Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Although Eunice didn't say anything, she looked at him with the same eagerness.

Alkibiades is popular with children because he brings them all sorts of presents whenever he visits.

“Uncle has brought you presents this time, so there is no need to worry. So line up and receive them one by one.” Alkibiades smiled and patted Brillantes' head.

“Line up! Everyone line up!” Eunice immediately acted like an older sister, instructing her siblings to line up according to age.

“Bravo, Eunice!” Alkibiades praised. Afterwards, he waved to his servants.

Then the servant immediately brought out a pure white pony.

“Oh, she is so beautiful!” Eunice caught sight of the little white horse and could not look away.

“I bought this pony from a Bedouin, a nomadic race in the east of Canaan. They said that it is particularly good at running. Eunice, she is yours now.” Alkibiades said smilingly.

“Really?! That's great!” Eunice became so excited that she hugged Alkibiades and kissed him on the cheeks, “Uncle, thank you so much!” And with that, she ran over to take the pony.

The slave hastily handed the reins to Eunice. Then the pony neighed and licked Eunice's hand meekly, causing Eunice to yell again in excitement.

Alkibiades touched his cheek and smiled. He then looked at his nephew and said, “Apox, do you also want a horse?”

Apox tilted his head and smiled mischievously, “Uncle, can you take out a white pony if I say I also want one too?”

‘What an observant little fellow!’ Alkibiades patted him affectionately on the shoulder and said, “I don't have a second pony, but I have this-”

With a wave of his hand, the servant brought seven bundled rolls of papyrus.

Alkibiades pointed to them and said, “These are poems written by the Egyptians, stories about the Egyptian deities, part of Egypt's history…all of which I spent a lot of time trying to buy from Greek scholars in the Egyptian city of Naucratis. I would be sad if you didn't like them!”

Apox immediately excitedly hugged Alkibiades, “Thank you, uncle; I like it very much!”

“Uncle, where's mine?!” Brillantes asked impatiently.

“Don't worry, I haven't forgotten you,” said Alkibiades, and the servant returned.

“Ah, a puppy!” Brillantes shouted excitedly. A milky white puppy was barking in the servant's arm.

“This is a Saluki, known in Egypt as the Pharaoh's Hound; they are good runners and loyal to their masters. They could catch geese and hares and even dare fight with crocodiles and hippos when it grows up-” But before Alkibiades could finish his sentence, Brillantes had already excitedly picked up the puppy and ran off in a huff.

“This child!” Alkibiades smiled and looked at his niece Aviya standing before him.

The ever-quiet Aviya stared widely at the small black cat held by another servant.

Alkibiades didn't say anything more as he immediately placed the kitten in her arms.

Aviya hurriedly held the kitten.

The kitten meowed and rubbed its face in her hands.

Aviya thought it was adorable, so she looked up and asked Alkibiades, “Uncle, what's its name?”

“It doesn't have a name yet. From now on, you will be its owner, so of course, you will give it a name.” Alkibiades smiled.

Aviya then lowered her head to think as she petted the kitten.

“Brother, I heard a black cat is the incarnation of the Egyptian gods….” Agnes said with some concern.

“In the hearts of the Egyptians, not only black cats, but also cows, crocodiles, eagles, leopards…many animals are the object of their worship, but this does not prevent them from keeping cats, dogs, hunting crocodiles and hippos. Besides, this is Theonia, the land under the protection of Hades, and the children are his descendants. So what's there to worry about?!” Alkibiades said half-jokingly.

Agnes was relieved of her worry. Then she asked, “Did you go to Egypt this time?”

Alkibiades nodded, “Yes, I also brought you a special set of high-quality cosmetics used by Egyptian Queens and princesses. I also have one for Queen Cheiristoya.”

Following the direction of Alkibiades' fingers, Agnes saw many large, exquisite wooden crates being carefully unloaded from the wagon by slaves.

Agnes didn't refuse and said with slight happiness, “Brother, you went to a lot of effort!”

At nearly forty, she felt her skin starting to loosen and her hair gradually losing its lustre. So she really needs better cosmetics and care, and as far as she knows, Egypt is the best kingdom at it.

