[You ignited an extremely strong will to live.]
[You did not want to leave Nero because of the harm Agrippina had caused you.]
[Even if there was only a slight possibility, you wanted to stay by her side.]
[But it was not that easy.]
[Everyone only has one life.]
"Ah—!"
A painful cry came from deep within the Roman palace, but it quickly subsided.
This was Ian changing his medicine.
He knew that he had underestimated the resentment in the heart of that evil woman who could be so ruthless toward her own daughter.
The sharp dagger was not only coated with poison but also with Agrippina's curse.
Ordinary medicine couldn't cure it at all. At most, he could only use some methods like this to numb himself and achieve a temporary pain-relieving effect.
"Don't be like this... I beg you... don't be like this."
Ian prayed to the Christian God in his heart—they said that He was all-powerful.
"Let me live."
"I haven't enjoyed our time together yet... I absolutely can't die like this."
[You didn't know if your prayer had reached the ears of that all-powerful god.]
[But you confirmed that your condition had not improved.]
[At the same time, Nero also began to act.]
[After personally getting rid of her mother, Agrippina, she was clearly more confident than before.]
[This was not difficult to understand—with Agrippina's death, most of the public opposition to Nero in Rome was gone.]
[As a result, the only thing Nero was wary of was the Senate.]
[Frankly speaking, the young empress did not like this large organization that relied on its past status to wantonly interfere with her decisions.]
[This was a great restriction for her, who had always loved freedom.]
[She decided to kick all these guys out.]
[She told you about this idea.]
After a certain Senate meeting.
Nero told Ian her thoughts without holding anything back—he was the man she trusted absolutely, so even for such an important national decision, she wanted him to be involved.
"Teacher, that's my idea."
"If you don't have any objections... I will announce the exile at the next meeting."
"..."
Ian gasped.
Although he had already prepared himself mentally, he had not expected that Nero would already want to do something like this.
But if he thought about it carefully, it wasn't without reason.
The death of Agrippina might have made her realize that it was more effective to eliminate an enemy directly than to avoid them.
As long as she killed the people who opposed her, there would be no more people who opposed her!
Ian, of course, understood this logic.
But the question was—
What consequences would this lead to?
As the emperor, Nero could, of course, exile everyone in the Senate from Rome overnight, but the price of doing so would be the panic it caused among the people.
The people in the Senate were all prominent figures. If even they could be exiled by the emperor at will, then as a Roman citizen, wouldn't he be at risk of being dealt with by her at any time?
"Nero, that's not good," Ian advised her. "You should know that this will cause panic, right?"
"Of course I know that."
Nero put her hands on her hips, looking very angry.
"But I can't stand these people constantly criticizing my policies."
"Am I the emperor, or are they the emperor?"
"You're still the same, aren't you?"
Ian smiled and stroked the young woman's head.
"How about this—we each take a step back."
"Teacher has a way to make these people in the Senate no longer dare to criticize your actions, but... it's not by doing what you said."
"Huh?! What is it?" Nero grabbed Ian's hand.
"Teacher, tell me quickly!"
"It's like this, Nero."
Ian found himself starting to become ruthless.
[You presented your idea to Nero.]
[Making the people in the Senate shut up was actually very simple—you just had to make them realize that they would pay a heavy price for speaking out casually.]
[This was quite easy to achieve.]
[You quickly locked onto a target—the former emperor's old official, Pallas.]
[As a minister left behind by Nero's third father, Claudius, Pallas had always been critical of Nero's actions.]
[In the early days of her rule, he had even tried to incite the Senate to publicly oppose Nero.]
[Using him as an example to warn the others was obviously the best thing to do.]
[Fate seemed to approve of your choice.]
[After some investigation, you quickly discovered some secrets that had never been revealed—that Pallas and Agrippina had actually maintained a very close relationship in private.]
[This was the reason why Agrippina was able to escape, and it was also the best excuse to deal with Pallas.]
[Soon, Nero announced the result of the conquest of Britannicus in the name of the emperor.]
[Pallas was found guilty in the relevant trial and ended up being burned at the stake in the public square.]
[This action quickly affected the Senate—these nobles, who were seasoned in politics, naturally understood that this was a threat from Nero.]
[Gradually, your plan took effect.]
[The voices of opposition to Nero in the Senate lessened significantly, and even if someone dared to give an opinion, their tone became much more humble.]
[Nero was very satisfied with this.]
"Teacher, these people don't seem to dare to criticize me at all, do they?"
"Of course—they're just a group of people who have gathered for their own interests. When it's time to suffer, they'll want to let others go first."
"That's true."
"Hmm~ Now that they're no longer holding me back, I can finally do some things I want to do!"
"What do you want to do?"
"I want to hold an interesting event in my name, of course!"
[Nero was not joking.]
[After making all the voices of opposition to her disappear, the naturally lively emperor wanted to use the power of the state of Rome to hold some interesting events.]
[You did not stop her from doing this.]
[Because you knew you couldn't stop her at all.]
[However, this was not a bad thing—after eliminating the dissenters, the Roman internal situation, on the whole, had begun to converge.]
[Holding related events at this time would be beneficial for promoting the greatness of Rome and making the citizens living here feel more secure.]
[You agreed to Nero's action, and in order to further increase the attractiveness of this gathering, you specifically named it the "Neronia Festival."]
