Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 92: Volume 1 Epilogue The Fall of Constantinople and the Rise of The Azure Longsword

Chapter 92: Volume 1 Epilogue The Fall of Constantinople and the Rise of The Azure Longsword

Author: Anna Pavlogeinit Achilles

Written in the year 261 of the Sixth Epoch

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In the year 273 of the Third Epoch, when Emperor Caesar crossed the Rubicon River, history records his sigh:

"The die has been cast."

In fact, no one understood the meaning of these words better than Caesar himself.

Before his earliest appointment as Priest, Caesar was the most seasoned gambler in Solomon City. Not only in the gambling dens but also in the political arenas of Solomon.

The Rubicon River to the north of Solomon City, it was his final psychological defense. According to the rules of the Ancient Solomon Republic, any general who led troops across the Rubicon without Senate permission was viewed as a complete betrayal of Solomon City.

Crossing this river meant either sweeping away all Elders who dared to resist and becoming the unrivaled Dictator within the Solomon Republic, or being branded a traitor to Solomon and dying a despicable death amidst the scorn of tens of thousands.

If he chose not to cross the river, his most likely end upon returning home would be assassination, or, more likely, reaching an agreement with certain Elders, undergoing a grand triumphal disarmament of military power, becoming an "obedient dog raised by the Elder daddies".

In the end, he chose to cross the river.

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According to a widely circulated theory: in everyone’s life, there are three or four opportunities to "cast the die of fate."

Each time permanently changes the person’s life.

Therefore, when many historians do not understand why my mother would choose to discard her noble status and join a little-known Mercenary Group to leave the East, I hope at least you, dear reader, would understand that she was simply casting her own dice.

Before the fall of Constantinople, the political situation in the Imperial City had already turned quite unfavorable for my mother.

A segment of the Nobles and bureaucrats believed she should bear the responsibility for the Frank’s betrayal. There is a record that says it was she who, against all advice, single-handedly signed the treaty to extradite the Frank Knights with the Venetians.

Anyone with a modicum of Imperial political knowledge can see that a treaty without the simultaneous nod of both Co-Ruling Emperors could not possibly be executed without objection by lower-level bureaucrats? The Venetians are not diplomatically ignorant fools either.

Her real fall from power was due to a shift in the Orthodox Church’s stance.

Although at the time, the Orthodox Church did not have the immense influence of its Western Church Court brethren, it still enjoyed high prestige within the Imperial City.

During the national policy meeting, faced with Zoe’s coup d’état aggression, the Orthodox Church eerily maintained silence, undoubtedly signaling to most neutral party bureaucrats and Nobles.

The Orthodox Church did not support Empress Theodora, and this was the most fatal blade aimed at my mother.

Regarding the Church’s stance, there was a popular belief that my mother had considered amending the scriptures to the Western Catholic’s liking in exchange for support from the Western Church Court when she first ascended the throne.

I do not think this was the real reason. Certainly, His Excellency Alexei of the Orthodox Church might have seen this as an offense against the Orthodox Church.

However, to so rashly decide on a stance towards an Empress over a careless word that was not even formally proposed is not a traditional move on the Imperial political stage.

The main issue was that, at that time, whether it was Constantinople’s bureaucrats, Nobles, priests, or the majority of loyal citizens, they all believed that the Empire urgently needed a male Emperor.

Even throughout Solomon culture, the female is synonymous with "not quite rational" and "indecisive."

Although Their Majesties, by virtue of the political reputation inherited from the previous Emperor Constantine, had temporarily achieved a delicate balance at the highest levels of Imperial power.

However, this balance was fragile; as soon as the now-adult Zoe got married, the prestige and power would quickly accumulate to her husband because he would be a true traditional male Emperor.

For my mother, this was naturally the worst outcome in terms of losing power. And for Zoe, it wasn’t much better either, merely shifting from sharing power with her sister to sharing it with her husband.

And the latter was even more difficult to contend with.

Hence, at the national policy meeting, Zoe’s coup attempt was actually communicating to the Church and Nobles:

She was not willing to share power with anyone, whether it’s her sister or her future husband.

Dear reader, if you were His Excellency Alexei of the Orthodox Church, you would certainly see the chaotic situation at that time.

When Zoe recklessly bared her fangs at the national policy meeting, the delicate balance between the two Majesties had already been disrupted.

In such a circumstance, there could only be two outcomes: Zoe triumphs, Theodora fails; or Theodora triumphs, Zoe fails.

Either outcome would be extremely detrimental to the Empire. While the Seljuks in the East were severely encroaching upon the flesh of the Empire, the two Emperors were foolishly antagonizing each other.

Therefore, this political duel had to be ended immediately.

If the Church supported Empress Theodora, then naturally Zoe would be backlash and even fall from power immediately.

However, my mother was only 16 years old at the time, a newly crowned underage Empress. Could she really lead the entire Empire alone against the nomadic Barbarians from the East?

Conversely, if Zoe was supported, the political life of Empress Theodora would naturally be "rightly ended."

