Chapter 677: Belly

Kassel left unhappy. At least after boarding the ship, his face was gloomy. Even to the officials who saw him off, he just forced a smile.

It is obvious that the Vandals had to pay the price for their survival, which also shows that this is no longer the time when they can do whatever they want.

As the old saying goes: When you are in Rome, you should act like the Romans, and when you are on Roman soil, you should abide by the rules set by the Romans. This is indisputable.

Flavius ​​Luca's decisive handling of the matter really impressed the court officials who witnessed it all. When they looked at Luca, their eyes were full of surprise and admiration.

Luca disagreed with this. After all, an Augustus was equivalent to a demigod, so it was reasonable for him to accept praise and worship.

"Oh, it seems I can no longer handle the next things." Luga sat lazily on the throne and stretched, then stood up and walked to the courtiers below the stage and waved to indicate that they could leave.

Along the way, Luga walked towards the top garden of the palace, where there were still many flowers and plants that needed to be taken care of, although these so-called rough work were the servants' concern.

Perhaps taking time to take care of flowers and plants can ease one's inner sorrow. After all, it is extremely painful to force a person who has finally gotten used to running around to sit in a fixed seat. Even if it is a throne, there will be a very painful adaptation process.

Sitting in the garden, cutting the extra leaves from the flowers and plants while tasting the fine wine from Edessa, Luca used this method to relieve his fatigue and also gave his ears a rest after listening to all kinds of words all day.

It has to be said that as Augustus of Eastern Rome and especially as Basileus who was also a Greek, Luca had slowly begun to learn and master Greek, although he was not speaking fluently yet and even had a heavy nasal accent.

He specifically called Tenaia and Adnus. The mother and son had rarely gone out since they were brought here. Tenaia seemed to have lost her former liveliness and agility. A series of tragedies made this woman, who should have been lively, lose her agility.

The bitterness tortured her so much that she began to become dull and gradually more and more autistic. This behavior gradually affected her son, and the two of them sat there with completely no sense of home. After so much time had passed, Adnus still looked at Luca with a hint of strangeness in his eyes.

"He is not suitable to be Augustus." Luca stood there tending flowers and plants. Although his back was facing the mother and son, he was still observing Adnus's every move. He was too alert, like a hedgehog, hiding under his thorny skin, not wanting anyone's sympathy, nor wanting to sympathize with anyone.

Luca gave the maid a look, and the maid understood. She stepped forward and held Adnus' hand, but she didn't expect that Adnus suddenly pulled his hand back as if he was frightened, and then hid in Tenaia's arms.

"What are you doing?" Seeing this, Tenaia hugged Adnus tightly, then raised her head and glared at the maid and asked loudly, scaring the maid so much that she quickly lowered her head.

"That's enough, Tenaia!" Luca turned around and interrupted Tenaia when he saw that the situation was not good. "I ordered this!"

"Why do you do this?"

"We need to talk privately. Without this child, believe me, Adenus will be fine in their care and nothing will happen to him."

After listening to Luca's persuasion, Tenaia reluctantly let go of her hand and pushed away Adnus who tried to hide in her arms again and again.

Adnus was still struggling, but seeing that his mother was no longer willing to "protect" him and his indifferent father, he was unable to resist the pulling of several maids and was forcibly taken away from Tenaia's arms.

"Tenaia, your world has become smaller!" Luga said with concern, and walked slowly to Tenia's side. The waiter brought a stool for Luga to sit down.

"I have lost too much, Luca." Tenaia lowered her head, her hands clasped together between her thighs. She was still worried about Adnus, even so she would look towards Adnus from time to time, watching Adnus surrounded by a group of maids. He was so nervous standing in the middle, like a young bird without protection, unable to do anything in the wind and rain. "Adnus is my son, he is everything to me, yes, the last relative."

"What about me?"

"You are not!" Tenaia turned around and looked at Luga, her eyes were as cold as the cold winter in December. What kind of life had smoothed Tenaia's character? Luga didn't even dare to think about it here.

"Are you still blaming me?"

"You also know that such words are meaningless. After all, this happened a long time ago." Tenaia said, and couldn't help but sigh softly, "I can't blame you for anything, Caesar, well, this is completely different from when you were in Genoa. You are no longer yourself, it's completely different!"

Facing Tenaia's reproach, Luca was naturally furious. He was very dissatisfied and retorted: "Yes, it is indeed wrong to separate, but if it weren't for years of hard work, there would be no life now. Tenaia, don't you understand?"

"No, I can't understand, I can't comprehend!" Tenaia stared at Luca, tears gradually welling up in her eyes, "Look at Adnus, this poor child, he has never stepped out of the house you arranged for him in all these years, his world is so small, he only knows that there are scary monsters outside the door, but in reality there is nothing. This is complete house arrest, for Adnus, and for me as well."

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Tenaia couldn't help sobbing and turned her head away, not wanting to look into Luca's eyes. "You have always been tough, thinking that you have to shoulder all the problems yourself, that you can arrange everything, and that everyone, whether family or comrades, can have a so-called good life as long as they follow the rules. Caesar, Caesar, you are not God, you are just a person, a person I have met and loved!"

Luca was silent, and the calls of "Caesar" sounded like heavy punches hitting his chest.

Luca didn't know whether he should use the authority of Augustus, which he had already mastered, and fly into a rage, angrily accusing Tenea of ​​not appreciating the good people's efforts, or think secretly about where he had gone wrong.

Luga was just confused. He couldn't understand why the good life that the world longed for and disdained to pursue was not worth mentioning in front of Tenaia. She disdained the prominent status. She did not like such a carefree life, at least not the carefree life at the moment.

"Tenaia!" Luga stroked his forehead and smiled helplessly. His smile revealed a lot of fatigue. "What do you want? What can I not give you? Tell me, what can I do to compensate you? I can satisfy you. I used to be clearly aware that I couldn't give you anything, and I didn't even have the ability to protect you, but now I can. You know that I haven't forgotten you, and it's impossible for me to give up on you!"

"I want you!" Tenaia's eyes were firm. "I want you!"

(End of this chapter)