Night. Lucilla's residence.
Lucilla had been living in the palace since her father became the Roman emperor. Later, she married her first husband, Lucius, who was the co-emperor of the Roman Empire with his father. So, Lucilla could continue to live in the palace.
However, after Lucius's death, Lucilla was married to her second husband, Pompeo Nuss. So, she had to move out of the palace. Fortunately, her father made the senate give her the title of Augusta to compensate her. And although Pompeo Nuss was not as noble as her former husband, his attitude toward her was impeccable. Although the two were not as affectionate as other newlyweds, they got along well.
Pompeo Nuss usually stayed in the barracks and basically did not interfere with Lucilla's private life.
Therefore, in the eyes of others, Lucilla had a married life that most women envied.
Her domus hosted banquets almost every night, with endless wine and all kinds of beautiful men. But tonight, neither of those could make her happy.
In fact, Lucilla looked a little absent-minded before the banquet began. She could even be said to have lost her soul. She no longer had the laziness and pride she used to have. However, when her maid asked her if she wanted to cancel the banquet tonight, Lucilla just said that everything was as usual.
But when the handsome men came to invite her to dance, she rejected them all without exception. After that, Lucilla got up and left her seat. She told the maid that she wanted to go back and change her clothes. But when she returned to the house and took off her clothes, she did not go to the closet to get the new clothes she wanted to change into.
Instead, she stood in front of the bronze mirror, looking at herself in the mirror motionlessly. It seemed like she was obsessed with the person in the mirror. She stroked her skin with her palm, bit her lip, reached into the drawer on the side, and found an emerald green jade bottle among the bottles of perfume.
When she picked up the emerald bottle, a look of struggle and unwillingness flashed in her eyes. But in the end, she opened the cork.
However, just as she was about to bring the emerald bottle to her lips, a cough came from behind her.
Lucilla was shocked, and the emerald bottle in her hand fell to the ground.
"They said that after the Battle of Actium, Cleopatra VII knew that her death was near, so she asked her maid to hide a poisonous snake named Apus in a basket of figs. Cleopatra VII let the poisonous snake kiss her chest, ending her glorious and legendary life. Her death also marked the end of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. In the end, Egypt was annexed by Rome and became a province under Rome …"
"When did you appear here?" Lucilla turned around and saw the person who spoke.
"Sorry, I've actually just arrived." Zhang Heng wiped the blood on the two Persian swords with a silk sheet. "I encountered a little trouble at night. After I solved it, I came here to look for you. To be honest, I didn't expect you to take off your clothes as soon as you came in. I wanted to wait for you to change before talking to you to avoid this awkward situation, but …"
"They went after you too, didn't they?" Lucilla's expression changed slightly.
"Uh-huh," Zhang Heng nodded and put the Persian sword back on his waist. "It looks like you guys screwed up."
Lucilla did not object when she heard what Zhang Heng said. "We lost this war. In fact, not only did we lose this war, but we also lost everything."
"I can't agree with the last point. Don't you still have me now? Although, you shouldn't have hidden it from me from the beginning, "Zhang Heng said.
"…"
"It's too late now," Lucilla shook her head. But after that, she perked up a little and asked, "How did you find this place?"
"Augusta of the Empire, the sister of His Majesty the Emperor, is the priestess of the mysterious assassin organization Balance Blade. I have to admit that people without a little imagination would not be able to connect the two together. What's more, you who played the role of Priestess Kreis are two different people." Zhang Heng paused at this point, "Uh … why don't you find some clothes to wear first? Let's continue talking."
"I don't think it's necessary." After the initial panic, Lucilla quickly regained her composure. She stood in front of Zhang Heng without any disguise. "I thought you were not interested in me at all. I remember you rejected me before, more than once."
"Well, if you aren't afraid of catching a cold, you can also … leave me hanging." Zhang Heng rubbed his nose and changed the topic back to the main topic. "The last time you met me as a priestess, you were wearing a mask, and your voice was completely different from now. However, you ignored one detail, and that was the smell of perfume on your body."
"The smell of perfume on my body?" Lucilla frowned, "I didn't ignore it. Every time I appear as the priestess of Kreis, I will take a bath first and change to another perfume."
"Yes, but both of the perfume you used were palace perfumes. At first, I didn't suspect you. I just thought that the priestess of the Balance Blade was hiding in the palace as a palace maid. I really started to suspect you when I moved to my new house. You came to my house to visit me, and before you left, you said something inexplicable to me. I thought you were threatening me. That night, Altrus came to me and asked me some questions. Only then did I realize what you meant."
Lucilla nodded when she heard what Zhang Heng said. "I just received the news that Altrus might meet you that day. It was too late to summon you as the priestess of Kreis. So, I could only go to you in person. Fortunately, there have been a lot of rumors about me. It's not surprising that I fell in love with a gladiator. However, you still can't confirm my identity with just one sentence."
"Yes, but then I found my way back to the place where we met that night," Zhang Heng said. Zhang Heng said, "That house belongs to Stuctus, a young man from the Corasus family. A friend of mine told me that he rarely came here about two years ago. After that, out of curiosity, I investigated Stuctus and found out that there were rumors two years ago that he was one of your secret lovers. That's where you had an affair, right?"
Zhang Heng looked at Lucilla opposite him while talking.
"This is also something I don't understand. Weren't your eyes blindfolded at that time, and you were put in the carriage? How did you find that place?" Lucilla was surprised.
"This is a trick that an old friend of mine taught me in Baker Street. If he was the one who was put in the carriage that night, he would have found his way back faster than me," Zhang Heng said.
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