Chapter 10 Misty Rose (Ten)

◎Alliance◎

Half a month later, the churches in Florence began to submit the lists to the Papal Palace. After the secretaries and clerks compiled the lists, they eliminated those whose age and height did not meet the requirements and gave the remaining lists to Raphael for review.

This job was originally supposed to be done by the Secretary General of the Papal Office, but Raphael has not yet announced the candidate for the position. The cardinals have inquired about this matter openly and secretly, and even "recommended" some people, but they were all suppressed by Raphael.

The Secretary General of the Papal Palace is the Pope's deputy. As a symbol of religion, the Pope is pure, unique, and wholeheartedly devoted to God. He vows to reject all worldly temptations of power and devote his body and mind to speaking for God. Therefore, he cannot hold any worldly position. Therefore, as his agent, the Secretary General is almost equivalent to the highest executive officer of Florence.

The position of Secretary General of the Papal Palace is enough to make everyone salivate, especially those nobles without clerical positions. Although the identity of this secular Lord of Florence is not as supreme as that of the Pope, the power and wealth in his hands are real.

But no matter how they tried, Pope Sistine I, who had the sole power to appoint the Secretary General, refused to announce his decision. The cardinals didn't even know whether he had not chosen anyone or simply did not want a Secretary General to be his agent.

The former is fine, but if it's the latter...

Then they would have to consider the temperament of the new Pope.

Cardinal Lombardi had privately cursed the Portia family countless times for this, and his insults were mixed with bad words for Raphael himself and his female relatives. Cardinal Lombardi's sons had long been accustomed to their father's rage. When the two brothers walked into the Lombardi Palace with horse whips in hand, they heard their father's complaints from upstairs, so they tacitly avoided the study to avoid being affected.

"So what did the Pope do to make father so angry?" the younger brother asked casually.

"It must be the Secretary General's business. You know, Father has always wanted you to take over this position, but the Pope seems to have his own ideas," replied his brother.

The younger brother showed a disdainful expression on his face: "His own ideas! Ha! He was supported to the position by Julius of Portia. Did Portia allow him to have these cute little ideas?"

"You're right. I heard that in order to get him to that position, Julius gave each cardinal at least 100,000 gold florins in cash, not including real estate in various manors. But he rebelled as soon as he got to that position... Julius must be almost mad to death. He probably has never met such an ungrateful person in his life."

The two brothers couldn't help laughing. Julius was their peer, but in the world of fame and fortune in Florence, he was someone even their father had to be cautious of. They enjoyed laughing at each other's mistakes, as if they were the ones who defeated him.

Similar remarks were rampant in the Vatican. They all believed that the Pope and Portia had fallen out, and this was an opportunity. Perhaps they could gain more benefits from the young Pope who had no backing. The Secretary-General's incident was just a stepping stone, but no one expected that the seemingly young and inexperienced Pope was actually so stubborn and unbelievable. §

He seemed to not care at all about showing goodwill, and was indifferent to threats. Unlike his angelic and gentle face, this man was like a big rock, so hard that no one could do anything to him.

Cardinal Lombardi was unaware that his two sons were whispering outside. After finishing his routine greetings to Raphael and Portia, he began to look at the documents sent up from below. On them were written a list of names and the churches they belonged to, including the Church of the Holy Grail in the lower city.

The Papal Palace was selecting new guards, which was certainly a good opportunity to place people there. Cardinals and nobles all took action. They each had several churches with which they were closely related. Perhaps they had built and sponsored the churches, or perhaps the priests there were their relatives or subordinates. In short, it was not difficult to select a certain number of children who met the requirements from these churches.

When Cardinal Lombardi saw the name of the Holy Grail Church, his thick black brows frowned, but he said nothing.

"Is that all?" Cardinal Lombardi had a square face, rough eyebrows, and short, strong limbs, like a worker who had worked at the docks for a long time. His appearance was not only unrefined but also too rough. However, this appearance did make ordinary workers very fond of him, which was an important reason why he was able to climb all the way from a small church on the verge of ruin to the position of cardinal.

