Chapter 66: Golden Ouroboros (XVI)

◎Secret Kiss◎

"Guardian of Eternal Reason,

Driving his chariot,

Following the sun rising and setting,

His light shines upon the earth,

All things come alive with his coming..."

The actors sang loudly to open the second act of the drama. The sun god of reason and order drove his chariot across the sky. He accidentally passed by the garden of the gods and saw the budding rose. He looked at the flower that had never appeared in the world with curiosity and decided to go and find out at night.

In the box on the second floor, Raphael listened to the actors' singing intermittently. The temperature around him was a little high, but it was just right for him. He lay on the soft and comfortable Roman-style armchair. The spiced liquor and mead he had just drunk began to take effect in his body, flowing hot through his blood vessels, expelling the dry, cold and damp air from his body, warming up every drop of blood. His whole body felt soft and comfortable, as if he was about to melt into a ball of cotton.

The high-pitched and bright singing voice slid past his ears and turned into a lullaby-like sleepy tone. Raphael leaned his head to listen sleepily. He hadn't relaxed like this for a long time. The fatigue from working non-stop since returning to Florence came up all at once. The warm temperature around him, the soothing spices, the sedative wine, and the people he trusted made him relax unconsciously. It felt like there were small hooks on his eyelids pulling down.

He was struggling against sleepiness when a warm hand gently covered his eyes. The man's low and hoarse voice became the final weight in this one-sided war: "Go to sleep, I will wake you up."

Raphael muttered, "If there is any new change in the downtown area, be sure to wake me up."

He thought he had spoken clearly, but in fact, he was unable to finish the sentence under the cover of sleepiness. Julius only heard him hum twice like a kitten, and his lavender eyes, which were filled with moisture due to sleepiness, closed. His long eyelashes brushed against his palms, leaving a trembling itch on his skin. ■

Julius did not retract his hand. His other hand was still holding the glove he had taken off. His upper body leaned forward, casting a large shadow on Raphael. There was an obscure cold light in his deep purple eyes.

“…This nameless flower!

Why were you born?

I have never seen such a spirit,

You will rob the gods of their love,

This scares me,

The irrational enemy is threatening me,

I have lost my former wisdom..."

The singing voice rose up with the wind and circled in the empty hall. The sun god, wearing a wreath of golden laurel leaves on his head, held a golden bow and sang passionately. His perfect singing did not impress his investors. Julius did not even listen to his voice at this moment.

The Secretary General of the Papal Palace lowered his eyes and quietly looked at the person sleeping in his palm, his student, his blood nephew, his master, his -

The sleeping young man was completely unaware of external affairs. The sleeping god had already captured this beautiful butterfly and lovingly put him into his net, leaving his ownerless body to sleep in the world, thus leaving an opportunity for the despicable peeping tormentor.

"... the water nymphs begged me for love,

The beauty holding the golden apple,

May she offer me her fragrant kiss,

I discarded my burning love like a piece of trash,

But now fate teaches me what retribution is! ”

Julius straightened his back and still put his hands on Raphael's eyes to block the overly bright light for him. His breathing was disordered for a moment, and no one could tell what he was thinking.

Perhaps it was the falling sycamore leaves in the Florence Seminary. He once took Raphael to walk aimlessly on that road, teaching Raphael simple Latin, and occasionally putting his hand on the boy's head. At that time, Raphael had just been brought back from the slums. He was thin and shriveled like a reed. In order to get rid of lice, his light golden hair was trimmed short and messy, almost growing close to his scalp, and there was a strange smell on the hair coated with medicine.

He was an unlovable kid, no one loved him, he was thin, skinny, even a little ugly, and when he walked beside the tall and handsome Julius, everyone would look at him with complex and disgusted eyes.

An ugly duckling, a stone, a piece of rubble.

Then he grew into what he is now

appearance.

His long light golden hair was like silk, his figure was slender, and his face was as beautiful as the Son of God. There were so many people who loved him. The whole of Florence was praising the name of Saint Sistine I. They loved him as if they were loving the great Holy Lord.

But who could have seen that shriveled, skinny kid and still loved him? Who would love him knowing that he would achieve such great things in the future? Who could have loved Him before it all began, before time was recorded in history?

Who would climb up that deserted fortress and recite a poem for him; who would run through the endless desolation in the wilderness and the cool breeze to find him?

