"Hereby the Republic of Rome shall establish a judiciary independent of any religious institution, and guarantee the rights of all citizens to seek secular judgments on cases of... Ugh, it's too vague."

I can't believe that pompous general foisted this constitution writing business on me! He was so excited about this new republic, even insisting on naming it for my ancestors to give the nation a 'clean start', and now he's just left me here! Training the new army and leaving the actual statecraft to the idiot he convinced to be president. And I can't say no now, I can't back out of this…

Because Serena will be visiting me next year. And I need to have a country for her to visit me in.

And Serena deserves the best country in the history of the world. She deserves the best country that will ever be! One that is not only beautiful now, but beautiful forever, never tainted by the actions of future people. So its laws must be beautiful, must be perfect, so there is no way for future presidents or politicians to ruin everything. Maybe I'm only one-twelfth married to Serena, but I will give her an eternal nation of peace and prosperity as a dowry. She deserves nothing less.

And I can do it. I will do it! ... One boring legal paragraph at a time.

"From its inception and in perpetuity the Republic of Rome will maintain a secular judiciary, independent of any religious institution or philosophy, which shall enforce the laws of the state-"

"Big sis president!" I hear a banging on the door to my study, it must be The Last King of Samnia. "There's a bird in the garden and it's big and scary!"

Poor Little King, she hasn't been able to so much as look at birds since the coup. "Do you want me to scare it away?"

"Noooo... It's not doing anything bad... Can I come in?"

So polite and considerate! Allowing her in is hardly going to be conducive to writing dry legal text, but she did just see something pretty scary. It was hard enough seeing the Monster of Steel as an adult, I can't imagine what it was like for a child, especially her. Still, I probably should focus on my actual job, the entire Republic is counting on me-

"Now now, Beatrice. We can't be bothering the President, she has important work to do."

That's Beatrice's mother, and the sigh that follows is the Little King being clearly disappointed... I get to my feet and open the door to my study, gesturing for the two of them to enter. "Come, take a seat. Maybe this whole thing will be a lot less boring with you here."

The Little King happily runs in, and takes a spot on a chair sitting beside mine. Her mother meanwhile stays on the other side of the door, clearly uncomfortable. Odd, I had thought the invitation would make her feel welcome too.

"You too, your Grace. You're welcome to join us."

I give her the best smile I can. Smiling is still a work in progress, but I think it's going well. I just think of Serena and it makes it easy to express joy on command. Now I just have to rein it in a little…

Still, she's willing to enter my study, so it must have worked. She takes a seat on a couch, quite far away from my writing desk. I close the door and return to my desk, I still need to work even if I'm in the presence of my two charges. Being there when the Little King is scared by a bird is part of my promise to Serena, but so is making a nation.

"Now, where was I... Secular judiciary, will enforce the laws of the state... Without the influence of Priests or godly doctrine? ... I guess that might work, but-"

"Big Sis President, what's a jedishy?" The Little King is looking up at me, kicking her legs off the side of the chair.

"Uhhh... Well, a judiciary is a system of courts and judges and lawyers that prosecute..." I stop myself, the Little King looks completely lost. "... So umm, when a grown-up does something bad, someone has to tell them that they did a bad thing, and someone else has to punish them so they don't do bad things anymore."

"Ohhhhhh! Like a mommy!"

"Yeah, like a mommy or a da-" I catch myself, the poor girl's been scared enough today. "But we also need people to protect folks too, in case someone says they did a bad thing and they actually didn't do it. I need to write this all down, so everyone remembers that everyone deserves to be protected when they didn't do bad things, and to be punished when they do."

"... Well why not write down that?" The Little King looks contemplative, clearly a little confused. "I don't get the big, tricky words, but I get it when you say it like that. Won't everyone else get it too?"

"It's... It's not that simple." Gods I wish it was though. "See... I'm the president right now, I know that everyone deserves to be protected and only the guilty deserve to be punished... But what if a future president decides they want to punish good people and protect bad people? I need to make sure I write the laws very carefully, so it's impossible for bad people in the future to do bad things."

"How does a piece of paper stop people from doing bad things?"

"Well... It's the law. People have to follow the law or else they get punished too."

"So... If there was a big piece of paper that told daddy that he couldn't hurt everybody, he wouldn't be able to?"

I audibly swallow. The Little King isn't being snarky, or snide. She almost looks hopeful, as if this constitution thing will undo the things her father did. And maybe even the things I did that killed him.

