In the Empire (5)

Chapter Summary: Caesar is seduced by Caligula. However, the person Caligula truly desires is precisely the one he can never have…

A small hole had appeared in the wall of my room. I didn't notice it at first, but something that looked like a mosquito flew out, which alerted me. Why are there mosquitoes in winter?! And I'm terrified of mosquitoes! To them, I'm an irreplaceable, delicious meal, even in a massive crowd of tens of thousands. The mosquito swooped down on me, and I quickly swung my electric mosquito swatter, arming myself. I warned it not to come any closer, but it still sped forward. I closed my eyes, swung it away forcefully, and opened them again—the mosquito was still flying. Strangely, it was glowing. The light was rhythmic, flickering, and the intervals between the points of light were different every second. I realized someone was trying to send me a message. Of course, I could also be imagining things. But I still took a pen and wrote it down.

A string of Morse code. Encrypted with the simplest Caesar cipher. Now I need something with the corresponding letters and text. What could it be? A brand of black tea? A book? A dictionary or a cheese calorie chart? After struggling all night, I cobbled together a reasonably plausible sentence: "The Church of the Roses. Religious members. Protest rally. Escape. We've come to pick you up. — Jun Hahara."

I think I really should prepare to leave.

My wedding to the Emperor was suddenly moved forward; the Emperor awoke, and his first act was to move the wedding, previously postponed to next spring, to this winter. The Imperial Household Department began preparations. There was a banquet on the wedding day; the Emperor didn't appear until the afternoon, but he insisted on staying with me until late at night. The banquet wasn't over yet; as was customary, large banquets in the palace continued until the next morning. The Emperor walked through the banquet hall with a wine glass in hand, one arm linked with mine. My gaze fell on the dazzling array of colorful pastries; I wasn't particularly interested in eating them, but their gleaming appearance under the brilliant lights made me linger. I examined a cluster of bright red candied cherries on a white cake. I overheard Caligula and the Emperor talking. Caligula invited the Emperor to sit nearby. Gratian glanced around; many ministers were intentionally or unintentionally moving closer to the Emperor; clearly, they also desired the honor of speaking with him. The Emperor hesitated. I said, "Gratian, I'm tired. There's a sofa over there."

"Okay." He smiled faintly. His cheeks were pale. His palms were sweaty as he gripped my hand tightly. "I can't do anything with you. Let's rest for a while."

Caligula said, "Your Highness, I think His Majesty's strength can probably hold out for a while longer."

My face flushed slightly. It was probably from tasting so many different wines, just a tiny sip of each, but the combination of types made my tongue crave more, stronger, and richer flavors. Seeing that I enjoyed it, Gratian ordered the maids to bring out over three hundred different wines from the palace collection. "Drink less. Don't get drunk," he chuckled.

"I wouldn't." I licked the expensive wine. Just one sip. I savored it, then tilted the tall glass, and with a single stroke, poured the remaining half-glass onto the silver tray held by the kneeling maid. I smelled the familiar, sweet, cloying fragrance. "What's this incense? It's so sweet. Is it the same kind you burn in your palace?"

The ministers and nobles deliberately engaged in loud and boisterous conversations, hoping to attract the emperor's attention.

Gratian cut a piece of beef from his plate. "What's that smell?" He put his fork back down. The juicy beef lay there quietly.

"Can't you smell it?"

"I'm sorry. I've been a little... I really can't smell it." He sniffed hard. His icy eyes lacked light.

“Your Majesty,” Caligula interjected, “I have heard that people with fevers often experience a decrease in their sense of taste and smell. But this is only temporary, so you need not worry. I will instruct the kitchen to prepare some appetizing side dishes. Perhaps the beef is too greasy.”

I forked a piece of beef, sprinkled some black pepper on it, and was just about to put it on Gratian's plate when I realized the beef was too greasy. "Ah? Then, then don't eat it yet." I pulled my fork back, but Gratian grabbed my wrist, lowered his head, and swallowed the spicy and greasy piece of meat.

"Thank you. It's delicious." He turned his head and said to me earnestly.

