Chapter 41 Looking Up at the Stars
◎ With a click, the lid of the box was gently unscrewed and placed on the stool in the corridor.◎
Pasha, Pados stepped onto the mountain and looked up at the boundless starry sky.
It was late, and not a cloud could be seen in the sky. As he gazed at the stars after the sunset glow faded, a sense of distant emptiness lingered in his mind: What kind of existence is humankind in this world?
According to the Pantheon, the world is a giant square box with stars inlaid on the top and mountains and seas at the bottom. The gods' residence floats above the human world.
He visited ancient clans, some of whom said that the world was supported by twelve pillars, pulled by giant beasts, and that the sea of clouds in the sky was the mist surrounding the pillars.
The learned teacher proposed another view. When he was drunk, he said: Maybe the world we live in is round, like a chaotic egg. The sun and the moon are also round, and the eggs are floating in nothingness.
Maybe there is a stone in the void, with a rope tied to it, and the rope pulls the egg to keep spinning.
"…What are those stars?" His mumbling fell into the wind.
"Stars? Stars are just a bunch of spheres. Of course, they're not perfect spheres. Their surfaces are bumpy."
“…Have you seen it?!”
Padus was startled and stared at Melia who was sitting on the stone and wiping the moss with her sleeve.
"No, I've heard others say that. Different celestial bodies have different environments. Even if we only look at the planets in our solar system, the individual ones are quite different." Melia stretched. "A simple telescope isn't difficult to make, but an astronomical telescope is quite difficult... If we make one, we'll put the first one in the academy's observatory."
She only remembered now that the telescope required the use of convex lenses and concave lenses, which were related to focus and refraction, and required very high polishing requirements.
Fortunately, glass production had a large market in cities such as Rome and Greece. Every wealthy person needed a lot of glass, and craftsmen had plenty of time and resources to study it.
A telescope, as the name suggests, is a mirror used to observe distant objects. Pardos once again gazed up at the starry sky. "Meliya, remember what you said today. If it's a lie, you'd better admit it now, otherwise I will seek revenge on you for the rest of my life."
The hope surging in his heart was too intense. Pados understood his own personality. If he allowed this passion to continue burning, but knew in the future that everything was a lie, it would surely burn out.
"You're right, it's wrong to make empty promises." Melia rubbed her waist and stood up. She picked up a branch and wrote a line of characters on the ground:
F=G (m1xm2)/R2, note: formula of universal gravitation.
"What's this?"
"The law of universal gravitation was proposed by a sage named Newton."
Melia walked to the big tree and tapped it gently, and the leaves fell.
"Calculating the forces acting on a falling leaf requires a lot of consideration. All I can tell you is that the Earth itself has gravity, which is as indispensable as the buoyancy of air or water. The astronomical telescope may have to wait a long time, and this—hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?!"
Ding ding ding, ding ding ding.
Pardos had already carved his words into the stone with his chisel. He looked up, this time not at the starry sky, but at Melia. "I asked a lot of people when I got home yesterday, and they said you were seeking fame and fortune on the battlefield as one of Athena's favorites. I scoffed at that."
He believed in gods, but not any of the widely spread religious sects. He believed in the existence of a "Creator" and was unwilling to place his faith in "a certain god" as his followers called him.
Melia was Athena's chosen one? Don't make him laugh. If Athena really existed, given her legendary personality, she wouldn't sit idly by and watch humans continue to explore areas that the gods forbid them to know.
Was Melia trying to gain fame by being a God-favored? It was quite possible that her reputation was so bad that using the name of God to prove her innocence was a common practice.
However, Pardos believed everything he heard and saw.
He believes in knowledge and truth. No matter what form God appears in, as long as He is willing to share His unimaginable power and wisdom, Padus is willing to offer his piety.
"Hahaha, don't think too much... These are all the knowledge recorded in the scroll. I'll show it to you later." Melia gestured with great pressure.
"Okay, I'll wait."
