Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 239 Confession
While Orville was busy raising money for military expenses, lunch was being served in Flavi's mansion.

He should have been in attendance, but there were so many things going on recently that he was in a hurry to finish everything, so sometimes he couldn't go home and could only fill his stomach with bread or soup or noodles.

Domitia went to the theater with Zenis (stepmother), so now the only ones eating in the theater were Vespa and Tia. Vespa finished his meal slowly, seemingly not noticing Tia's worried expression, and started discussing serious matters with Tia directly.

"You should have had enough vacation time. Let's talk about your future. I plan to let you stay in the mainland for a while and appoint you as the commander of the Guards. Then, I will nominate you as the consul next year. This is something I have discussed with several other heavyweight elders. There won't be any obstacles. I think you can prepare to learn the necessary skills for the consul now."

Both the commander of the Praetorian Guard and the consul are almost the most important positions in the core layer of the empire. It can even be said that they are the most important besides the emperor. Especially the commander of the Praetorian Guard. Although his nominal position is not as important as that of the consul, he actually controls the most powerful and only regular military force in the Roman Empire. If he can fully control this army, it is not impossible for the commander of the Praetorian Guard to hold the Praetorian Guard Succession Law.

Therefore, the early emperors of the empire only appointed the people they trusted the most as the commander of the Royal Guard. Vespa appointed Tia as the commander of the Royal Guard to show his trust in her. These two people can be regarded as typical examples of true fatherly love and filial piety in history, which is quite rare in the royal family.

But the more this happened, the more awkward she felt. Vespa hadn't mentioned anything about Orville, and Orville himself hadn't asked for any promotion. It seemed like this was a tacit agreement between the two of them.

From her perspective, Orwell has paid a lot for her over the past few years. It can even be said that without Orwell's hard work behind the scenes, Tia would not have achieved her current achievements and high evaluations. A considerable part of these are due to Orwell. Orwell or others may not care, but she cannot forget.

At this point, she should find a way to compensate Orville for his efforts.

With these thoughts in her mind, she strengthened her resolve, clenched her fists and said to Vespa, "I understand all these things, but I have another request."

Vespa looked at her peacefully: "No problem, go ahead."

"It's about time for Orville and I to get engaged. If time permits, we can consider getting married this way."

"Cough cough!! Cough cough cough!!" As soon as Vespa said this, he couldn't catch his breath and started coughing violently.

Tia immediately put aside what was in her mind, walked up to her father, patted him on the back, and helped him calm down.

After Vespa calmed down, he carefully considered his words and reluctantly asked, "Is that true?!"

Now Tia was very surprised: "Isn't this true?!"

Tia has always believed this. After all, adopting a child is either to choose a future heir or to prepare a marriage for a daughter (so that the surname does not need to be changed and the family heritage continues). It is obvious to Tia that the latter is the case, and no one has explained these things to her clearly.

Considering various angles, Orville is indeed the most realistic and reasonable choice. His ability and loyalty are beyond doubt, and he is in line with the interests of the Flavi family. More importantly, Tia does not hate him. She is a very introverted and restrained person in terms of feelings. If it were normal, she would never take the initiative to talk about these things. Even if Orville said so, he would wait until the situation stabilized in three to five years. Now she was influenced by the external environment and made such a decision directly with Vespa in a rush.

On the one hand, she felt that she owed Orwell something, but it was not to the point of marrying him. However, guilt can indeed affect people's judgment, especially for those with a strong sense of morality and responsibility.

On the other hand, what Domitia said about Jeanne and Cleopatra did irritate her a little, greatly deepening her sense of crisis and urgency.

Jeanne was okay, because Tia knew that she was a similar type of person to her. Orville was generally not very interested in women. He was very nice to Jeanne, more out of appreciation for her personality, and Tia felt the same way.

Mainly about the little princess of Egypt, Tia had asked her several times indirectly, and Orville was not shy about showing her the letters between the two of them, which seemed quite normal, but the fact that they had a relationship was itself very abnormal. One was far away in Gaul Britain, and the other was far away in Egypt, and the two of them were communicating frequently, even if there was a need for official communication, it was not normal.

Now Orville is about to set off for Egypt, with the purpose of helping the other party restore the throne, which will arouse Tia's vigilance even more.

So before Orville left, she planned to create some fait accompli first.

Vespa didn't know so many details, but he could roughly guess the cause and effect. He looked at his daughter with mixed feelings.

To be fair, he could have anticipated this result at the beginning, because Orville was the only one of his age who could stay with Tia for a long time. He could actually accept this result. After all, it was his daughter's choice. Orville's ability and character were at least not problematic, and he was much better than most people. However, he did not expect the timing to be so subtle.

He originally planned to implement the strategy of procrastination and not discuss issues related to the succession to the throne until Tia's prestige reached its peak. By that time, even if the people in the Senate were unwilling, they would have to bite the bullet and accept the established facts, because no one's prestige was higher than Tia, and no one's legitimacy was higher than her.

If they agree to the marriage between Orvel and Tia now, they will first have to discuss the issue of succession to the throne. It is conceivable that this wedding or engagement ceremony will cause great controversy, and the result may not be in their favor.

There is another crucial point - Vespa knows that Tia has never had a serious relationship before. Although Orville is not a smooth talker, he is afraid that Tia, who is in love, will act irrationally and rashly like this time, such as giving up the right to inherit the throne in a fit of excitement.

He knew that Tia was actually a simple and stubborn person in many ways. She might really do such a thing, even if Orville was not fanning the flames. Not to mention that there was a slight possibility that Orville would do so anyway. No one could be completely calm in the face of power.

This was not a trivial matter such as the ownership of a small island or a farm. It concerned the succession of the empire. It was no wonder that Vespa was overly cautious or even overly suspicious.

(End of this chapter)