"How about I feed you some?" I said. "What else would you like to eat? This creamy lettuce looks good."

He immediately agreed. He then snuggled closer to me, leaning against my shoulder. Halfway through feeding him, I suddenly remembered that he seemed to have disliked lettuce before.

"That was when I was a kid. I've grown up and started to like it." He bit off a piece of green from my fork.

Caligula watched us with interest. In the banquet hall, other ministers and nobles also glanced over furtively, their expressions varied. The head of the intelligence agency began discussing official business with the emperor, who shivered. "Maid, would you please close this window?" Caligula said. The strange incense scent grew stronger and sweeter, seemingly unaffected by the presence of the ministers and nobles.

“You’ve drunk too much; it’s clouded your judgment. You can’t stand the smell of these spices,” Caligula said. “Your Majesty, there’s a family named Agatocre in the Carthaginian territory. They were one of the major financial giants who monopolized energy in the Republican Alliance. Their patriarch’s children, about twenty or so, went to the Republican Alliance on Earth for the summer. Actually, it was to escape the Empire’s rule; the patriarch thought Earth was safer in the rear. Unexpectedly, in the final battle, photosynthetic bacteria were released, and naturally, all the children died. The patriarch then instigated his people to rebel against the Empire’s rule. Of course, it was foolish; the patriarch was eventually hanged by his own people, and his head was sent to you. The Carthaginians have long since stopped wanting to fight. They are loyal subjects of the Empire.”

"Hmm. I recall this matter." The emperor pressed his forehead. "How did you ultimately handle it?"

"The entire clan has been imprisoned in the Imperial Intelligence Bureau's jail, awaiting interrogation. I believe they have colluded with other rebellious forces within the Empire. Regrettably, of the 523 members of the Agatocre family, many were physically weak and could not withstand the Imperial interrogation. Some died during the interrogation, while others committed suicide afterward."

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I have made proper arrangements."

When do you plan to release them?

"When all the rebellious forces within the empire are eradicated and His Majesty is able to sit securely on the throne."

Gratian coughed lightly, covering his mouth. He rested his head on my shoulder, sat up straight, and when I didn't move, he turned and hugged me, nuzzling my arm. We didn't speak for a long time. I finished eating and leaned back on the sofa, the effects of the alcohol slowly rising to my cheeks. Gratian whispered to me, nibbling at my hair and wrist. After a while, he seemed to have made up his mind and told Caligula about what had just happened.

Caligula remained calm and composed, responding to the emperor's barrage of questions.

I felt a hand quietly touch my back.

I forced myself not to scream, but my heart was pounding in my chest. Gratian nestled in my arms, his arms around my neck—a very unseemly and un-emperorly posture, even though he was currently coldly interrogating Caligula. It wasn't Gratian's hand; I glanced at my face and saw Caligula pouring wine with one hand, pushing the glass towards the emperor, while his other hand touched me from behind. Gratian, leaning against me, didn't notice Caligula's subtle movement on my right. That hand moved, gently caressing me, and Gratian felt my body tremble slightly. "Caesar, what's wrong?"

"Um...it's nothing, I just drank a little too much. Ah, my head is...dizzy."

The hand went deeper, touching my body. "Your Majesty, His Highness the Prince was probably affected by tonight's incense, combined with the effects of the alcohol."

"I can't smell it. Don't speak nonsense. Is that all?" He looked at my gradually flushed face.

“Yes,” Caligula said meaningfully. “It’s said that this combination is perfect for creating a spring-like atmosphere in winter.”

I finally understood what that incense was: a drug that, when combined with a sufficient amount of red wine, could arouse desire. But why was there something like that in the emperor's bedchamber that day? The two scents were identical! My mind was a complete mess, and my hand rubbed even faster—no, not enough, not nearly enough. My back arched involuntarily, and I sat upright, my body tense.

"Your Majesty, I believe that you should entrust me with the full authority to handle the matter of the Carthage region. The influence of the Rose Church seems to be mixed in, and its members are diverse. Compassion is of no benefit to governance."