With Egypt’s thousands of years of history, an affluent lifestyle, and the unique environment in which they live (desert area, sandy winds and sunny conditions), the Egyptian women, regardless of wealth, become attached to and create a wide range of cosmetics and skincare products over a long period.

Just like the Egyptian cosmetics bought by Alkibiades: Two large crates filled with a variety of recipes consisting of various ointments and protective oils, mixtures of plant juices, flowers, fruits and grasses, and different fragrances and balms for moisturising and odour control, carefully arranged in jars of various sizes.

And that doesn’t even include facial cosmetics because a finely ground mineral powder, together with raw materials such as hippos or crocodile fat, used for eyeshadow, eyemasks, eyebrow contouring, powder, blusher, lipsticks…is enough to fill another large crate.

There were even more accessories of all kinds, with wigs being one of the most important. The Egyptians generally considered grey hair and natural baldness extremely unsightly, so they invented wigs and even experimented with various recipes to help restore grey hair to its original colour. They use human hair with plant fibre pads to make long, short, thick…all kinds of wigs, filling up another large crate.

As for those exquisite earrings, necklaces, anklets, hairpins… there is a great variety of them. Alkibiades also bought many tools used by Egyptians for cosmetics, such as small tweezers, clips, small razors, eyebrow brushes made of ivory and so on…

So Agnes was right when she said he went into a lot of trouble.

“Hasn't Croto returned yet? I did bring him a present too.” Alkibiades asked casually.

“Both he and Adoris have been summoned to participate in a two-day military training. They'll have to spend the night in the camp and won't be back until the day after tomorrow. Alas, the war goes on and on! I hope Croto won't be sent to the battlefield.” Agnes said with some concern.

Crotokatax is almost nineteen years old and now an adult citizen of Theonia. He has been in military training for over a year and is now a reserve soldier in the First Legion. While outside military training, Davos would arrange for him to do odd jobs and run errands at the Ministry of the Military to familiarise himself with all aspects.

As for why Adoris was also in Thurii for military training? After learning about Adoris’ transfers to the Fourth Legion in Crotone to hide his identity wasn’t effective and had instead made Adoris’ life and training inconvenient, Davos simply transferred him back to Thurii, where he is now a soldier in the Second Legion.

Alkibiades was disappointed not to have met Crotokatax, as he had hoped to get closer to Davos' eldest son since the various signs Agnes had told him in the past hinted that Davos may have already chosen Crotokatax as his heir. Unlike his father, Athelycus, Alkibiades wasn't worried because he knew Crotokatax had a deeper mother-son bond with Agnes than his biological mother, Cheiristoya.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

As soon as she heard that Alkibiades was coming, Cheiristoya immediately asked the cook to prepare dinner.

Cheiristoya dislikes Athelycus because she was furious about the embarrassing incident two years ago. Fortunately, it was just a family gathering, so Davos managed to keep it under control, and it didn't spread.

But with the noble image of Cheiristoya as a living saint among the people of Theonia, she doesn't think Athelycus' words could tarnish her image at all. Furthermore, Davos has repeatedly stated that Crotokatax will be his heir privately and made his point by training him hard. That, coupled with the fact that Agnes had always felt guilty about it and treated her with a little more respect, allowed Chreiristoya to get along with Agnes as she always had.

And Agnes' brother, Alkibiades, was quite different from their father. From Cheiristoya's long-term observation, he treats her with respect whenever he visits them, continuously showering them with gifts and loving each child without favouritism.

So naturally, Cheiristoya wants to repay his kindness and warmly welcome him.

“His Majesty has just sent someone to say that he has some important matters to attend to today, so he will be late, and has entrusted Agnes and me to treat you as hostesses!”

With a smile on her face, Cheiristoya and Agnes exchanged a glance before raising the wine in her hands and said to Alkibiades, “Thank you so much for the many gifts you brought us; it was just what we needed! So Agnes and I would like to propose a toast to you as a token of our appreciation! And a warm welcome to you as well!!”

Alkibiades instantly expressed his gratitude. But just as he took a sip of his wine, he heard Cheiristoya add, “The drought has not only killed the seedlings but has also seriously affected all kinds of fruit trees, even causing the wine production to plummet. So I hope you don't mind that tonight's food is a little plain.”