Chapter 572 Conspiracy
Following Arya, Luka came to the courtyard in front of the door. The environment here was quiet, with brick and stone walls on both sides. The ivy covered the entire wall, adding a bit of vitality to the originally monotonous and lifeless wall.
"If Caesar doesn't mind, then we'll sit here." Arya pointed ahead. Luga looked in the direction of her finger and saw a small pond not far away. Three or two maids were drawing water from the pond. There was nothing else.
Next to the pond, there is a wooden table that looks quite old. Perhaps Stilicho had sat here.
"That's good. It's quiet here. It's a place where we can communicate in peace." Luga nodded repeatedly, and Arya walked over and brought two stools.
"Please come here, Caesar." Although she is Luca's adoptive mother, the difference in status still makes Arya understand that Luca is no longer just an adopted son, so it is her responsibility to address him with respect.
"You must be very tired after the journey. It took a long time to get here from the palace." Arya said with a smile: "Look, is there anything you want to eat? Or have some wine to quench your thirst. Do you need barbecue?"
"No, don't bother." Lu Jia waved his hand quickly, "I just need some snacks and champagne."
"Okay, don't you need anything else?"
"Oh, prepare some beer for my guards. It's damn hot in this weather."
Arya called to the servants, "Oh, Martha, prepare snacks and champagne for Caesar."
Soon, a rooster and two pieces of cheesecake were placed on the table, along with a full glass of champagne.
"Very rich! You are really spoiling me, mother." Luca said with a smile, "If I come to visit you too often, I believe that soon my warhorse will not be able to carry me."
"Oh, Luke, look at what you said." Arya covered her mouth and couldn't help laughing, and the wrinkles on her face were squeezed together. "You have reached the position of Augustus, and you still have to think about fighting in person. You should leave such things to your subordinates. They must be excellent commanders."
"No, mother, this time is different from the past." Luca shook his head, "I guess you also know about Hedolia's affairs."
"Yes, this poor girl was driven away by her mother when she needed her mother's love the most. How could this not leave a shadow in her heart?" At this point, Arya couldn't help but sighed, "Admittedly, she did something very irrational. At that time, she also cried to me about her brother's cruelty and ruthlessness, abandoning her when she needed help the most."
"So she made such a crazy decision out of desperation."
"Yes, that's right, Luca, my child. I heard that a few days ago, you ordered your men to execute them in the square in front of the palace. I am very sad. It is really hard to imagine why you could be so ruthless. But I can understand you. After all, if your father Theodosius were alive, he would have done the same thing."
As Arya spoke, she couldn't help but shed tears. Even though she was Augusta, she was still just an ordinary woman. She was powerless to stop her own family from killing each other. This might be difficult for any woman with maternal instinct to accept.
"Poor poor child, he is only sixteen years old..."
Arya couldn't go on. The way things and people have changed is the easiest way to bring back memories. That kind of loss makes people's hearts fragile, and they burst into tears without realizing it.
Luka could indeed feel Arya's grief. After all, such a fight made the family, which was already small, even more deserted. She seemed to be blaming herself intentionally or unintentionally. Luka could feel it. But so what? The desire for power caused the current family tragedy, which could not be easily changed by a woman's tears.
"Forgive me, Mom, I didn't want this to happen." Luga stretched out his hand and placed it on the back of Arya's hand. Arya cried, opened her palm and held Luga's hand tightly, then raised her face and pressed it against the back of Luga's hand.
It was at this moment that Luga suddenly felt something unusual. He felt his heart beating very hard, as if a warm current was surging from the bottom of his heart. He couldn't tell what kind of feeling was surging from his heart. In short, this feeling was very warm, like a warm current quietly penetrating his heart and then melting, wrapping up his heart that he thought was already cold.
"Promise me, Luka, my dear child." Arya had already burst into tears. What kind of pain tortured this poor old man into this state, but she still forced herself to look up at Luka. Tears flowed down the wrinkles on her old face, and she said to Luka in a tone that was almost begging: "Enough, it's enough, don't let your relatives bleed anymore, for your father's sake, no matter what they have done, please protect them, love and protect them like real relatives, okay..."
Luca didn't know how to reject Arya. Yes, he couldn't bear it, especially he couldn't bear to hurt this tortured woman again. As Augusta, looking at Arya, Luca couldn't help but think of Praxiteles who was so weak on the hospital bed that she had to gasp for air every time she spoke. No matter how strong and iron-fisted she was at the beginning, her fragility at the moment of death is always so touching.
After all, she is a woman. Even if she has been fake all her life, her truthfulness in the last moment of her life is incredible. People who have seen it will always open their eyes wide and sigh: "Oh my God, she is such a person."
"I promise you, mother." Luca was speechless for a moment, but he didn't know how to comfort this tortured woman. All the storms were brought to her by Luca after Theodosius' death. Luca held back his tears. As Augustus, Luca understood that the first principle was to never show his vulnerable side, even to the people closest to him.
Power is like a magnifying glass. Standing in it can magnify a person to the point of towering heights, causing people to fear, admire, and choose to obey. However, the person in the magnifying glass must also maintain his or her own dignity, even if it is bluffing, and must act vividly to deceive the world.
"Likinia is back too." Luga deliberately changed the subject so that Arya would not be too sad. She was too old and her body and mind could not withstand the torment.
"Oh, really..." Arya smiled, even if it was just a flash, it was the first clear day after the rain, and then she was puzzled, "Shouldn't Likinia be with her husband? Did she come to visit you specially?"
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This question made Luka's heart tighten. What? Did Arya not know why Likinia was here? Impossible, impossible!
Luca was about to speak, but his heart stopped him. He thought to himself: No, I can't let Arya know that Licinia and Valentinian are divorced!
Then, Luga raised his head and said to Arya with a smile: "Yes, she was very sad when she heard the news of her father's death, and she got her father's will, so she hurried back."
"Last will? What last will?" Arya's doubts made Luga's heart tremble. He couldn't help but take a breath of cold air, and his whole body was petrified on the spot.
"My poor husband fell off a horse and died suddenly. He didn't leave any will before his death. You must have heard it wrong, my child." Arya looked at Luga and saw that he was worried at the moment. She wondered what he meant by his inconsistent words.
Luga's mind was blank. At this moment, the only thing in his mind was the scene when he was holding the will.
"How is it possible? How is it possible?" He asked himself over and over again in his mind.
(End of this chapter)