Chapter 556: Withdrawal

"There is an internal conflict among the Frankish tribes outside the country, and now the second son of the old king Lipulia is asking for your help, my lord!"

In Aetius' tent, the messenger officer was reporting to him. Aetius paced back and forth in the open space of the tent, gritting his teeth.

"As far as I know, the Frankish King Lipulia had two sons, and the two sons had an internal conflict over the throne. So, where is Lipulia's eldest son?"

The officer who delivered the message shook his head, indicating that he was not aware of the matter either.

"Both parties must be fighting to the death, so they must find a reliable backer." Aetius frowned and thought hard: "Could it be that Lipulia's eldest son has found Flavius ​​Luca?"

"That's impossible, sir." Tereus said on the side: "Since his second son went south to join us, and we are Rome, then the eldest son would never take the unimaginable risk to come to Rome to join the Roman general."

"So the only option is to go north. Who can we rely on?" Aetius lowered his head and thought.

But at this moment, another junior officer came in, holding a somewhat old parchment, and handed it to Aetius respectfully.

"What is this?" Aetius took the parchment in confusion.

"My lord, it was given to you by Attila. The journey was long and it took a lot of time."

"Attila..." Aetius murmured Attila's name softly. Looking at the parchment in his hand, he could understand that this must be a very important matter.

Aetius could not wait to open the parchment and saw the crooked handwriting on it. He could conclude that there were some well-educated Romans around Attila.

There were not many words on the parchment, but Aetius stood there and looked at it for a long time.

"This is clearly a threat to me!" Finally, Aetius said angrily, and tore the parchment in his hand into pieces, which came from the wilderness north of the Rhine to the Macedonia region of Magna Graecia.

"I'm not afraid of him, not at all!" Aetius roared loudly, twisted the parchment into a ball and threw it to the ground.

The generals sitting aside were terrified. They stared at Aetius with wide eyes in horror. Who could imagine what kind of words had made Aetius so furious.

"Let's go!"

"Where to, my Lord?"

"Let's go back and stop wasting time here. We've played enough with Valentinian, and he should understand some truths."

"So, are we going to leave Luka and the others to act alone?"

"Luga..." Aetius turned around and looked at Tereus, couldn't help laughing and said, "You are really compassionate, my friend."

"Now the Eastern Empire's army has formed an impenetrable wall here to resist our compatriots from Western Rome, or even Augustus. What does this mean? It means that they do not welcome Valentinian. Of course, we have more important things to do right now. We have to return to Ludinan and other places. Compared with Valentinian's fight for the position of Augustus of Eastern Rome, I am more concerned about which side the Franks north of the Rhine are on."

"Then, as you wish, Captain!" Tereus and other officers stood up and saluted Aetius.

Marcian's troops at Dyrrachium relaxed their defenses when they observed that the combined Western Roman forces had begun packing up their tents and preparing to retreat.

Similarly, not only Valentinian, but even Luca was very surprised about Aetius's impending departure. The courtiers speculated that this was because Aetius had to leave because he saw that the assassination had failed and the matter had been exposed.

Of course, Luca was also thinking about the problem of Valentinian after Aetius left.

"He must be scared and guilty, am I right, Luca?" Sitting in Luca's tent, Valentinian looked up at Luca like a lost dog.

Valentinian looked really pitiful at this moment, and Luca couldn't help but sigh deeply in his heart when he saw him like this. However, in person, Luca still smiled and said to Valentinian: "No, maybe Sir Aetius has something more important to do."

"But he actually ignored my orders!" Valentinian retorted sharply, "I, I am Augustus, the highest official in the Western Roman Empire, and he is just a captain of soldiers. He didn't even report to me after he left, let alone take me seriously! He must be a traitor, a traitor!"

Seeing Valentinian roaring loudly to vent his impulsive anger, Luca watched coldly from the side. He really didn't want to hurt this poor child and tell him that it was impossible for him to become Augustus of the Eastern Roman Empire.

"We have to go back, Caesar."

After patiently waiting for Valentinian's outburst, Luca then spoke to him calmly.

"Why!" Valentinian raised his head and stared at Luca, "The people of the Eastern Roman Empire need me!"

"No, they don't need it." Luca refuted him directly, "Or rather, they have found something better. As you can see, Caesar, they don't welcome you. Augustus' arrival should be welcomed with flowers, wine and submission, but they didn't. There were only cold Spada iron swords and sharp spears. This is not a welcome, but a resistance."

Valentinian was silent, as if all the childishness and willfulness shown at that moment disappeared from his face in an instant. He lowered his head, facing the ground, like a child who had made a mistake in front of Luca.

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"Let's go, Sergius is waiting there. Constantinople does not welcome you, but Ravenna will not do that!" Luca said to Valentinian in an admonishing tone and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Okay, okay, Luka, this is just a dream."

Valentinian sobbed, and all the strength and calmness he showed on the surface were shattered to the ground, leaving only the cowardly, original Valentinian.

In the evening, Luca stood on a high slope. He specifically told the soldiers not to approach here and let him be alone for a while. Valentinian and the guards boarded the ship. Looking at the sails going away, Luca's heart was also very heavy.

"He finally gave up, like a strong warrior who finally couldn't help but let go of the spear in his hand."

At some point, Likinia appeared behind Luca.

"It's you." Luca looked back and recognized Likinia, but there was no trace of surprise in his words, as if all this had been expected.

Likinia walked over slowly, sat beside Luca, and watched the sails going farther and farther away. She couldn't help but cursed in a low voice: "What a cold-blooded beast! Even though he was sitting on the boat, he didn't think of abandoning his wife on the shore."

"Perhaps he has experienced too many setbacks, this poor guy." Luca sighed and continued, "He realized that he was just a puppet, and the Western Roman Empire was a huge cage that bound him. He wanted to break out, but he was too immature and always blindly believed in people he shouldn't have believed in."

"Including you!" Li Jiniya continued Luga's words. She looked at Luga with an evil smile, which made Luga stunned.

"Yes, you are right." Luca smiled and stood up, looking back at Dyrrhachium behind him. "Augustus' will cannot be changed and must be implemented. This is also to fulfill my promise to you."

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(End of this chapter)