The butler stood beside him: "Yes, sir, there are only seventeen names reported."

Lombardi thought for a moment with a gloomy face. "That's fine. Anyway, it's impossible for all the pretty boys to stay. People from other families will also squeeze in. Seventeen people... hum, that's about right. Is there anyone you're paying special attention to?"

The housekeeper named a few people and said, "These people are said to be of the right age, very smart, healthy, and good-looking. They are very likely to be kept, and they are also very pious."

Pious, Lombardi's beard curled up, and as to whom he was pious, they both knew it well.

"Why is there a Holy Grail Church? Ferrante? That's a good name." The cardinal pointed to the name.

The butler took a look and said, "Oh, the person in charge of the Holy Grail Church said that this guy is very smart and ruthless. I heard that he seemed to have gone to the glass workshop to collect enough bribes for the person in charge."

They did not care about the monks in the church exploiting children. This kind of behavior existed everywhere, as long as the benefits handed over in the end were sufficient.

"Glass workshop?" Even the cardinal who claimed to be knowledgeable and hard-hearted could not help but raise his eyebrows. The "glass workshop" here is obviously not a workshop that produces glass in the ordinary sense, but a metaphor with a more obscure and deeper meaning. In the downtown area, "rose room" refers to prostitutes, and "glass workshop" refers to male prostitutes. Obviously, even Lombardi found the child's behavior incredible.

But the disbelief was only temporary, and the cardinal soon laughed heartily: "What a great boy, I like his energy, how much did the monk ask for?"

The butler replied: "Two gold florins."

"Oh," Lombardi hadn't heard such a small number for a long time. He circled Ferrante's name carelessly, "Give the person in charge five gold florins and take the child to the manor and train him well. If the pretty boy doesn't like him and leaves him to my children, he will be a qualified vicious dog."

The butler nodded and took note of the order.

Half a month later, the cities around Florence also sent the selected children to the Pope's Hall. The deacons cleared a remote corner for these children to live in, and the martial arts and writing were handed over to the members of the Pope's Guard and the students of the seminary. Raphael certainly would not manage them personally. In fact,

He didn't even have time to take a look.

Sangxia was about to return to Roman. After the meeting in the library, they met twice more in private and agreed on the cooperation matters. In fact, even Sangxia herself was surprised at the speed of progress of this work.

She knew her mother very well. In order to save Assyria from the brink of extinction, Princess Amenra married the Roman King Lav XI. She then gritted her teeth and worked her way up in the Roman court, and finally ascended to the position of Roman regent and Queen of Assyria. Just from this simple description, one can smell the bloody storm that was to come.

As a woman who has reached such a high position, Amenla needs to have a stronger will and a cold and hard character than a man, as well as an indelible suspicion. Cooperation with the Pope was something that was worth repeated hesitation and consideration. Even if it was delayed for a year or two, it would not surprise Sangxia, but it was actually achieved like this...

Could it be that those letters she wrote to her mother had an effect? Sang Xia secretly doubted in her heart, but couldn't help laughing at her own self-conceit.

Her mother was a person who absolutely put the country before personal feelings. How could she change because of a few words from her?

Or had something happened to Roman that made her desperately need to seek an ally?

Thinking of this, Sang Xia began to get nervous.

Raphael put away the parchment scroll on the table. On it was printed the personal emblem of the Assyrian queen and the seal representing the Roman royal family, and of course his own signature and seal. There was no one else in the reception room except him and Sangxia. This was a secret alliance.

If Amenra had not been in trouble, or if Raphael had not needed help, the world would never have known that there had been such an alliance between Assyria and Florence.

But... Raphael looked at Sanxia across the round table. The little princess was wearing a rose-red dress today. The silk flowers and pearl decorations on the hem were sparkling. Her light wheat-colored skin looked more vibrant against this unique red color.

Assyria might be in trouble soon. Raphael touched the papal ring on his thumb and thought of his previous life.