"You love my beautiful face,

You love my boundless cause,

You love my strong body.

You love my great wealth,

Julius suddenly remembered the years when Raphael was exiled. The Castello di Cantrera was located in the far suburbs several hours away from Florence. Even the faint shadow of the ocean could be seen ahead. As the son who was once highly expected by Vitalian III, Raphael participated in the drafting of the Reformation decree. Without the protection of the Portia family, everyone regarded him as a thorn in their eyes.

At that time, Raphael was only eighteen years old.

Julius tried hard to steer the huge ship of Portia in the storm of the sudden death of Vitalian III. He was engaged in verbal battles with the elders every day and dealt with the questioning of the Holy See. So many people wanted Raphael dead, and it seemed that he was the only one in the world who was trying to protect this young man who had lost everything.

However, every time he arrived at Cantrera Castle at dawn, climbed up the castle's dilapidated tower silently, saw the flickering fire and the person waiting for him on his knees in the fire, he suddenly felt that everything still had some meaning.

They talked softly about poetry and literature, grabbing those boring inspirations from the yellowed pages of philosophy, and they discussed the situation in Florence. Except for Raphael, no one could keep up with Julius's thoughts.

This is the rose he blessed, the gem from which he cleaned the dust, the star he held in his hands, the one he brought up and brought up, the one who had the same resonating thoughts and soul as him. His cousin entrusted this helpless child to him before he died, and from then on Raphael belonged to Julius.

He loved Raphael as if he were his own child and was willing to give him the best of everything. To this end, he tried every means to get Raphael back to Florence and bought the throne of Santa Lisa for him. It was a staggeringly huge fortune, but Julius did not care.

However, this rose and this bird are finally about to fly away.

The Secretary General of the Papal Palace bent his straight back slightly, as if he was in extreme pain, but unable to cry out. The blade of fate was about to dissect his soul and tear away the other half. How could he resist?

——He didn't even understand when this happened.

When to love, when to leave.

The only time he could touch Raphael so gently was when he was asleep.

Julius looked at the young Pope in silence. The silent pain was like magma, boiling and washing over his ribs, ready to tear his chest and burst out in one go. However, his face was calm as usual, and no one could tell that he was in an abnormal mood at the moment.

During the long silence, the singing on the stage reached a climax.

“Please listen to me!

The god of reason and order!

Love will make you lose your authority,

That is the worst poison in the world.

It’s a brew of disorder, chaos and sickness!

Stay away from it.

That nameless flower!

The gardens of the gods are filled with fragrance,

Why long for this mortal love! ”

The actors' singing rose all the way against the backdrop of the grand organ, the crystal chandeliers trembled in the resonating music, and every note struck the eardrums, like a sharp sword piercing the lungs, making people empathize with the goddess who gave advice.

"It will bring you ruin,

Make you lose the rationality you are proud of,

It plunges you into an unknown abyss,

And hide thy light in darkness! ”

Julius could no longer hear the singing at the end. He bent down and pressed his somewhat cold lips against Raphael's.

The young Pope was still sleeping, his breathing calm and slow, and he was not awakened by this crazy action.

This was immoral, and Julius knew it.

The person he coveted was the monarch of Florence, the Pope who had vowed to renounce all love between men and women in the world and to serve the Holy Lord with a pure body and a pious soul. He was also his nephew with blood ties and a man of the same sex.

However, he had no time to care.

The gloved hands gently pressed Raphael's lips and cheeks, and the effective spiced liquor made Raphael fall into a peaceful dream. Not only did he not wake up, but he sleepily pressed against Julius' palm, like a kitten craving for heat, chasing the warmth of the human body, which made it easier for the Secretary General to kiss him.

She kissed him lightly, lovingly across his lips, her tongue tip tentatively touching his lips.

"The most primate of all creatures,

The supreme reason and order!

Everything in the world must rise up,

Grieve for your loss!

What then was born from the ashes of your soul?

A new god,

A fan of madness and joy!

A pursuer of the joy of life!

Gods,

We witnessed the birth of Dionysus! ”

The intense and high-pitched singing was accompanied by an infinitely magnificent accompaniment. The music and the singing stirred everyone's emotions. Everyone was concentrating on grieving for the fall of the sun god for love. No one knew that in this corner on the second floor, a kiss more thrilling than a drama was quietly happening.