He had to see it. Without putting away his stone knife, Pardos pointed at the first F and said, "Please tell me what this symbol means."
…
One day three days later, the temperature in the palace suddenly rose.
Slaves were carrying linen in the courtyard to drive away the last batch of mosquitoes in autumn, while their noble master was lying under a vine trellis not far away, using the dense plants to provide shade.
The previous class was philosophy, and the Greek scholar had a great conversation with the students. But he was so old that he drank only three glasses of wine and water and passed out drunk on a recliner.
Everyone was happy and relaxed, turning the philosophy class into an afternoon tea party. Beautiful young men and women knelt or lay prone in the middle of the couch, peeling fruit for their masters, wiping off their sweat, and listening attentively to their endless chatter.
"Hey, Gellius, how did you become Melia's sidekick?" A young woman with long, flowing hair smiled and pointed at the handsome boy beside her. Her skin was dark, revealing her barbaric ancestry south of Egypt. Normally, such a complexion wouldn't be popular in Rome, but Illite was the daughter of a wealthy Egyptian and a Roman senator, and there was a long line of people eager to support her.
Gellius smiled politely: "No way." He said in a gentle voice, and produced a white five-petal flower from his sleeve and handed it to Ilite's arms.
"Bah, you're still lying to me." Ilitte dropped the flower and turned her head away shyly. "Yesterday, I sent my personal maid out shopping. She saw you following Melia, carrying bags and bags, and you were laughing and chatting all the way!"
More and more people noticed their argument, and everywhere there was the rustling sound of couches approaching. Even Elena, who was usually cold and distant towards them, lowered the tip of her sword and walked under the tree to wait for the details.
Seeing that there was no way to get away with it, Gellius had no choice but to sit up straight and say, "Well, my dear Ilit, you know, my family is not as wealthy as yours. We have to earn our money through hard work."
If anyone else had said this, it would have been laughable. The Roman tycoons hated anything that would only enhance others' prestige and diminish their own. However, the Gellius family had a tradition of making money quietly. Their ancestors had made their fortune in livestock farming, initially raising chickens and pigs. It was said that several generations of their family had mixed blood with the outlying herders.
If it were the Artetips family, they would be eager to wipe out all previous events after becoming rich, and even rewrite the family tree to mix in some prominent "relatives".
The head of the Gellius family did not do that. Even when he was drunk he would "boast" that his ancestors were the best at raising cattle and sheep, and that they had multi-national bloodlines.
In addition to their traditional farm operations, their main business has now changed to using oxen and horses to transport large goods and contracting house construction.
Ilit clinked his glasses together in displeasure. "Really? How big a house is Melia planning to build? You'll need to run around and support it. Last time she whipped your Meinu in public, I thought you'd swear to be irreconcilable with her."
"Heh, heh." Gellius just smiled. Menuer, in Illite's mouth, was helping pass things to them at their feet, and would be kicked by Illite from time to time.
If we talk about irreconcilable enemies, Illite has fought more times than them.
If you don't explain it, Ilit will get angry.
Gellius picked up his cup and changed the subject: "I used to dislike her, but don't you think Melia has changed a lot? A few days ago, she brought Mr. Pardos to see my dad and discussed cooperation in a friendly tone."
"Cooperation? What can she bring to the table for cooperation? What else can Melia do besides spending money? If your father can't get twice as much gold, he'll be generous." Ilitte was a little disdainful. After all, she knew a little bit about business. With Melia's poor IQ, it would be a miracle if she wasn't sold out by old Gellius.
"Hahaha, who knows~ Anyway, she and my dad were locked in a room, chatting mysteriously about something, and when he came out, he told me to treat Melia well."
Gellius half-seriously answered, because he was not the eldest son in the family, but he had a good-looking face, and some people jokingly called him "Adonis".
Few people knew that the family business would be handed over to him gradually in the future...
"Come to think of it~ Melia seems to have really changed a lot." The girl who interrupted was of a lower status than them and was the daughter of a general.
