Chapter 251 Licinia
Three days later, Areobinders led his legion from Constantinople to Verona, a city north of the Tiber River. Their trip was of great significance, because the entire legion was there to escort a very important person, Licinia, the daughter of Theodosius II.
Naturally, Luca had to use grand ceremony for this girl. His clothes were extremely gorgeous, of course, for the sake of pleasing this imperial princess who had never left Constantinople.
Luca brought Sebastianus and Alessio with him. Due to confidentiality reasons, Alessio could not show up without permission and could only hide in the military camp.
"General Areobinders was a general favored by His Majesty Theodosius. He first defended the eastern Armenian region against the nomadic peoples there, and he was stationed there for twenty years." Sebastianus stood beside Luca and said for Luca: "The name of the legion under his command is Augusta, which means queen."
"Does His Majesty Theodosius II want his daughter Licinia to become the empress of the empire?" Luca couldn't help but laugh when he said this. "That skinny little girl who hasn't even reached adulthood? Caesar is really bold. He brought such an inexperienced little girl to compete with the elite nobles of the Western Empire. She wouldn't even last a single round in the game with them."
"But she has you, Theodosius' adopted son!" Sebastianus smiled at Luca. This made Luca a little uncomfortable. What does it mean to have Luca? Does it mean that as an adopted son, he should treat this woman who he is not familiar with or has never spoken to as his sister? Luca naturally could not accept it, but no matter how dissatisfied he was, he could not show it.
Luka was dressed formally enough. To show his military status, he wore a brass muscle breastplate with wolfskin shoulders. He wore chain mail inside the breastplate, which made Luka look a little more burly. The red cloak covered Luka's chest and then hung down his back. He wore a helmet with a vertical horse hem. To show his royal status, the vertical horse hem was specially dyed purple. Purple room, purple is the color of the royal family.
He stood outside the city for a long time, leading his soldiers to line the streets to welcome Areobindes. Dust was flying not far away, and just from the scale of the dust, one could feel that the army was large in number.
As time went by, Areobinders' army gradually appeared in front of Luga. They were wearing orange-yellow coats, leather armor, leather hats or iron helmets, holding spears and broad shields, and strode past the road in front of Luga.
The whole process was like a military parade. Luca was playing with his fingers boredly as centuries of soldiers passed by in front of him, because these were not the main point and there was no fun in watching these soldiers.
"Hey, Mr. Areobinders!"
After a while, Sebastianus was heard shouting and waving. Luca turned his head and looked in the direction of his waving. He saw an open-air carriage. Four ornately decorated horses pulled the chariot like a sofa, and several soldiers slowly came. A man sat on the carriage. He also had gray hair, and wore a white long-sleeved underwear and a white leather armor, decorated with red ornaments, which made him look very energetic.
Areobinders noticed Sebastianus' call, saw him, and waved back enthusiastically, "Here, Sebastianus, my old friend!"
The carriage drove slowly and stopped in front of Luca. Areobinders jumped off the carriage and now stood in front of Luca and Sebastianus.
What a burly old man! This was Areobinders' first impression of Luca. This old guy, with his chest puffed out, was half a head taller than Luca. With his sturdy body, he looked like a little giant.
"Oh, Flavius Luca." Areobinders exchanged greetings with Sebastianus for a while, then noticed Luca standing beside him. He hurriedly said, "Are you the hero who saved our Augustus like a knight from hell in the battle between Edessa and the Sassanid Persians?" As he said that, he stretched out his hand.
“Yes, yes!”
Luca hesitated for a moment, then quickly extended his hand to greet Areobindes. Areobindes was not only tall, but his arms were also much stronger than Luca had imagined. Luca couldn't even hold his arms. This guy is worthy of being a general, he really has the demeanor of a general! Luca secretly admired in his heart, and inadvertently understood why Theodosius II trusted this guy so much, because standing next to him made him feel safe.
"Nice to meet you!" Areobinders said to Luca with a smile, "With such heroic deeds, it would not be an exaggeration to become Augustus' adopted son!"
So you don't even accept me, Augustus's adopted son? Luca let go of his hand and couldn't help but ponder in his heart.
"Then we are almost in the city." Areobinders stretched his neck to look behind Luca, then said, "Let the princess get off and walk around. After all, such a long journey would be hard on her delicate body."
As he spoke, Areobinders turned around and walked over to the slowly approaching carriage, waved his hand to stop it, and shouted in a loud voice: "Princess, we are almost there, and we have also seen His Excellency Flavius Luca who is welcoming us. Come down and walk around!"
After saying that, Areobinders turned around and looked at Luca, smiling and whispering, "The princess heard about your deeds in Constantinople. Although I can't tell from her face, I can guess what she is thinking. Although you are the adopted son of His Majesty Augustus and were born a commoner, you are a hundred times better than the mediocre Augustus of the Western Empire."
"Thank you for your praise, it is very useful to me!" Luca bowed slightly to express his gratitude to Areobinders.
Just as he was talking here, the carriage stopped, and the slaves in coarse linen clothes knelt hurriedly in front of the carriage door. The maid gently lifted the door curtain, and a woman with black hair, a golden laurel crown on her head, a white toga and a purple robe inside, got off the carriage carefully with the help of the maid. With her fair skin and golden jewelry, she looked extremely luxurious, worthy of being a princess, like a muse, and everyone present was stunned for a second.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
"Damn, this is really a world of difference from when we were in the palace!" Luga looked at Princess Likinia who was gradually approaching, and secretly admired her in his heart.
Liginia walked towards Luca with the help of her maid. It can be seen that the pampered princess looked pale after days of running around. She must have been tired from the journey. She came to Luca and bowed slightly. Then she raised her head and stared at Luca with her big watery eyes. Her pupils were dark and bright, just like those with beauty contact lenses. Unlike beauty contact lenses, hers were natural. Although her hair was a little messy, it was generally braided. With the golden crown, she was indeed noble and indescribable.
"Nice to meet you, Likinia!" Luga had a calm expression and greeted Likinia in a deep voice.
(End of this chapter)