CHAPTER 195: CHAPTER 94: THE EMPIRE’S SUPERSTAR!

King Uther’s account can be settled slowly.

Now Duncan has the advantageous condition to actively declare war. In the future, even if he plans to kill King Uther, no one can say anything.

To be honest, King Uther being moved by Igraine’s beauty is nothing unusual. In this turbulent era, it’s only natural for the strong to possess beautiful women. However, he cannot act this way; it’s somewhat shameful and not the demeanor of a king. If he had directly defeated the Duke of Dingtiger on the battlefield, or even killed the Duke of Dingtiger, and then taken Igraine as queen,

no one could have said a word against it!

Indeed, Igraine herself would have accepted her fate, as it is normal for the victor to take everything, including the wives and daughters of his enemies.

The lords under King Uther would also believe that only the strong deserve beauty. To have rightly defeated the Duke of Dingtiger and then take his beautiful wife into the harem would have been a story worth telling and at that time, Igraine was considered a spoil of war.

But now, most of the Lord Knights would find this behavior somewhat disgraceful.

The King of the grand nation of Camelot, master of the realm, behaves so unworthily, and Merlin, supposedly the legendary wise wizard, helps facilitate such actions for King Uther, overturning previous perceptions of them both.

If this matter spreads, even some upright knights may abandon King Uther.

In the mist-covered Avalon, those guardian fairies began to doubt Merlin, believing him to be a prophecy-obsessed person, starting with this event, and they became more inclined to support the rising Duncan instead of Merlin’s prophesied child.

Today’s events were spreading across the entire island of Great Britain like the wind.

Merlin was also imprisoned in Southampton.

This matter continues to ferment in its spread, and upon learning of the situation, Anya immediately began to secretly fan the flames. She had already raised many attendants, drunks, minstrels, doing this kind of public opinion dissemination work.

Now that the opportunity presents itself, of course, it was necessary to let King Uther fall from grace!

Even on the Italian Peninsula of the Empire, there was considerable interest in Duncan’s news.

Entertainment is rather scarce in this era. The people of Rome, when chatting and boasting at taverns or bathhouses, don’t have many topics to boast about. The attention sparked by Duncan was quite significant. Although he had never been to Rome, he was a household name there.

Since the time of Caesar, Romans have greatly esteemed war heroes, thus Duncan had many fans in Rome.

It’s quite similar to how people idolize celebrities in later generations.

Recently, Duncan had defeated the Saxon pirate coalition and recovered the London area, which spontaneously drew cheers and celebrations from the people of Rome.

Believing he was indeed deserving of being the empire hero who slew God’s Whip, defeating the Saxon pirates in just a fortnight.

The people of Rome were elated, believing another pillar of strength was emerging for the empire.

The revival of the empire was at hand.

Even the news of Duncan encouraging agriculture and aggressively developing the London area piqued the interest of many. Romans loved making money and doing business, and the reclamation of the Province of Britannia offered various opportunities, with fleets already heading for the London port.

At this time, news concerning King Uther came across. Although the Roman people did not know who King Uther was—as he was an insignificant king from a remote country—it did not prevent them from condemning an enemy of the empire’s hero.

Additionally, the involvement of the legendary wizard made the spread even more captivating to ordinary people.

All taken as gossip.

Would Duncan adopt Arthur as a foster son?

Give this child of unknown origin an honorable origin?

The Roman people couldn’t help but give a big thumbs up.

Look!

Who dares say Duncan isn’t a legitimate Roman?

The empire’s tradition of adopting children, the broad chest that Romans should have, is not something that can be matched by a rural king from the island of Great Britain.

The empire, when it conquered the Barbarian Race, also adopted and integrated the Barbarians as foster sons.

Much like Great Tang having foreigners buried in imperial tombs.

Some enthusiastic people even compare him to Caesar, boasting that Duncan has the kind of magnanimity rarely seen in ordinary people.

Anyway, spectators never mind the excitement and there’s no harm in a bit of flattery.

But those with real intentions would realize that Duncan was preparing to take action against King Uther.

Emperor Valentinian III of the Empire is now a devoted fan of all rumors related to Duncan.

Although he lives a life of luxury and indulgence, and has a fondness for beauty, he also feels contempt for King Uther. To curry favor with the Roman public, he specifically issued an edict rebuking King Uther and nominally stripping him of his title as King of the Kingdom of Camelot.

Of course, the Emperor couldn’t control who was King of Camelot, but this move was undoubtedly a lowering blow, instantly undermining much of King Uther’s legitimacy.

Valentinian III recently has also been thriving, as everyone says he has a keen eye.

The imperial emperor has finally stood up!

He dared to boldly voice in the Imperial Senate, spitting at those senators with a face full of saliva, as if he could single-handedly battle the entire Senate.

As long as it was related to Duncan, he had to come out to gain some traction and boost his presence among the people of the empire.

And you know what?

Valentinian III indeed accumulated a bit of prestige, especially in the Imperial Guard, making his words more authoritative and his influence more extensive.

This is the external support at play here.

