“My fellow citizens—you don’t need to worry. No matter what happens in today’s assembly, I won’t shut down the insurance business.”

  I lifted a hand as I shouted. The crowd in front of me had swelled into the hundreds before I realized it.

  After the fake Palmolive victims came the second wave: insurance subscribers.

  The reason they took the time to come to the Popular Assembly was simple.

  “Then will the insurance really be maintained without any problems?”

  “There were rumors that if the law doesn’t pass today, you will fold the insurance business as well. You are the one who helped us when our houses burned down, so naturally, we had to come.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that.”

  I said gently.

  It seems rumors became more distorted as the trademark law issue spread.

  But for me, it was actually a good thing.

  The Tribunes looked flustered as the massive crowd gathered.

  The same went for the wooden tablets piled like a mountain on the Forum floor.

  It would be difficult to oppose the trademark law in this atmosphere.

  “Pass the bill! Pass the bill!”

  The mood in the Forum had already shifted.

  Those who voiced opposition also shut their mouths, noticing that the atmosphere was unusual.

  Amidst the continued cheers of the citizens, finally, one Tribune stepped onto the rostra and shouted.

  “The Popular Assembly will adjourn for today! The vote on the bill will take place tomorrow!”

  “Why are you postponing the vote until tomorrow! The Tribune bastards must have taken money from the swindlers!”

  “We cannot proceed with the vote in this situation where order has collapsed!”

  Amidst the jeering of the citizens, the Tribune hurried off the rostra.

  With this, the first day at the Forum came to an end.

  Now it was really beginning.

  ***

  “To gather insurance subscribers following the Palmolive victims. I never dreamed you had another hidden dagger.”

  Pompey approached me.

  With the assembly adjourned, the citizens were all returning to their daily lives.

  “When did you prepare the insurance side?”

  “To be honest, I don’t know either.”

  Rumors always spread in strange ways.

  The rumor that I received a revelation from the gods to create insurance and Palmolive was the same.

  Insurance subscribers thought this bill was also connected to their insurance.

  Maybe they made the connection because it was my bill—because I’m a Caesar.

  “Are you keeping it a secret even from me?”

  Pompey laughed and patted my shoulder.

  Of course, I was the one who gathered the Palmolive victims to form a group, but the insurance subscribers gathered on their own.

  Although from Pompey’s perspective, it would look like I gathered both.

  While lost in thought, a woman approached my side.

  “Lucius.”

  “Mother, I didn’t expect you to come to the Forum today.”

  Did she come to see the situation at the Forum herself?

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the Forum this bustling.”

  “It certainly was a spectacular show.”

  Pompey bowed slightly and greeted my mother.

  “It’s been a long time, Cornelia.”

  “Indeed, sir Pompey.”

  The two looked at each other with unusual tension for a moment.

  Ah, come to think of it, these two had a complicated relationship.

  My mother, Cornelia, came from the Marian side. Pompey, on the other hand, had been Sulla’s man.

  “Sulla once said there are many Mariuses inside Caesar.”

  Pompey said with a grin.

  “Watching young Caesar today, I’d say there’s a whole legion of Marius in him.”

  “You flatter him.”

  Mother bowed slightly.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Without your support, it would have been impossible to achieve this much today.”

  She approached me and whispered.

  “I have something urgent to discuss with you.”

  “Understood, Mother. Then let’s go home right now.”

  Pompey also seemed to notice the situation and bid farewell.

  “Then I’ll be going too. You did a truly amazing job today, young Caesar. But it’s too early to be relieved. There is still a day left until the vote.”

  In the next moment, his expression turned serious.

  “And the Optimates of the Senate are not ones to accept defeat easily.”

  ***

  “How on earth are you going to fix this?!”

  Tribune Rufinus said with a face flushed red.

  He was the one who directly received the anger of the citizens at the Popular Assembly.

  He pointed his finger at his fellow Tribun, Flavius.

  The two rose to the position of Tribune with the support of the Senate.

  Their mission was to monitor the Tribunes so they wouldn’t infringe on the Senate’s interests.

  Blocking the passage of the trademark law was the same.

  It was a trivial matter they didn’t need to worry about at all, at least until today.

  All they had to do was exercise their veto power at the Popular Assembly.

  But at the Popular Assembly today, their plan came to naught through unusual events caused by young Caesar.

  Faced with wooden tablets piled like a mountain, Rufinus and Flavius couldn’t even offer a proper rebuttal.

  “Now we have no justification to oppose the bill.”

  “Our plan hasn’t completely failed yet.”

  Tribune Flavius replied calmly.

  “What will happen if we pull out now? We won’t be able to run in any future elections.”

  The two were people who obtained the Tribune position with the support of the Senate, not the support of the plebeians.

  They couldn’t refuse the Senate’s request now.

  “What if we accuse Lucius of inciting the crowd? Charge him with sedition—stirring up the people. Just like when the Senate dealt with Catiline.”

  “Are you suggesting we frame victims of fraud as a mob? Do you think that will work?”

  In reality, fake Palmolive was rampant in Rome right now.

  The victims gathered on their own in such a situation, and there was no evidence that Lucius paid them any money.

