A week passed.
Senator Scipio Nasica and the wife of the admiral of Campania, Lady Cornelia Minor, were reclining in luxurious carriages escorted by guards and slaves as they entered the city of Capua.
In one of the luxurious carriages, a beautiful 18-year-old young woman with delicate features looked out the window at the streets of the city of Capua while frowning.
The young woman's full name was Cornelia Fausta Scipionis, and she was the niece of the wife of the admiral of Campania; her father was a senator with little influence from the Scipio family.
The young Fausta disliked the idea of marrying a young man of lower social status than hers, considering this forced marriage a tragedy for her lifestyle. As a noble raised in Rome, young Fausta despised cities outside the great city of Rome and could not tolerate the idea of living far from the capital.
The nobles of the council of Capua in charge of the city warmly received this distinguished delegation with an extravagant banquet full of delicacies. The tense situation in the city of Capua caused by Septimus was eased by the arrival of the entourage of a great figure.
The banquet in the city of Capua was extravagant, and the entire upper class of the city was present, presenting gifts or greetings, which drew the attention of the entire population of the city.
Of course, Septimus also learned of the arrival of the delegation of the Scipio family in the city.
Septimus had not been wasting time in these last few days; he kept his clones reinforcing the defenses of the villa and also sent clones disguised as beggars to different places in Rome with the purpose of maintaining an intelligence network throughout Rome.
Septimus's preparations for a total war against Rome were already completed; the only thing that left him confused was the lack of urgency from Rome to send legions to suppress him. Septimus had a vague hunch that the reason was the letter that the admiral of Campania had written and sent to his wife.
The situation was uncertain, but Septimus preferred to prepare for war rather than be caught off guard.
In this week, Septimus only replicated a small number of clones; there was not enough space to accommodate too many people, and the daily tasks in the villa had an excess of personnel. Having too many people without a place to accommodate them would only consume the grain without being useful.
Although Septimus was making preparations for war, he still maintained a slight expectation of reaching an agreement with Rome. It would be very boring to conquer Rome so quickly without enjoying the historical events.
Septimus's whimsical idea was to create a feared and legendary family in history that would be glorious for decades in the history of humanity.
Meanwhile, in the city of Capua, after two days of enjoying an extravagant banquet with the upper class of the city,
The delegation of the Scipio family boarded their luxurious carriages and, escorted by guards, headed toward Septimus's villa.
Septimus's villa was located two days from Capua; if the journey was made on foot with horse-drawn carriages, the time was shortened, arriving near the villa when the sun was already setting.
Young Fausta became even more displeased by the long distance between Septimus's villa and Capua.
The wife of the admiral of Campania accompanied her in the same carriage with the objective of giving advice on how to seduce a man and win his heart, so she was able to observe young Fausta's expression of displeasure.
"Niece, do not be in a bad mood; your future young husband has money and talent. When you are his wife, you can buy a house in Rome," said Lady Cornelia Minor to her niece upon noticing her expression and knowing her thoughts.
"Aunt, you explained the reasons for the marriage to me, but I still believe it is not worth it," said Fausta with a melancholic expression as she looked at the landscape outside the carriage.
Fausta was a young noblewoman from a distinguished family who considered Rome as the center of power; she also valued her social status and despised Septimus because of his humble origins.
"Niece, you must understand that everything I do is for your own good," replied Lady Cornelia Minor with a soft sigh of helplessness.
Lady Cornelia Minor could only sigh softly at this niece who had been spoiled since childhood.
At that moment, the guards escorting the delegation became alarmed upon seeing 30 riders in the distance approaching quickly.
The delegation of the Scipio family had a total of 20 guards whose purpose was to protect the delegation.
Senator Scipio Nasica was also alarmed by the commotion of the guards, and a slave acting as a messenger informed him of the situation.
When the entire delegation was stopped and alarmed by the unknown riders,
The unknown riders approached quickly and stopped 20 paces from the delegation with spears pointed at the guards of the Scipio family. The situation became tense instantly.
From the window of his carriage, Senator Scipio Nasica could observe that these riders wore Roman-style armor in black with a strange symbol of decapitated heads on their chests and backs.
Lady Cornelia Minor and her niece were also alarmed and, in panic, remained inside the luxurious carriage without daring to make any noise; they were terrified of encountering bandits.
"You are entering the property of Septimus the Impaler of Heads," one of the riders shouted loudly at the delegation, causing the guards of the delegation to grip the hilts of their weapons tightly.
Scipio Nasica, upon hearing the declaration, was slightly surprised but also sighed in relief at not encountering pirates or bandits; if he encountered ignorant people who did not know his identity, his life could be in danger.
"I am Senator Scipio Nasica, representative of Rome; I come to speak with your young lord," shouted Scipio Nasica calmly to the group as he stepped down from the carriage.
Septimus was in the residence of his villa, receiving massages from two beautiful slave women; he also learned of the arrival of this delegation from Rome.
Surprised and curious about the arrival of a Roman senator, Septimus decided to meet with this great figure of the Scipio family.
The clone riders raised the tips of their spears to the sky, which relieved Scipio Nasica and his guards.
"We will guide you," one of the clone riders replied.
The clone riders began to guide the delegation of the Scipio family.
Septimus had not had time to acquire many horses to form a cavalry force, and the nearly 500 horses had been obtained by various means, being used for different tasks, including monitoring the surroundings of the villa.
There were 4 groups of 20 or 30 riders tasked with patrolling the surroundings of the villa in search of lurking enemies.
The delegation of the Scipio family quickly arrived at the gate of the villa under the watch of the clone riders.
Senator Scipio Nasica frowned upon seeing the heads covered with lime impaled on wooden spears along the wooden wall. Those heads belonged to the soldiers of the admiral of Campania who had died in combat.
On the wooden wall were groups of soldiers with the same black armor as the riders who had escorted them.
In Scipio Nasica's estimation, the number of black-armored soldiers he could see ranged between 500 and 800 men, a considerable number of guards for a newly risen young elite.
The two noble ladies of the Scipio family turned pale with fear upon seeing the heads covered with lime impaled on the wooden wall; the most terrified was Fausta at the thought that she would marry a madman capable of impaling the heads of Roman citizens on wooden spears.
The gates of the wooden wall slowly opened, allowing the delegation to enter.
The first thing the delegation of the Scipio family observed upon entering was gray smoke in the distance from a possible forge. The villa was divided into two zones: to the left there was a simple wooden wall of 5 meters that blocked the view, and to the right there was an extensive agricultural area where 200 or 300 slaves worked diligently.
In the middle there was a modest residence by the standards of the Scipio family, with evident signs of construction on the sides.
Septimus had built in sections, maintaining simple walls to keep the facilities of the slaves or possible visitors hidden. The wood for the simple walls could be easily found, and the clones could carry out that work easily.
The residence of the villa was also being expanded, but more slowly due to the lack of materials and the greater effort required in the design. Septimus wanted to build a residence with the comforts of the modern era, including modern baths.