Chapter 192: What Happened in the East 2
< 192. What Happened in the East 2>
Marcus slowly recalled his memories.
‘I didn’t drink enough to black out.’
His head was still fuzzy, but he gradually remembered what happened yesterday.
Marcus had a habit of diluting his wine with water whenever he drank it.
Pure wine was too strong, and not many people drank it as it was.
In Rome, where the culture of enjoying wine was developed, drinking too much was considered rude and uncivilized.
Marcus was very careful about his self-control in this regard.
He had never made a mistake because of drunkenness in his life.
‘It seems like I was tricked by those two.’
According to his memory, there was only one person next to him when he came to his bedroom: Cleopatra.
But why was Arsinoe in the bed with him?
And there was no sign of resistance around him.
Marcus decided to remember everything before the two women woke up, and tried his best to recall yesterday’s events.
Fortunately, he had some fragments of scenes in his head, even though he had blacked out.
When he was drunk and came to his bedroom door, Cleopatra was definitely next to him.
She clung to Marcus’s side and tried to enter the bedroom with him.
“Marcus, you look so tired. Let me take care of you. First, let’s take off that stuffy toga.”
“Uh, sure.”
Cleopatra pretended to help Marcus change into comfortable clothes, while subtly pressing her body against him and taking off her own clothes as well.
“You seem to have a lot of troubles lately. Let me comfort you.”
“Huh? No, wait…”
“It’s okay. Just stay still. I’ll do everything for you. You just have to close your eyes and enjoy my service.”
Marcus, who was almost unconscious from the alcohol, could barely hear Cleopatra’s words.
Not only that, but she also looked almost like Julia as she leaned on him naturally.
Cleopatra was right.
Marcus was mentally exhausted these days.
That’s why he sent a letter to Julia and Danae, telling them to come to Alexandria with Publius as soon as he returned.
He wanted to enjoy a vacation with his family and then go back to Rome together.
Marcus, who had lost his reason, laid Cleopatra on the bed as he always did with Julia.
Everything was going according to Cleopatra’s plan, until a sharp voice interrupted them.
“What are you doing? I came here because I was worried, and sure enough…”
“What are you doing here? Are you trying to stop us?”
The owner of the voice, Arsinoe, was standing at the door with a pale and angry face.
She pointed her trembling finger at Cleopatra and raised her voice.
“I knew it. Marcus didn’t drink that much, but he got drunk too quickly. Did you put something in his wine? How are you going to deal with the consequences of this?”
“I didn’t put anything in his wine. I just forgot to ask for water to dilute it after a while.”
“That’s the same thing! You planned this from the start!”
“So what? Is there anything wrong with that?”
Cleopatra answered confidently, as if she wasn’t bothered at all.
Arsinoe was right.
Cleopatra had planned this from the beginning.
At first, she gave Marcus wine diluted with water as he requested.
She couldn’t give him pure wine right away, because he would notice it immediately.
And when she saw that he was getting tipsy, she slowly reduced the amount of water she added.
Marcus, whose tongue was numb from the alcohol, didn’t realize that the concentration was increasing and just drank whatever she gave him.
So he inevitably got drunk without knowing it.
Cleopatra looked annoyed and turned her eyes away from Arsinoe and hugged Marcus again.
“Can you stop bothering us? If Marcus falls asleep because of this, will you take responsibility? Marcus, don’t mind her and let’s continue.”
“Hey! What if something goes wrong later? How are you going to handle it?”
“You’re so noisy. It would be better if something goes wrong. And for the sake of Egypt’s future, one of us has to have Marcus’s child. I have nothing more to say to you who can’t even do such basic calculations.”
“Calculations? Don’t talk nonsense. I don’t want to give up my place to you who justify your actions with such logic.”
Arsinoe hesitated for a moment, but then shook off her doubts and climbed onto the bed as well.
Cleopatra frowned and asked,
“Do you want to stop us until the end?”
“If you’re going to use the excuse of Egypt’s future, you don’t have to do it with Marcus. I can do it too, right?”
“Wait. You…”
“I can sleep with Marcus anytime if he wants. I don’t need a weird reason like you.”
While the two women were arguing, Marcus’s reason had already flown away.
In his eyes, Cleopatra and Arsinoe looked almost indistinguishable from Julia and Danae.
There couldn’t be anyone else but those two who were naked on his bed.
And he had already shared the bed with them several times.
Marcus hugged the two women who were about to fight and spent the night with them.
The last thing he remembered was a thrilling remark from Cleopatra and Arsinoe.
“Fine. Let’s both become his women. And the one who has a child will be the final winner. Are you satisfied with that?”
“Of course. Amun-Ra will surely know who has a more pure heart for him. The more suitable person will have his child.”
After that, he didn’t remember anything else.
Marcus, who roughly understood the situation, looked at the two women who were sleeping soundly next to him with a dumbfounded expression.
“I thought they were just young girls, but they did something like this…”
He suddenly thought of Julia, who was probably preparing to come to Alexandria by now.
How was he going to explain this to her?
Of course, Julia, who was smart, wouldn’t mind Marcus taking an Egyptian pharaoh to his bed.
She knew what it meant for Marcus’s blood to mix with the Egyptian royal blood.
But that was only when he had explained it beforehand and asked for her consent.
If he told her after the fact, no wife would be happy and applaud him.
Marcus had always intended to take one of Cleopatra or Arsinoe to his bed if necessary.
