Chapter 112 Extra 2: Duke of Lusen
◎Previous life◎
Redrick was sleeping on his lover's lap when he was shaken awake.
The noble young men of Redrick's age had nothing to do all day long, and their greatest pleasure was to hold various banquets for fun. Since they were born, they had obtained things that others could never get in their entire lives. They were born to stand at the top of the world and did not need to rack their brains for their future and wealth. Enjoying life was their main task.
A few days ago, a count in Florence passed away, and his young eldest son inherited all his wealth and status. The new count sent all his illegitimate brothers to the countryside and immediately held a small-scale celebration banquet - of course, he did not forget to invite Rederick, an important figure in the circle.
As a rare young man with the title of Duke, Rederic has noble ancestry and the blood of the ancient Roman royal family. He is very popular wherever he goes. When he was in the Florence Seminary, he was the center of attention of the academy. The young earl was once a member of his group of friends, so of course he would not forget to invite him to share the joy at this moment.
The banquet started in the afternoon and lasted until the early morning of the third day. It ended not because the banquet itself had reached its end, but because the monks who came out of the Papal Palace brought bad news and spread it in all directions.
"Sir, sir, please wake up." Redrick was awakened by a gentle and hurried voice. He opened his eyes drowsily and saw a pair of light blue eyes.
The Duke of Luxembourg was still unmarried in his twenties, but he had many lovers, both male and female. It would be a miracle for a young nobleman of this age to not have a lover. Redrick was not particularly devoted to one person, and his lovers were also very tactful and had no ambition to marry into the Portia family.
One of his most recent favorite lovers was chosen by him because of her beautiful long golden hair and gentle voice, and he always took her with him wherever he went.
Redrick turned over on his lover's legs irritably, not intending to pay attention to her, but his lover, who had always been very obedient, did not give up this time, or rather, she did not dare to let the servant with the stern eyes stand in front of her, so she mustered up her courage again: "Sir, please--"
Before she could finish her words, Redrick, who had a hangover from drinking too much and couldn't sleep well, sat up angrily and scratched his messy hair irritably, with a sleepy dark color in his eyes. He looked around, ripped off the jewel necklace from his lover's neck and threw it at the servant. The sharp edge of the necklace left tiny red marks on the other's face, and the bursting metal fragments made his lover scream involuntarily.
The scream was quickly swallowed into her throat because Duke Lusen glared at her sinisterly.
After being hit by the angry little master, the servant still stood there motionless, like a sculpture with no self. Redrick got angry when he saw such behavior. It made him always think of his venomous cousin, the monster that made him so scared that his hair stood on end.
"What's going on?" He asked, suppressing his temper, but couldn't help but sarcastically said, "He finally remembered that there's a scum here who needs his discipline, right?"
"An hour ago, His Holiness the Pope was called by the grace of the Holy Lord and has gone to heaven. Sir, please return to the Portia Palace. Florence may be a little chaotic in the future." The servant's tone was flat. He brought the news of the death of a monarch, but he himself was not sad about it.
On the contrary, Redrick, who had a headache due to alcohol, looked up suddenly when he heard the first half of the sentence and stood up. He didn't know whether the dizziness that followed was a physiological or psychological reaction. He stretched out his hand to support his lover's shoulder to steady himself and asked hurriedly: "What? Who? Who died? What happened?"
The servant repeated dully: "An hour ago, His Holiness Saint Sistine I was called by the Holy Lord."
Redrick's eyes widened.
It had never occurred to him—no, how could it be possible? His cousin protected that naive and stupid bastard so well, how could anyone bypass his cousin, the Uncrowned Lord of Florence, and kill the Pope? !
"How did he die? Was he sick? But I haven't heard of it..." Redrick felt that this guess was too absurd. He would rather believe that it was a sudden illness. Although the young Pope was only 27 years old, in this era, high fever and cold could easily take a person's life. Everyone is equal in the face of death, and even the Pope cannot escape.
The servant did not answer directly this time: "Please return to the Palace of Portia immediately. If you have any questions, you can get answers from the gentleman."
Redrick glanced at him. He was so shocked that he didn't resist too much. Instead, he followed the servant and left here in a hurry. After walking a few steps, he suddenly remembered something and turned to his panicked lover and said impatiently, "Go back first. I'll come to see you when I have time."
The girl wanted to say something, but after seeing his anxious eyes, she swallowed her words back. She knew very well that with the Duke's fickle personality, he would most likely never come to see her again, but what could she do? I can only pray to the Holy Lord to make him remember me as soon as possible - alas, even the Holy Father cannot bless me...
