Chapter 206 Theodosian Code

"Blat!"

The sound of metal hitting the ground came from Luka, who lost his grip on the wine glass and dropped it. The sound of the metal hitting the ground was like a thunderclap in the room, and the dazed Luka shuddered violently.

"Sorry, sorry, maybe I ate too much and I feel a little uncomfortable for a while!"

Luka smiled awkwardly, and the first thing he did after coming to his senses was to bend down in a panic to pick up the spilled wine glass. At this time, a careful servant had already come forward to refill Luka's glass, which made Luka feel even more embarrassed.

Holding the small wine glass that felt as heavy as a thousand pounds in both hands, Luca's heart was pounding. Facing Theodosius II who was looking at him with a smile, he really wanted to know if he had just heard it wrong.

"Well, respectable Caesar." Luca's words were a little unclear, which was not surprising, because he couldn't even hold the wine glass steadily. He stammered and asked Theodosius II: "Caesar, I didn't hear it clearly just now, can you repeat it again?"

"I mean..." Theodosius II raised his wine glass to Luca and said, "I will adopt you as my adopted son and make you a member of the Flavius ​​family."

"What the hell! What the hell!"

Luca cursed in his heart. He finally held the wine glass steadily this time, but he could not tell whether what Theodosius II said was true or a joke.

"Well, Caesar, I, I, this, this is not fun." Luca stammered. He thought he was eloquent enough, but now he was like a complete idiot. He didn't even know what he wanted to say.

"What?" Theodosius II looked unhappy. "Are you saying that I, an Augustus, always joke around?"

"Ah, ah, sorry, sorry, I was rude!" Luca apologized quickly, quickly returned the gift to Augustus, and hastily drank the wine in the glass.

"After you drink this cup of wine, you will be my Theodosius' adopted son!"

"Hmm~"

Luca swallowed the wine in his mouth with all his strength. He couldn't imagine what a huge blow it would be to Theodosius II if he suddenly spit it out. He might get angry and kill this bastard who didn't know the truth. In fact, he forgot that there was a pair of eyes behind him staring at him intently, shooting murderous eyes.

"Okay, Luca!" When Luca finished drinking the wine in the glass and put it down, Theodosius II laughed at everyone present. There was nothing funny about it. Look, except for Theodosius II's wife, none of the family members present laughed. Instead, they looked at Luca with doubts, wondering how this unremarkable guy could conquer Augustus, become his adopted son, and become a member of the Flavius ​​family.

Marcian even placed his right arm on the table, with veins bulging on his thick arm, which represented his inner feelings at the moment. Although he looked calm on the surface, in his heart, he had already regarded this outsider from the Western Empire as an enemy.

"Damn it, isn't this putting me in the crosshairs of everyone?" Luca lowered his head and pressed his hands tightly on the table. It was really one problem after another. No wonder Theodosius let them sit at the dining table. He had never expected such a thing.

The awkward dinner ended abruptly. Theodosius II signaled everyone to leave and left Luca alone to follow him into his study.

As soon as he entered the door, Theodosius II immediately asked the waiter behind him to leave.

"What's this for?" Luca was a little flustered, with all sorts of bad thoughts in his head. This couldn't be said to be Luca's potential to be gay, but rather that Western culture is full of gayness. Luca had seen quite a few in the barracks, and when he thought of two grown men doing that, Luca's anus tightened. Could it be that Marcus's death was too much of a blow to Theodosius? It had been more than a month since the two of them had separated, and any man would be more or less horny. Oh, damn! Luca had already thought about how to resist, after all, he couldn't make any concessions when his anus was in such a serious state!

“Boom!”

The waiter closed the door, and this sound frightened Luca's shoulders again, his heart pounding, thinking that the critical moment was coming. He clenched his fists and waited quietly for Theodosius II's next move.

But what Luca didn't expect was that Theodosius II had a serious face, not at all like the obscene and evil look of a gay man. He sat down at his desk, took out a letter from the table, handed it to Luca, and said, "Here, take a look. This is written to me by my nephew. It arrived in the past two days."

Luca took the letter and opened it. At this time, he heard Theodosius II say: "Valentinian is really in trouble this time. Now the barbarian Aetius controls the military power of the empire. It has to be said that the empire now urgently needs a person of Roman descent to maintain the balance within the empire." This problem gave Theodosius II a headache. Luca felt that he seemed to understand why Theodosius II adopted him as his adopted son.

"This letter says that the Vandals in the province of Africa have declared their independence from Roman control, which means that the Senate's control over the Vandals has ended in failure!" After reading the letter, Luca slowly placed it on the desk of Theodosius II.

"I didn't expect you knew so much!" Theodosius II looked up at Luca with admiration. "Of course this time the Senate decided to send troops to teach those lawless barbarians a lesson. So they persuaded Aetius to form a huge legion in Greater Sicily. As a fellow Roman Empire member and relative of the Flavius ​​family, Valentinian wanted me to lead an army to represent the Flavius ​​family."

"So what Caesar means is..."

"I originally wanted Marcian to go to the battle." Theodosius II sighed and said, "My sister's husband, my general, was my choice. You know, I wanted to go by myself to let Aetius and other barbarians know the strength of the Flavius ​​family. But my command ability is really too poor. I really can't intimidate those battle-hardened elite nobles of the Western Empire."

"Then why not choose Marcian?"

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"Because if he wins, it will inevitably threaten my ruling position. Although he is also a member of my Flavius ​​family, my sister is too ambitious. I am not sure whether she will use her husband to threaten me, so I must consider it very carefully." Theodosius II held his forehead. It seemed that this matter really gave him a headache.

"Why don't you get rid of her, I mean your sister," Luca asked.

"Because she is my sister, I originally thought that if I passed away and Valentinian was like my grandfather, then the Flavius ​​family would be able to maintain the old order and establish the only royal family, but he was ultimately a puppet being controlled. On the contrary, it is you, the Roman he recommended!" Theodosius pointed at Luca and said seriously, "To maintain the order of the empire, we need loyal Romans like you. The empire is the Roman Empire, and the maintainers are naturally Romans. However, the barbarians are too rampant, and a Roman must come out to take the lead."

"So, you chose me?" Luca felt his shoulders suddenly sink, as if an invisible weight was pressing on him. Luca knew that the name of that weight was "mission", the mission given by Augustus, the mission given by the Flavius ​​royal family! "So, what do you want me to do?"

"Go back, it's time for you to go back too!" Theodosius II said, bending down to lift a box of heavy parchment and placing it on the table. Pointing at the box of parchment, he said to Luca: "This is the hard work of several years. I named it Theodosian Code."

"What's the use of this?" Luca asked, pointing to the box of so-called "Code of Theodosius".

"It can maintain the order of the empire and prevent the shrewd nobles from taking advantage of the loopholes in the old code." Theodosius II smiled and then continued, "The newly formed legion in the Latin Province has no name yet. I will give it to you, and you will name it. Then take it to Greater Sicily and join the Western Empire Expeditionary Force. Remember, don't let those damn bastards fool you!"

(End of this chapter)