[This was a super-large event comparable to the Olympic Games.]
[The sports department that Nero had set up in the early days of her rule now showed an incredibly effective operational capability.]
[Every Roman citizen, under Nero's call, wholeheartedly participated in this unprecedented gathering.]
[This would leave a significant mark on history.]
[Of course, during this process, Nero herself was not idle.]
[Being naturally lively, she actively participated in many competitions and, without a doubt, took home the gold medals for those events—after all, no one dared to win against the emperor of Rome.]
[This was a gathering that became famous overseas. Even the Greeks had heard about it.]
[The power of the Roman Empire was fully displayed at this moment.]
[You were happy about this, but you couldn't help but feel a little sad.]
[Even though it had come to this.]
[You, however...]
Late at night.
The Neronia Festival officially ended today, and the Roman people's expectations for the young empress had reached an unprecedented high.
However—
What they didn't know was that their emperor was currently enjoying a wonderful musical and dance performance.
Inside Nero's room.
Many beautiful roses were placed on the floor of the large room in a very artistic way. A pleasant scent filled the air, like a fine wine.
And on the bed, Nero, with her legs curled up, was kneeling there like a kitten.
But her appearance at this moment was a little special.
The once majestic young woman was wearing a laurel wreath made of olive branches, and a medal symbolizing a winner hung around her neck.
Her hands, which should have been holding this thing, were now tied behind her back, leaving her in a humble, head-down position.
However—
The young woman's expression was not one of shame for this unusual behavior. Instead, there was a hint of excitement.
She looked up at the man in front of her and began to state his "crimes."
"Teacher... you actually dared to tie me up like this. If I told anyone, you would definitely be sentenced to death, right?"
"..."
"Silence won't help. This is an undeniable fact. I will definitely expose your crimes tomorrow. Just wait to rot in a Roman prison for the rest of your life."
"..."
Giggle. Ian couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sorry, Nero, I can't help it—you're so funny directing and acting by yourself."
"Hey—!"
Nero pouted unhappily.
"I just set up a reasonable scene! Why did you have to ruin the mood, Teacher!"
"But who would ever set up their significant other to be a 'criminal' and then turn around and 'judge' the real 'emperor'?"
"But I just wanted to experience this feeling! Is there anything wrong with a wife wanting to be more intimate with her husband?!"
"You're so dumb, Teacher. I don't want to talk to you anymore!"
"..."
Seeing Nero turn her face away, Ian knew that she was genuinely unhappy.
But the man knew how to make her happy.
He placed the treasure that symbolized the courage of a lion in front of her.
Nero's nose twitched slightly. She knew what was happening, but she still replied with great anger:
"Hmph, I don't want to do that today. Teacher, you'll have to figure it out yourself!"
"Don't be like that," Ian let it touch Nero's lips. "I was wrong, okay—Nero, please help Teacher?"
"..."
Nero turned her head back and looked at the man's pleading display. Her tone softened slightly.
She blushed and said in a low voice:
"Then Teacher has to cooperate with my plan from before."
"Okay, I will."
"That's more like it!" After receiving Ian's answer, Nero continued the original script in silence.
Following the pre-arranged performance plan, the man also "bullied" the young woman.
"That attitude isn't good enough, Miss Nero—it doesn't match your current role as a slave at all."
"..."
Nero was silent, but in the man's gaze, she acted even more submissively.
"That's more like it—a slave should be unable to move, just like this."
"But, I want to experience something more exciting."
Mimicking the tone of a bad guy, Ian covered the back of Nero's head, using his fingers like a whip and gently tracing her face.
The medal around the young woman's neck also jingled during this process.
And at the very end, the man picked up a wine glass from the side and held it against Nero's forehead.
"Miss Nero, I'm going to turn you into a slave completely."
Clink, clink, clink—
The purplish-red wine flowed down the young woman's fair cheeks and then became the best thing to punish her with.
"So, so exciting!"
Nero, with wine all over her face, cried out.
"Teacher, you're doing so well! I'm very satisfied!"
"Are you saying I'm good at playing the villain?" Ian replied helplessly. "Nero... is this what you like?"
"I don't just like this."
Nero, with traces all over her face, stared at Ian.
"I just want Teacher to realize that I'm your wife and that I can be useful as a partner—otherwise, I wouldn't have set up a script like this!"
"Nero..."
The man sighed softly.
"What would you do if I wasn't here one day?"
"You're not here?"
"How could Teacher not be here?" Nero skillfully wiped the remaining wine off her face. "You're already mine."
"If I want you to be here, you have to be here!"
"There is no other possibility!"
After saying this, Nero, as usual, fulfilled her wifely duties for him.
By the time she spoke again, everything had been renewed.
"Okay, Teacher is comfortable now—it's my turn to enjoy, right?"
Nero struggled to get up and then just fell back down.
"I've been holding it in for days!"
"...Don't you want to take those medals off first?"
"No need~" Nero smiled naughtily. "Teacher clearly likes me better this way, don't you?"
"..."
Ian felt the young woman's body temperature once again.
But in his heart, he was thinking about something else.
[You knew that Nero's dependence on you had reached a pathological level.]
[Realizing that you might be hopeless, you were desperate for a chance to alleviate all of this.]
[And such a thing seemed to have been granted by a god.]
[One month after you and Nero got married, Britannia rebelled!]