To please her friends, she searched her memory: "When she came here a long time ago, she would wear a bright red dress every day and wear such thick gold bracelets on her feet. Now she seems to prefer pearls and gems the size of rice grains."
The general was kind and generous, especially willing to support disabled soldiers, so his only daughter had to share her jewelry with her mother, and sometimes she had to give her favorite skirts to her cousins.
So the girl has always been very concerned about other people's dressing. In her opinion, the change in Melia's appearance was so huge that it was impossible to ignore it.
"Well, judging by this, Melia is poor?" Ilit frowned again after saying this. "Not really. She donated half a street to the temple, and..."
When it came to returning, Ilitte shrewdly stopped talking: "Forget it, let's not keep talking about her. Let's play chess. We have to go to the martial arts arena this afternoon. I'm sweating all over. I need to soak in rose water for a long time."
"Did I just hear rose water?" a cheerful voice echoed from a distance. Everyone present froze for two seconds before slowly connecting with Melia through their vision.
Oh my god, it really is Melia! Has it been too long since they last saw her? They can't even make out such a clear voice!
The girl emerged from the midday sun, her jeweled gold slippers replaced with espadrilles, making only a rustling sound as she walked. Ilit immediately noticed the smoothness of her skin: Melia had always worn heavy red and purple dresses, a display of Muala's wealth.
Today, she only wore a red cloth with gold thread on her shoulders, which made her skin look even whiter and smoother like milk.
Perhaps it was the girl's reminder that made them look at Melia's outfit before finally noticing the exquisite wooden gift box in her hand: compared with Melia, who could be described as plain, this box was embellished with elegant floral patterns carved on all four sides, and gems were used instead of the stamens.
Everyone was waiting for Ilit to strike. Who didn't know she hated Melia the most? If Melia liked to target Elena, then Ilit was definitely the one who liked to target Melia.
Ilit is clever and arrogant, always finding ways to make Melia lose face. But Melia, relying on Muala's power and her own shamelessness, exacts revenge.
What would happen next? Would they end up tumbling into the lake like last time, or would Illite crush them unilaterally?
"Ilite, I heard that your family is the best at cosmetics. After all, your mother is the most famous artist in Egypt~" Melia opened the wooden box in her hand first.
Humph, you think you can paralyze me with just some flattery? Is there a dead mouse or a severed slave finger in there?
Ilit had made up her mind that even if Melia wanted to show her goodwill and filled a box with gold, silver and jewels, she would not be a fool and would definitely make her cry with her tail between her legs!
With a click, the lid of the box was gently unscrewed and placed on the bench in the corridor.
The interior was meticulously divided into six compartments, each with a different shape. The largest compartment held a long, flat box, while the others held small brushes, circular cloths, and even a small box that turned out to be a transparent glass bottle!
Melia gently opened the cork of the glass bottle, and a fresh rose fragrance filled her face. Illite's mother was a famous wealthy woman in Egypt. She loved rose water the most, and even used it as a token of love.
Naturally, everyone knows that Ilit likes the scent of roses the most.
Ilit's lips trembled at the refreshing fragrance. God knows what kind of hard struggle she went through in these few short seconds.
Finally, she raised her head arrogantly and leaned towards the couch: "Tell me, what do you want from me?"
The author has something to say:
Thanks to Tan Tianyang for his deep thoughts~ Thanks to Asong, Clear Tomato Pork Ribs Soup, jgbvgyfch, and Lei Lei under Luomu Xiaoxiao~!
Thanks to Doubi Xiaomushi, Quanxue, Bo Yan, and Xiaolu Dingding for their support~
I'm really super happy today! And tomorrow is September~ As promised before, I will update three times every weekend in September~ The specific time should be Saturday and Sunday at 6:00, 9:00, and 12:00, muah~ It feels like my draft box will be empty after I finish updating, but I still have to work hard to update (wipe away happy tears)
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