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“Mother, I saw father. He’s so awesome!” After little Cro hugged his mother Agnes, he ran to Cheiristoya excitedly.
“Really?” Cheiristoya looked at her son and smiled tenderly as she softly said, “Then do you want to be like your father?”
“Yes!” Little Cro nodded enthusiastically.
“I will be a brave strategos like my father in the future!” Adoris shouted as well.
Cheiristoya smiled, brought the two of them in her arms, and said, “If you want to grow up to be a strategos, you have to study and train seriously in the school from now on. Only then can you become a strategos in the future!”
“I will.” Said Adoris immediately.
“I will too!” Little Cro imitated his brother.
“Did your father return to the camp after his victory?” Cheiristoya asked again with concern.
“No, father followed the fleet north. Brother Heni said that father led the army because he wanted to take this opportunity to repel the invading Tarantine…” Cynthia replied.
Cheiristoya became a bit worried again after hearing that.
“Rest assured, Cheiristoya. His majesty will definitely come back victorious!” Andrea hurriedly comforted her.
“That’s right, madam.” Azune also interjected, “Now that Hades bless his majesty, his majesty will never lose a battle!”
Cheiristoya put her arms around the two children and smiled, “If they could repel the Tarantine, Thurii will then be completely safe.”
“Yes. For the safety of the people of Theonia, his majesty did not even have the time to return home as he engaged in continuous bitter battles. If the gods do not bless him, who else would?!” Andrea kept praising Davos, then she remembered something and turned back to shout, “Umateseus, stop sitting there and come here to meet your aunt Cheiristoya’s children. Didn’t you always complain that you have no one to play with?”
After a few shouts, Andrea heard an “Oh” sound in the garden. Then a child stood up from the flowers and plants, with a bit of shyness on his face.
When little Cro saw him, he immediately broke away from his mother’s army and sprinted towards him, “Brother, what are you looking at?”
“…ants.” Umateseus blurted out a word awkwardly.
“What is so interesting about watching ants? Come and let’s find Heni to play ball!” Adoris also rushed over and said.
As Umateseus hesitated, little Cro came forward and took his hand and urged, “Big brother, let’s go and play together.”
Umateseus could only helplessly nod.
Then the several children leap to the front yard.
“I’ll go and watch them.” Cynthia said as she followed them.
“Cynthia is really like a big sister now!” Andrea glanced at Cynthia’s back as she went out.
“They are all grown up while we grew old!” Cheiristoya became a bit emotional. Then she asked with concern, “Andrea, Umateseus is already old, so how come he still acts like a child?!”
“Hah.” Andrea sighed as sorrow crept onto her face, “You know that man(referring to her ex-husband) was not good to my child and me, so he would often beat and scold us, traumatising Umateseus when he was a child and became rather timid… Although Bagul is good to Umateseus…the Lucanians like brave children, but with Umateseus nature…they do not get along and in Grumentum…Umateseus, that boy does not like going out, so…he has no friends there…”
“Your younger son must be almost three years old now, so why haven’t you brought him along today?” Cheiristoya asked instead.
“His grandfather(referring to Vespa) hasn’t seen him for two years, so he has been with him since we came back yesterday and is reluctant to let him out.” Andrea said helplessly.
“It seems the care that your two children receive at home is very different…” Cheiristoya purposely said.
“Hah!…” Andrea once again let out a long sigh, with sadness filling her face. One is a stepson with an unpleasant character, while the other is a biological son, so it is obvious who Bagul’s family prefers. But in Andrea’s heart, she loves her eldest son more. After all, this child has been with her in her most difficult time and is her spiritual support. Andrea understood Umateseus’s heart and the estrangement of his new family only made him more introverted, but as a mother, she couldn’t even find a good way to solve the problem.
“Don’t worry.” Cheiristoya gently reassured her best friend as she looked at the open entrance of the inner courtyard and said, “I see that little Cro likes Umateseus quite a lot while Umateseus is willing to play with him.”
“Yeah, I am also surprised as this kid usually doesn’t agree to people’s requests so easily. It seems that little Cro has a charm that makes people want to get close to him despite his young age!” Andrea said, complimenting.
