"How did they react?" Aurelia wanted to know, striving for a calm, casual tone. Nevertheless, she could not prevent her voice from trembling with fear. Effortlessly calm, she looked up at him and noticed him watching her intently.
"They have not dared to call me a tyrant or even a king," he said gravely. "But especially those who hoped to be appointed by me seemed very angry. Of course, they all praised my idea to the skies and feigned admiration for my intelligence and foresight, but it was only a hollow talk. I might as well have appointed my horse as consul, they would have reacted no less disparagingly. They will be surprised when they have to deal with you."
Again and again, she had told him that this idea was doomed to failure. Rome, Italy, the whole world was not yet ready for a woman to step out of the shadows and take an active part in politics. Although this fact symbolised everything, she had detested all her life, this society was elitist, racist and sexist. Fighting it could cost her head - and the heads of her family.
"Aurelia, we didn't just plan this campaign together," he reminded her gently. "Since we were married, not actually since you returned from Cosa as my fiancée, you have proven time and again with your courage, your intuition, your alert mind and your charm that you are up to the task. Without you, I could never have brought Macro down; without you, there would be no university in Rome, and without you, I probably wouldn't be alive. So please trust me and believe in yourself because I do."
Stunned, she stared at him. Like a fish out of water, she opened her mouth, but no sound came out of her throat. She was mute. The lump in her throat threatened to choke her. Tears gathered in her eyes. But Gaius only returned her gaze perfectly calmly and gently. While inside her various nightmares and excerpts from documentary series flashed past her again and again, Gaius held her hands gently, anchoring her in the real world. Insistently, he continued with solemn seriousness, "Julius needs you, I need you, but above all, Rome needs you. Perhaps they don't know it yet, but they need you as much as I need you, my heart. Only you can put those hypocritical, small-minded old men under your spell and see to it that no one takes our place while I am away. There is no one in this world I trust more than you. Only you are privy to all the things that are in my mind. I know they will try to make your life difficult, and representing me will take a lot of strength from you. Therefore, there is something I must show you before I go."
Gently, he led her through the corridors of the palace, and she tried to shake off her drowsiness. After a short while, they reached an area where they no longer encountered a soul, and the corridors were so cold and spider-woven that she was sure no one apart from them knew of their existence. Suddenly, Gaius stopped in the middle of the passage, let go of her hand, bent down and operated an invisible lever on a stone slab. Immediately, it lifted, and as he pushed it aside, Aurelia could make out a spiral staircase. Caring, he took her hand again and led her down. Slowly, her eyes adjusted to the dim light, but still, she clung to Gaius for support.
At the end of a long corridor, he suddenly lit an oil lamp, and for a moment, she was blinded by its light. Blinking, she looked around and saw nothing but a wall. They were at a dead end. Then Gaius placed her entwined hands on a stone and pressed gently against it. To her surprise, the stone slid effortlessly inside the wall and triggered a secret mechanism. The next moment, they found themselves in a room full of scrolls and notebooks. Open-mouthed, she marvelled at the abundance of reading material before her. Astonished, she inquired what this place was all about. Sadly, his gaze slid over the scrolls and wax tablets.
"These are all the transcripts from the trials of my mother and brothers," he whispered gravely. "When you first left Rome, I came here every night and read everything I could lay my hands on."
With a mixture of a wife's deep compassion and a historian's childlike enthusiasm, she let her fingertips glide over the files. Only in this way could she be sure that this place was real and that she was not just dreaming it up.
"I was wondering where they might be," she confessed quietly, her curiosity causing her not to notice his surprise at her reaction. "It was a brilliant move to make the Senate think that you had destroyed this overwhelming evidence against each of them. But if I now use their testimony against them, they will know that you only burned copies, and the originals are still in our hands."
His deep sigh caused her to stifle her admiration. Seriously, she turned to him and registered how exhausted and worried he looked.
"You will find a way to use this knowledge against them without giving away the secret behind the secret," he said with confidence. Then he took her hand, and together they crept silently back to their chambers. It was time to prepare for the last dinner before he left.

