Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 316 Return
Orville could imagine how Cleopatra had persuaded Tia, but he was helpless about her brainstorming approach: "You have the time and energy to do something more interesting, right?"

The other party smiled and said, "I think this matter is very interesting, so I ask you to accept this reality now. I will not ask you to do anything harsh or tricky, but just ask you to fulfill some of my husband's duties. I don't even ask for a grand wedding or a frank announcement, because this will indeed cause trouble for you and the Flavian royal family.

You should thank me instead. Isn't this what most men want to do? Think about Caesar, Philip II and your father. They all had a few confidantes. This is an indispensable part of a hero's career."

Having said that, judging from the tone, the other party was obviously more teasing, and Orville understood this very well. Sharing has always been difficult to do, and people always prefer exclusivity.

After thinking for a while, he sighed and agreed to the other party's request: "I don't completely deny this, and you and I are the de facto rulers of Egypt. You have your reasons for thinking so. But I will decide based on the circumstances. It is better not to do some things that are inappropriate for a ruler."

If it was simply a matter of feelings, then it would be easy to deal with, as it is difficult for a matter of feelings to rise to the level of a national political dispute. However, there are many issues involved behind this - whether Cleopatra would interfere in the politics of the empire, what would the Egyptians or Greek immigrants think, whether the emperor would have any opinions about himself, whether the situation on Tia's side would trigger a chain reaction, all these things were enough to give Orville a headache.

He still didn't believe that Cleopatra was seeking a marriage purely out of emotional reasons, but he was unsure of the other party's specific purpose as there were too many interfering factors behind it.

This answer was enough to satisfy Cleopatra. She nodded slightly and said, "No problem. I can handle it well. The things you are worried about will not happen. Or even if they are going to happen, you have enough means and time to stop me, don't you?"

"Maybe so," Orville replied half-truthfully.

She reached her slender arm into her cloak, took out a box and handed it to Orville: "Then, I'll give you a gift. I won't let you suffer a lot. I noticed that you are very concerned about Mithridates. Here are some of my investigation results. Go back and analyze them slowly with your staff."
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When Orville and Cleopatra got off the carriage, the other party naturally took Orville's wrist. Orville did not refuse this time, and accepted the other party's action with a normal expression.

The surrounding soldiers all looked a little surprised, but they didn't say anything, just pretending they didn't see anything. Of course, Orville doubted how long they could keep their mouths shut, and he estimated that by the time they returned, the news would have spread.

This matter was not a big problem in the minds of the Romans or Greeks. Instead, it was a manifestation of a man's charm. They subconsciously did not think that this was something that needed to be kept secret. Instead, they would spread it around as a topic of conversation. Anyway, they believed that this would not pose any actual obstacle to Orville.

As for whether the consequences would cause any physical harm to Orville considering that he was a bit henpecked, they were just watching it for fun and with a bit of evil taste, and no one took the matter seriously.

Knowing their thoughts and actions, Orville could only curse them in his heart, but he did not show any anger on the surface. He continued to follow Cleopatra to visit various places of interest in Athens. From the perspective of a tourist city, this is indeed a place worth visiting. The natural scenery is slightly different from other places, the cultural atmosphere is very strong, and there are many performances and activities in ancient times. The two spent half a day to visit them, which was the end of their schedule in Greece.

That night they did not attend a banquet or anything like that, but simply had a meal in the inn in Orville, and took the other party to observe the status of their own industry, and then asked to open a few similar ones in big cities such as Alexandria. Of course Cleopatra readily agreed to this, but only asked for some dividends in exchange for the investment.

There is nothing wrong with this, of course. It is a good thing that someone bears the risk. Orville does not like to eat alone, so it is fine to make money together.

After dinner, Orville and the other party immediately left Athens by boat and headed towards Egypt at full speed. They couldn't stay here for too long as there were still many things waiting for them to do in Egypt.
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Compared with when they came, the fleet following the two people's ships has expanded a lot. These people are either some talents hired by Orville, or some Greeks deceived by Cleopatra. There are more than a dozen ships in total, plus two more escort warships. This is already a large scale. At least ordinary pirates dare not provoke them.

Thanks to this, they returned to Egypt smoothly. After arriving in Egypt, their attitudes in public remained the same as before, like the king and queen who co-ruled Egypt. At this time, Orville saw a little bit of the other party's thoughts.

It seems that the political situation in Egypt is still not so stable. She needs to lean more towards the Romans and show her close relationship with the Romans to dispel some people's unreasonable expectations. In this regard, what she is doing now must be of some use.

Orville didn't care about much, he just let Cu Chulainn be responsible for the other party's safety, and he only needed to know the rest. Unless Cleopatra took the initiative to speak, he would not intervene. This could be regarded as a kind of tacit understanding between him and the other party.

In addition, when Orville returned to Egypt, he learned something - the envoys of the southern Nubians had agreed to come and were now drifting on the Nile River and would arrive in Alexandria soon.

The size of the envoy team seemed to be quite large. The acting ruler appointed by Trajan and Cleopatra was already preparing diplomatic matters such as the welcome banquet. It could be said that they arrived at the right time.

The Egyptian diplomatic envoys in Nubia received the news leaked by the other party in advance. The requirements for this visit to Nubia were not complicated. It was nothing more than increasing trade with Egypt and bringing back more favorable trade contracts in exchange for peace on the border.

Of course, if the situation in Egypt is not right, they might become more aggressive, and many people on the border are still eyeing them covetously.

(End of this chapter)