"... Unfortunately, kings don't follow laws like that. That's why they're kings, they don't want to follow any rules. That's why I want to be a president and not a king. Because I want to follow the rules, and make sure I don't hurt everybody like a king does."

"Oh..." She looks crestfallen, looking down at her feet. "And all the future presidents don't wanna be kings?"

"... I hope so. I really do."

Oh gods... Hope really is all I can do, isn't it? I can't possibly know what the future presidents of the Republic of Rome will do with the country, no matter what laws I make. No system I build is going to make a country that can only produce good, will it?

"... I was supposed to be a king. Before that one lady killed daddy and that big mean stupid bird. But I think I'm glad I'm not gonna be a king anymore. I don't wanna hurt anyone."

... No system I build can make a country that can only produce good, but maybe the people that come after me can. "Hehe, you sound like someone who could be president one day."

"I do?!" The Little King kicks her legs excitedly, grinning happily up at me. "You really think I could grow up to be like you, big sis president?"

"I think you could grow up to do anything you want to." I can't help but smile back at her, without even trying this time! "So long as you try your best."

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"Hehe, yeah!" The Little King slips off her chair and runs over to her mother, jumping up and down with excitement. "Did you hear that, mommy? I can be president someday!"

Her mother looks horribly uncomfortable, sneaking a worried glance my way before returning her attention to her daughter. "You know, presidents have to eat their vegetables, and go to bed on time."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!" The Little King casts her eyes back at me, utterly betrayed.

I nod, it's strange that I have to lie to the poor girl for her own good. "I had to eat all my vegetables and go to bed on time growing up. It makes you big and strong and smart, and presidents should be all these things."

"But you're really short, Big Sis President!"

"Beatrice!" The Little King's Mother glares at the Little King, putting on a mean face. "We don't say mean things about the President! Say you're sorry."

"But mooooommy, she is short!"

"Beatrice!"

I rub the back of my head, wanting this little scolding to end as quickly as possible. "Hehe, it's okay though. I know I'm pretty short. But I'd be shorter if I didn't eat my vegetables! So you better do it too, Little King. Otherwise you might grow up to be even shorter than me."

The Little King gasps in shock, and looks back to her mother with horror. "I... I need to go eat some vegetables! Bye Mommy, Bye Big Sis President!"

She runs off, briefly struggling with the high-up doorknob, before rushing to the kitchen in a desperate attempt to not repeat my childhood mistakes. I certainly hope she manages to avoid them... Even if she's already lost one of her parents.

At least she has a caring mother, even if an apparently short tempered one... And she'll have me, trying my best to look out for her as her dad might have, if he hadn't been a violent sociopath. Or indeed dead. I know how rough it can be to grow up without parents, and having to grow up too fast to fill their absent shoes.

I turn my attention to The Little King's Mother, offering her another amateur smile. "Hehe, she's a good kid."

"She is... Her brothers were good kids too." Her eyes are somewhere else, her words come from far away.

"She's lucky to have you." I try to maintain my smile, but it's waning. "To have a good mother I mean."

"Her brothers weren't lucky to have me." There's something else in the room with us that only she can see. "Heh... She's lucky to have you. She wouldn't even be alive if not for you."

Admittedly the new Roman Army and the citizens of the new Roman Republic both wanted 'justice' against the remaining family of the late King. But I promised Serena I would keep them safe, so I convinced the people and the Army to show the child and her mother clemency. She revoked all rights to the throne publically and apologized for the crimes of her father and her family line, and eventually the people allowed her to live, with the help of a few friendly newspaper articles I had commissioned. Even so, I just let them live, surely that's not the same as being an actual parent, right?

"Perhaps so, but without you she wouldn't have a mother-"

"Yes she would..." Slowly she returns to her body, and as she becomes more present her eyes become more tearful. "She'd have you. She'd have a mother worthy of her."

... She's crying. I get to my feet and walk to where the Little King's mother sat on the couch, sitting with her. I'm not sure what precisely I'm doing, or even can do, but I don't want her to keep crying. And I'm supposed to be a competent, authoritative person, I have to be reliable here! I have to do something.

"... Your Grace, do you really think your daughter would be better off without you?"

