((So should I assume that unless otherwise stated everybody in the family is married, then? Just wondering. It doesn't have that much of an effect on my planned HOI4 IC.))
((Private))
The senators took their seats in the Senate after the national anthem had been played and a short prayer had been read. Irene Doukas, a young brown-haired woman in her late twenties, looked around her, observing the ancient political body in action. Some senators nervously chatted with one another, while the veterans simply sat quietly, waiting for the Emperor to arrive.
A herald sounded the trumpets, and he announced, "Esteemed senators of the Empire, Konstantinos, Prince of Thrace."
The Crown Prince silently entered the Senate and stepped up to the podium. She had seen his picture in the papers before, but she had never expected to meet the man in person. He was a tall and imposing but frail figure. While he wore a military uniform, he looked a bit thinner than the average soldier. He was a bit handsome, but she wasn't drawn to him in any way, especially after he began speaking. For the next hour or so he rambled on about imperial glory and wars around the world, glorifying each victory while in the same breath condemning every general responsible for a defeat and even criticizing the Emperor himself, his own father, for not pursuing more punitive peace terms. Konstantinos railed against his father's decision to let an incident involving UTA "terrorists" slide and to organize a colonial dominion in Africa. It was clear this man was only concerned with military glory and quasi-fascist ideals. So when he started to scowl at the senators, she just kept quiet like the other senators.
Was this what Aunt Theo had told her to expect? She was probably expecting the Emperor to give the address, not this prince who had such a disregard for all Romans who weren't soldiers. Why did the Emperor even choose him to be his successor? Surely he knew what Konstantinos could possibly do as Emperor.
His rhetoric alarmed Irene. If he was this dismissive towards a majority of Romans and his own father, how would he view the senators and the rebels? What would he do in charge of the colonies and dominions? And what damage could he do to the order that Empress Veronica and her successors had built up over the last century? Would he rush headlong into the next great conflict, attacking all of the rebels and their foreign backers before the Empire was ready?
She decided to wait and see how the other senators responded before speaking up. She couldn't risk clashing with the heir to the throne, especially when her mother was so close to convincing the Emperor on the merits of a separate head of government.