"You say you'll help us? What do you mean by that?"

  The men eyed me suspiciously. Of course, that reaction was only natural.

  I had already ripped them off for an enormous amount of money.

  If they’d trusted me blindly, that would’ve been suspicious.

  "I want every Roman to be able to use Palmolive. For that to happen, more people need to enter the Palmolive market."

  "So you’re saying you’ll back us—for the good of Roman citizens?"

  One man snorted as he asked.

  "If you think we’ll believe that, you’re mistaken."

  "Of course, I’m doing this for profit too."

  I paced slowly around the atrium. Petals from the last banquet were still scattered around the atrium floor.

  "You all know know that I recently started running a small school."

  "You mean the technical school. I've heard the rumors."

  Aulus adjusted his posture as he replied.

  "I heard over a thousand technicians and artisans from all over Rome applied. What does that have to do with this matter?"

  "Since you doubt my true intentions, let me speak frankly."

  I took a deep breath.

  It was time to get to the point.

  "As you all know, Palmolive production cannot happen without a water wheel. You’ve all seen the one in my factory."

  Hearing my words, the men silently exchanged glances.

  Right—unless they were fools, they couldn't possibly be unaware.

  To profit from Palmolive, a water wheel was necessary.

  But the blueprints for the water wheel were kept secret.

  They must have been trying to figure it out somehow.

  They might already be bribing my employees or planting spies.

  So how should I respond?

  Trying to monopolize the water wheel forever would be amateurish.

  I couldn't hide the water wheel design forever anyway.

  So I might as well profit from it.

  "Let me build the water wheels for your workshops."

  "To you?"

  They all looked surprised.

  "If we make and sell Palmolive, we will be competing with you. Why would you offer to build water wheels for us?"

  "Because it benefits me too," I said.

  The reason was simple.

  "To provide practical training opportunities for my newly recruited students. There’s no better training than building the real thing."

  "So you intend to build water wheels for us in exchange for money."

  Only then did the men, including Aulus, seem to get it.

  Offering to build water wheels upon request wasn't such a strange proposal.

  "But if we make and sell Palmolive cheaply, it will surely negatively impact your business. Aren't you worried about that?"

  "I am merely following the command of the Goddess Vesta. Besides, currently, Crassus is trying to dominate the market by deploying legions of slaves. Can you defeat him without water wheels? I would rather join hands with you to stop Crassus's monopoly."

  That should be enough. The narrative that I was reluctantly joining hands to keep Crassus in check was persuasive enough.

  "After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

  "..."

  The men whispered to each other in low voices so I couldn't hear.

  After a while, Aulus stood up and said,

  "If the proposal you just made today is sincere, I see no reason why we cannot accept it. Of course, we will need to discuss the construction costs..."

  "It will be a reasonable price. I’ll have my staff send over the numbers, so please check it yourself later and give me an answer."

  "Understood. Thank you for inviting us today."

  The men left the mansion, still wary. They still weren't sure if I was sincere or not.

  "You must be the only person, Young Master, who steps up to help his competitors."

  Felix approached.

  "Sure if we build water wheels for them, we get paid for the construction, and the students' skills will improve greatly in a short time. But they are competitors eyeing the Palmolive market," Felix said.

  "No matter how advantageous a position we hold, if competition intensifies, profits will continue to fall."

  "Is that so?"

  I had only told them half the truth.

  The proposal to build water wheels for money was sincere.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  But there was one thing I didn't say.

  "If the Palmolive market overheats, profits will drop sharply, just as you said. Except our Palmolive, everyone else will engage in a price war and eventually go bankrupt."

  "Then why..."

  "What do you think they'll do with their Palmolive factories then?"

  As I continued, Felix's eyes gradually widened.

  "They'll try to sell them to someone somehow."

  "Exactly. What if we step in then and buy back those factories?"

  We could buy them at a price much lower than their original value.

  It was something that had happened countless times over thousands of years of history.

  I’d seen it happen in the 21st century, too—during the coronavirus pandemic. As masks became a necessity, countless people jumped into mask production.

  But when supply exceeded demand, many went bankrupt and had to sell their equipment at dirt-cheap prices.

  "So you’ll charge them a premium to build the wheels… then buy their workshops back at dirt price when they collapse?"

  "They're offering to build our factories for us; there's no reason to refuse. And the technical school students can gain experience while we're at it."

  Killing two birds with one stone—no, three birds.

  "Felix, imagine dozens of water wheel factories lining the banks of the Tiber. Right now they belong to them, but in a year, Caesar's emblem will be hanging on all of them.

  We are unifying Rome's Palmolive manufacturing industry without shedding a drop of blood."

  "Truly, Young Master, you are..."

  Felix shook his head.

  "Like a Satan?"

  "I don't know what a Satan is, but you are like Mercury."

  Mercury. Wasn’t that the god the Greeks called Hermes?

  The god who looks after merchants, messengers, and travelers.

  But simultaneously, he was the same god symbolizing thieves and tricksters.

  "You're not that wrong."

  But in this era of Rome, there was a saying.

  A sentence everyone accepted as an obvious truth.

  "Caveat emptor—let the buyer beware. If you get fooled, that’s on you, isn’t it?"

  "I thought you were the one who destroyed the fake Palmolive market with trademark law, Young Master."

  Hmm.

  Felix had a point.

  I guess I really am like Mercury.

  ***

  "The publicani gathered at Caesar's residence?"

  "Yes, Mistress. But they didn't stay very long."

  "Understood. You may go now."

