth curled into an imperceptible smile: "I will definitely convey your words to the adults in the Senate in their original form, please rest assured." With that, the Foreign Secretary left the room.

"You should not persecute Caesar, Foreign Secretary. Valens, standing outside the door, stood there like a sculpture, looking coldly at Virgil who came out. It seemed that the next moment he would pull out his long sword and cut off his head: "This will only embarrass Caesar, Caesar is a god, and he should not touch such a dirty thing!"

"I only do what I think is right...... In other words. As long as it's good for Rome, I'll do whatever it takes. Virgil grinned, "In a way, we're all doing the same thing, aren't we." My dear Captain of the Guard, Lord Valens?"

"It's not the same. Valence squinted at the spring-breezy Virgil, his sharp eyes were full of contempt and disdain, but he slowly let go of the hand holding the hilt of the sword: "It's completely different!"

"If that's what you think. I wouldn't have stood at the door and listened to my talk to Caesar. Virgil shrugged his shoulders: "I believe that if there is anyone in this world who can stop the loyal Lord Valens, it is probably only him, who else can do this?"

"Caesar is wise, wiser than you think, my dear Lord Valens. Virgil said in a deep voice: "It's just that there are many things that he doesn't want to face and admit to those ...... Dirty, ugly, vile, because Caesar was merciful, that's why we need to accomplish this. ”

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"Welcome, welcome, your honorable Duke Aaron Brennus! I hope I didn't make you too impatient to come here so late, but I have been preparing for a long time before I dare to come out to meet you!"

In the sweltering hall of the castle, a young man dressed in a loose robe suddenly appeared on the stairs, and shouted with a smile on his face with open arms, it could be seen that he was not strong, but a delicate robe looked loose, and his light golden hair could not hide the paleness of his face.

"Allow me to introduce myself at the moment. Probably satisfied with the sight of Aaron rising from his seat, the young man staggered down the stairs: "Raymond Wimpal, the owner of this castle and the only brother of the leader of the Wimpal family, also serves as his clerk. ”

As he spoke, a look of pride appeared on the young man's face, which made Aaron smile - in the past, clerks were indeed a very prominent position, because at that time there were still very few literate people, so most of them were cronies and nobles, but now it is very different from what it used to be, just an ordinary scholar's work.

"I'm sorry to have you here, but please forgive me for being abrupt, because we really don't have a good ...... Well, contact details. Raymond still said to himself, his voice was hoarse: "If you can, I hope you are satisfied with the environment and hospitality here." ”

"Oh, of course. Aaron smiled indifferently, and said casually without irony: "This gives me the feeling that it is like a manor in the south, and I almost forgot that I can see the Misty Mountains a little further north!"

"That's really good, don't people say that entertaining guests makes them feel like home!" The young man didn't hear the mockery in Aaron's tone, but said very proudly: "You must know that in order to build this castle, I went through the family classics and died more than a thousand servants to build it. The tone was as if a person's life was like some broken tool.

Aaron's face became more and more ugly, but he had to endure his nausea and chat casually with this "Master Wimpal", trying to extract some useful content from it. But this guy named Raymond was probably overly complacent, and he took the trouble to tell Aaron how many caravans he had plundered and how many small northern highlander tribes he had slaughtered in order to build a castle.

Probably realizing that the other party was also starting to get a little bored, Raymond sat down on the main seat and shouted for the servants to bring dinner. One by one, several girls pushing wooden carts came out of the back of the stairs, almost no different from the highlander girl Aaron had seen before—ragged clothes, barefoot, colorless eyes, like a walking corpse directing the movement of the body, like a living dead.

Bread, roast chicken, smoked sausage, hare broth, roasted crispy pork breast...... The fragrant dishes were placed in front of Aaron, and there was even a pair of delicate tableware, and a little girl stood in the middle of the table, holding a clay pot full of ale, pouring wine back and forth for Aaron and Raymond.

Duke Brenus, who was completely disgusted, did not have any appetite at all, and after two casual bites, he no longer had any interest in the food in front of him. As if casually looking at the Raymond Wimpal in front of him, who was a little bigger than himself, the other party ate very quietly, and the use of knives and forks was very skillful, not like the first time to use it - the tableware of the Romans was promoted to the whole north, less than two years, and even many northern lords were not very good at using it!

Looking at this picture, which did not match the Far North Ice Sheet at all, Aaron suddenly had a sense of enlightenment, and remembered some of his own experiences: when he was a child, he once visited a family of relatives, and the family's manor house looked a little small and very dilapidated. But the scene of that banquet was very sumptuous, the furnishings and tableware in the room were also very delicate and luxurious, and all kinds of meals and spices I had only seen in the family's important festival banquets and even in the palace, and I thought that the other party was very rich at that time.

Later, I learned that the family had been in decline for more than a hundred years, and the furniture and tableware used that day were all rented temporarily, and a large amount of debts were owed in order to organize the banquet, and even the small and dilapidated manor was sold. The reason for this is very simple - I don't want to lose face in front of others, especially nobles who are in-laws with my family, not to mention a wealthy family like Brennus as a guest, but also to maintain my dignity and not let the other party laugh at him.

With a little thought, Aaron can understand the reason why this so-called "Wimpal" lord is so risky to put on a grand style of an ancient aristocracy - this is a kind of over-emphasis on dignity but extremely inferiority, very complex inner entanglement, in order not to let the other party underestimate himself, and try his best to imitate all seemingly noble actions.

After enjoying the food on the plate, Raymond put down the knife and fork in his hand, and dipped the gravy on the plate with bread and put it in his mouth before stopping, and drank the ale in the cup with great enjoyment, and the girl with the flask hurriedly came over and poured him full of wine.

"I suppose you must be very confused by now, why I have gone to such great lengths to invite you to my castle. Raymond leaned back in his chair and said slowly, "I hope you won't think I'm too wordy, because it takes a long time to explain." ”

"Absolutely. Aaron forced a smile and whispered.

(Thanks to the lucky leaf children's shoes for the monthly pass!) (To be continued......)