Less than a year after his coronation, Assyria rebelled again. This country had long been accustomed to turmoil in the long-term chaos, and the peace that was violently forced together by Amenra could not last long. What's more, there was Calais watching covetously from the sidelines. The Romans also had many opinions about this foreign queen, so the Assyrian rebellion became expected.

As the queen of Assyria, Amenra would lead her army back to her homeland, suppress the local unrest, and then die in the war, followed by a melee between Calais and Roman.

There is no need to elaborate on the turbulent situation that followed. Raphael almost worked himself to death in order to maintain the independence and stability of the Papal States among several major powers and to protect believers from being slaughtered in the war. However, his efforts were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot in the face of the wheel of the times. Otherwise, there would not have been the ironic evaluation given to him in history books: "Raphael I, a doer who clung to foolish old principles, died on the night before the new era was approaching. It was the last grace of the Lord to him."

The Assyrian rebellion has not yet occurred, but there must have been signs. The queen was extremely intelligent and must have discovered something unusual. The alliance with the Papal State could only be considered an insurance measure. As far as Raphael knew, Amenra seemed to be pushing for amendments to the Act of Succession.

The Romans are currently adopting the "Sarik Succession Act", which states that women have no right to inherit the throne. Sancha is the only legitimate child of Lav XI. Of course, Amenra will do everything she can to win the Roman crown for her daughter. However, compared to a queen, especially a queen born to a foreign woman, the nobles are more afraid that Roman will eventually become part of Assyria. They firmly oppose Sancha's succession and demand to find a male heir from the royal side line.

This is also the reason why, although King Laf XI has been dead for almost three years, Roman still has no supreme ruler, and the queen serves as regent.

The tug of war between the two sides was covert and fierce. It seemed that the Roman nobles' tolerance for Amen-ra had reached its limit. They chose to start from Assyria and drive this foreign queen back to her hometown.

However, Amenla chose to skip the legal provisions and seek religious support first - if even the Pope recognized the legitimacy of Sangxia, then the difficulties she faced would be greatly reduced.

This was a big reason why she was almost eager to push for an alliance with Florence.

Raphael looked at Sangxia, who was still unaware of the coming storm, and finally did not remind her any more. Sangxia was just young and naive, which did not mean she was stupid. She would soon figure out the deeper meaning behind this.

He was just wondering why Amenla didn't come to seek an alliance with Florence in his previous life? He didn't believe that the smart and decisive woman would give up such a good path. What changes had occurred to cause the two destinies to deviate?

"In the name of Assyria and Roman, we hereby sign a covenant. Assyria and Roman will maintain eternal friendship with Florence under the leadership of Sistine I, without betrayal or suspicion, until time proves the end of this covenant."

Sangxia reached out and held Raphael's wrist, and Raphael shook it back.

This ancient oath gesture has an extremely bloody meaning: those who betray the oath will have their wrists cut off, paying back the pain of their allies with blood.

"In the name of God, we hereby sign a covenant. Florence will maintain eternal friendship with Assyria and Rome under the leadership of Queen Amenra. There will be no betrayal or doubt until time proves the end of this covenant."

Raphael repeated the oath in a deep voice.

"The 100,000 gold florins that Roman sent to congratulate you on your coronation will be delivered to Florence immediately, and there will be another sum of money given to you later. If you need anything, we are happy to help you." The agreement was reached, and Sangxia was relieved. The pampered little princess was very happy. "Especially when it comes to money. You know, my mother is the richest woman in the world."

The little princess winked slyly and smiled happily. The sunlight shone through the glass on her face, making her eyes look like a pair of sparkling gems.

The author has something to say:

Baby Rafa is going to be rich soon! Yay!

After reading the comments, there are probably three names

1. "The Pope in Reverse" 2. "The Pope is not a good person anymore" 3. "The Pope refuses to be a Shura Field"

Which name do you think is better? I have to change the cover quickly, otherwise it won’t be on the list [Cat’s head is crying]