[This was Nero's seventeenth birthday.]
[As the sole and completely legal heir of Claudius, she would take over the role of emperor today.]
Inside the Roman cathedral.
A sacred and solemn ceremony was being held.
Under the gaze of the Senate's ministers, Nero walked with a dignified pace toward the throne that symbolized the Roman throne.
Thud—
Thud—
Her shoes made a wonderful sound as they rubbed against the red carpet.
The young woman finally sat down on the magnificent throne. Facing the eyes of the crowd, she received the crown that symbolized the emperor's identity and placed it on her head.
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.
The young woman's name, at this moment, became a title that inherited numerous honors.
The youngest emperor of Rome was officially crowned at this moment.
[This was a long coronation ceremony.]
[Nero needed to receive all sorts of power from the Pope in the name of the emperor to maintain the prosperity of the entire Roman Empire.]
[You watched this scene, hoping it could be a little longer.]
[The reason was simple—you found that Nero really enjoyed being the center of attention.]
[Perhaps it was just as she had said herself.]
["I was born to crave attention and be worshipped by ten thousand people."]
[Now, all of this had finally become a reality.]
[As her teacher, your heart was naturally filled with immense joy.]
The coronation ceremony was finally over.
The ministers left one after another.
And just as Ian was about to leave the cathedral with them, a servant came up to the man.
"Seneca, the emperor wants to see you."
"..."
"I understand."
Following the servant's instructions, Ian came to the depths of the Roman cathedral and saw Nero waiting for him there.
At this moment, the young woman had shed the solemnity of the coronation ceremony. In its place was the lively demeanor she had when she was with Ian in private.
"Teacher, hurry up and come over!"
"..."
Although he felt that it would be more appropriate to do so, seeing Nero's joyous expression, Ian finally did as she said and walked over.
"Your Majesty, is there something you need?"
"Huh?"
Nero was stunned for a moment, and then she realized that she had become the emperor of Rome.
Now, she and Ian were not only in a student-teacher relationship but also in a relationship of monarch and subject.
According to etiquette, the address "Your Majesty" was indeed reasonable.
But—
Nero pouted.
"Hmm—! Teacher, don't use that address in private! It feels... like we've become strangers!"
"But Your Majesty, you're the emperor now," Ian explained very seriously. "If I don't address you like that, it would be a breach of Roman etiquette."
"..."
This was a perfectly legitimate reason, and Nero was momentarily unable to refute it.
However—
Debate was never Nero's weakness.
She pursed her lips and thought for a while, and then she came up with a way to defeat Ian's argument.
"Alright—!"
Nero placed her hands on her hips, puffed out her proud chest, and then put on a dignified look.
"I command you as the emperor! In private, you are not to see me as the emperor anymore. Do you understand?"
"..."
"Can't you hear your emperor speaking?!"
"Pfft," Ian couldn't help but laugh. "Nero, when it comes to things like this, your mind always works exceptionally fast."
"Because I like Teacher!"
Nero said without any concealment.
"Because I like Teacher, I'm very actively thinking about these kinds of things—!"
"Hmm, Teacher, you don't even know something like this?!"
"..."
Looking into the young woman's eyes, Ian knew that she wasn't just saying it casually; she genuinely believed it.
Thinking about it, Nero's personality was always like this—her interests were her best guide, whether it was singing or the goal of becoming emperor.
"..."
After a moment of thought, Ian chose to give in.
"I understand."
"Since you insist, Your Majesty, then in private, we won't address each other in the manner of a ruler and a subject."
"However—"
"There's one thing I hope you, Nero, can promise me."
"What is it?" The young woman blinked her clear, bright eyes.
"Hmm... it's the way you address yourself."
Ian reached out and gently stroked Nero's golden hair, which was a little unnaturally pressed down by the crown, and then he smoothed it for her.
"You're the emperor of Rome now—you can't use the pronoun 'I' anymore. That would make you lose your noble status as emperor."
"Then... what should I call myself?" Nero asked, confused.
"'I' (the royal 'I')." Ian quickly gave the answer.
"This is the self-address used by all previous emperors—Nero, you are no exception."
"..."
Nero thought for a moment and then added to Ian's statement.
"So that means 'I' will have to address Teacher as 'you' in public from now on, right?"
"Clever."
"'I' understand!" Nero took Ian's arm. "'I' accept this condition!"
"However—"
"'I' have something to tell Teacher."
"..."
This familiar but ominous feeling made Ian not answer Nero right away.
But the young woman didn't care. She quickly said to herself:
"Teacher, 'I' have found a way for us to have a date openly in front of everyone."
"What?"
[Nero was not joking.]
[Or rather, she never joked about things like this.]
[As the new emperor of Rome, Nero formed a political group that included you as her teacher, her mother Agrippina, the former minister Pallas, and the commander of the Praetorian Guard, Sextus Afranius Burrus.]
[And she arranged this group to be in charge of various important branches of Rome, such as the military and agriculture.]
[In this way, she not only fulfilled her initial promise but also weakened the Senate's political influence.]
[You realized that Nero was also constantly working hard—she was thinking about how she could become a good emperor.]
[You felt a sense of relief.]
[But—]
[You soon found that while Nero was indeed handling the matters she should as an emperor.]
[The true purpose of all of this was just to get a little more alone time with you.]
[And the method she mentioned for having an open date in front of everyone was to use touring the city of Rome as an excuse to wander around with you.]
