this won’t be comprehensive, as i’m still in the middle of reading it, but i thought i’d spoil the upcoming chapters for those who are nosy/curious about how the overall trajectory anyway:
following this chapter, tiberius will bed and then leave hadrius’ vulnerable body to be seen, leading to obvious ramifications that include hadrius getting beat to near death by his father.
having bore witness to the aforesaid, tiberius becomes a bit apprehensive about the whole ordeal. a month passes and hadrius appears in front of tiberius’ home. subsequent to that incident, the two had avoided contact altogether to prevent suspicion regarding the nature of their relationship. i think something to note here is that hadrius is balls deep infatuated with tiberius, whereas tiberius is in denial about the extent of his attraction/care for hadrius.
the event that truly clarified tiberius’ love for hadi was the night of his birthday, where his sister had almost succumbed to a hernia if it weren’t for hadi’s interference. tiberius grows increasingly uneasy about the eventual demise of the cornelius family. fast forward, hadi’s father is killed, tiberius did try to aid hadrius in a very half-arsed escape attempt, which ended in hadi and his mother’s capture. after hadi and his mother are brought to the bestia residence (?), tiberius intends to take him as a slave to help alleviate the conditions hadi would traditionally be apprised of as a noble turned slave; however, bestia isn’t stupid, he knows the underlying intentions of tiberius’ actions, and sells him off elsewhere.
this is where it gets really miserable for hadi :/ four years pass since the beheading of his father, and hadi lives as a prostitute trying to rid himself of debt. he’s described to have been subjected to some of the most tortuous and grotesque afflictions, it’s just saddening overall. the son of the julius family (the blond in the mask from the party), maximus, claims victory and demands that he receive a triumph. maximus, however, is kind of denied this, as bestia has yet to receive one himself, putting himself in conflict to the new consul (bestia). anyhow, something really distinctive about maximus is that he’s sexually ravenous + has a feet fetish you can kind of already guess what this entails for hadi.
if you’re curious about how tiberius is doing post-timeskip, from what i’ve read thus far, he’s been indulging himself in drugs and sleeping with male prostitutes that resemble hadi in appearance. moreover, his wife (bestia’s daughter) had died months prior + his sister finds disgust with him for allowing hadi to encounter such a fate.
all in all, i’m pretty sure the endgame is maximus—a pretty rational decision, because although tiberius is legitimately apprehensive about the incidents that transpired, i doubt that hadi’s trauma could ever become inextricable to the man who essentially acted as a catalyst for it all. also, maximus is basically the first act of kindness hadrius aquires following the timeskip. tangentially, while i believe the hate regarding tiberius is justified, i just wanted to add, ancient rome had a huge disparity in wealth between classes. although hadrius is inexplicably a good person, he’s still somewhat complicit in an apparatus that perpetuated unfair wealth distribution. so naturally, i can understand why tiberius was in denial initially; like it doesn’t remove him from accountability for what had occurred with hadrius, but it is a viable explanation
this won’t be comprehensive, as i’m still in the middle of reading it, but i thought i’d spoil the upcoming chapters for those who are nosy/curious about how the overall trajectory anyway:
following this chapter, tiberius will bed and then leave hadrius’ vulnerable body to be seen, leading to obvious ramifications that include hadrius getting beat to near death by his father.
having bore witness to the aforesaid, tiberius becomes a bit apprehensive about the whole ordeal. a month passes and hadrius appears in front of tiberius’ home. subsequent to that incident, the two had avoided contact altogether to prevent suspicion regarding the nature of their relationship. i think something to note here is that hadrius is balls deep infatuated with tiberius, whereas tiberius is in denial about the extent of his attraction/care for hadrius.
the event that truly clarified tiberius’ love for hadi was the night of his birthday, where his sister had almost succumbed to a hernia if it weren’t for hadi’s interference. tiberius grows increasingly uneasy about the eventual demise of the cornelius family. fast forward, hadi’s father is killed, tiberius did try to aid hadrius in a very half-arsed escape attempt, which ended in hadi and his mother’s capture. after hadi and his mother are brought to the bestia residence (?), tiberius intends to take him as a slave to help alleviate the conditions hadi would traditionally be apprised of as a noble turned slave; however, bestia isn’t stupid, he knows the underlying intentions of tiberius’ actions, and sells him off elsewhere.
this is where it gets really miserable for hadi :/ four years pass since the beheading of his father, and hadi lives as a prostitute trying to rid himself of debt. he’s described to have been subjected to some of the most tortuous and grotesque afflictions, it’s just saddening overall. the son of the julius family (the blond in the mask from the party), maximus, claims victory and demands that he receive a triumph. maximus, however, is kind of denied this, as bestia has yet to receive one himself, putting himself in conflict to the new consul (bestia). anyhow, something really distinctive about maximus is that he’s sexually ravenous + has a feet fetish you can kind of already guess what this entails for hadi.
if you’re curious about how tiberius is doing post-timeskip, from what i’ve read thus far, he’s been indulging himself in drugs and sleeping with male prostitutes that resemble hadi in appearance. moreover, his wife (bestia’s daughter) had died months prior + his sister finds disgust with him for allowing hadi to encounter such a fate.
all in all, i’m pretty sure the endgame is maximus—a pretty rational decision, because although tiberius is legitimately apprehensive about the incidents that transpired, i doubt that hadi’s trauma could ever become inextricable to the man who essentially acted as a catalyst for it all. also, maximus is basically the first act of kindness hadrius aquires following the timeskip. tangentially, while i believe the hate regarding tiberius is justified, i just wanted to add, ancient rome had a huge disparity in wealth between classes. although hadrius is inexplicably a good person, he’s still somewhat complicit in an apparatus that perpetuated unfair wealth distribution. so naturally, i can understand why tiberius was in denial initially; like it doesn’t remove him from accountability for what had occurred with hadrius, but it is a viable explanation