Imperator: Resurrection of an Empire-Chapter 415 - 410 -

There was a moment—just a flicker, barely noticeable—when the chamber of the Root Council emptied and the last echo of footsteps faded down the stone halls...

...that I felt the walls closing in.

Not literally.

Though given how deep underground we were, that wasn’t impossible.

No—this was something subtler.

A tightening in the chest.

A crawling across the skin.

A pulse beating in rhythm with a very specific thought:

"I wasn’t built for this."

Paperwork?

Meetings?

Approval charts? 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Diplomatic briefings?

My past life included corporate hell, yes, but that had been a means to an end.

A grind I accepted because I needed to survive, to afford escaping into the worlds i really wanted to live in.

But after waking in this world—after gaining the System—after fighting, bleeding, conquering, exploring...

Sitting still felt like a slow death.

And ruling, properly ruling, felt like I had voluntarily placed my head in a vice.

All the while my heart longed for the freedom to get out into the world i had only ever seen behind a screen and explore it for all it was worth.

~

Serena noticed it first.

She always noticed things first.

She had afterall be effectively watching over and taking care of me to an extent during the years we had known one another.

When i left the root council chamber behind she was there waiting for me, but a gentle look of concern was on her face.

"Julius." She started to say before stopping, but the gentleness of her calling my name pierced my heart.

"Don’t worry i am fine, just a bit of nostalgia about my old life, before..." he said raising his hands in expression. "Before well, all of this, when i was a simple border count, free to leave the territory in others hands, while i could go out any do pretty much anything i want."

My hands twitched with phantom memory.

The weight of a pack slung across my back.

Yuri at my side, quiet but alert.

Zeff leading the way with that insane confidence only a weapon-maniac could possess.

Those early days...when i moved forwards less with tactical precision, but instead with hasty unreserved movements with death looming behind every corner.

The hills around old Aquitania.

The forgotten tributaries of the western rivers.

The abandoned Roman watchtowers.

The tribes guarding relics passed down since the time of the Old Empire—families who had protected imperial heirlooms for centuries with devotion that bordered on religious fervor.

Those journeys had shaped me.

Powered me up.

Given me new abilities, resources, artifacts, and Point boosts and even allowing me to rise up as a national lord getting the system to rank up as well.

Now?

Now i was within my capital, the safest place i could possibly be in this world.

Dange no longer looming around every corner, the option to command my armies from afar, or even from the rear if i wanted.

Of course i would never take that option.

I wasnt even twenty years old in this world yet, and the system didnt grant me rewards for being a pussy.

To earn points to further my own growth, i would need to participate in more battles, the early skirmishes no longer were profitable to me, and even with the wars in Francia, the points i obtained were lackluster save for the capital siege and the two full field battles we encountered.

Standing where i was now, even if we were only entering the mid-game right now, my personal power... hell my national power as well was easily eclipsed by the Visigoth Empire.

If not for the system provided Great Wall, no doubt the marching armies of Visigoth would have moved like a tidal wave to swallow up our newborn Empire, and my own struggle would end in a bloody smear being all the legacy i leave upon this world.

~

After reaching the upper levels of the palace, sunlight filtering through marble columns, I dismissed my guards and walked alone toward the western balcony—the one overlooking the entire valley of Latinium outside the Eternal City extending to the horizon.

But even as grand a city as this place had become, there was still the tiny ache in my soul as the origional body’s owner longed to witness the home territory once more.

To see the sprawling plains and rolling mountains of Aquitania.

To see the Border walls, and fortifications once more.

To roam the manor halls, watch the horse and dog races at the track.

Julius even mused in his head about missing out on seeing the ’bitch’ racing his former self had arranged back in the day.

As his mind wandered away mulling over the past.

A slippery shadow, entered and approached him, but even before it could get within arms reach his battle instincts kicked in causing him to turn around arms raised preparing to fend off an assault.

Only to find he’d turned to become face-to-face with Yurasia.

She was dressed as she formerly was.

Like a princess knight, light armor adorning her limbs, while Rossade was hanging from her waist, the only difference from her appearance in the past was the tabard she wore over her armor, no longer was the white and blue bearing the symbol of the Roserum kingdom, but instead was a Purple and Gold, with a sprawling Eagle, symbolizing her connection to the Romanus Imperial Family.

This was a gift Julius had fashioned for her before her disappearance but could only now give to her upon her return.

"Keep thinking those thought, and i’ll deliver solemn judgement upon you." Her voice was harsh but tinged with a placefull mockingness to it.

"Haaaa, i admit it, i’m guilty i was thinking about how wonderous life was before everything, back when i was ’acting’ to be a incompetent wastrel... back then i didnt have to do anything, just sit back enjoy myself and wait for my enemies to deliver themselves into my hands."

Yuri hearing this giggled in response.

"Even still... i feel you should have been punished if even a little for how far you let things go."

"Hey, you saw the state the kingdom was in, if i acted out to much even to become a competant lord, the kingdoms nobility would have snuffed me out at the expense of the nation, opening the doors for the visigoths to invade."