Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 258 Differences between different stages

Cleopatra pursed her lips subconsciously: "I know."

After Orville helped the other party to cut the rope, he did not linger in front of the other party, but went straight back to his seat, then took out two exquisite and expensive glass cups from the cabinet behind him and poured wine into the two glasses with his own wine jug.

"So what do you want to talk to me about? You've come all the way here not just to reminisce about the past, right?" He took a sip of the wine in his glass and put the glass back in its place.

Cleopatra stood up with difficulty, took a deep breath of normal air, and then came to Orville's table. However, she did not take her own cup. Instead, she pretended not to notice and took Orville's cup and took a sip of the wine. Her graceful figure was faintly visible under the veil.

"Part of it is to reminisce about the past. After all, I haven't seen you for about five years. Fate is really strange. In just a few years, our situations have changed dramatically."

Orville pretended not to notice this little action and continued, "That's true. I think we should thank Fortuna (the goddess of fate) for being alive today. She definitely favors us.

If you want to reminisce about the past, I personally welcome it, but you'd better talk about business first, otherwise I might be tired and then refuse to receive you. By the way, it's better to put on more clothes, because the weather is getting colder in autumn and it's easy to catch a cold. "

Cleopatra was silent for a while, then sighed heavily and said, "Am I so unattractive? Other men are not like you. I just ask them a few words, and many of them don't even know their last names."

"From a normal person's perspective, it should be considered attractive, but I am also a family man, so I can just watch from a distance and appreciate the beauty."

This reason was hard for Cleopatra to accept: "I know what you Romans are like. Is having a family a reason?"

She felt quite frustrated now. It was really difficult for her to go out and meet people in such indecent clothes. She originally wanted to gain some advantages for herself, but she didn't expect that the atmosphere was deliberately destroyed by Orville at the beginning. Then Orville was also unmoved and ignored her matter.

"It's obvious to me that it is. As for those guys, it's their personal ethics that are flawed. It has nothing to do with me. If I make a mistake and it's known, my wife will be very sad. It will affect our relationship and my personal safety may even be threatened."

Nominally, it was because he was a bit henpecked, and in fact there was definitely a little bit of that factor, but there was also a most important reason - Orville didn't want to add any disadvantages to himself during political negotiations.

The latter is definitely more important than the former, at least that's what Orville himself thinks.

".It seems that the relationship between you two is quite good. Hera will definitely bless your love."

Cleopatra was silent for a while, then she lifted her slender bare feet, took down Orville's large purple cloak from the shelf, and wrapped herself in it as a thin blanket. To be honest, she was quite cold. "It should be considered good. In short, there is no problem. So forget about seducing me. Let's talk about something serious. As a friend, I am actually more inclined to you, but you know the current situation is quite unfavorable to you.

If I want to help you regain the throne, I will have to offend or even overthrow Antonius and Berdinos, who have become a community of interests. I will take a high risk, you name a price, I have the lives of thousands of soldiers and the prestige of the empire in my hands. What can you give me to let me gamble with you?"

Cleopatra took out the words she had prepared long ago: "I can bring you a kingdom. Isn't that enough to make you excited?"

Orville glanced at him and said, "Egypt is already a vassal state of Rome. How can you bring me a kingdom? It's nothing more than maintaining the status quo. Or let me ask you another question. Why do you want to fight for power with your own brother?"

In his opinion, people who desire power either do it for themselves or for a collective existence such as a country or nation. Obviously, Cleopatra was more likely to pursue the former, because Orwell did not find any so-called patriotism in this woman, which is normal, as most people in ancient times probably did not have it.

If Cleopatra did not have such pursuit, Orville felt that Berdinus could fully accommodate a wealthy girl who had no worries about food and clothing, but since Berdinus had serious disagreements with Ptolemy and Cleopatra, it meant that at least she still had her own ambitions.

Cleopatra laughed at herself: "My pursuit is probably different from what you think. I think the Ptolemy family has no need to continue to exist. There are too many blood debts entangled in this family. Do you know what kind of environment I have been in since I was a child? The throne of the Kingdom of Egypt is completely maintained by murder, flattery, exploitation and inbreeding. This so-called throne has deeply bound everyone in the family.

I intend to make a choice for future generations. Being a wealthy man with no worries about food and clothing is better than being the king of Egypt. Even if this country is given to you Romans, I don’t really care. On the contrary, I think this may be good for everyone. "

Orville looked at the other person in surprise, because in his mind, Cleopatra might not be a femme fatale, but at least she was someone with a strong desire for power.

All we can say is that people will eventually change. The Cleopatra in Orwell's subconscious mind may be the Cleopatra who was later infected and assimilated by the environment, but she may not be the Cleopatra who is still a little immature and ignorant now.

Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that Cleopatra's words were all empty promises, and she just told lies to keep Orville steady. However, Orville still tends to believe that she told some truths, which is a true expression of her feelings. However, it is unknown how long this true love can last, it may be one or two years, or it may be the other person's life.

The Cleopatra that Caesar first met and the Cleopatra that Antony met decades later would not have the same personality. Power can indeed change a person. Orwell has a clear understanding of this because he has seen many examples before or after his time travel.

Many potential problems flashed through his mind, but Orville finally decided to continue cooperating with the other party. He didn't actually want to break the contract, he just wanted to see what the other party could provide him.

"Then our cooperation can continue. Do you have any suggestions for the current situation?"

(End of this chapter)