“Caligula,” the emperor laughed angrily, sitting up straight on the sofa and leaning towards Caligula, “this is my empire, my subjects, and I am the one who has the power to take from them and control their lives. And you, you are nothing.”

I flicked it hard with my fingertip. I cried out, unable to control my breath.

"Caesar!" He jumped up in surprise. "Are you sick? Are you feeling unwell? Why is your heart beating so fast?" He pressed his face against my chest, astonished. But I held him tightly, not letting him leave the sofa. I didn't want him to notice.

"Could you... could you hug me? Gratian, don't go, I'm in so much pain, so much pain. Please."

I felt my clothes were wet. Gratian hurriedly sat down, hugged me, and kept caressing and kissing my neck, trying to soothe the alarming heat on my skin. He sensed my stiff and tense body and hesitated whether to pull me away to see a doctor. I couldn't say a word, and Caligula's movements became faster and faster, showing no sign of stopping. Gratian decided to pull me away. But I bit my lip tightly and shook my head desperately. Sinking into the sofa, I hugged his waist, smelled his scent, and gritted my teeth to endure Caligula's caresses from behind until the trembling discomfort subsided.

I stumbled out of the banquet hall. My whole body trembled with fear, excitement, and a strange thrill. Caligula's figure soon appeared in the aisle.

"Get away! Don't touch me!" I pushed him away, but he pressed against me, his hand stroking where it touched me, sending shivers down my spine. I had a premonition that I probably wouldn't be able to get up tomorrow. "You used an aphrodisiac... You used that stuff in the Emperor's bedchamber that day too! How dare you?"

“It was you who insisted on drinking so much. Everyone else was fine.” Caligula narrowed his eyes. “Your debauchery is beyond my imagination. That incense was just a little flirting to enhance the atmosphere of the banquet. I was in the vicinity of His Majesty’s bedchamber that night. I was there half an hour before you entered. Guess how much I saw? I saw the real you for the first time. My foster father.”

“You actually… wanted to do that to Gratian. He was your favorite child. How could you…”

“Don’t call me foster father!” I yelled at him. “You knew I would go to Gratian’s bedchamber that night? Impossible!”

“I didn’t expect that,” Caligula shrugged. “It would have been better if you hadn’t come. If you hadn’t come, the Emperor would have been my prey all night.”

"What did you say?" I asked, my eyes wide.

Caligula undressed me and pulled my stiff body toward him. “Guess what, that night, I intended to kill Gratian while he was unconscious. Or the opposite, to light aphrodisiac incense, prepare to climb into his bed, and rape him?” “Or both. To rape him first and then kill him.”

He covered my mouth, my teeth biting into his palm. He remained expressionless, not letting go. "You must be feeling terrible right now, right? You clearly want it, but you've been holding back until now. Fine, I'll let you go. If you really don't want to, then forget it."

I gasped for breath. "Caligula, let's make some terms first."

“Tell me what it is first.” Caligula moved away from me, took a few steps, and slowly wiped his hands with a handkerchief. I smelled a strong odor of alcohol; it was the same one I had seen him stuff in his pocket that night in the emperor’s bedchamber. He had used it to cover the emperor’s mouth and nose.

This potion was specially made, requiring two things to be effective: inhaling sufficient incense and alcohol. Caligula had lit incense in the emperor's bedchamber that night, so his purpose in having the emperor inhale alcohol was self-evident.

“You have to help me escape. At the Rose Church’s public gathering at the end of next month,” I said.

"The end of next month... I seem to remember that day is Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers of the Alliance. Some people applied to the Empire for permission to hold a parade in Haiyingsen City. His Majesty approved it."

Yes. That was the day.

"What do you want me to do, assuming the deal goes through?"

"You will be in charge of Haiyingsen's security that day. Just position the Imperial troops on the outermost edge of the assembly square."

Are you planning to blend into the crowd?

"right."

"His Majesty and his guards will find out immediately."

"You don't need to worry about that. Just make sure that on the day of the assembly, Emperor Gratian cannot mobilize his army within fifteen minutes."

