1 The Richest Man of Rome, Crassus (1)

When Jae-hoon opened his eyes again, his head was strangely dazed.

He must have closed my eyes in the library, but he couldn't understand why he was lying down.

'Did I really pass out and be brought to the health room or hospital?'

However, when he looked around, the scenery was strange, to call it a health room or a hospital.

'Is it a drama set? Or is it still a dream?'

The bed where he was lying down looked something fancy, but it was more fluffy than a cheap mattress at home.

The ceiling was dim because there were no fluorescent lights and painted pictures all over the room's walls.

He has little knowledge of the painting, but he could see for sure that it was a mural full of old-fashioned feelings.

Nowadays, you can only find a house like this if it's a set of dramas or movies.

'How did I get carried here?'

His head became apparent when he realized he was in a place he couldn't even imagine now.

He sprang from his seat and looked down at himself.

"What? Why am I wearing this kind of clothes?"

He wore a strange all-in-one dress with short sleeves and knee-length and a belt with strange decorations.

Of course, he was not wearing pants because it was an all-in-one type, so he felt really strange.

Not only are the clothes weird, but his body shape has changed.

His vision was lowered as if he had gotten shorter.

He took out his cell phone reflexively and tried to call, but his belongings were nowhere to be seen.

Jae-hoon, who was not convinced by the current situation, wandered around the room to look for a mirror.

"Young master, are you awake?"

"Young master?"

The words spoken by the woman who came in with the curtain pulled back were not in Korean. Nevertheless, he naturally understood the meaning of the words.

In addition, he could speak the language fluently, which he had never heard before.

"Hey, hey...…. I think I came to the wrong house. But I didn't sneak in. I think someone brought me here.…."

The woman, dressed in a long gown, tilted her head and soon smiled vaguely.

"You seem to drink too much yesterday. The old man told you not to drink too much wine. If you don't keep listening to your elders, you may not be able to go to the taberna in future."

"Old man? A taberna? Where the hell are we before that? You're not out of Gyeonggi-do, are you?"

"Don't you remember? Yesterday, Quintius carried the young master who drank until he lost consciousness. The old man was angry that you drinking until drunk would undermine the dignity of the aristocracy."

The woman's words that I couldn't understand started making me sick.

Why is she calling him a young master?

I wanted to ask if she was looking at the wrong person, but looking at her expression, it didn't seem like that.

"Hey... I have to go because I have a task to submit by tomorrow right away. And then I have to go and work...…."

"Does Master Marcus work?"

The woman opened her eyes wide as if she didn't understand this time.

"Did you drink too much yesterday?…. I don't think you're sober yet. I will speak well to the old master."

The woman turned and tried to leave the bedroom.

Jae-hoon hurriedly called her back and poured out questions.

"Hey, hey! Where am I and why am I wearing this? Where did all the things I had go?"

"What? Of course, this is the residence of the Crassus family on Palatine Hill, and you are the young master."

The woman approached with a worried face and examined Jae-hoon's face.

"Are you not feeling well? Or did you have a nightmare?"

"No...that's why...."

"Excuse me, young master? Why are you looking me so carefully?"

Jae-hoon felt like his head was going to turn around. The small, clean hands in sight were clearly different from his own hands in memory. At that moment, a ridiculous possibility lingered in his mind.

"Excuse me, can I have a mirror...…."

"Yes, I'll bring it."

The woman who left the room returned with a small bronze mirror within seconds.

Jae-hoon was speechless because of the shape of a bronze mirror that could only be seen in a museum.

Jae-hoon looked at his face in the mirror with trembling hands and was too surprised even to scream.

Although his hair was black, his face was reflected in the mirror by a Latin boy who had a completely different appearance from Asians.

"This is me?"

The woman spoke to Jae-hoon, who stared at her in the mirror with his eyes wide open.

"It seems that yesterday's hangover has not been relieved. Should I tell the old master that today's class will be difficult for me to take?"

"Wait. Your name is...…."

"It's Cora. You must be really not feeling well because you're confused with my name. I'll call a doctor."

"No, don't call the doctor...…. Ugh!"

Looking straight at his face in the mirror, he suddenly had a massive headache.

When Jae-hoon collapsed with his head wrapped around him, Cora, whose face turned white, rushed out and called people.

Some people came into the room and said something, but he couldn't hear at all.

Instead, knowledge of landscapes, people's names, and things he had never seen flooded in.

Jae-hoon could remember who he was here.

Marcus Licinius Crassus.

He is the eldest son of Marcus Licinius Crassus, the richest man in Rome. In other words, he is Marcus Licinius Crassus II.

