Chapter 21 : The Hydra-Chicken’s Pandemonium
After the brief commotion caused by Lady Alba, we resumed the meeting.
“Speaking of the SPQR, have we confirmed its official response to the agreements I concluded with Aksum and the SPQR in Area 11?”
Millirze glanced around uneasily.
“...Well...”
“It is all right. Surely both the F1 proposal and the redevelopment of al-Barbar were not rejected? Or did they keep F1 and scrap the redevelopment plan?”
Millirze shook her head.
“Neither, Your Highness. The F1 proposal was rejected outright, while only the redevelopment of al-Barbar passed.”
...That was the exact opposite of what I had expected.
“Seeing is believing. You should watch it yourself.”
Click
Millirze activated a holographic display.
【The Official Broadcast of the Senātus Populusque Rōmānus 〈Live Broadcast of the Γερουσία της Κωνσταντινούπολης (Constantinople Senate)〉 – Special Subtitled Edition by Medea】
Nikētas Astygenēs
(Γερουσιαστής της Κωνσταντινουπόλεως της Ουγγαρικής Επαρχίας,
Senator of Constantinople for the Magyar Province)
“The stadium in Budapest is still being used as a refugee camp, and you want to sell them the right to host an F1 race? Have you lost your minds?”
Galeatus Carbonarius
(Μέγας Λογοθέτης, Γερουσιαστής της Ρώμης για την Επαρχία της Άνω Γερμανίας,
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Senatus Populusque Romanus
and the Senator of Rome for the Province of Germania Superior)
“The stadium in Warsaw is also still—”
Agraios Kymastēs
(Γερουσιαστής της Κωνσταντινούπολης για την επαρχία Άνω Πολίνας,
Senator of Constantinople for the Upper Polina Province)
“So Warsaw is acceptable just because it has hosted several races already, you traitor?!”
Kallistos Makarios
(Γερουσιαστής της Κωνσταντινούπολης για την επαρχία του Δέλτα του Νείλου
Senator of Constantinople for the Nile Delta Province)
“The state of the Alexandria circuit is enough to make a man weep blood, and yet you sold off the national sport?!”
(Camera shaking + obscenities censored with a beep—)
Ploutarchos Makarios
(Γερουσιαστής της Κωνσταντινούπολης για την Παλαιστινιακή Επαρχία,
Senator of Constantinople for the Palestinian Province)
“Forget F1! Let us proceed with the redevelopment of al-Barbar at once!”
Theonikos Gelasios
(ἡ Σύγκλητος, Γερουσιαστής της Κωνσταντινούπολης για την επαρχία της Καππαδοκίας
The Chairman and the Senator of Constantinople for the Cappadocia Province)
“Very well. Let's reject the F1 proposal but approve the redevelopment of al-Barbar—”
Nikētas Astygenēs
“By whose authority?! You Mediterranean parasites have monopolized everything, and then you had the gall to lose the war!”
(The chairman repeatedly rings the bell → senators seize one another by the collars → guards rush into the chamber)
【Joint F1 Hosting Proposal by the Three Nations → Rejected: 0 Ayes, 50 Noes, 0 Abstentions】
【Tripartite Agreement on the Redevelopment of al-Barbar → Approved: 26 Ayes, 24 Noes, 0 Abstentions
(On the condition that the Roman representative to the agreement be chosen after the midterm elections)】
【Did you enjoy it? -M♡】
When the recording ended, I stared blankly at the screen for a moment.
What in the world was that heart after the M supposed to mean?
Had Lelouch actually gone so far as to make Medea his woman too?
Or had the Geass of absolute obedience shifted the object of her loyalty and affection from Regulus to Lelouch, causing her to get carried away all by herself?
Well, I consoled myself with the thought that this was a hundred—no, a thousand—times better than the schoolgirl in the original series who had been ordered to mark a wall every night as a beta test.
Millirze clicked her tongue and muttered,
“To think they behave like that even during a public broadcast... and Medea actually added a heart before sending it to us.”
Lady Alba snorted.
“...At this point, even ‘two-headed chicken’ is too generous. It is a ‘hydra-chicken’ with dozens of heads.”
I pressed a hand to my forehead.
Even the legislators of my original world, or the EU Parliament from the original series - Akito the Exiled, had never been this bad... This place would put all of them combined to shame.
Well, the Imperial Parliament I intended to establish once I became Emperor would operate on an entirely different basis, so I decided to let the matter go for now.
Still, I wished I knew what was happening inside the Chinese Federation...
Author’s Note : In this fic, the EU has been replaced by the SPQR. Its official languages are Latin and Greek. For readability, SPQR dialogue is generally rendered in English unless the language itself matters to the scene. In-universe, characters are speaking Latin, Greek, Britannian, or other languages as appropriate.
Lysander, in particular, mastered Latin and Greek in his youth, so SPQR speech is presented as what he understands from his point of view. Also, al-Barbar refers to Somalia; Magyar refers to Hungary; Polina refers to Poland; the Nile Delta refers to part of Egypt; Palestina refers to both Israel and Palestine; and Cappadocia refers to the interior of Turkey.