Antony is visibly shaking as he read Kaiser's will. Meanwhile, Ciceron is having a field day in his attempt to take away what little support remains in the Senate for the late dictator.
Lepidov walked towards Antony and whispered to his ear, "Come on, buddy Antony. These senators are as restless as the mobs outside."
Finally, Antony spoke, "I know, Aemilio!"
"Alright, sheesh. What does it say?", Lepidov asks as he tries to peek the documents.
Antony cleared his throat, and then declared, "Jubemus!"
With Antony's call for order, the senators look away from the standing Ciceron, and shift their eyes to the podium.
"Consule. First... I would like to propose Kaiser to lie in state..."
Ciceron interrupted, "Enough dilly-dallying! What is Kaiser's will, if any?"
"Don't rush, my erstwhile friend. I'll tell you all."
"Spill it. We're all ears," Ciceron responded, turning his back at Antony to face the senators and show them his iconic hand gesture which goes well with his rhetoric.
"First... Divisa in partes tres. The 75 percent of my personal fortune shall be given to my great-nephew, Octavian, and I adopt him as my son!"
The Senate as a whole was surprised. Even Ciceron cannot believe what he just heard, and so he bothered to look at Antony as he continued to read the will. The largely unknown relative of Kaiser is designated to inherit his powerful name.
"In case Octavian is unavailable to claim what remains of my fortune, I designate Barotov as my second heir!"
The Populists were thrown into a frenzy. One senator shouted, "How can he be Kaiser's son?! He killed his own father!"
Antony tried his best to ignore the grumbling Populists, and continued, "The 25 percent of my personal fortune shall be shared by my great-nephews, Quintin Pedov and Lucius Pinarov!"
Pedov and Pinarov were grandsons of Kaiser's sister Julia.
"Then, Caesarem vehis, Caesarique fortunam! I declare all my gardens and parks be made public places, open for all citizens to see and enjoy! What land remains of my estate shall be given to all farmers through a revitalized land reform program! One hectare each! What finances remain of my estate shall be given to all citizens in Moscovia! Four hundred sestertii each!"
This time, Kaiser amazed every senator of his magnanimity and generosity. If there are 450 million people in Russia by this time, with some 4 million residing in Moscovia alone, and assuming they are all citizens, then it means giving away 1.6 billion sestertii, which is equivalent to 400 million denarii or 4 million aurei. Taking out of consideration the inflation brought by Kaiser's doubling of wages, the figure is as much as what Krassa was credited with. One can just imagine how much Kaiser's personal finances were, which is rated by analysts to be as much as 9 million aurei, if he was so willing to give away that much money to as many people.
One senator cried, "Kaiser was the world's most powerful! Kaiser was the world's wealthiest!"
The senators applauded, and when Antony saw this, he said loudly, "Senators, do you approve?"
Trying to regain lost initiative, Ciceron interrupted, "Not so fast, Antony! I propose to keep the distribution on hold until we've ascertained where all Kaiser's money came from. Once distributed, we won't be able to trace the paper trail."
"Yeah, right," Lepidov said to rebut Ciceron, "Kaiser is dead. Who else will be prosecuted?"
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
"Why, his family, of course!"
"You want to take Octavian's head?! What savage behavior, Ciceron!"
Antony remained silent as Lepidov and Ciceron deliberated on the latter's proposal to investigate Kaiser's estate. Observant as he is, Ciceron believes Antony was not pleased by Kaiser's decision to bequeath the powerful Kaiser name to his distant nephew, as well as three-fourths of Kaiser's personal wealth, which is estimated to be more than 6 million aurei. With Octavian as heir, none of the Populist leaders would have a political future to expect.
"Lepidov, you are as dim as a coal mine, and I'm even doing injustice to the ol' coal mine!"
"Hey!"
"Look at what Kaiser has done. Do you think he cares about any of us senators today? Do you think he cares how our people can get along day by day? Do you think he cares about these mundane affairs? No, I say. What Kaiser wants is to establish his name forever! Not as a general. Not as a dictator. Yes, Kaiser is not even a king. Kaiser wants to be god!"