In the city of Rome.
The people were whispering.
"Hey, hey! Did you see that?! Isn't that our new emperor?"
"That's right—! What is she doing?! Why is she walking so openly on the street?"
"That's not just walking openly! She's inspecting the people's conditions. That's a sign of a good emperor!"
"So that's it... But who's that man next to her?"
"I think it's Seneca—I heard he's her teacher, a famous sage from the borderlands."
"Then it seems our emperor really cares about Rome. Our good days are coming!"
Wherever Nero went, comments like these would follow.
Clearly, the previous emperor, Claudius, wouldn't do something like this, which was why it caused such widespread discussion at this moment.
"Hmm~"
Nero, who was the center of attention, seemed very happy.
She was born to be an actress who craved attention, and this situation was exactly what she wanted.
However—
If you really wanted to get down to it, the real reason Nero was happy was that she could be out in the open with Ian like this.
It made her feel like a newlywed couple receiving everyone's blessings.
"Teacher, 'my' plan was a success, right?"
"...Yes."
"Hmm, 'I' am indeed a born emperor!"
"...Indeed."
Ian's two perfunctory sentences made Nero a bit unhappy. She turned her head and found that the man was writing something.
"Teacher, what are you..."
"I'm recording what I've seen along the way," Ian didn't hide his purpose at all.
"Nero, I enjoy the feeling of walking around the city of Rome with you."
"But—we can't forget what we're really supposed to be doing because of this."
"You are the emperor of this empire."
"..."
Listening to Ian's words, Nero's expression gradually became serious.
"Hmm... that's right."
"'I' am the emperor of Rome!"
[Your words were still quite effective for Nero.]
[In the time that followed, she, just like you, listened carefully to the needs of the people.]
[This was an unprecedented thing—at least none of the emperors before Nero had ever tried to do it.]
[After all, the emperor represented the rights of the nobles, not the common people.]
[And because of this, you and Nero realized that the Roman Empire you had inherited was far from as prosperous as you had imagined.]
[Many problems were waiting for you to solve yourselves.]
[You walked like this for a whole day, and it wasn't until sunset that your journey ended.]
Inside the Roman bathhouse.
Because of Nero's arrival, the common people who were supposed to be there had already left early.
And because of this, they didn't know that Ian had also entered the bathhouse with Nero.
This was a gift from heaven, a rare opportunity for a secret meeting.
But Ian soon found that the situation was a bit different from usual.
Nero... was silent.
That's right.
Just as Ian saw, at this moment, Nero had completely lost the liveliness she had when she was with him in private.
Instead, a lifeless Nero was leaning against the stone slab at the edge of the bath, looking as if she had suffered some heavy blow.
The man, of course, couldn't fail to notice this.
He quickly moved closer and gently rested the young woman's head on his shoulder.
"What's wrong? You look so unhappy?"
"..."
Nero wrapped her arm around Ian's arm and mumbled in a low and somewhat guilty voice.
"Teacher, there are so many problems... Will 'I' be able to solve them?"
"..."
[You knew what Nero was talking about—it was the situation you had gathered today.]
[At this moment, the Roman Empire was far from being as glamorous as it appeared.]
[In the capital alone, there was a vast number of problems that had been listed.]
[You realized that this predicament was making Nero begin to doubt whether she could solve them.]
"So—?"
Ian stroked Nero's head, and his voice became gentle.
"Do you plan to run away?"
"'I' don't know," Nero shook her head.
"That means you haven't made a decision yet, right?"
"Yes."
"Then 'I' can't let you be on top today," Ian replied.
"Hmm?!" Nero suddenly raised her head. "Why?!"
"Because a Nero who isn't confident has no attraction to me."
Ian reached out and gently stroked the young woman's cheek.
"The Nero in my heart has only one look—that is, the incredibly confident Roman emperor, who believes that she can solve everything."
"Nero, I'll give you another choice."
"Do you... really want to become the emperor of Rome?"
"..."
Realizing that Ian was encouraging her, the flame in Nero's heart, which had been extinguished by reality, burned brightly again.
She nodded, and then she said very seriously: "'I' of course want to become the emperor of Rome!"
"Good, that's the Nero I know."
"Don't worry that you can't solve these problems—Teacher will definitely help you."
"Hmm~ 'I' know that!"
"But speaking of which—" Nero looked down at the man, her face a little red.
"'I'... have never tried it the other way."
"Then let's try it today?"
"Can 'I'?"
"Of course, you can," Ian looked at the stone slab beside them. "Nero, this is my congratulatory gift to you—congratulations, you've finally become the emperor of Rome, just as you wished."
"Hmm~ Then 'I' must savor it properly."
[You gave Nero a good lesson.]
[You two were once again in sync.]
[In the end, a white rose bloomed in the Roman bathhouse—it was as beautiful as a damask rose, and it also made your heart flutter.]
[And this experience also made Nero begin to wonder if she could relax her past obsessions a little.]
[But these were all your private secrets.]
[Nero, who now understood the state of Rome, began to issue a series of policies in the name of the emperor that were beneficial to the people.]
[This included methods to deal with forged wills and setting a cap on the reward for legal defense in lawsuits to prevent the powerful from unfairly exploiting the common people through the law.]
[This was an unprecedented situation.]
[The people's enthusiasm was quickly mobilized, and for a while, there was a rush to work.]
[But not everyone supported this behavior.]
[On this day, Agrippina came to find you.]