  Servilia waved her hand, and the Greek slave bowed his head and left the room.

  Left alone, she snapped her fingers and muttered.

  "He called the businessmen who jumped into the Palmolive venture to his house. Did he do it to warn them to back off from Palmolive?"

  She recalled the face of Lucius Caesar.

  Caesar and Cornelia's son, whom she had met personally at the banquet not long ago.

  The young Caesar was at the center of the storm currently shaking Rome.

  On top of that, he had inherited his father's attractive looks.

  If Cornelia hadn't interfered, perhaps she might have succeeded in seducing him.

  "If only Brutus were half as capable as that child."

  Servilia sighed, thinking of her son.

  Brutus spent his youth reading historical records all day or following his uncle around.

  How good would it be if that child showed his presence and distinguished himself like the young Caesar?

  Brutus had inherited the blood of the noble Servilius family and the founder of the Roman Republic, Lucius Junius Brutus.

  Despite having the potential to achieve great deeds, he was wasting it.

  She came out of the bedroom and shouted.

  "Brutus! Brutus, where are you?!"

  Normally, he would have come grumbling, but there was no answer.

  Seeing her angry face, a slave hurriedly ran over.

  "The Young Master is greeting a guest."

  "A guest?"

  As she frowned, the slave bowed deeply.

  Incurring Servilia's wrath in this mansion was not a wise thing to do.

  "Senator Cato has..."

  "Cato!"

  Hearing that, she strode towards the atrium.

  Seeing this, all the slaves hurriedly stepped aside.

  In the atrium, Cato and Brutus were already having a conversation in heated tones as usual.

  "Sister, why the angry face so early in the morning?"

  "I am not your sister, Cato. I'm your half-sister."

  "No matter how much you deny it, you can't deny that we were born from the same womb."

  Cato replied calmly.

  He wore a black toga with nothing underneath, a fashion only he insisted on in Rome.

  "Even if we came from the same soil, in the end, the seed is what matters."

  Servilia said in a cold voice.

  "Did you come to seduce my son into becoming a loafer like you again?"

  "I am Brutus's uncle. I am merely fulfilling my duty as family."

  A heavy silence fell between the two.

  Brutus was stuck in the middle, fidgeting nervously.

  "Go to your room, Brutus. We're going out in a bit, so get dressed."

  "Yes, Mother."

  A dejected Brutus bowed his head and returned to his room.

  "So why did you come today? I don't recall inviting you. At least if you're coming to see family, could you please not dress like a beggar?"

  "This isn't a beggar's outfit; it's true Roman dress. Clothes befitting the tradition of our Republic, Mos Maiorum."

  Cato frowned.

  "The corruption and depravity gnawing at our Republic are getting worse by the day. Women no longer raise the babies they birth themselves but use slaves instead. Citizens no longer go to war for the Republic but only think of easy ways to make money."

  "Making money doesn't seem to go against the traditions of our Republic. Neither does using slaves."

  Servilia let out a mocking laugh.

  Her half-brother, Cato, was always this kind of man.

  A stuffy politician obsessed with the traditions of the Roman Republic, Mos Maiorum, and the Twelve Tables, refusing to accept any change.

  Talking with Cato always made her chest feel tight.

  "Rome is changing, Cato. Whether you like it or not, you have to accept it."

  "Rome is not changing; it is being corrupted. And at the center of it is Lucius Caesar."

  "That boy who embarrassed you in front of the Senate? The Cato who praised himself as a great orator was outdone by a mere little brat. There could be no greater shame."

  "The young Caesar has fangs like a viper, just like his father. Last time, he ignored the Senate and passed the Trademark Law for his own benefit."

  "Anyone listening would think that was illegal, Cato. You're just jealous of that child's success."

  "The father and son of the Julii are shaking the order of the Republic.

  He drove countless citizens into gambling and even committed blasphemy by claiming he received a revelation from the sacred Goddess."

  "You're just afraid of change. Just like the other old and cowardly Senators. Why don't you go grumble and gossip like you do every day in the Senate?"

  "Countless Senators already agree with my arguments. Even if not me, someone else will step forward soon."

  Cato said as he walked toward the main gate.

  "To protect the Republic, authority—Auctoritas—must not be concentrated in one person."

  Watching her half-brother leave through the door, Servilia smirked.

  To protect the Republic, he said.

  How many politicians had put forward that justification until now?

  But in the end, their true purpose was different.

  It was to prevent anyone else from surpassing them.

  The reason Cato was truly foolish was that he actually believed the spirit of Mos Maiorum.

  But she had no intention of following her half-brother.

  A wind called change was blowing in Rome.

  One had to ride that wind to rise even higher into the sky.

  Lucius was a young wolf.

  Then Brutus had to be by his side.

  One becomes a wolf by staying with wolves.

  Even if he couldn't become one, he could learn the wolf's weaknesses.

  "If you’re finished getting dressed, come here!"

  ***

  After the agreement was reached at the Caesar residence, the publicani dispatched their representatives to negotiate the details.

  The matters to be discussed weren't that complicated.

  Just the contract price for production site and water wheel installation, and other miscellaneous contractual details.

  "It would only a take few days unless Lucius demands something ludicrous."

  However, they faced an unexpected situation.

  There was an existence more terrifying than Lucius Caesar.

  A monster none of them had anticipated.

  That was Caesar's personal secretary and slave, Felix.

  "You brought this to me calling it a contract?"

  Watching Felix shake the papyrus, all the dispatched staff swallowed hard.

  "Let's start over from the beginning."

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