"Why on earth are you doing this?"
After receiving many complaints and complaints from the senators, Seneca rushed into Nero's palace angrily and puzzled.
"Guard, drive him out."
Nero, who was concentrating on painting on the walls of the palace, indifferently ordered the soldiers guarding the gate of his palace.
"I refuse, Your Majesty."
Seneca stood behind Nero without giving in, staring at her without looking back.
Rumors like this have been circulating in Rome recently:
The beloved Emperor Nero finally followed the path of his uncle Caligula - and fell into madness.
After changing his previous tolerance and kindness, Nero gave up interfering in state affairs overnight and became an out-and-out "tyrant".
He threw others into the Colosseum to fight to the death with wild beasts without any explanation, bound others and tortured them without explanation, exiled and imprisoned those who offended him without explanation.
It would be fine if that were the case.
But even several senators suffered at Nero's hands.
Seneca could not tolerate such insults to the senators who were the cornerstones of Rome.
The ending of being disemboweled and eventually torn to pieces and devoured by wild beasts like slaves without any resistance in the arena should not be the ending that the Roman senators should face.
And Nero, who could watch everything happening with a smile on his face, was not the girl Seneca was familiar with.
Although Nero was a willful emperor, he was by no means such a cold-blooded and ruthless being.
"I'm not ordering you, Seneca."
After hearing Seneca's refusal, Nero turned to look at him coldly.
"Besides, what are you doing who are supposed to follow my orders?"
Nero turned his attention to the guard who was in a dilemma between her and Seneca.
"Don't let Yu repeat it a third time. Get him out quickly."
However, facing Seneca, whose expression remained unchanged, the guards found it difficult to move.
“You——————!”
Looking at the guards who still didn't move, Nero's face showed a hint of sullenness.
Anyone who knew her well during this time can recognize that it was a precursor to Nero's anger.
It was the only omen she could get for her volatile moods.
"Isn't it true that teachers who want to question their own students are no longer allowed? Your Majesty."
Seneca stood in front of the guards, standing between them and Nero, who was about to become angry.
"Even if you are Yu's teacher, Seneca, Yu is Augustus. Yu can decide anything in Rome."
"Augustus was no more than the first citizen."
Words that were neither humble nor arrogant came from Seneca's mouth.
"That's all in the past. I am Ibratus, I am Augustus, I am the emperor of Rome, and I am the monarch of Rome!"
Nero walked up to Seneca and continued:
"The Roman Republic is dead, and the words of I are supreme over all."
"Where did you hear this? Your Majesty, I never taught you this."
Seneca said calmly.
Under Seneca's words, a trace of throbbing appeared in the depths of Nero's cold eyes.
"You should not be such a cruel Augustus, Your Majesty. Prosperity, applause, praise - do you really think you can get these by doing this?"
In Seneca's eyes, Nero's mask of inhuman madness began to disintegrate.
"Stand back."
Seneca waved Nero's guards to retreat, but Nero surprisingly did not express any objection.
Under the incredulous looks of the guards, Nero ignored them and left the surroundings of his palace.
"Tell me, Your Majesty, why you [act] as a tyrant."
After the guards left, Seneca asked the real question.
Putting aside the skill and quality of his singing, Nero's acting skills are nothing short of superb.
Especially with the lessons learned from Caligula, it couldn't be easier for her to play a tyrant, "the tyrant Nero might become".
His superb acting skills even fooled the whole of Rome by pretending to be real.
But this could not deceive Seneca, who had been teaching her since Nero was a child.
"teacher…..……"
In the face of the closest mentor besides her parents - even Nero's parents may not be able to compare with Seneca in her heart.
Nero dropped all pretense.
"I don't know...Teacher, I don't know! Why do I know what I want to do? Why do I want to do this? I don't know this at all!"
Nero held the empty neck tightly, as if there was still something hanging there that she didn't know she had lost.
"I only remember...I lost something very important. Someone in the past told me these stories, Yu who killed indiscriminately, Yu who was violent, Yu who was extravagant, Yu who was crazy——————
Is this really Yu? Yu will also have such doubts, but if he doesn't do this, Yu will lose even these last impressions..."
"For these vague and ethereal impressions, is it worth it to choose to become a tyrant, to choose to abandon everything you have ever hoped for?
I don't know who told you what terrible stories, Your Majesty, but you can completely forget them and become a great man comparable to Octavian and Caesar. "
Seneca looked at Nero and said:
"Wouldn't it be better to forget about it completely?"
"Completely...forgotten?"