“I have a suggestion.” Cheiristoya then said with seriousness, “Why don’t you allow Umateseus to stay right here at my house. There are many children here, and their age doesn’t differ much, so they could go to school and play together. And Umateseus might even become more active as he will not feel lonely…what do you think?”
Hearing Cheiristoya’s words, Andrea somewhat became interested, ‘This is the residence of Theonia’s new king; who else in Theonia could have such a privilege?!’
But as a mother, she instinctively refused, “Madam, thank you for your concern of Umateseus, but that would be too-”
As soon as he began speaking, a loud “Waa! Waa! Waa!…” cry sounded in the baby carriage next to Cheiristoya.
“See, even little Eunice is in favour of letting Umateseus stay.” Cheiristoya laughed.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The several children ran around the front courtyard but couldn’t find Henipolis. In the end, it was Aristias who told them, “His majesty Davos called him to the camp saying that he has something important to tell him.” As the children were about to be disappointed, Cynthia asked, “Is father back?”
“Yes, his majesty led the army to wipe out the invading Tarantine army and has returned to the camp!” Cynthia noticed that Aristias, who usually has a serious expression, also looked a bit excited at this moment.
Then the several children shouted excitedly, “Victory! Father won again!…”
Then they scramble back, eagerly wanting to tell Cheiristoya the news of victory.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
It was already dusk when Davos returned to the camp.
The two successive victories made the whole city of Thurii rejoice, especially when the people saw the naked and tied up thousands of Tarantine soldiers and Syracusan sailors escorted towards Thurii’s quarry. Afterwards, the people standing on both sides of the road began spitting and throwing stones at them, venting the haze that shrouded their hearts due to the war.
Many even lit a bonfire in the Nike Square as they sang and danced around the Fountain of Thurii that showed a miracle, while they thank Hades for his blessing and cheered, “All hail, King Davos!”
Then the patrols asked Kunogelata, the Praetor of Thurii, if they should disperse them so as not to disturb the city’s order and the people’s rest.
However, Kunogelata, who was always rigid, also smiled tolerantly at this moment and said, “Let them dance and make noises. It has been long since Thurii was this lively. Still, you have to maintain the order.”
“Roger!” The patrol captain left excitedly.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Compared to the people who were partying all night, most of the soldiers who had just returned to the camp were already exhausted because of the successive battles and fell asleep as soon as they entered their tent.
Davos was also exhausted, but there was still something important for him to deal with, so he had to rouse himself up.
But when Martius entered his tent, Davos had already fallen asleep on the table.
Seeing that he was sound asleep, Martius remembered today’s hard battle, so he couldn’t bear to wake up. Still, after hesitating for a while, he walked forward again because even though it was already so late, Davos still called Henipolis, so it is definitely something important! And as the captain of Davos’ guards, it’s his duty not to delay important matters!
“Your majesty…your majesty…”
Davos opened his eyes dazedly.
“Your majesty, Henipolis has arrived.” Martius whispered.
“Heni?…oh, yea.” Davos came back to his senses as he hurriedly asked, “How long has he been here?”
“He just arrived.”
“That’s good.” Davos rubbed his cheek, which became a bit numb, and said, “Let him in.”
“Yes.” Just as Martius was about to turn around, Davos called out again, “Why are you on guard duty?!”
“I allowed the others to sleep first.”
“Nonsense! You have still not fully recovered, so why are you not taking care of your body?! Get some rest now and ask another soldier to be on duty. Otherwise, I will not allow you to follow me tomorrow! Go home and rest!!”
When Davos became so angry, Martius did not dare to argue back and obediently went out of the tent.
As soon as Henipolis entered the tent, he excitedly expressed his thoughts, “Lord…your majesty Davos, congratulations on winning the naval battle and wiping out the Tarantine army at the same time. It is truly amazing that just within a day, you have won such a glorious victory. I really should have stayed by your side and refused your request of returning in advance to report your current situation and the reasons for your inability to return home to Lady Cheiristoya so that I could’ve witnessed the whole battle…”
“I can just recount the whole battle in detail for you.” Davos interjected.