Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 14 An Ancient Roman Love Story
While Rome can enjoy a good winter, the situation in the Holy City is completely the opposite. Just today, another listless and defeated army returned to the Holy City.

The leader was John Levi. He looked around carefully and confirmed repeatedly that the defenders on the city wall were on his side before he felt at ease to enter the city.

After entering the city, he asked his men to settle the defeated troops, while he went to a secret courtyard.

The entrance to the courtyard was guarded by soldiers wearing Persian heavy armor. John looked at them in surprise, then looked up and walked into the courtyard.

There was a well-dressed big man waiting for him in the yard. When he saw him come in, the big man greeted him happily: "John! My good brother! It's been a long time since we last met. I'm so glad you've made it back!"

John also managed a smile in response: "This is a difficult war. I am eager to know what the situation in the city is like now."

The big man sighed as he mentioned this: "This is not good. We can all see now that the Romans' war strategy is to gradually isolate the Holy City and cut off the surrounding defensive cities. And so far they have been successful. We Zealots and Priests have always had disputes, and now there are even more conflicts. They actually want to make peace with the Romans! Can you imagine?!"

John's eyes flashed coldly: "Is this true?"

"Antipas, who is in charge of the public treasury, and two other prominent nobles were involved in this matter. They sent intelligence to the Romans and wanted to negotiate peace with them! The most infuriating thing is that there are many followers of these rebels who go against God's will. They form factions and factions. Now the power of the priests is not small, with the high priest Anna as the center. My friend, can you tolerate such a thing?"

The big man became more and more excited. John calmed down at this time: "To be fair, Simon, my good friend, you pushed too hard before. I saw several robberies on the road. Appropriate indulgence of your subordinates can gain their loyalty and restore morale, but it will also make those people hate you."

Simon smiled coldly: "As long as Antipachenus opens the gate and allows us to use the gold and silver treasures accumulated by the Herod royal family in the public treasury, my brothers and I will certainly not rob civilians again. Otherwise, how can you let me get rid of those wolf-like guys under my command? What's more, I think betrayers cannot be forgiven. What do you think?"

John said calmly, as if he was talking about a trivial matter: "That's right, betrayers can never be forgiven, so these three people will die."

Simon was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed: "You mean, are you willing to join me in defeating the priest party?"

"I will do that, but I need to become a member of the priest party first. Fortresses are always conquered from the inside, just like fighting a war."

Simon smiled and patted John on the shoulder, with a look of doubt in his eyes: "Don't worry, brother! After we defeat the priest party, you will definitely get a share of the benefits. If you want gold, silver, land or women, just ask!"

John was unmoved: "I just want us to win this war and get the Romans out of this land. I don't care what happens to the rest. Based on this principle, I think we can go a step further. Now the priest party is united around the high priest, so wouldn't it be nice to make the high priest no longer a high priest?"

Simon was really frightened, staring at the other person blankly. Although he robbed, killed, was greedy, and indulged in lust, he was still a devout believer. No matter what, he dared not directly attack the priest. In the eyes of traditional Parvi people like him, the priest was the spokesperson of God in the world.

They didn't even dare to call God by his name, and only dared to create a word that represented the past, present, and future to refer to God. Therefore, the Romans simply called their God the Eternal. In the eyes of traditional people like him, no matter how fierce the struggle in the world was, it was not allowed to attack God's spokesperson. Eliminating his followers and putting him under house arrest was the limit. John asked back: "Why, you don't dare? If you don't do this, there will always be priests in the future, and there will always be weak people entrenched around the priests. Our war is still long, and the future will be more difficult. There will be more weak people. We can't let them find opportunities. Am I right?"

The initiative suddenly went to John. Simon turned around and wandered around the courtyard for several circles before hesitatingly saying, "This will bring us bad reputation."

"We are already being blamed, and if we don't do this, we won't even be able to win this war."

At this point, Simon gritted his teeth and looked at John fiercely: "Okay! I'll do it! Once you finish your preparations, I'll start immediately."
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Turning his attention back to Orvel, he came to the military camp outside Philippi to meet Tia, but there was no one in the camp. He got the news that the other party had gone to the palace.

From this time on, Orville's mentality became a little subtle. The reason was not because of King Aquita, who was like a background board, but because of his sister Berenice.

When they went to the palace gate to ask, they found out that Tia and Berenice had gone to a certain theater together. Orville followed them at a trot, and this time he was not disappointed. Tia and the other party were watching a play in a private room on the upper floor.

Orville didn't tell him that he had business to discuss with the other party. He just played dumb and said that he just happened to meet Tia. The other party was also generous and let Orville stay and watch the show.

This is not a local entertainment activity, it simply comes from Greece and Rome, and the same is true for the plays performed. Today's play is "Oedipus", which is based on the tragic king in Greek mythology who killed his father and married his mother.

Orville arrived late, so the play didn't last too long. After the play was over, Berenice tactfully left the stage and said goodbye to Tia: "It's getting late, and I have some personal matters to take care of. I am very happy to travel with you, a knowledgeable warrior, today. I believe we can become good friends in the future."

Hearing this, Orville couldn't help but complain in his heart.

They became more than just good friends. In another timeline, the general who was twelve years younger than her fell hopelessly in love with a twice-married member of the Palphi royal family. For this reason, he divorced his wife from a political marriage at the same time he fell in love with her.

If it were an ordinary person, they would probably just regard this foreigner as a mistress, but the simple and kind-hearted general insisted on giving this foreigner a status and making her his legitimate wife. If it were an ordinary Roman or a minor noble family, this would not be impossible, but the general was the heir to the throne, and the Romans could not accept a foreign woman as the queen, which reminded them of Cleopatra.

The general brought Berenice back to Rome and had her accompany him to various events like his legal wife. Then at one event, the onlookers cursed the general and Berenice. This incident had aroused public indignation. The public unanimously opposed a foreigner becoming queen, so the general had to send his beloved back to her hometown.

After the general became emperor, he wanted to bring Berenice back as queen, but was scolded by the Roman people again, and the plan was abandoned again. In the end, the emperor never remarried for the rest of his life. It is truly a touching love story. If the general had not died early because he was too honest, perhaps this plan could have been accomplished.

(End of this chapter)