5 Paint the chaos with canvas

"Where is Caesar? Why was she not here, Agrippina?" One of the senators asked.

"Why did she suddenly raise the tax on us? This is not what we agreed upon," another senator chimed in, his anger matching that of his colleague. 

They didn't like the Emperor's decision to raise their taxes and confronted Agrippina regarding Nero's choice.

It was clear that Agrippina had influenced Nero's decision; after all, it was no secret that Agrippina always had a hand in young Nero's choices. 

She made sure everyone knew it and flaunted her authority in front of them.

"How am I supposed to know what my daughter is thinking?" Agrippina replied angrily, being accused of a crime she didn't commit. 

No one liked being made a scapegoat, and she was no exception.

"Do you want to escape from your responsibilities, Agrippina?" Seneca, who had already accepted his monarch's secret order to blame all the tax problems on Agrippina, didn't forget to launch his offensive against her.

"We already know about your ambition to turn your daughter into your puppet; you're not even subtle about it," he added. "Perhaps you're the one who ordered her to do so?"

"Yeah, yeah!" The senators nodded in agreement. "We know you were responsible for Claudius' death, Agrippina, but remember, everything has a price, and your greed will make you pay for it."

As they looked at the Praetorian guards, who were glaring at them with bloodlust and protecting Agrippina tightly after their threats, they became even more convinced of their suspicions. 

What they didn't know was that the guards had been secretly ordered by the Emperor to pretend to be friendly with Agrippina.

"You're the one close to her, Seneca. Why do all of you think I had a hand in this?" Agrippina glared at them defiantly.

She noticed Locusta standing there absentmindedly and secretly rejoiced in her heart. It seemed her plan to sow discord in the relationship between her daughter and Locusta had worked.

"I'm just her mentor, Agrippina, not the Emperor or her mother. She's more likely to listen to you than to me," Seneca stated, emphasizing that he only offered advice and mentoring, nothing more, nothing less. 

He didn't act like a pompous critic imposing his will on others in secret.

"You will regret this, Seneca," Agrippina said coldly, pointing her finger at the senators who had dared to defy her in court. 

"All of you will regret your words."

...

"Did you have a fight with Locusta, Nero?" Agrippina couldn't help but rush here, worried that her puppet daughter would become out of control when saw that Nero was engrossed in the painting and ignored the court meeting after her ascension to becoming Emperor.

She asked this because she saw Locusta's mood written on her face after some conversation with her daughter. 

Even though she knew the reason had to do with Claudia, she pretended not to know and asked Nero with a hint of concern, like a good mother should do. 

Despite knowing Locusta's growing affection for Nero, she deliberately married off Claudia to Nero and flaunted it in front of Locusta, accidentally (?).

She knew that as long as she disrupted their relationship, her daughter would have no one to rely on in court. 

Nero might have full control of the military, but the senators and nobles wouldn't necessarily obey her.

The control over politics and the court should belong to her, not Nero. 

Moreover, she was not afraid of Nero's control over the military; not everything could be solved with violence. 

Even Caesar and Augustus knew that truth. 

Look at the erratic behavior of Caligula, choosing a horse as consul and forcing others to worship him as a god; he ended up being killed by his own men. 

Thanks to him, the Julio-Claudian dynasty's control over nobles and courts was weakened to a large extent. 

Except for Rome, in other territories, many generals outside of Rome wouldn't necessarily respect them.

Maybe Nero has a grip over Rome and its surroundings, but outside of them? 

Unless miracles happen, Nero wouldn't escape from her control.

 Gaul, Spain, all of them were owned by her father, Germanicus. 

After her marriage to Claudius and the death of her father, his 8 legions (48,000) automatically became loyal to her because they felt guilty for not protecting her father from assassination.

While the truth was, her father's death had her hand in it. 

They were hidden in the dark without their knowledge of this matter. They thought her father was murdered by Tiberius, the Third Emperor of Rome, and didn't dare to seek justice for him because they had no guts to fight with the emperor.

It's not that secret Tiberius was jealous of her father's contribution and military achievements toward Teuton (Germany, titled by Rome) and forced him to return to Rome.

This was a perfect opportunity for her to throw blame at Tiberius. 

Who else would suspect the murderer of her father except Tiberius? 

Being summoned to Rome, and the next day he was dead. If not Tiberius, who is it? 

Because of this, her father's former legions never suspected anything.

If not for Tiberius's jealousy over her father, Teuton would have become dust in history. 

Of course, her control over the legions was not instant but rather a long-term planning on her part. 

She would take them back after Nero came to power, using guilt-tripping and blackmail to make them do her bidding. 

However, she underestimated their loyalty toward her father. 

After she married Claudius, they swore their allegiance to her on the spot.

It was the very reason she never considered Nero a threat despite her control over Rome. 

If Nero wanted to be freed from her control, she needed to kill her, and she was confident that Nero wouldn't have the guts to do so if she didn't want to lose control over Spain and Gaul. 

Moreover, Egypt and Syria were not that stable; many Jews had different thoughts about Rome. 

Unless Nero wanted to become the sinner of Rome, then she could only comply with her and obediently become her puppet.

She thought smugly. "Moreover, Nero, I heard you have a conflict with the nobles and Senate factions because of your charity towards plebeians. Why didn't you tell me anything about it?"

"I don't think they would be an inconvenience for you, mother. I trust you can put them in their place." Nero didn't even bother to give her mother a glance and focused on her painting. 

Politics? Court meetings? Senators and nobles wanted to complain to her? 

Did they really matter? 

They should trouble her mother, not her. 

It's good that they could bring her mother some misfortune and distract her from her.

Hearing Nero's confidence, Agrippina's mouth twitched. She suspected Nero was deliberate, but she had no evidence. 

But considering her daughter's obedient performance and uncaring attitude toward her job as Emperor, probably she was overthinking it. 

Her daughter only cared about art, and moreover, art wouldn't bring her daughter any good reputation. 

So, she tolerated her hobby toward art. 

After all, only slaves and plebeians took art as a profession; nobles wouldn't even bother sparing their time on them in this period.

"I'm not asking for your opinion, Nero. I'm asking why you did that without my permission."

"You didn't even attend my ceremony, mother. How could I ask you for permission? Seneca suggested it, and you know Seneca is right about it. UmU." Nero nodded in satisfaction when she saw her work of art, ignoring the distorted expression on her mother's face.

"Has no one ever told you that when you speak with others, you need to look at their face, Nero?" Agrippina, annoyed by Nero's response that didn't acknowledge her at all, wondered when her daughter had become such a brat and disobedient.

"Moreover, your parent is me or Seneca? Why should you listen to him?"

"But you brought him for me, mother. His will should be your will, isn't it?" Nero asked naively (?).

"Listen, Nero, there is no next time. You shouldn't listen to other people or let them dictate your will. Only I am good for you, not Seneca, not Locusta, not even your wife, Claudia, ever cared for you as your mother. You shouldn't listen to them, but me." Agrippina commanded.

"Yes, mother." Nero nodded.

"Of course, I will be your good daughter. And you will see in the future, mother."

Yeah, you will see in the future, mother. 

Now, senators and nobles in court should be aware that I was just a puppet at your mercy and shift their hostility toward you. 

Good luck, mother. 

And have a nice day.