Redrick got on the carriage parked at the door. The emblem of the Portia family was hung on the carriage. The pedestrians and carriages on the street retreated to the sides when they saw the emblem. After Saint Sistine I wore the crown of Saint Leah, the patriarch of the Portia family, who became the secretary-general of the Papal Palace, had become the invisible monarch of the Papal States. This family had more power than the Papal Palace, and the gentle and benevolent Pope was just their puppet.
The carriage rumbled on the cobblestone road for a while before Redrick realized something belatedly. He opened the door and asked the servant driving the carriage, "Is there no bell at the Pope's Palace?"
The Holy Father was called by the grace of the Lord to ring the bells of the Papal Palace and the Cathedral eighteen times as soon as this fact was discovered, announcing this extremely sad news to the entire Papal States and the Syracuse Peninsula, but Redrick did not hear any sound.
"Yes," the servant replied, "the masters have something else to discuss."
Redrick was stunned for a moment and wanted to say something, but he didn't say it in the end.
Raphael, he dug out the person he hated the most in the past twenty years from his already vague memory and pondered over it again and again. He hated - even despised - this half-brother who was older than him. This was a fact that did not need to be confirmed repeatedly. But after learning of Raphael's death, he unexpectedly discovered that when he thought of him now, he did not hate him completely.
Perhaps death always brings people the deepest rationality, and all love and hate will be weighed equally in the face of death.
Then for the first time, Redrick calmly recalled the young man.
He first met Raphael more than ten years ago. At that time, he didn't know that he was his half-brother. He saw Raphael reading quietly in the garden. There is no doubt that the young Raphael already had the rudiments of his future exquisite beauty, but long-term malnutrition made him very thin. He was not as tall as Frederick and could be blown away by a gust of wind.
Redrick liked the handsome boy very much at first sight. He thought he was a servant's child and even thought about taking him to be his servant - being able to become a servant of a duke was such a reward worthy of gratitude.
However, his mother told him that this was his elder brother.
A half brother who is older than him.
It's such a huge joke!
Redrick was almost driven crazy by the news. He admired and adored his father and had a natural fondness for his mother, so he could not accept the culprit who had turned his parents' marriage into a joke.
What made him even more disgusted was that his father had stuffed this bastard into the Florence Seminary to study with him, and even let Julius be his teacher - even he was not qualified to do so! As Julius' legitimate nephew, he had never been recognized by the other party. Julius, who had been a genius since childhood and was the next head of Portia's family, had always disliked children like them. Even though there was not much difference in age between them, he never spoke to them in a friendly manner. But he actually accepted that illegitimate child of humble origin? !
Redrick didn't want to admit that he was jealous.
Raphael was always alone in the seminary and had few friends. Redrick strictly forbade anyone to associate with him. Everyone knew that Raphael was Redrick's minefield. Anyone who got close to Raphael would be isolated, and Raphael himself was of course the main target of Redrick's bullying.
Raphael did not stay in the seminary for long. He absorbed all the knowledge frantically. That madness made Redrick feel sick. He seemed to see a worm crawling out of the mud, eager to cleanse his skin, flesh, bones and blood, fill it with the spices and language of the upper class, disguise himself as a sociable aristocrat, and blend in with them.
But it is undeniable that no matter how much Redrick hates Raphael, Raphael has the ability to make everyone who comes into contact with him feel good about him.
They praised his intelligence, his kindness, and his erudition, as if his only stain was his illegitimate status as a child of unknown parents.
Raphael didn't stay in the seminary for long. The Pope asked him to study with him. This incident became another fuse that made Redrick furious. He lost his temper in front of his mother and smashed all the gifts his father gave him. He wanted to announce that he would leave the Portia family from now on, "Let that lowly bastard inherit his surname!"
Of course, he was punished by his mother - for the disrespect in his language towards his father.
Until his father's death, when Raphael was implicated and exiled to Cantrera Castle, Rederic continued to humiliate Raphael on every occasion he met him. Perhaps as he grew older, Raphael no longer talked back or fought back like he did in the seminary, but chose to avoid him more often.
This did not affect Redrick's growing disgust towards him.
This disgust was welcomed back to Florence by Raphael
He reached his peak when he became Pope.
For the first time, he overcame his respect and fear for Julius and had an unprecedented quarrel with Julius. Of course, it was a one-sided argument on his part, while his calm and rational cousin just sat in his armchair, holding his cane and listening indifferently.