"That's right, forget it completely, and then you will get thunderous applause, the emperor's rule sung by virgins, the golden theater that makes your heart beat with joy - everything you expect will come true, isn't that good?"
Completely forgotten, even if I recall sporadic clues, I treat it as non-existent.
Ignore those terrible "futures", do your best to be the emperor in your heart, and then receive prosperity, praise and applause.
This was undoubtedly an extremely tempting option for Nero.
However------------
"What's the price? Teacher."
The words that someone had spoken a long time ago came out of Nero's mouth, words that he had never understood since then, but now Nero suddenly understood them completely.
That's just a simple truth.
"Where should I find the remaining important things?"
"Your most important thing should be Rome."
"No."
This is the only conclusion that Nero can easily deny. The strange thing is that although there is no reason at all, she is very sure.
"Everyone has something more important than Rome————-and I also have something more important than Rome."
“…………..”
Seneca was speechless for a moment.
This was the first time he had seen Nero's smile in the past few months.
Has he seen Nero's smile in the past ten years?
"Even if you have to sacrifice your rule and the whole of Rome, even if you can only trace illusory traces, and you can't even guarantee success in the end, are you willing to do so?"
"Teacher, what do you think...what should I do?"
"...It's a hard road."
"Even if there is a sacrifice... right?"
Nero's eyes lowered again, avoiding Seneca's gaze.
"Even if the sunset comes."
Seneca placed her palm on Nero's silky blond hair.
**********
"What did Yu do in the future?"
"Do you really want to hear it?"
The man who could no longer remember his appearance said this.
"Hmm! Of course!"
"Well...that's not a pleasant story, Your Majesty."
"That's enough. Say it quickly! ▇▇."
"The most notorious thing the tyrant named Nero did was probably the burning of Rome————"
"No matter how much I want a gorgeous palace, I will not set fire to Yu's treasures!"
…
"Treasure?"
Reminiscing about the fragments of memories that remained, Nero laughed at himself as he set fire to Roman buildings with torches.
….
"You also have great achievements that will be remembered for future generations. The magnificent Golden Palace covers an area of well...but it is also quite infamous."
"Hmm, Golden Palace? Yu is indeed very interested."
….
"Even if there is a theater, what will I do with it?"
Nero looked at the golden theater built on the ruins and murmured in confusion.
The person who wants to show off his singing voice is not here.
………
"You will also personally order the killing of your mentor and the massacre of many Christians, including the apostles."
"Hmm, Christian Yu really doesn't like it very much."
"In the end, you misjudged the situation during the rebellion and fled Rome in a hurry. The Senate, which seized the opportunity, declared you a public enemy of the country and committed suicide."
"I am the first citizen. My authority is given by the citizens of Rome. How can I be forced to commit suicide just by the Senate's ruling?"
…………
"After doing something like that, it will be difficult to gain the trust of the citizens again..."
Under the bloody setting sun, Nero narrowed his hazy eyes and stabbed the dagger into his neck.
"However, you have come to this point, but you still can't remember it in the end...?"
The vision in front of him gradually darkened, and Nero recalled Seneca who she had killed.
"I'm sorry, I still didn't succeed in the end, teacher."
She sacrificed everything and failed to find something more important than Rome.
As the sun set on the first day, Nero closed his eyes.
However, thunderous cheers echoed in Nero's ears.
It was something Nero had heard for a time, but then lost.
"I'm sorry, but...I have given up that glory..."
Nero did not open his eyes.
….
As the sun set on the second day, the songs of all the people echoed in Nero's ears.
It was something that Nero had once gained, but then lost.
"I'm sorry, but...I have betrayed your trust."
Nero still didn't open his eyes.
She is still hoping and hoping that a miracle will happen on the last day————————————
"What exactly is Yu expecting..."
The last trace of that important thing disappeared, leaving only an empty heart still searching for something missing.
As the sun set on the third day, Nero was covered with a red cloth.
"Thank you for being such a kind person, but who are you?"
Nero slowly opened his eyes and looked at the thin figure in front of him.
"I am your servant, Your Majesty."
"Really...Thank you, but you're a little late...and...I'm sorry, I betrayed you..."
Tears dripped from her eyes and fell on the stone slab under the girl's body bit by bit.
"But thank you, really, thank you——I can do this for the rest..."
The warmth of life slowly dissipated into the air.
"No, Your Majesty, you have never betrayed me, never."
Animusfia sighed and covered Nero's face with the red cloth in her hand.
"Never."
The sunset on the third day completely sank under the mountains.
