"Your Highness Justinian, do you want to become the emperor?" Sarius asked abruptly, which caught Justinian off guard and was slightly startled.

"Become...emperor?"

"Yes, become the emperor of the empire." Salius said without any ambiguity. He looked at Justinian, not as calm as before.

But Justinian remained silent and did not respond. He just stood above the castle and looked at the empty night sky.

Become an emperor... This is a word that is both strange and familiar to him. If he had been the governor of Moria in Byzantium when he opened his eyes when he traveled back in time, maybe he would have answered without hesitation. But now

Justinian was a little hesitant... Although he was exposed to frost and dew and cut through thorns before he could reach a sizeable place, just like the roads traveled by Roman heroes in the past, but unlike them, these were never Justinian's

My own choice. I helped Muzphius escape because he didn’t want to become the slave of Alexius III. He made up his mind to go to Epirus because he was inspired by Basil and others to resist the Latins in Constantinople.

Infected, and now he has become the ruler of Moria, in a sense, it is thanks to the Dukas brothers.

After thinking for a moment, Justinian looked at the man behind him, shook his head and replied: "I'm just taking one step at a time. What I'm doing now is just the agreement I made with His Majesty Muzfius."

.”

"If you really think so in your heart, Grand Duke Anastasius will not choose you." Apparently Salius was not satisfied with Justinian's evasive answer.

"But it is completely meaningless to talk about this now. Rome has fallen apart, and the so-called crown is worthless before she is restored to integrity." Justinian was obviously uncomfortable when he was asked like this, because he didn't know how to answer Caesar.

Liuus, is it pure ambition? Or is it a promise to others? These reasons are not convincing. The only convincing thing is the threat from the Ark of the Covenant hanging around his neck. But tell Salius this.

Oh, I'm afraid it will be even more absurd.

"Your Highness, you will have to make a choice sooner or later. Perhaps you can continue to serve as the governor of Moria and as a vassal of Emperor Muzphius to fight bloody battles with the Latins. But what happens after this..." the man whispered, "then

As your reputation has been known to more people, everything you have done in Moria will also be known to them. By then, more and more people will oppose you, because not so many people are willing to change and just continue to live.

Such a life, and as an alien, once you become the emperor of the empire, you will undoubtedly be the most troublesome enemy of those nobles."

"But I don't mean to become the emperor yet?"

"Then it won't be up to you. Those people will never spare any effort to nip the threat in the bud." Sarius warned.

"This is not something you would say." Looking at his cavalry commander in front of him, Justinian said noncommittally. Compared with the content of what Salius said, he was more surprised by the person who said these words.

.Although Sarius was loyal to Justinian as a deployment left by Archduke Anastasius, Justinian actually knew nothing about it.

Salius replied calmly: "Grand Duke Anastasius trained me just to share the worries of his former heir."

"Successor...?" Justinian was slightly surprised. Hearing this tone of voice, Archduke Anastasius seemed to have had an heir before, but it seemed -

"He is the only son of the Grand Duke, and he has been loyal to me since I was twelve years old. But I have also said before that the people in Constantinople will never spare any effort to eradicate threats in their eyes..." At this point

, the resolute cavalry commander also looked a little sad.

But then the man's eyes became firm again, looking at Justinian and said: "The Grand Duke chose you in the hope that you can control power, and I am your assistant now. Maybe one day your name will be known all over the world.

You know, some people in the world love you and some hate you, but more people fear you."

"But how is this different from a tyrant," Justinian said softly, "it makes no sense to me."

"A tyrant is better than a coward," the man said. "If you are willing to become a vassal of that blind and false emperor, then I advise you to give up your current power. The Ducas family can never be trusted."

At this point, Sarius's eyes flashed with coldness, as if there was some unspeakable hatred embedded in them.

Justinian did not answer.

"Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. Only by holding on to power can you truly not be influenced by others. Now you can talk to me here precisely because you have the power of Moria in your hands, but not for Caesar

In the end, there is nothingness. Rome is calling for a real emperor." Salius relentlessly said that the bloody facts of Rome for thousands of years were placed in front of Justinian, and he was bound to make a choice.

The two sides just looked at each other in silence, and there was silence all around.

But at this time, the Turkic dagger in Justinian's hand suddenly stabbed Salius. This sudden scene caught the cavalry commander who had been giving advice just now off guard.

Years of military career and training in bloody battles still caused Salius's body to react reflexively and fall back to dodge, but he was unexpectedly punched hard in the lower abdomen, which was exactly what Justinian had done. This

The force of the punch was so strong that he couldn't help but bend down in pain, and the English broadsword in his hand immediately fell from the castle. Immediately afterwards, the fire rack on the top of the city was also kicked by Justinian.

Kicked over, the castle was completely dark for a moment.

However, Justinian, who subdued Salius, did not kill him. Instead, he covered his mouth, raised his hand to signal Salius to be quiet and pointed at the wall behind him.

Looking in the direction pointed by Justinian, Salius, who was puzzled under the dim moonlight, saw a bow and arrow stuck on the wooden wall at some point. Apparently, they were talking just now.

Not yet.

"If I hadn't done that just now, you would have had two more holes in your head." Justinian said half-jokingly, without the slightest hint of nervousness, but in this situation, it was obvious that someone had already targeted them.

.

Salius couldn't help but become nervous, and touched his waist, only to realize that his sword had fallen off just now.

But Justinian patted him on the shoulder and said: "I made your sword fall on purpose just now, so that those people outside would probably think that they had killed the guards on the city, and let the people below wake up.

Ready to welcome guests."

Facing this sudden assassination, Justinian remained terrifyingly calm, as if he had expected all this. Looking at those blue eyes as calm as a pool of water, Salius nodded.
Chapter completed!