The current Crassus family was the most prestigious aristocratic family that produced consuls in the past and was a senior member of Optimates, who owned the most significant wealth in Rome.

He doesn't know why, but Jae-hoon became the eldest son of this wealthy family.

Jae-hoon suddenly came up with too much information and briefly lost consciousness for a moment.

When he opened his eyes again, it was dark around him.

"Young master! Are you awake?"

When Jae-hoon opened his eyes, Cora, who was watching him anxiously, jumped out of his chair.

"I will bring the old master. Wait a minute."

Cora left the room as if running and returned a few minutes later with a stern-looking middle-aged man.

Jae-hoon could immediately recall who he was, even though he had never seen a man before.

He is Marcus Licinius Crassus I.

He is the patriarch of the Crassus family and the father of Jae-hoon, who became Marcus.

"Tsk tsk, that's a good thing. The eldest son of the Crassus family is infatuated with wine from a young age and went silent."

"Well, that's...."

Jae-hoon thought it was unfair, but he clearly remembered Marcus, who drank alcohol, so he could not make an excuse.

Crassus stared at him in confusion, clicked his tongue, and turned around.

"I passed on my name as it was in the hope of becoming like me. How could a guy like that come out? I have no choice but to leave it to Publius to continue the family's prosperity."

Publius is the younger brother of Marcus and the second son of the Crassus family.

To the extent that he openly said he would entrust the family to his second son, Marcus had fallen out of favor with his father.

Crassus returned to his room without leaving any more words.

Cora took a look at Jae-hoon and left the room, following Crassus.

Jae-hoon, who was left alone in a dark room, laid down on his bed and calmly looked back on the current situation.

He was Marcus Licinius Crassus II.

This was an undeniable truth and reality.

It was absurd, but it was acceptable for now.

The problem is that he, who turns 12 this year, is a famous prodigal son who rots his father.

Crassus II has already been notorious in downtown Rome for causing various disturbances on the back of his family's wealth and prestige.

You may wonder what a child, who is only 12 years old, can do, but Marcus was a pretty bad person.

While avoiding getting caught in the law, he thoroughly bullied the people who were even slightly unpleasant.

Crassus initially didn't care because the objects he bullied were mainly slaves or fallen commoners of other houses.

In this day and age, slavery is just an object. No one would make a big problem out of caring for the fallen lower class.

However, as the degree worsened, Crassus could no longer wait and see.

Crassus banned Marcus from mobilizing slaves to commit violence for no reason.

Marcus then turned to eat and drink profligately.

Initially, the Romans drank a lot of wine, but drinking it lightly with a lot of water was common.

Otherwise, those who drank high-quality wine and got drunk were treated as poor drinkers.

Marcus was almost always drunk from a young age, hanging out with bad aristocratic children.

Because of this, his father's trust is bound to fall to the ground.

'What a typical example of an aristocrat child who had no value. I can't believe I have to live like this.'

His life changed overnight, but Jae-hoon unexpectedly calmly adapted to the current situation.

When he was in Korea, he had to pay back my loans for the rest of his life and live in poverty.

Instead, wouldn't it be hundreds of times better to live as a child of an ancient aristocratic family who doesn't have to worry about money for the rest of their lives?

Jae-hoon had no desire to continue his family anyway, although his younger brother would be the one who inherited the family.

It is enough to settle the life of a moderate fool and live a pleasant life of an aristocrat under the shadow of a strong father and younger brother.

'Crasus was one of the big names who formed a triumvirate with the famous Caesar and Pompeius and controlled Rome, right? Good, good. Now the life of a soil spoon is forever goodbye.'

The life of an ancient person may be a little uncomfortable, but he can endure it for the life of a golden spoon that he had hoped for.

If a person changes too suddenly, they will only be suspected, so they could turn to follow Crassus' words little by little.

As his heart was to swell to the fullest in the blueprint for a hopeful future, a historical knowledge that Jae-hoon knew passed through his mind.

'Wait. Didn't Crassus die after pursuing an unreasonable expedition to catch up with Caesar and Pompeius's reputation?'

The memory is correct.

Crassus, who carried out an expedition to Parthia, a great country in the east, died after suffering the most significant humiliating defeat in Roman history.

The problem is that the second son, Publius, who was in the midst of the battle, also dies.

The plan to climb on the back of my father and brother and suck the honey comfortably faced a crisis even before it began.

Jae-hoon's expression, which happened when he inhaled kimchi until just before the lethal dose, was distorted like a piece of tissue.