Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 133 Real Men Don’t Wear Pants

"If you are really a girl from the country, how did you learn to ride a horse?"

Domitia rode her favorite white pony and looked suspiciously at Jeanne d'Acre who was also riding a horse.

Orville was hanging about three to five meters behind the two of them, followed by dozens of armored guards as a safety measure.

He doesn't like to make a big fuss, but this is a frontline city and guarding is necessary. He never takes off his armor except when sleeping. He only wears linen laminated armor when he travels privately, which is a little lighter.

"Michael taught me for a while, so I naturally learned how to ride a horse and fight."

Domitia rolled her eyes, obviously very dissatisfied with this explanation, but she couldn't say anything because Orville had given her a heads-up.

"I shouldn't ask you this kind of question. Are you sure you don't need to change your clothes? Orville is also too rough in his work. You can wear warmer and prettier clothes. Don't worry about the price. He will pay for you. If he is stingy, I will pay for you.

You can wear wolfskin, mink, or deerskin coats if you want, or silk embroidered clothes if you want. After all, you are the prince's messenger, and I think he will not be stingy with you. He is the one who tied silk to bows and arrows."

Orville uniformly distributed winter clothing to his soldiers, which was a fur cloak with a hood. Its official name was sagum. Faced with the sometimes near-zero-degree weather in northern Gaul, the men of the Tiber River also disliked the thigh-revealing military uniforms without pants, so they used the cloaks to keep warm.

In fact, Orville also prepared proper pants for them, but the thinking of these Mediterranean people was "Barbarian stuff, NO! NO!" and they were very resistant to pants, so not many people really wore pants. This kind of comparison was prevalent in the army, and whoever insisted on not wearing pants was more masculine.

Orville was not in a hurry. He knew they wouldn't have to worry about not having enough clothes when they marched into Britain. He didn't believe that they wouldn't feel cold in a place like Scotland. He was just trying to save face and suffer.

Of course, Jeanne didn't have such requirements. She was a Gaul, so she changed into the linen long coat and long trousers issued by Auvers to the army. In fact, the Roman soldiers' version was cotton coat and trousers, but Jeanne wanted to wear the same clothes as the Gallic soldiers, and Auvers didn't stop her.

It was very kind of him to give out new clothes for free. If a Gaul still felt cold, he would wear several layers of clothes stacked up. But Jeanne seemed to be a stubborn person. She didn't bring any other spare clothes. She only wore a layer of linen clothes as underwear. The current outdoor temperature in Trier is about five degrees, which is definitely not enough. Domitia couldn't stand it anymore, so she spoke up.

"I don't need anything too extravagant. Clothes are enough to cover my body and keep me warm. I don't need anything else."

"Are you sure this dress is warm enough? I can see that you are shivering a little." Domitia didn't believe it.

"It's not a big deal. It's harmless. I won't get sick because of it."

Just as Jeanne and Domitia were arguing, the cavalry sent out by Orville came back with a large package in their hands.

Orville took the package, and with a little force on his legs holding the horse's belly, the horse came close to the two of them, and Orville stuffed the package directly into Jeanna's arms. "Open it, this is my request, if you don't listen, it's an order."

Jeanna lowered her head and unpacked the package. Inside was a thick fur cloak. It was so large that it could almost be used as a bed sheet.

"I order you to wear it. Don't think of using self-punishment to cleanse yourself of your guilt. This is a completely sick way of thinking. If you really want to atone for your sins, you should cherish your existing life more and then use practical actions to make up for your behavior instead of complaining about yourself here. What's the point of doing this?"

In Orville's opinion, Jeanne's behavior tends to make her a self-flagellate, which is not a good sign. He is a man who is more inclined to action. Instead of being in a state of panic after making a mistake, he might as well do something to make up for it.

That's why he insisted on keeping Jeanne by his side. To be honest, among the Romans, the only one who really cared about the other party's life or death was probably Orville himself. If it were left to the rest of the people, they would probably just "not die is enough", and the Gauls did not have enough coercive power to stop such behavior.

In his heart, he had more complicated feelings towards the Gauls, mainly apology and guilt, because he had strangled the spark of resistance from the locals. He personified this emotion in Jeanne to slightly ease his guilt.

There are only so many things he can do. He is a Roman, not a Gaul. Whether it is a false sympathy or a pretense, it is enough for him to feel better.

Jeanne silently shook out the clothes and put them on herself, while nodding to Orville to thank him.
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Seriously speaking, there is still a slight age gap between Domitia and Jeanne, and their world views and life experiences are not on the same level. However, despite this, Jeanne's arrival still makes Domitia somewhat happy, as it is difficult for her to find playmates of the same age.

The situation was slightly better in a place like Rome. In Trier, there were not many families that could rival the royal family. The children of local nobles either avoided Domitia or fawned on her. She didn't like either. At this time, Jeanne, who was neither humble nor arrogant, made Domitia very concerned.

Therefore, even though she said that she was annoyed and disliked Jeanne, Orville could actually feel that Domitia still cared about her a little, otherwise she would not have suggested buying her winter clothes.

Orville couldn't keep an eye on these things all the time, so after giving everyone a few days off, he prepared to set off again to take up his post in his province.

The entourage consisted of two and a half legions and supporting auxiliary troops. Orville placed Tia's legion in Brittany to maintain stability and placed one legion on standby in Paris. These two legions were necessary forces to maintain local order. The power vacuum in various places after the war must be filled with strong means, otherwise banditry, corruption and other problems would breed in the chaos, which would be extremely detrimental to long-term development.

As for himself, he took the remaining troops to Caen, where he would begin building military facilities in the port in preparation for the subsequent Battle of Britain.

In addition, there was another troublesome matter waiting for him to deal with - the Gauls had already collected this year's taxes in order to cope with the war, but the Romans had not yet collected them. Now that the war was over, should the Romans still impose an additional 10% tax on the local people?

If taxes are not collected, Orville will have to hold out until next autumn harvest. If taxes are collected now, it is the middle of winter and some people may starve to death or freeze to death. It will be troublesome either way.

(End of this chapter)