  The protest at the Forum today was also non-violent, although the momentum might have been intimidating.

  “Are you going to claim that the matrons of Rome are a mob? If you do that, they will become a ‘real’ mob.”

  “Lucius ruined our plan to by using citizens. Then if we also use the citizens, wouldn’t there be a way?”

  “What exactly do you mean?”

  “You must have heard the rumor too. The rumor that Goddess Vesta directly taught Lucius the recipe for Palmolive.”

  “Don’t tell me you believe that nonsense.”

  “I don’t believe it, but what’s important is that enough citizens believe it.”

  Flavius said.

  “Lucius is actually trying to monopolize the ‘sacred olive oil bestowed by the Goddess’ for himself alone through the trademark law. Couldn’t we say this?”

  At his words, Rufinus exclaimed.

  “Certainly... it might work. We could say he is trying to monopolize the ‘sacred’ Palmolive for himself.”

  “The Senate believes Lucius is pushing this bill to pursue personal gain. What if he is placed in a situation where he has to choose between public interest and personal gain?”

  “It’s like being stabbed by the sword he drew himself.”

  Rufinus replied.

  If there was a lesson he learned during his one-year term as Tribune, it was that the anger of Roman citizens was like fire.

  And fire could spread to the tree next to it at any time.

  The only important thing was how the wind blew, or who blew it.

  “Let’s gather supporters again for tomorrow’s vote. Even young Caesar wouldn’t have expected something like this.”

  “False witnesses would be fine too. Let’s spread the story that Caesar tried to hide the secret recipe against the will of the gods.”

  At the very same time, Caesars were arriving in their home.

  ***

  “Come to my room, Lucius.”

  After arriving home, Mother called me to her room.

  “Is it because of what happened at the Popular Assembly today, mother?”

  I asked, sitting on a chair.

  It was rare for mother to call me like this.

  She wasn’t someone who liked talking about politics at home in the first place.

  It meant the situation was that serious right now.

  “First, I want to tell you this, Lucius.”

  Mother said, holding my hands.

  “I am truly proud of you. To reveal your presence at the Popular Assembly at such a young age. No Roman politician would have been able to persuade the citizens like you did today.”

  “I had the best teacher.”

  Gaius Julius Caesar.

  Since my father was a man more political and clever than anyone else in Rome right now, I could directly learn and experience Roman politics.

  I just mixed in a bit of 21st-century knowledge.

  “There is one thing your father entrusted to me before he left for Hispania.”

  Mother pointed to the papyri placed on the table.

  “Those papyri are...”

  “A list of people who owe your father financial and political debts. And the businesses he invested in are also listed.”

  I took a deep breath.

  A list of people indebted to my father.

  That meant only one thing.

  “It’s the most powerful weapon our Caesar family possesses.”

  “Yes, it’s ‘insurance’ that will allow us to recover anytime, even if your business fails and our Caesar family ends up in a pile of debt.”

  Insurance. A fitting metaphor.

  So that’s why she didn’t get very angry even when I borrowed money from Crassus.

  “Until now, managing that list was my job. But seeing today’s events, it seems you are now qualified too.”

  Mother handed me the papyri.

  “Use this.”

  “Use this for what?”

  “If you ask the people on this list, you can pass the trademark law at the Popular Assembly tomorrow.”

  “...”

  I stared at the papyri for a moment.

  There were many people who indebted to the Caesar family.

  If I ask them, I could pass the trademark law.

  No matter how much the Senate interferes, they won’t be able to stop people of this caliber.

  Quite a few senators were also included in the papyrus list.

  Roman politics always operated like this.

  Even if they are enemies, they help each other when necessary and repay the debt later.

  Relationships of patrons and clients (clientela) spanned decades, sometimes hundreds of years.

  This was a weapon my father had prepared throughout his entire life.

  Fighting against the dictator Sulla, being kidnapped by pirates, and building connections while serving as Aedile and Pontifex Maximus.

  I handed the papyrus back to my mother.

  “But I cannot use this now.”

  “You will need this to pass the law at the Popular Assembly tomorrow.”

  Mother said with a frown.

  It was an expression that she hadn’t expected me to answer like this.

  “Your father would surely have said the same thing as me.”

  “That is precisely why I cannot use it. At least for now.”

  I rose from my chair. The fact that Mother made such an offer to me is proof that she trusts me that much.

  That alone was enough strength for me.

  Father would probably have given the same answer as me.

  There was a limit to what I could become if I kept leaning on my family’s name.

  “I will pass this bill solely with my own strength.”

  I looked straight into Mother’s eyes.

  “I am the son of Gaius Julius Caesar. But at the same time, I am Lucius.

  I must win this fight with my own power. Only then would Rome see me not as Caesar’s son, but as Lucius Caesar.”

  Mother looked at me as if at a loss for words for a moment.

  Soon, a faint smile spread across her lips.

  “Yes… you have your father’s eyes. But behind them, I can see a whole legion of Marius. Pompey was right.”

  “I don’t know why Marius keeps ending up in other people’s eyes.”

  Our laughter echoed through the mansion.

  With it, tomorrow came closer.

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  (Current Progress: 3/5)

  Fillae Romae (Daughter of Rome, ??? ?).