“That sounds simple,” Caligula stroked my chin. “The question is, what do I get in return?”

"Get what you want right now."

He pulled down my pants, his hands slipping inside my chest, kneading my ribs forcefully. His pressure stung, and cold sweat soaked my clothes. I pushed myself back against the wall, and he reached out, and I began to gasp for breath. "You're too tight. Relax."

I leaned against the wall, watching him loom over me. The corridor was dimly lit, with only the occasional flash of a searchlight from a night patrol outside the window. A burst of laughter erupted from the banquet hall, followed by the whispers of men and women. He pressed my knees to the ground with his hands.

"Hold this position. Don't move."

My back was pressed against the wall. He lifted me, my body trembling, a wave of intense shame washing over me. This was betrayal. But who would know? Through the crack in the door, I saw the bright light of the banquet hall. Gratian sat on the sofa, one hand supporting his chin, the other fiddling with the food on the table in front of him. He hadn't eaten anything since I left. He was lost in thought, coughing occasionally. I turned my head; the doorway, not far in front of my forehead, gleamed.

“You’ve cried,” Caligula said in a hoarse voice, his tone playful.

My whole body felt weak. I knew Caligula had been with many women, but still, it was a little too familiar. I felt as limp as a puddle of mud, as if I were about to rot in an indescribable swamp. I mumbled incoherently, not caring whether it would attract the attention of the guards or anyone else. Come on, come on, it would be best if Gratian himself passed by and stabbed me to death.

"Why don't you go to His Majesty the Emperor? Flirt with him in bed and persuade him not to station troops in Haiyingsen or any territory of the old alliance. He wouldn't mind being a tyrant for your sake."

I ignored him.

"How long has it been since he touched you? Is he about to pass out?" he whispered in my ear.

After the first time, he took me again. During this time, he carefully cleaned me up and wiped away the wetness from my body.

He told me a story. A little boy, nearly killed by his father, lost his family and became an orphan. He fell in love with a gifted boy who had grown up with him. The gifted boy possessed a perfect appearance, and the little boy was captivated by his stunning beauty; the gifted boy's extraordinary elegance and strength mesmerized the little boy who spent every day with him. Countless times, in his dreams and at night, the little boy would gaze alone at the stars and sky outside his window, comforting himself and imagining the gifted boy's image in his mind.

“I love his beauty, his wildness, his brutality, and his desires. Once, fueled by alcohol, I grabbed his leg and said, ‘Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please caress me just once. Just once, just once. You can use me as a tool for your venting! Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please look at me!’ But he kicked me away. He said I was a mad dog and that he needed to strengthen my leash.”

"That night, I looked at his feverish body, high fever, flushed face, yet still so beautiful, wasn't he? Above the abyss, the radiant statue of the gods. But how fragile this statue is! I climbed onto his body, and he seemed to wake up, struggling fiercely, refusing to let me in no matter what. I was furious, thinking, a statue, a light pinch could kill it. Why did he have to get sick? Why was he so weak? Why did he give me an opportunity? Where has his sharpness gone? Then, you came in, to get your damn slippers."

I laughed. He pressed my body down onto the dirty floor of the hallway. Fine, sticky sand clung to my sweaty skin. He whipped my body. "So that's how it is," I said, looking at him with pity, "he actually allowed you to live..."

He didn't speak. Silently, he toiled like an old ox. I was panting, laughing, letting him do as he pleased. He seemed to be exploring something on me, imitating Gratian.

＊

I carefully considered the escape plan; I had already gone over it in my mind more than ten times. Ye Yuanjun and the others did not have a direct connection with the Rose Cult, they only vaguely told me that the cult had organized a gathering involving a large number of people.

"...They certainly weren't petitioning or making demands of His Majesty the Holy and Noble Emperor, as they had reported to the Imperial authorities beforehand. Although many well-meaning citizens present believed so. But what does that have to do with us? For everyone in the 14th Fleet, the most important thing is to rescue you, General. Nothing else matters."

After connecting with Caligula, it became much easier for Jun and the others to relay messages to me. The letter was quite long.