Julius kept his hands steadily covering Raphael's eyes until the other's breathing began to quicken, then he ended this stolen intimacy. Raphael's lips were covered with a faint water color, and Julius gently wiped away the water marks with his free hand. He sat up straight with a calm expression, and hid all the surging, twisted, and boiling emotions properly in his body, sewing it tightly together.

Half an hour later, Raphael slowly woke up. Julius noticed his awakening immediately, removed his hand, put on his gloves, and asked, "Do you want to rest for a while? The stage performance is not over yet."

His face was calm as usual, without any sign of anything unusual.

When he tried to disguise himself, no one could see through Julius Portia unless they caught him in the act of committing a crime.

Raphael sat up lazily, took the scented tea handed to him by Julius, blew away the mist from the rim of the cup and took two sips, his drooping eyelids hiding all his thoughts.

——It was as if he had really just woken up.

Thanks to Julius' careful teaching, Raphael, like Julius, has the ability to conceal his true colors so that no one else can see it as long as he doesn't want to.

Even though his heart was in turmoil at the moment, he could still lie there peacefully for half an hour, and then wake up as if he knew nothing.

The drama on the stage has come to an end. The defender of absolute rationality and order died for the flower, and the god of wine, carnival and joy, was born from the wreckage of the sun god. This extreme tragedy and comedy made people cry and laugh. All attention was firmly grasped by the performance on the stage, except for the two people in the box at this moment.

They were all looking at the stage intently, but no one's mind was on the stage.

When the stage ended, Raphael stood up and said goodbye to Julius. Ferrante was standing at the door with Raphael's cloak in his arms. When he saw him come out, he immediately put it on him.

Julius stood there and watched Raphael walk away. The hem of his light gold cloak rolled out golden waves on the dark red carpet, dazzling like a blooming flower.

The Secretary General smiled silently, took off his silver-rimmed glasses and wiped them gently. His long iron-gray hair fell beside his cheeks, casting a light gray shadow on his profile and hiding his deep purple eyes in the half-bright and half-dark gray.

- Rafa, I once taught you that escape is the most useless move.

He put his glasses back on and looked toward the now empty corridor.

——But you always choose to escape from me.

Raphael walked faster and faster, and finally he almost rushed to the carriage parked at the foot of the steps, without even paying attention to the servant who was trying to hold an umbrella for him. When Ferrante caught up with the carriage, he knocked hurriedly on the wall, signaling the coachman to set off immediately, as if there was a living monster chasing him.

Ferrante frowned tightly. He didn't know what happened in the theater. He had been in the lower town to complete His Majesty's mission. After finishing it, he hurried to pick up His Majesty and take him back to the Papal Palace. But it seemed that something happened quietly in a place he didn't know. Perhaps it was an occupational disease. This feeling of being concealed made him very uncomfortable - especially since it was related to His Majesty: "What's wrong with you? Is it related to Monsignor Portia?"

Ferrante’s intuition is truly sharp.

Raphael immediately denied it: "No, it has nothing to do with him."

lie.

Ferrante protested silently in his mind.

He had interrogated many people and extracted information from many people. Detecting lies was his forte. How could he not detect such an obvious lie?

But he did not expose it because it was his Majesty who told the lie.

He always believed every word His Majesty said, no matter whether it was a lie or not.

"I'm thinking about the flood in the downtown area. This matter will be handed over to Dondol. You find two people to keep an eye on him." Raphael said.

"Okay." After a moment's silence, the wolfhound with long black hair smiled and obediently accepted Raphael's explanation.

The author has something to say:

This is the first time that a novice author has written a love story. Please support me. [Humble begging for food]

Those morbid and twisted emotions don't count. This is really the first time I've written this kind of normal pure love drama. I'm really a novice hahahahahaha

There is one more thing. I thought the winter vacation would be a little easier, but there are a lot of unexpected things during the Chinese New Year, such as buying New Year's goods, visiting relatives, and all kinds of miscellaneous things, all of which happened suddenly. I am the only one in my family who can drive, and I have to be asked to be a driver at any time, so the updates during this period will be very unstable. Maybe it's just fate... You should save it and read it after the fifth day of the Chinese New Year. It really hurts my conscience to make you wait every day [Fat Pigeon rubs his hands]