Of course, only if they wanted it, but Marcus already knew that both pharaohs liked him.
It was obvious that they wouldn’t refuse him if he wanted them.
But he never expected them to attack him first like this.
And sleeping with both of them at the same time was definitely not part of his plan.
‘This is really troublesome…’
If a child was born from this, he could easily guess how Julia would react.
This was entirely Marcus’s fault, and he had no excuse for it.
‘I should have noticed it when Cleopatra said that in the library. She meant this.’
Cleopatra had a clear goal in mind, just like Marcus wanted to plant his bloodline in the Egyptian royal family.
First of all, if she slept with Marcus, she could share the image of being his woman that only Arsinoe had.
And if she was lucky enough to have a child, she could gain a much more advantageous position than Arsinoe.
But neither of their sons would become Romans, and they couldn’t marry Marcus officially either.
Cleopatra, who had stayed in Rome for a long time, knew how the Roman customs and laws worked.
She didn’t care about having a Roman son anyway.
All she wanted was her son with Marcus, and being known as his woman.
That was it.
With those two things, she could make the position of the Egyptian royal family rock-solid.
Marcus knew all this, but he didn’t think Cleopatra would act on it so soon.
“It’s amazing how you act so boldly. The water has already spilled, so there’s no point in trying to scoop it back up. I have to think about how to fix this.”
He got up from his seat, and Arsinoe and Cleopatra woke up from their sleep as well.
“Yawn, Ganymedes, bring me some water…”
Arsinoe, who tried to call her attendant out of habit, realized that she was completely naked and quickly hid under the blanket.
“Oh, you’re awake. Marcus, did you sleep well?”
“Good morning.”
Unlike Arsinoe, who was nervous about being scolded, Cleopatra smiled warmly and greeted him.
“Are you sober now? They say honey water is good for hangovers. Do you want me to prepare some for you?”
“I wouldn’t have a hangover if it wasn’t for someone.”
He didn’t feel like getting angry at Cleopatra’s confident attitude and Arsinoe’s restless behavior.
Marcus sighed deeply and handed them their clothes that were lying around.
“Let’s talk after you two get dressed.”
※※※
Marcus wanted to hide the fact that he had slept with both pharaohs if possible, but this wasn’t something that could be covered up easily.
The news that Cleopatra and Arsinoe had spent the night together in Marcus’s room had already spread throughout the palace.
People envied Marcus and wondered which pharaoh would have a child with him.
Cleopatra had already planned how to use it if she got pregnant.
“You said that the Nile won’t flood this year and next year, right? We have to announce this in advance. That way, we won’t have to suffer from false accusations when something happens.”
“True. If the pharaoh gets pregnant and the Nile suddenly doesn’t flood, some people will say that it’s the wrath of the gods, or a curse.”
“Yes. It will definitely happen. There are still some people who don’t accept Rome’s dominance. They will try to stir up trouble by saying that the pharaohs have angered the gods by receiving the seed of a Roman. So we have to act first before they do.”
“How are we going to do that?”
“First of all, the pharaohs have to take some responsibility for the famine. There’s no way to avoid that, no matter what reason we give. So I’m sorry, but we have to blame your father a bit.”
“…You mean he did something wrong and that’s why the famine came? That doesn’t make much sense, does it? If that was the case, it should have happened last year.”
“He didn’t do anything wrong. The famine in this year and next year is just a warning from the gods because the succession of the Egyptian royal family is unclear. Your father raised you two princesses well, but unfortunately he failed to groom any princes who could take the throne.”
There were a few duties that the pharaohs, who were at the top of the Egyptian power, had to fulfill.
The most strict one was the duty of reproduction, the obligation to have children.
Arsinoe nodded slowly as she understood Cleopatra’s words.
“I see. So you mean that the famine for the next two years is just a warning to have children quickly and not mess up the succession like our ancestors did?”
“Yes. And we have to announce that before the warning disappears when one of us successfully gives birth. Marcus, are you sure that the Nile won’t flood this year and next year?”
“That’s right. The Nile will reach its abundant level in two years.”
“But the priests of Isis will check the water level on Elephantine Island in a week, right? If we conceived yesterday, we would have a child before they measure next year’s level, right? Then our words won’t match.”
Cleopatra shrugged nonchalantly.
“That’s just an excuse. The infant mortality rate is high, so we can say that the Nile won’t be relieved until the baby is safely one year old. The important thing is that we already know that the Nile won’t flood.”
“I see. Well, if we announce that there will be a famine and how to solve it in advance, there won’t be any complaints.”
Arsinoe was convinced, but Marcus pointed out a serious issue.
“This plan assumes that both of you will have a child. But there’s no guarantee that you’ll have one just because you slept together last night.”
“I’m sure of it. One of us must have conceived a child with him. And even if we didn’t, it doesn’t matter. If we don’t have a child…”
Cleopatra trailed off.
If they didn’t have a child, they would sleep with him until they did.
Marcus understood her meaning and shook his head.
He hoped that wouldn’t happen.
Cleopatra and Arsinoe seemed to have no worries, but Marcus’s mind was far from easy.
He couldn’t help it, because he had received a letter from Julia yesterday saying that Publius had returned to Antioch and she would come to Alexandria.
And a few days after the letter arrived, Julia and the children arrived at Alexandria’s port on a ship.
< 192. What Happened in the East 2 > End
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