Duncan, far away in the Province of Britannia, never involves himself in the imperial internal political struggles; yet he maintains a strong reputation and strength. Who wouldn’t want to win over someone like that?

It can be said that Valentinian III gained a bit of the legendary level just by tagging along for this long as rumors fermented.

In future historical records, it is inevitable there will be mention of him appointing Duncan as the Governor of the Province of Britannia, after which Duncan gained the rightful claim to lead the British Legion across the sea to aid the empire.

This was a win-win scenario.

Inside a magnificent and splendid palace.

Valentinian III has recently been much more diligent in managing affairs, though his decrees rarely leave Italy, it doesn’t affect his spirited enthusiasm. He just finished listening to the rumors about Duncan and beckoned to call in his attendant, asking, "Hasn’t Quintus reached Britannia yet?"

The attendant calculated and whispered, "It’s said that there’s some disturbance at the Gaul border, he might have been delayed."

"His messenger has already returned."

"At most, he can reach Britannia in three days."

This time Quintus heads to Britain carrying the imperial gifts from the emperor and a group of skilled craftsmen to further win Duncan over and gain his support.

But with many people, the journey is slow; Valentinian III is really paying a big price this time.

Valentinian III was indulgent in his youth, addicted to wine and women, without much vigor. He only managed affairs in the morning and would be out of energy in the afternoon, needing the company of beauties to regain some vitality, and a nap at noon; otherwise, he would be listless all day.

Romans liked to use lead, and Valentinian III had some level of lead poisoning.

He was already starting to instruct preparations for the evening’s noble banquet, which wasn’t purely for enjoyment but also to form political alliances to weaken Aetius’s command.

The emperor wanted a head-on confrontation with the Protector of the Realm!

Valentinian III pondered for a moment and said, "Duncan is only twenty this year, right?"

"Not yet married?"

The attendant beside him nodded, "Yes, he is."

"But it’s rumored that Anya is quite close to him and should be his lover."

Anya?

Valentinian III had a faint impression, seemingly the widow of a commander of an imperial legion, from which comes the title of count; in the empire, she is considered real nobility.

This flamboyant imperial emperor chuckled, not knowing what came to his mind, jesting, "Then Anya isn’t that young, right?"

"She is quite suitable as his lover."

The young have great fervor.

He couldn’t help but reminisce about his own youthful days, when he had quite the number of noble lady lovers around him.

The attendant laughed in agreement, thinking for a moment and said, "She should be about eight years older than him."

Upon hearing this, Valentinian III’s expression slowly became serious. It was time to discuss serious matters. He rested his chin and thought, "That is not suitable, as a lover maybe."

"She is not quite suitable as a legitimate wife."

"What do you think, if I wanted to use marriage to win him over, who would be appropriate?"

According to imperial tradition.

A young and promising provincial governor like Duncan should have a wife from a prestigious family; the empire greatly values political marriages. Duncan’s wife must be nobly born to be suitable, someone like Anya would be overreaching a bit, at most she could be a lover.

The attendant heard this and hesitated to speak. He knew what the emperor meant, but he dared not to speak it out loud, not even a word.

Such matters are not something a small figure like him would dare to opinionate on.

Valentinian III came to his senses, waved his hand, signaling the attendant to leave. He was just speaking nonchalantly. After Aetius won the Battle of Chalons, he was at the peak of power within the empire. Even if he wanted to rescind his marriage agreement, unless he was willing to sacrifice his reputation, he couldn’t just proceed like that.

He surely regretted it a bit, but at the time, to gain Aetius’s support, the emperor had to acknowledge it while pinching his nose.

Also, doing such a thing would make Duncan completely break and become hostile towards Aetius.

Duncan might not be willing.

But Valentinian III truly didn’t want to marry his daughter off to Aetius’s son.

Aetius had urged him several times already, but Valentinian III had procrastinated and planned to continue procrastinating.

The emperor had no military command.

Valentinian III had a bitter heart; he dreamt of gaining the support of the imperial army.

Time passed quietly.

After nearly half a month on the road, Quintus finally arrived at the British Channel. He didn’t go to London, but instead led the fleet to Southampton.

Southampton Port.

The guard standing beside Quintus looked at the distant crowd and whispered, "My lord. It’s the Exile Rebel Army."

The harbor area.

A fleet was migrating refugees, and Quintus, of course, knew these people were exiles, the Bagada people, the empire’s former rebel army, but he pretended not to see, lifted his eyes to the sky, and sighed, "The weather is really nice today."

Don’t ask what shouldn’t be asked, pretend you didn’t see.

Recently unrest in the Gaul Region seemed to stem from the Franks wanting to incorporate the young exiles, but many exiles preferred to settle on the island of Great Britain.

Quintus set his position high, and with unrelated things on this journey, he claimed to know nothing.

Incorporating the rebel army, yes.

This is recruitment for amnesty.

If someone truly asked, Quintus already had his reasons thought out.

The greatest purpose of this trip was to win over Duncan, firstly for the imperial emperor, and secondly for himself; Quintus also wanted to cling to Duncan’s influence.

.........