章 27: Game of Rome
Unlike her daughter, who is utterly cruel and enjoys pleasure and tormenting those who resist her reign, Agrippina was just ruthless and only needed the job to be done.
So, she calmly moved her chess piece before she left Rome.
It was a gift to her daughter; she knew that her daughter had some conspiracy to tarnish her reputation completely, allowing her daughter to justify executing her.
However, she is not called a scheming woman for nothing; she had already been waiting for this day to completely defeat her daughter.
Nero was wrong and proven to have made a fatal mistake on her part by not executing her quickly. Instead of giving her a swift death, she tormented her mentally to her own demise.
She may have confined her to her own chamber and prevented her from even running away from Rome, but her daughter forgot the fact that it was an easy matter for her to leave.
Her daughter believed that she had total control over Rome, but no, she had never been in control in the first place.
They would never allow the Emperor to become the sole voice in Rome. And she would show them, and her daughter, where arrogance and ego would lead.
Britannicus, Britannia, Gaul, Claudia, her father's former legion – they are nothing more than chess pieces. And they will cause Rome to shatter into pieces, and her daughter's day of death has come.
It's the price for underestimating her.
Let's see how Nero will handle her tattered empire and her own impending doom.
...
"So, Britanicus, why did you visit in the middle of the night, suddenly?" Nero curled her lips and teased her little brother when she saw his anxious look.
Diverging from history where he was murdered by her mother after one year of her ascension to become Emperor of Rome, in this timeline, Agrippina has no energy or time to manage Britanicus or get rid of him because of her power struggle with the Senate, and Nero has no desire to shed her own blood relative unless it is necessary.
As far as she could see, Britannicus never did anything considered crossing the line or becoming a threat to her, so she didn't take any extra measures against him.
He was just a little boy, after all; he was still a child in her perspective.
The boy has blonde hair and emerald eyes like her; his features are softer, and his skin is pale white.
His face was strikingly similar to Arthur Pendragon from Fate/Prototype.
"I don't know if I can say it, sister..." He stammered, his fearful look evident as he glanced around the chamber, fearing there is a third party that heard their conversation.
It's all thanks to Agrippina that she suddenly invited him to have breakfast with her and revealed her stance in supporting him as Caesar.
There are many people out there who want a genuine Caesar based on the Emperor's own blood.
Even if he had the courage, he dared not think of seizing his sister's throne, especially since he harbored suspicions that Nero poisoned his mother, Messalina, and orchestrated her downfall. It traumatized him since childhood, instilling fear towards his own sister.
That's why he didn't greet her cheerfully or reply to her as a brother should.
His fear towards his sister was profound; he didn't even dare to look her in the eyes and kept his gaze lowered.
When he consulted his sister, Claudia, she suggested that he be honest with Caesar to calm his anxious mood.
So, he did as she told.
Noticing her brother's anxious look, she guessed it probably had to do with their mother, except her; she didn't see anyone who could stir her brother's emotions like that or make him bother to visit her in the middle of the night.
"Let me guess, my mother must have already talked to you about her little coup, am I correct?" Nero chuckled.
Because of Altrouge's existence and her possession of the heart of the red dragon gifted by Crimson Moon, she didn't see anyone from her court or Rome as a threat unless it was Morgan le Fay or Zelretch, who were alive in this current timeline.
Crimson Moon is considered a threat by her too.
As much as their relationship is concerned, she's afraid that her relationship is closer to Altrouge than Crimson Moon.
Rather than a loving relationship, Crimson Moon sees her as nothing more than an object of conquest, and she agreed to it because it was the only way for her to get away from that place.
If she wanted to counter-attack the threat of Crimson Moon, there are many people against her— the Church, Mage Association, perhaps Alaya count too?
"Umm... Yes, you're correct, sister," Britanicus nodded in admittance.
"I'm afraid you telling me this was her trap. Do you feel being followed?" Nero inquired.
"I don't know, sorry, sister," Britanicus lowered his head in apology.
Suddenly he felt something wrong as his expression distorted in pain.
He coughed in pain as he placed his hand on his chest.
His head was dizzy, and his cough worsened as the blood spilled from it.
Nero's expression changed when she saw her little brother's sudden change and rushed at him worriedly.
He suddenly fell into her arms, his eyes closed painfully.
When she checked his breath and pulse, her expression became solemn.
Is this a counter-attack from her mother?
Poisoning her brother in her own chamber?
Making it seem like she was the one who murdered him?
And Nero has every reason for it— the throne, the legitimacy, and her position as a tyrant enough to point out she was the one who did it.
No one can deny that she was guilty despite how foolish it was to poison her own brother in her own chamber. And no one would listen to her.
She admitted that she was being checkmated by her own mother.
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