After his long conversation with Athena, Nathan returned to Rome with far more than he had expected. Piece by piece, with deliberate persistence, he had fed her details about Caesar—subtle truths and carefully chosen implications—until even the wise goddess of strategy herself could no longer dismiss the matter as trivial. By the time she looked at him with that faint crease of worry upon her usually calm brow, Nathan knew he had succeeded.
Athena had not only taken him seriously—she had been concerned. For a goddess like her, that was already a victory.
It was she who brought him back to Rome, guiding him down from Olympus with the effortless authority of divinity. Before parting, she had requested something he expected: watch Caesar closely, and report anything strange. Nathan accepted without hesitation. It was not only the correct move but also what he wanted. The goddess's trust was a treasure in itself.