"I... I don't know... But maybe she would! I mean, I couldn't protect her brothers, their father killed them both to summon that stupid bird! I couldn't even protect her, that foreign conqueror had to protect us, had to get you to protect us! In the most desperate, needed time in my life, I couldn't protect them. I couldn't be a good mother. All I could do was stand aside in fear, and allow my children to die."

She's weeping... But something sounds a little off about her reasoning. She clearly believes it, it's torturing her. But…

"Your Grace. Do you think that was the time in your daughter's life where she most needed a mother?"

"I... What? ... Of course it was, it was life and death-"

"My own mother died to protect me, you know. My father died leading a Samnian Army to fight off an incursion by the Turkish Empire, and when the Turks approached the city of Rome my mother assembled a militia to fight them off. She succeeded but was killed in the process. And just like that, I was an orphan. The 5 year old Duchess of The Latin Plains."

"... She sounds like a good mother. One who could protect her children."

"From an army, maybe. But what about after that moment, when the army was gone? After she and father were gone, my life became a lot more complicated. There were a great many people I was responsible for, a lot of things that needed to be done. The Latin Plains needed a Duchess, no matter what the circumstances. So I studied hard, I worked hard, I learned who I could trust and learned that I couldn't really trust anyone. I had to become an adult without them there, to fill the shoes they left behind... And I think that's when I needed a mother most. Not when the Turks were knocking down our door."

The Little King's mother looks confused, but also terribly concerned, reaching out a hand to touch my shoulder. I didn't know I was shaking. Why am I shaking?

"... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that happened to you. But, your mother did have to protect you, you'd have been killed if she did nothing. And my children died because I did nothing and-"

"But your daughter lives. And so do you." I feel like I should push her hand off of my shoulder, but it's nice there. "That's my point. I can't take away the tragedy of what happened, or even what I did to you and your family. But right now, your daughter is alive. She needs a mother. And she has you. She doesn't have to grow up to be like me."

"... You're not the worst thing to grow up to be, Lucretia... You take care of Beatrice for one thing."

I feel a warmth on my cheeks, the same kind of warmth I feel when I'm with Serena... The former Queen's hand has drifted up to my hair, gently playing with its short locks. She's leaning in a little closer... Did her dress always have such a low neckline?

I try not to think about it, surely she's just trying to be polite! "W... Well. She deserves to be a kid for a little longer, your grace-"

"Please... Call me Bianca." ... She's getting closer, and I can't withdraw because her arm has snaked its way around my shoulders. "Lucretia. It's an odd name, but I think it's a pretty one."

"It's uhhh... It's a Roman name. It's old and niche, but my parents were sticklers for tradition-"

"Romulus too, I think I could happily have a name like that... I think Beatrice would like it-"

"Aaaaaaahhhh" She's leaned in closer to me, I can feel her breath on my neck... Like I've dreamed Serena would do. "You're... Getting a little close there, Your... Bianca."

"You keep my daughter safe, you make her happy. And even if she needs me like you say she does, she does still need you... Her father was never any good to me, was never any good to any of his children. I think perhaps she could do with another parent."

"I... I promised to protect you both already. You don't have to-"

"You promised some foreigner that you would protect us. I want you to promise me. I want you to swear to me that you will keep us both safe. I want you to protect us as your own family."

"... You... You want me to-"

"I know of your arrangement with Serena Pollineux. One month a year, is that right? ... I'm not a greedy sort, and I know you did what you did for her. That without her, you would not have saved us. So I'll simply ask for the other eleven months, and be satisfied with almost your entire year. Does that sound reasonable?"

Does it? I mean, I'm already married! Sort of... A bit... Then again, doesn't Serena have her friends too? The tall one and the tired one just kissed her like it meant nothing, the vulgar skinny one practically fought me for her. She clearly has other lovers, and still she agreed to this union sight unseen. She was even happy. And, well... Even sight unseen, Bianca's closeness is making me feel something quite akin to happiness.

"... Serena convinced me to protect you, but if I was asked to do it again, I'd do it every time. With or without her... Being alone in this big, broken palace might just have driven me mad, it's been... Good to have you both with me."

"Sounds to me like we're already a family in your mind. Why not make it official?"

I hesitate a moment, before leaning in and kissing Bianca... And I don't even pass out this time! Even so, I feel a little light-headed as she slips her tongue into my mouth, something that takes me completely off guard. This... This is new! Maybe Serena will-

I feel hands playing with the buttons of my trousers, and my mind refuses to wander anywhere else anymore. I am here, I want nothing more than to keep being here.