According to Imperial traditions, an Emperor whose political life was ended would inevitably be eradicated by the current authority.

So, if the Church instead protected a fallen Theodora "former" Empress, Zoe would soon realize another truth:

Although she was victorious in the political duel, she was not the true winner.

Because either in the Church or among the Nobles and bureaucrats, Empress Theodora still possessed such high prestige that she could not be completely eliminated.

The inability to eliminate meant that there was the potential for a comeback one day.

Therefore, to consolidate her own power to offset the negative impact of the coup and the remaining political prestige of Empress Theodora, Zoe would have to choose to marry as soon as possible, using her husband to strengthen her own legitimate grip on governance.

The Empire would then have a male Emperor once again.

A male Emperor who, in the traditional sense, was more "rational," "decisive," and "ambitious" than a woman.

This was the outcome that the Church and the Nobles wanted to see, and the real reason they had chosen to act.

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Perhaps some readers still do not understand the complex political logic at this point, so please allow me to explain the political situation of the Empire’s upper echelons at that time once more with concise language, albeit somewhat tediously:

Due to Empress Zoe’s abrupt betrayal, the delicate balance between the two Majesties had been broken. The Church’s subconscious reaction was to quickly end this foolish political duel and then rebuild the balance as soon as possible.

Because my mother, Empress Theodora, was much younger, the Church had no choice but to support Empress Zoe, turning instead to place my mother under house arrest and protect her.

Once Empress Zoe realized that this desperate coup could not succeed, she would have to resort to relatively more stable measures, such as marriage.

Therefore, if my mother had not disappeared from the Monastery at that time, the Church anticipated that she would encounter several dangerous political attacks, slander, and even assassination.

However, as the Church’s tool for pressuring Empress Zoe, my mother would be closely protected by the Church, rendering these assassinations futile.

When necessary, she might even be released from the Monastery to make a brief appearance on the political stage, to stimulate Empress Zoe’s nerves.

Until Empress Zoe gave up her attempt to hold power alone and finally submitted to marriage.

Then power would be concentrated in the hands of her husband. For the next few years, the situation in the Imperial City would navigate dangerously like a large ship in tumultuous waves, amidst the power struggle between the Empress and the new Emperor.

As for my mother, her ultimate fate was naturally to lose all her cards and be completely eliminated from this game of power.

Everyone used her as a chip in the betting game, and there is no pity for the fate of a chip.

Facing such an extremely unfavorable situation, her choice was to pick up the dice of fate.

And then she overturned the entire gambling table.

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History records that when my mother disappeared from the Monastery, the Orthodox Church activated the Life Cage Wall for the first time.

This quickly caused chaos in the order of the Imperial City, as the Life Cage Wall did not allow any living being to pass through, almost completely isolating the inside from the outside.

The Church established twenty-eight checkpoints around the cage, allowing residents to queue up to enter and exit.

At least one Church demigod was stationed at each checkpoint, and everyone passing through would have their every cell scanned for spirituality to ensure that no hidden creatures could escape the Life Cage.

However, my mother understood that the Church could not maintain the Life Cage Wall for long because the Franks across the Golden Horn Bay were attacking the city district.

The Imperial City could not sustain wars on both fronts.

Her speculation was correct. Merely on the fourth day, the Church was forced to remove the Life Cage Wall and instead adopted more covert inspection methods.

Many historians have various analyses and speculations about how The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps managed to evade the Church’s search and escape from Constantinople. Here, I can only briefly reveal a few words based on actual conversations with my mother.

On a cargo ship heading to the port city of Rhaedestus, in a tightly sealed crate filled with a large number of books printed from the printing workshops of Constantinople, bound for the municipal library of Rhaedestus.

Because the ship was carrying too much cargo, the demigods could not meticulously check every item in each container (imagine if a ship was carrying several tons of sesame seeds, would the demigods check each seed?). Therefore, they could only scan for life forms aboard the ship rather roughly.

Thus, the dice of fate rolled a favorable outcome. Empress Theodora temporarily disappeared from the main historical narrative, while a small mercenary group named "The Azure Longsword" gained an intern mercenary proficient in arcane arts.

To those of us in later generations, the name "The Azure Longsword" is undoubtedly already legendary.

Yet at the time, to cast aside a noble royal identity and choose to start from scratch by joining this little mercenary group took immense courage and decisiveness.

My mother often talked about the past recently, about her companions, and about how she was full of doubts when she first joined, to the point where she couldn’t sleep at all for many nights.

Occasionally, she felt strong regret, but more often, it was the bewilderment about the future, just like the countless people holding the dice of fate, hesitating whether to roll them.

Fortunately, looking back at the past now, she has ultimately walked the path she wanted.

Had my mother chosen to stay in the Empire, her life would certainly have been another picture.

Whether it would be good or bad, we can no longer ascertain now.

Here, I can only refer to the poetry of my favorite poet, Frost, to provide the final summary for this volume:

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves, no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."