I burned the letter immediately after reading it.

“Yang Luo passed through the corridor last night and said she heard strange noises inside,” Gratian suddenly told me.

I lay in bed, telling myself I had no strength and didn't want to get up or move. In the morning, Gratian came to see me. "That's strange," he said. "I wanted to call Caligula, but he's not here. I suspect that someone who shouldn't be in the palace has entered. Caligula should be sent to investigate."

"It's probably some nobleman inside, uh, who hired a maid or something."

"Is that so? But when I saw them yesterday, there were 243 people, and it seemed that everyone stayed in the banquet hall the whole time. No one went out. Those who went out came back in less than three minutes. I was in the banquet hall. They didn't want to leave."

"Moreover, I did not say what the sound was."

"It's not hard to imagine what might happen in the corridor behind the banquet hall or at the reception."

“Indeed.” He sighed. “Recently, the corrupt practices in the empire have become increasingly serious. I heard that a nobleman actually had relations with a child prostitute in public at a private dinner party, just to assert his ownership of the top courtesan at this high-class club.”

After a while, he asked again, "Are you feeling better?"

I avoided his gaze. "Is the Director of Intelligence very busy lately?"

"Sort of. Hai Yingsen's Memorial Day is coming up soon. He said he couldn't spare any manpower. So this matter has been put on hold for now."

"This, no matter how you look at it, involves the emperor's own safety."

"Yes...that's precisely why he's even less willing to investigate. He'd love for something to happen to me," the emperor scoffed.

"What?"

"It's nothing." "Did you catch a cold? The doctor said you feel nauseous no matter what you eat. You can only drink sugar water."

The salty, metallic taste of Caligula's drink from last night returned to my mouth. I quickly said, "Yes. My stomach's upset. And I drank too much yesterday."

"How would you like to deal with Yang Luo?"

"Oh? This one, she's from your empire, right? She was a spy for the Alliance before."

"Yes. Some time ago, her father, the former Supreme Court Justice of the Alliance, along with her family's friends, uncles, and elders, came to Zeus as guests. They proposed that the Alliance political circles would spare no effort to cooperate with the Empire in governing the Alliance, and at the same time, they hoped that I could marry Yang Luo and make her the Empress of the Galactic Empire. The people of the Alliance are sparing no effort to fight for the last remaining interests of their homeland."

"Your Majesty marrying her is indeed beneficial to the overall situation. Although the Earth Republic Alliance's homeland has been destroyed, its overseas colonies, such as Rhodes Island, Knidos, Mytilene, and Ephesus, have been secretly supporting the Alliance's subjugation movement. The pretext is that Emperor Gratian despises Earth's culture and traditions; but the real reason is that the Empire's merchants have eroded their trade routes. Previously, as long as the major families were affiliated with the Earth Republic Alliance, they could travel freely across the stars. Now that the major families have collapsed, they want to curry favor with Your Majesty, but they can't find a matchmaker. Now that you are marrying Yang Luo, the overseas colonies can submit to you with their heads held high."

"My wedding is over. The person I married is you."

“Nobody cares about what happened last night. Except you, Gratian.”

The emperor and I had a fight. He almost hit me when I yelled. I hugged my blanket and cried my heart out. His hand stopped. He stormed off.

It is said that when the emperor returned home that day, he bumped into Yang Luo. The emperor had a fever and told Yang Luo to get out. Yang Luo immediately disappeared. But that night, Octavian came in to give the emperor an injection and found Yang Luo kneeling beside his bedside, with a damp towel and a basin of water beside her. An ice pack was on the emperor's forehead; Yang Luo had been taking care of him for a long time and had fallen asleep from exhaustion. When Yang Luo woke up, the emperor's blows, which hadn't landed on me, ended up on her. She cried silently. I don't know what offense Yang Luo had committed against the emperor this time.

Caligula came to my house, and we talked about it as we worked. He said, "Because His Majesty the Emperor thinks that the woman seems to have upset you."

"Oh, that's really something," I said.

“That’s right!” he laughed.

——tbc——