Chapter 152: I Knew You Were Lucius From the Very Beginning
Merlin's efforts were evident.
At least within Rome City, Lucius's reputation quickly improved.
If you walked down the street and asked any Roman at random, they would assuredly not dare utter a single bad word about Lucius.
But outside Rome City—especially in places beyond the guards' jurisdiction—it wouldn't be surprising to find straw effigies bearing Lucius's name nailed to trees.
Though these Romans didn't know Merlin, his appearance spread by word of mouth among them.
And in Rome, Merlin had directly become the emperor's lackey!
With this identity draped over him, Merlin's most irritating traits were unleashed to their fullest.
It started with the common people. Soon, Merlin realized the Romans were following his plan, ceasing all criticism of the emperor, so he began tormenting the military, officials, and even the nobility!
But these groups were different from the common folk—they wouldn't hesitate to resort to violence at the slightest disagreement.
Yet each time, they failed to catch Merlin, only to be targeted by him in other ways later...
Eventually, worn down by the harassment, they began attempting to summon Merlin.
Naturally, among them were those who disagreed with Merlin's views, and the guards dared not arrest them.
But Merlin seized this opportunity, using these officials, soldiers, and nobles' summons to understand them, directly categorizing them into die-hard loyalists and wavering factions.
Afterward, those the guards dared not arrest, the die-hard loyalists dared to!
Merlin paraded through Rome's upper echelons in Lucius's name, engaging in all manner of deceit.
If anyone questioned him, he used illusions to muddle through.
For a time, his identity as a lackey became deeply ingrained in people's minds.
The matter even reached the Senate and Quintus.
But Merlin deliberately avoided Quintus, leaving Quintus powerless—he couldn't find Merlin, much less capture him.
If Lucius had been present, it might have been manageable, but Lucius was absent, leaving Quintus unable to seek the emperor's explanation for the situation!
In the end, he could only turn to Manaka Sajyou for help.
But Manaka Sajyou had long been aware of the matter.
She had even learned that the so-called "Lucius's lackey" was Merlin.
It was hard for her not to guess that this upheaval was King Arthur's scheme.
So, Manaka Sajyou pretended to be helpless, expressing her inability to intervene.
For a time, Merlin stirred up turmoil across all of Rome!
This situation left Cú Chulainn, the palace insider, utterly stunned.
Initially, he couldn't understand why Noah had Merlin promote Lucius, nor did he see much necessity in such actions.
But after witnessing Merlin's power, Cú Chulainn understood why he was a warrior while Noah was a king.
Mary was also surprised by the escalating trend.
Marcus repeatedly suggested in secret that Lucius return, but Lucius refused.
It wasn't until Lucius stated that Rome was clearly better suited to Noah's rule, and that Noah was the emperor recognized by the Pantheon, that Marcus finally stopped urging Lucius to return.
By then, Marcus had finally understood.
Although in reality this matter was Noah, the once-exiled destined emperor, returning for revenge, the rebellion he initiated was supported by Lucius, the current emperor!
Calculating it this way, it was actually Sword Emperor intending to abdicate in favor of Emperor Noah, but those greedy, power-hungry senators who had once exiled Emperor Noah disagreed!
Thus, the two emperors had no choice but to resort to this strategy at this time!
After understanding this, Marcus completely shed his previously listless demeanor, becoming exceptionally motivated and frequently offering Noah various suggestions, his entire posture standing much straighter.
Even during this current meeting, it was the same.
He knew Noah's troops had already reached the outskirts of Rome City, so he began advising Noah to directly capture Rome City first, then gradually plan for the entire nation.
However, Noah did not agree.
Both Marcus and Lucius found this difficult to understand, but Scáthach, who had been leaning aside without speaking, finally spoke up at this moment.
"Don't be impatient. Noah is merely waiting for an opportunity."
Hearing Scáthach say this, although Marcus and Lucius were puzzled, they could only nod.
Vivian, who had long been recalled by Noah, was now dressed in a maid outfit, standing behind Noah. Seeing Marcus and Lucius like this, she opened her sky-blue eye, closed her blood-red eye, and smiled as she added to Scáthach's words.
"Your Excellencies need not worry. Since Merlin was sent out by His Majesty, His Majesty must have already planned for the best timing."
Hearing Vivian say this, they nodded and said nothing more.
This meeting once again concluded with the decision to temporarily take no action.
After briefly concluding this routine meeting, Noah continued discussing the matter with Mary in his mind.
Although Mary had never expected that sending Merlin out would yield such results, after the outcomes gradually began to manifest, it was Mary who filled in the subsequent details of the plan. Noah also discussed it with Scáthach and Vivian, and even contacted Morgan via long-distance communication.
Only then was the plan truly finalized.
Initially, they were not very certain about the turmoil Merlin could incite, but after seeing it with their own eyes and confirming Merlin's abilities, Vivian, as the Prophet, was the first to propose—if it was Merlin, he could create an even better opportunity!
This proposal was later endorsed by the others, so Noah and his allies were now waiting for precisely that.
During this process, Vivian glimpsed the general future several times, even having Noah replenish her vitality once.
She had essentially mapped out the future.
Thus, on the third day after this routine meeting concluded, under the astonished gazes of Marcus and Lucius, they discovered that Quintus, in order to suppress this situation, had actually allied with other senators and introduced a fake Lucius!
This is different from the one Odin played. Not to mention Mary, even Marcus, the former head of the Magus Corps, could tell this guy was a fake!
However, if no one causes trouble, then this fake is enough to suppress the current turmoil for now.
But...
"Good, the opportunity we've been waiting for has finally arrived."
Noah smiled, and Vivian and Scáthach smiled as well.
At that moment, Marcus also realized what was happening.
"So that's it... If we bring the Sword Emperor back now, then these rebellious senators will be confirmed as intending to rebel! They even put forward a fake Sword Emperor! As long as we bring the real Sword Emperor back, those traitors will be finished!"
He excitedly blurted this out, then froze.
Because as he looked at Noah and the others, who showed no surprise, it suddenly dawned on him—it seemed neither he nor Lucius had ever mentioned that Lucia was Lucius...
He was stunned, and Lucius also looked at Noah in surprise.
"I've been exposed? When did you figure out I was Lucius!?"
Looking at Lucius like this, Noah really wanted to say, "What makes you think you were disguised well?"
But in the end, Noah didn't say that.
Instead, after casually organizing the evidence of the senators and Roman nobles' crimes, he finally answered Lucius's question.
"From the very beginning."