"What?! I've never heard such a preposterous idea! I'm Master Kaiser's foremost tank commander and friend. I never knew of him as someone of such ambition."
"Then what is this resolution in Senate to deify Kaiser? Surely you Populists forwarded this for your master's sake!"
"Hrgh... Hey, tell him Antony!"
Antony finally speaks, although not with the same energy as he proposed carrying out Kaiser's will.
He said, "Kaiser... is not a king..."
"What is he? Is he not so obsessed with his campaigns the world over, and then keeps on asking the treasury to give him more? Then, we find out he has the wealth of the world! What does your master seek? He says the Senate is an institution of old, and so he intended to destroy. But what has he replaced it with? A dictatorship that was seven times rejected by our good society! Tell me, what does Kaiser need with all the wealth, all the health, and all the strength of this world?"
Lepidov answered, "What do you know? Are you not the one who regretted joining the party which is the assassination of Kaiser?!"
"Don't make me laugh. Who wouldn't want to rid our country of tyranny?"
Antony motioned his hand to stop Lepidov's response, and then looked at Ciceron as he begins.
"My friends, our late Master Kaiser seeks only one thing... A world united... A world stable... A world at peace... What has all the wars brought us? No progress come from such ingress to violence."
Antony then walks forward, this time intending to address all senators.
"All of you know how I lived my life in the past. I was a member of Klodiy's gang. I robbed. I gambled. I killed. What can a man like me do when pressed down by a debt so great, all of us were forced to the streets? Enter Kaiser. At first, I examined the man. His reputation precedes him, as all of you may have seen. As I saw the man's heart, I realize why he did it all. For the greater good, not only of Russia, but of the world. You senators granted him triumph, and then dictatorship, and then deity, but for what? His kindness you exchange with distrust. His generosity you exchange with disbelief. The very bureaucracy of this nation wallowing in envy. All of you are guilty of killing him! Do you not see? Kaiser has sacrificed his life for all of us! He was willing to bear the burden of the world... He was willing to corrupt it to the core... And destroy..."
At this point, he looks down and his eyes burst to tears.
"Is it not better for all to blame a man like Kaiser? A man who sought a new world, even if it means himself being unable to behold?"
Lepidov approached Antony and tapped his shoulder. Meanwhile, Antony raised his head once more, wiping his tears away and motions his one hand as if gripping a ball.
"If indeed Kaiser is a king, then yours is his kingdom! Enjoy it all you want! What else can a dead god do, if indeed Kaiser is one? As for me and my people, we will carry out Kaiser's hopes!"
He clenches his fist.
"The world will not be healed with mere words! Action must be taken by those willing to do the work! Even if Kaiser is gone, life goes on!"
Then, he raises his fist.
"Therefore, I appeal to all of you! The work is not yet done! We have only just begun!"
There was silence. A few seconds felt like a number of years. However, claps are heard. It was Lepidov, and when they saw him, the senators gave Antony a standing ovation. It seemed all but Ciceron applauded Antony's extemporaneous speech. Soon enough, Ciceron, with a few senators personally close to him, walks out of the hall, but not before he uttered his parting words to a somewhat noisy crowd.
"Hmph! Kaiser's kingdom is mine alright. With the intrepid king gone, what can his dogs do with the crumbs?"
Some of the Populists approached Antony and hugged him. Some of the Republicans shook hands with the Populists. At the end of the day, the proposal to carry out Kaiser's will was approved.
"Lepidov, call Octavian and have him come to Moscovia immediately."
"Of course, Antony, but say the magic word."
"Huh? Oh, alright... Please?"
"Well then, at haste!"
Lepidov takes his leave from the hall. Meanwhile, Antony calls the Senate to attention once more.
"My friends, we have another issue at hand... the Liberators. I propose... their pardon!"
The senators cannot believe their ears. Murmuring reigned, with most senators asking each other what Antony just said. What does Antony want with the Liberators, the murderers of the late dictator, alive? He has achieved the Senate's approval, why propose such now?