They left the office, and the great Admiral Zeus left with Kronos to prepare the small speech in the assembly hall. Eneas smiled; it was true what his mother had told him the previous weekend.
"Remember one thing, Eneas: your grandfather's only weak point is his feelings; he is a great soldier, he is a political beast, and he is a powerful warrior, but as a human being, he has always lived surrounded by politicians and people who were with him for a long time." Interest, including your grandmother; the only thing he is not prepared for is feelings, not to receive them but to feel them. If you ever have to face it, remember that and you can really have it in your hands."
In his other life, or without the certainty of the future war, Eneas would not have hesitated to despise and reject his grandfather; however, in this situation, that would be truly stupid; he really did not feel anything and had no intention of having a true relationship with him. The Grand Admiral, but since he had a winning trick, he would play it his own way; in this way, he did not need to enter the Grand Admiral's political game, nor recognize him in public, nor would he be identified as "the relative of" delegitimizing his achievements. But If he managed to win the affection of the great man, it was clear that he would have invaluable support from the shadows.
"Director Kronos, can I have a minute? I have to make a call."
"Of course Grand Admiral, we have time, I'll leave you alone"
Kronos entered the room to begin arranging the small impromptu ceremony.
"Hera, do you hear me?..."
"Tell me old bastard what you have done or what has happened with the boy that you have to call me, has he rejected you? Have you screwed up by pressuring him?"
"Shut up, bitch, and let me talk, nothing like that has happened... it's true that he has rejected everything I can offer him, power, influence, name or money, the boy just wants to have a grandfather-grandson relationship that starts from scratch." with me..."
"Well, he is a dangerous boy... or terribly stupid, who could love a grandfather like you who doesn't even know how to take care of a pet? Be careful, he's looking for something, I've already told you, everyone is coming... "
"Shut up, you crazy old woman, he also asked me to meet you... I invited him to dinner tonight..."
"And what did he say?"
No matter how cold Hera was, no matter how insidious she was, no matter how much she hated her husband Zeus deep down, thinking about being able to meet her grandson was an unexpected blow that awakened all the love she felt for her daughter who had been missing for so long. It is true that at the time he was jealous of the love that father and daughter professed for each other, but that did not mean that he had stopped loving the best of his children, the most tender and affectionate.
"He has accepted..."
"I'll hang up on you, I have a lot of things to prepare..."
Zeus hung up laughing at his foolish wife and how he would be deploying a battalion in his luxurious mansion in Elysium.
Eneas entered the assembly hall and sat in the front row among the rest of the cadre of officers and professors that made up the academy, it was his place of honor for the feat of simulation.
Grand Admiral Zeus entered the assembly hall with his firm, military stride. To his credit, he exuded that kind of charisma that only a true leader could have.
He looked at everyone present in the room, officers, professors and cadets, leaving a few dramatic seconds before beginning to speak.
"I am happy to be back in this officer academy, and I am even more happy to know that in this new class are the pillars of the future leaders of the Navy"
Everyone in the room applauded the beginning of Zeus's speech.
"Today I am here attracted by the feat of Cadet Eneas in simulation 48, a simulation designed for you to flee or suffer defeat, not to win as he has brilliantly done. But it would be false for me to say that I hope that you all take the risk, since I have had the opportunity to speak with Cadet Eneas, and despite giving him my most sincere congratulations, I have also been able to reprimand him for the risk taken during the practice. When you find yourself in space, you will not only have to think that you are geniuses, but that your mistakes will lead. The name of human lives that will be lost, of naval resources that you risk, does that once it has gone well mean that it will always go well? Receive all the training that is going to be given to you with humility, make the most of it, and let it go? "Let your military genius shine, but do not let yourself be carried away by your ego, that will only lead to your downfall and that of those who are under your command."
With that dialectical maneuver, the Grand Admiral had marked some distance with Eneas, in the end he alleviated the burden of becoming a recommended godfather of the cadet, he had reprimanded him and had given a lesson to all those who tried to imitate Eneas, the genius had to be accompanied by temperance in the Navy.
"I know that the custom when making this type of visit is to offer a gift to someone who has done great work, but this has really taken us all by surprise, I had a free hour and I have a very busy schedule So unfortunately I have not brought anything, so I only offer Cadet Eneas the hospitality of being able to dine with me today."
Eneas stood up and bowed politely.
"It will be a great honor Admiral Zeus"
He had also offered an explanation or way out for Eneas to leave Elysium with the Grand Admiral, it was not an unusual honor, but he left it unknown whether or not Eneas would end up being the protégé of Grand Admiral Zeus.
The cadets went to their respective chores in the free time they had left that day while Eneas and the admiral left the academy together.
It is not that Eneas did not arouse envy, especially among group A. Eneas's military career was starting and he did it in the best possible way.