Chapter 344: Kissing the Purple Robe

After many days of trekking, Luca led the legion to Ravenna. Here, he was not warmly received by the citizens like in Rome.

Here, the legion could only be stationed outside the city, so Luca could only take Andrew and his personal guards into the city. He was not stopped by anyone along the way, because he had explained that his reputation would always be faster than his own.

Entering the palace, the guards brought the news of Luca's arrival to Valentinian III, but the response was not as enthusiastic as expected. After all, Valentinian III regarded Luca as his best friend, or nephew. Only one guard came out to meet Augustus instead of Augustus himself.

This is not surprising for Luca. If Valentinian were to look at it from his current perspective, he should hand over the two damned traitors to Augustus, who would personally execute the two bastards to avenge the humiliation in the forest outside Augusta-Treville. However, Luca did not bring them here to express his loyalty, but instead handed them over to the Senate. What does this mean? Although it was difficult for Valentinian to understand, not giving them to him would have been a mistake.

Fortunately, Luga had a way to comfort him. Although he had this idea, he didn't know whether it would work, so he just followed the guards and gave it a try.

Entering the palace hall, it was noon, which was Valentinian's dining time. He sat at the table under the throne, and the waiter brought roasted chicken, olives and other fruits. Although it looked simple, all the ingredients used were of the best quality.

Seeing Luca coming in, Valentinian III pretended not to see him. He just kept eating roast chicken and olives, and listened to Luca's footsteps, which stopped five meters away from him, without saying a word.

"Caesar!"

Luca knelt on one knee and saluted Valentinian III, but even so, he could not make Valentinian III turn around to look at him or pause for even a second.

"Caesar, I'm back."

Valentinian probably didn't hear it, even though Luca's voice had already echoed in the empty hall. Luca raised his voice again, making it even louder, which frightened Valentinian III.

"You still have the guts to come back!" Valentinian III paused, turned his head and glared at Luca, then stuffed a piece of chicken into his mouth with olives and continued, "Go ahead, let me see what else you, a disloyal bastard, have to say, especially about deceiving me."

It seems that Valentinian III was so upset about Luca's execution of the two rebel leaders in Rome that it showed on his face. He was really angry, but Luca was his closest minister, so he couldn't act rashly and do anything to Luca.

"Yes." Luca nodded and knelt on the ground and said, "Although I brought the two rebel leaders to Rome, Caesar, these two people are not worth Caesar's action."

"Then who else do you say? The senators?" Valentinian III finally couldn't suppress his inner anger. He turned around and shouted at Luca: "Now everyone knows that you are my closest minister. Don't forget that you are my brother's adopted son, my nephew, and a member of the Purple Room. But now look at what you have done? You handed over all the credit to those damn senators, those people who did nothing. Where did you put me? I am the Augustus of this empire, not those old guys! Or you just didn't think of me at all..."

Valentinian III's roar came to an abrupt halt when he saw Luca kneeling on the ground and handing him a huge rolled-up parchment. Curiosity began to take over his heart, causing him to suppress his anger in an instant.

"What is this?" asked Valentinian III, pointing at the parchment and motioning the guard to bring it over.

After taking the parchment from the guard, Valentinian couldn't wait to open it. He wanted to see what Luca had brought him.

"You brought two living people to those old guys in the Senate, but you brought me a piece of paper!" Valentinian III opened the parchment with a curse, sat there and glanced at the contents on the parchment, his expression full of confusion.

"What is this?" Valentinian III pointed at the picture on the parchment. It was obviously a map. Valentinian couldn't understand what it meant. He asked Luca, "What do you mean by bringing this to me?"

"These are the two provinces of Britannia south of Hadrian's Wall, Upper Britannia and Lower Britannia," Luca explained.

"Oh, what does that matter?"

Valentinian III asked, his expression showing his impatience. He threw the parchment on the table and picked up the olives to continue stuffing them into his mouth.

"According to the information I received, the person you most want to kill, Caesar, is in Lower Britannia."

"oh?"

Valentinian III looked up at Luca curiously and asked, "How can you be so sure that this guy is the bastard I particularly want to kill?"

"Because he used conspiracy and trickery to frame Caesar, Caesar suffered." Luca continued: "He is the lord of Augusta-Treville, the traitor Tiberius."

"So, there were originally three people, but you only brought back two." Valentinian III looked at Luca with a half-smile on his face, as if he was mocking Luca's incomplete actions.

"Yes, he is too cunning." Luca explained, "He is a Roman. As far as I know, he was a Roman noble in Lower Britannia at the time, but he betrayed the empire and instigated the Bagauda movement in Ludugu Gaul. Now that the rebellion has been quelled, he has escaped. So I plan to attack Britannia, and next time I will definitely hand Tiberius and the two provinces of Britannia to Caesar as my atonement for Caesar."

This was a big statement, and Valentinian III couldn't help but widen his eyes. He couldn't believe that Luca had the guts to launch such a bold attack at this time. But now the bargaining chip was two provinces and Tiberius's head. This was a huge benefit. If Valentinian got some of the credit, Aetius would naturally be polite to him, and at least it would be no problem for him to obediently hand over some of his power.

"Then what do you want?" Valentinian III picked up the parchment again and looked at the map on it, his eyes filled with greed.

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"A fleet." Luca was not polite and directly stated his needs. "My fleet has been docked in Greater Sicily for too long. It's time to use it, but I don't have the ability and strength to do so now."

"Okay, I'll find a way for you. At least I'll go discuss it with my mother." Valentinian said, his eyes never leaving the map, as if there were an invisible hand on it, tightly grasping his eyeballs. "I hope you don't mess it up for me this time, otherwise I really won't be able to help but kill you, even if my brother is by my side!"

"Then I'll leave." Luca felt that Valentinian seemed to no longer need him, and the matter had been settled, so there was no need to stay any longer.

"Wait." Valentinian called Luca, stretched out his sleeve, and said to Luca, "Come."

"Come?" Luka was confused. He didn't know what this meant.

"Caesar asked you to kiss his purple robe." Valentinian's guard beside him whispered to Luca, "This means he has absolute trust in you."

Kissing Augustus's purple robe was naturally the most loving expression of Augustus's affection for his subjects. It seemed that Valentinian was dissatisfied with Luca in words, but he was still very sure of Luca in his heart.

Without hesitation, Luca stepped forward, lifted up Valentinian's arm and kissed his sleeve.

"You should know what to do." Valentinian looked up at Luca and waved his hand, saying, "Go."

(End of this chapter)