"Now I understand why you couldn't replace me as head of the Institute of History," Claudius joked, giving her a shy smile. But she was in no mood to respond to his little joke. The music only penetrated very quietly to them in the peristyle. At the moment, she would really rather be engrossed in the pages of the books than face this shark tank. Quietly, he inquired about her condition. Aurelia snorted softly, and Claudius nodded knowingly. Whispering, he added that he could understand her fear. Sullenly, he eyed the senators who were trying to watch them through the open door.
"For almost seventy years, Rome has once again been in a monarchy," she whispered, and Claudius froze. "Don't pretend. I have read your writings. You are of the same opinion. Just because we don't call ourselves kings doesn't change the fact that we no longer live in a republic. I'm not afraid to represent him because I don't think I'm up to the task. I am afraid that they will expose us to who we really are. Because just because they live in a monarchy does not mean they have already accepted that fact. If we are not careful, one day, they will turn against us, and then what would happen to my son? What about your little daughter? That is my only worry. "
Compassionately, he put his hand on her shoulder, then he disappeared into the crowd, and Aurelia breathed in the cool night air one last time, then followed his example. She would never hide again. Smiling, she stepped up beside Gaius and joined in his conversation as best she could. Shortly after, he left her to the company of the two senators and gave his attention to other magistrates. It was truly amazing how much these men vied for his attention, even if it meant pleasing her. After a while, the room began to spin, and one of the senators, Marcus Something, inquired anxiously if everything was all right with her. She quickly gave him a small smile and looked around for Gaius, seeking help. But she couldn't make him out in the crowd of her guests.
"I'm fine," she assured him firmly, adding that she needed some fresh air for a moment. Unobtrusively, she retreated back into the peristyle and enjoyed the cool night air on her skin. Hastily approaching footsteps shattered the deep calm she felt. Not feeling ready for further conversation again, she retreated into the shadow of a pillar and prayed that they would not discover her. Close to her, the footsteps finally stopped, and she held her breath. For a moment, there was absolute silence, then Gaius' voice asked, annoyed, "Could you please just tell me what you have to say, avia?"
"Have you lost your mind?" hissed Antonia's voice, and immediately Aurelia crawled deeper into the shadows of the column. Gaius' quiet, placating retort escaped her.
"But who will protect her?" demanded Antonia, upset. "How can you expose your own wife to such danger? You know as well as I do that from now on, they will do everything they can to eliminate her while you are away, and she is defenceless against them"
"She does not need my protection," Gaius retorted defiantly. "She can protect herself."
Concerned, Aurelia dared to catch a glimpse of the scene. Antonia had her back to her, and from her body language, she would have liked to shake her grandson. But he just left her standing there. Antonia massaged her temples with a groan and then hurriedly followed her grandson. With a pounding heart, Aurelia leaned her head against the cold marble and fought the urge to burst into tears.
"Mom, what are you doing out here?" a voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Immediately sh, calmed down. Smiling, she leaned down to her son and gently stroked his blond hair. He looked at her anxiously. Smiling, she assured him that she had only needed a moment to herself. Doubting, Julius tilted his head, then grinned at her in the same way Gaius had, grabbed her hand, and pulled her back with him to the guests and her family. In one fluid motion, she grabbed her son and lifted him up.
"Not so fast," she chided, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. His little arms wrapped around her neck, giggling, and he willingly let her carry him back into the hall full of people. As the first senator approached her, Julius' grip on her neck tightened imperceptibly, and she stroked his back reassuringly. Besides his father, he was the only one who could give her support. Smiling, she concentrated on the praetor who was trying to engage her in conversation. After a while, she felt a hand on her back, and a tingle ran through her body. Gaius. The praetor suddenly looked nervous.
"We were just talking about you, father," Julius exclaimed enthusiastically, stretching his little head even further over her shoulder.
"Please take your seats so that dinner can be served," Gaius said to the group and gently pushed them towards their couch. Happily, Julius squeezed in between them and listened intently to the conversations his parents were having over his little head. He was a sweet child.

"Out!" commanded Gaius, and immediately, his slaves and their girls started to move. As soon as they were alone, Gaius gently clasped her face with both hands and kissed her. All his love was in that kiss. It was their last night together. There was no hurry, only him.

"The night we first met," Gaius murmured in an occupied voice, nestling his trembling body closer to hers, burying his face in her hair and inhaling her scent deeply several times. Slowly, he calmed down and continued in a whisper: "That day and night I had had to prove my manhood to him again and again. When he was finally done with me, I felt very empty and stained like never before. He kept showing me that I was worth no more than the whores he put in front of me or with whom he pleasured himself, and that night, I couldn't take it any longer. I had forgotten who I was and why I had given myself to him in the first place. That night I went to the beach because I wanted to end it and then suddenly you rose out of the waves like a little sea goddess. Just the sight of you completely overwhelmed me. You were so beautiful, so fragile, and so innocent, my heart. As you lay in my arms, I just couldn't bear the thought of him destroying someone like you, and I knew I had to protect you at all costs. Suddenly, I had a reason to keep fighting because there was someone who needed me again. You saved me from the darkness inside me in my darkest hour. "
Speechless, Aurelia pressed her lips to his, trying to tell him what she felt and could not express with words.

The morning came far too quickly. Although neither of them had wasted their last hours together on sleep, they felt no fatigue. While Aurelia's girls helped her into her robes, did her hair and make-up, Gaius put on his armour with such routine as if he had never worn anything else in his life. Watching him intently in the mirror, she swallowed all her emotions so that her face wore the same expressionless mask as his. He didn't need a whining, hysterical woman trying to persuade him to stay. Aurelia needed to be strong. For him and for Julius.
After a while, the slaves left them alone, and Gaius looked at her, lost in thought. Smiling, she stepped up to him and placed her hands on his breastplate. The gold shone in the sunlight. He looked like a Roman god of war.
"You look stunning, imperator," she whispered, kissing him gently and feeling his lips tighten against hers in a fine smile. Tenderly, he stroked an unruly strand from her face. Suddenly uncertain, he asked her if he would give her his blessing for this campaign. Gently, she stroked his cheek.
"Always remember, where you are, Gaius, I am Gaia," she reminded him solemnly. "Wherever you go, my love will follow you. I give you my blessing, and I will pray every day for your success so that you may return to me safely. "
Gently he breathed one last kiss on her forehead, then his emotionless mask settled on his face, and she ignored the emptiness that spread through her body as he let go of her and left the room with firm steps. Silent and serious, she followed him.

She watched numbly as Gaius stepped out of the crowd in front of the temple of Bellona, his cloak billowing, and hurled a spear into the ground with practised precession. As soon as the tip of the spear touched the ground, the gates of the temple of Janus opened. Rome was officially at war. As if in a trance, she applauded and half-heartedly joined in the cheers of the Senate. Julius also applauded artfully before taking her hand again.
Briefly, Gaius winked conspiratorially at his son before their eyes crossed one last time and she gave him a final, radiant smile. Then he turned away from them and, cloak flowing, marched past the onlookers out of the city to his army. From his posture she could see how difficult it was for him not to turn towards them and it broke her heart to see him leave. Only the small hand of her son in hers prevented her from running after him and begging him to stay with them. She knew only too well that he would stay then. But she had to let him go. Even if it destroyed her.