Not long after Ovid left Anna’s minor realm, he was greeted by a female servant dressed quite flamboyantly. The girl seemed to have waited here for a long time and was shocked when Ovid appeared suddenly.

She dared not to meet Ovid’s eyes, and said in a timid voice, “Lady Martha request lady Irene and lady Anna to come to her residency.”

Ovid gave a light nod to show his intentions, reaching his hand within his torn up stola, he retrieved a stone rune which Irene had given to him and Anna after leaving Gael’s tomb. At that time, Irene had realised she had made the amateur mistake of over-reliance on her perception abilities to sense if Ovid was in danger and chose a simpler way to communicate.

The manner in which this stone rune operated was quite similar to a fax machine, as only messages could be exchanged between the holders of the stone runes, though it has an excellent operating distance.

The unknown carved words lit up with a faint light as the message was sent.

Watching Ovid place the stone rune back into his stola, the servant then said, “Lady Martha had also invited you lady and your distinguished teacher to join as well.”

Ovid began to navigate his wheelchair out the stable, he said, “Cai Hua is not present, but I can ask his wife to come.”

The servant quickly responded with a self-deprecating smile, “I dare not to interpret the will of lady Martha, it is best to ask the lady about this first.”

Ovid looked at the holes present in the stable and thought that even mice had greater courage than the girl, he said as he spun around to face the girl, “What is your name?”

The girl did not expect Ovid to ask any question, so it took her quite some time to regain her composure and answer, “Reporting to lady, I am Iusta.”

Ovid’s brows lifted slightly as he asked, “Do you not have a last name?”

A self-deprecating smile once more surfaced on the meek girl’s face as she replied, “Lady, I did not have the fortune of being adopted by an ordinary family, and could only serve as Lady Martha’s servant since young. As a servant, I cannot have a last name.”

Ovid, hearing this, did not pursue the topic any further, and continued to roll his wheelchair across the stable. When he reached the entrance of the building, he had a peculiar expression on his face.

The ancient times were not kind to those with disabilities, so there was naturally no ramps as the building’s marble stairs faced out toward the long and board street of the city. Ovid turned to Iusta as he requested, “Can you push me?”

The girl hurriedly stood behind Ovid’s wheelchair and placed her two hands onto its wooden handles, with great care, she began to push Ovid’s wheelchair along the busy street.

The city of Straton’s roads were cleaned quite often and gave an orderly appearance. The houses were constructed in rows, and the land was appropriated allocated for business, pointing out the city was planned from the lowest level.

Ovid, although having met Martha for only a short moment, simply could not associate her brash behaviour with such an organised city, and suspected it was either built long before she had taken power, or was built under the management of Martha’s vassals.

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Ovid and Isuta continued past the busy road and advanced into the outskirts of the city, where Martha’s palace was located. Eventually, they stopped before an old and rust gate. The servants under Martha were all familiar with each other, so another servant swiftly led Ovid into the palace when Anna and Irene had also arrived.

Martha sat at the head of an extravagant, yet ordinary meal. There was no gemstone or gold laid on the table other than the cutlery, nor was there any humans served. Instead, there were only lavish dishes like the roasted peacock and diluted wine.

There exist no hostilities between the three and Martha, Irene even had a somewhat cordial relationship with the Strategos. Two of the four people on the table was extremely anti-social, and the other two were exotic in their own way, so each kept a serene expression, and none could tell what the other was thinking.

Ovid was merely sipping the diluted wine, which was too weak for his taste. He messed the water to wine ratio for a bit before raising his head to look at Martha.

He had raised his head as a word that interrupted the silent room had come from Martha’s mouth.

Martha was truly deserving of being the most influential person in the empire aside from Julia. Her brows were as thick as a man’s and her face was similarly harsh, even at a formal event such as a meal, she had kept on her armour, giving off an unapproachable aura.

During the overthrow of the last emperor of Alexander’s dynasty, she had played the significant role of securing the south and suppressing the sudden attacks launched by the demons trapped beneath the surface of the Straton confluence.

When Martha was acting madly with her collection of weapons and armour, she spoke with solemn and authority.

“Julia is forcing me into retirement.”

Ovid felt it was not appropriate for him to sit at the table when discussing matters regarding the politics of the Julian empire, yet as he was about to leave, one of Martha’s servants had urged him to remain.

Since all of them possessed a meek demeanour, it meant that this came from Martha herself.

Ovid remained seated and began to drink the wine that was as red as the rust on the new suit of armour Martha was wearing. Although the wine was heavily diluted, as it flowed down Ovid’s throat, it burned as strong as the purest of liquor.

Martha had merely sipped her wine, and as the wind began to blow pass the spots vine had failed to cover in the building, she said.

“Julia had always been aware that I am the most disloyal of the five that sat on the council. When wage had been waged against Alexander’s old empire, I had joined on the promise of land and endless free labour. When the last emperor was killed, and the wealthy lands of Straton given to me to govern, I was particullarly happy. The amount of wealth I accumulated throughout my millions of years on this planet cannot amount to these ten thousand years.”

Ovid did not expect Martha to announce her disloyalty so openly, and a frown appeared on his apathetic face. Even Irene, the ice cube, seemed to have a myriad of emotions surging through her cold eyes.

“Although I had leeched off the people of Straton and acted like a tyrant for the whole time, I still had expended some of my fortunes on the city’s maintenance. Irene, you might not get it since you were never handed a plot of land, but the best way to get more wealth is by spending more money. Regardless, I had worked a bit to ensure the life of these people is sufficient.”

Martha looked at the vines growing along her wall with a strange expression. After a pause, she said, “I had not expected that after so many years, Julia would suddenly get bored of her position, and chosen a successor for her to abdicate the throne to. I had an army to rival that of Julia’s, so I would be a massive threat to the soon-to-be monarch, and naturally need to retire.”

The dragon that had lived since time immemorial surprisingly lifted her head and looked at Anna. She asked affectionately, “Don’t you think this is unfair?”

Anna was distracted by the strange food on the table and plants growing on the decaying walls, still, she answered, “ If I were you, I would probably go along with Julia’s demands… I can’t oppose her by myself anyway.”

“But if I was as powerful as you, I would fight tooth and nail against Julia to keep my position.”

Martha unexpectedly burst into laughter when he heard the reply. “I know that you’re fleeing from Julia right now, and is as free as a bird with so many powerful backers. All my power is entrenched in Straton, how can I let go so easily?”

Suddenly, her expression turned sober as she said coldly, “However, I have lived for so long, and want to live for the many years to come, how can I make such a big gamble?”

Irene suddenly injected, “Then just retire.”

Martha looked towards the sky and sipped her wine as if in a painting. She said, “I don’t care for the people under me, but I have unexpectantly grow sentimental to this plot of land. I cannot capitulate to Julia, yet I cannot stand up to her.”

“I can only make compromises. I have given away almost half of my territory to vassals loyal to Julia. At the same time, I have to maintain an appearance of aggression so she does not take advantage of me.”

“When she had requested to borrow my vassals to subdue Cai Hua, I realised this was to weaken my powerbase even further. Yet what can I do expect to taunt and insult her? Who knew that I would become like a dog - all bark yet no bite?”

“Indeed, I am a coward. I had been a coward ever since I was a newborn dragon - I abuse my servants who are powerless yet never face against any other saint. This is since only strength is absolute in this world, and things like culture and etiquette are useless outside of increasing revenue.”

Anna looked at Martha and asked curiously, “Why are you tell us these things?”

Martha sighed softly and sipped her wine, she answered, “Because you are Julia's successor.”