Finally, seeing that he was exhausted from scolding, Julius rang the bell on the table, ordered the servant to pour him a cup of tea, and said coldly: "Have you had enough of making trouble? If you have, get out. If you see him outside in the future, treat him with the respect you would give to the Holy Father."
Redrick's face was distorted, and he was shaking with anger. He squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "Then I'll wait and see how you guys kill him. It's his bad luck to meet you."
He slammed the door and left, and from then on refused to attend any ceremonies and banquets organized by the Papal Palace. Anyway, he would not be there when Raphael was there. Everyone in Florence knew that the Duke of Luxembourg was not on good terms with the Pope, and no one would be so tactless as to mention Raphael in front of Redrick.
However, with so many people in Florence, news about Raphael would still find its way into Redrick's ears.
So he was forced to know a lot of news about Saint Sistine I, how people loved this young and beautiful pope, they praised him for having a brilliant face like the archangel in the lower left corner of the Holy Lord, he would listen to everyone's troubles gently and patiently, he was willing to spend a whole day praying for a seriously ill child, he would nonchalantly get off the gorgeous carriage and hold a pair of skinny hands, he would read a passage from the Bible to the believers, explaining the meaning of every word...
He has a very good reputation among the people, and everyone who mentions him is full of praise. They say that he is the most knowledgeable and upright Pope in the history of Florence, and a snow-white pearl in the strict and chaotic Vatican.
Compared to them, Redrick certainly knew more. There had been constant friction between Calais and Roman in the past few years, and the surrounding small principalities were worried about it every day. Although the Papal State possessed supreme divine power, it was essentially a country with a weak army and a small area. The young Pope had to maneuver and reconcile between several countries many times. It was hard to say whether the reason why there had not been a war between Calais and Roman was because of the Pope's balance.
It is said that during a private meeting with the envoys of Calais and Roman, the usually gentle Saint Sistine I uttered a threat for the first time: "If your monarchs insist on launching a war that sweeps across the Syracuse Peninsula, then I can only restart the Holy War in the name of the Holy Lord."
Redrick hated Raphael, but he had to admit that he quite liked this sentence.
If nothing unexpected happens... If nothing unexpected happens...
The vibration of the carriage stopping brought Redrick back to reality from his memories. The Duke, wearing a long stiff silk coat, jumped up from the carriage, pushed away the hand of the servant who came to support him, and strode up the high steps.
There was already a maid waiting at the door. When she saw him coming back, she showed a relieved expression and came forward to take off his wrinkled coat. "Madam is waiting for you in the room."
Redrick raised his brows: "Are all the others back?"
It's no wonder he asked this question. Every time a pope dies and a new pope has not yet been elected, Florence is in chaos. This period of time is called "the time when the Holy Lord abandons the world." During this period, the Holy Lord will not pay attention to the world, and any crimes committed at this time will not be seen. Looting, smashing, and burning are common occurrences.
"Everyone is back, except the sir and Master Kane," the maid replied.
It is normal that Julius is not here. Raphael is dead. As the uncrowned king of Florence who pushed Raphael to the throne of Pope, he must have a lot of things to deal with. But why is Kane not here?
Redrick thought about it for a moment, and immediately remembered that Kane was now the only bishop of the Portia family. It seemed that Julius wanted him to follow Raphael's old path and send him to the throne of Saint Leah.
Duke Lusen sneered and changed his mind: "I'm going to the Pope's Palace."
The willful Duke never accepted other people's opinions. What he said was an order. In the absence of Julius, no one in the Portia family could control him, so he successfully reached the Papal Palace and walked smoothly into the inner court without anyone stopping him.
He met Julius walking out with Kane in the Grand Gallery.
At first glance, he hardly recognized that the man in front of him was Julius, who was always so superior and at ease.
There was nothing unusual about his appearance, except that his face was pale and ugly, his expression was unusually cold, and the deep purple eyes behind his glasses were stripped of their previous mask-like smiles. They were as sharp as a knife, cutting the flesh of everyone who looked at him. But perhaps it was some kind of blood connection, Redrick looked at him and felt as if he was half destroyed, and the remaining half was standing precariously in the ruins.
It's a very mysterious feeling.
Redrick stared at him for two seconds, and it was only a moment later that Julius noticed him - this was also something that would have been impossible before.
“Why are you here?” Julius frowned, a little impatient, “I’m busy now, go home first.”
Redrick glanced at Kane, who was always smiling just right, and his stomach churned. He hated Raphael and didn't have a good impression of Kane, who always had two faces. "I heard that guy died."
Julius’ expression remained unchanged, like a frozen iceberg, and he said briefly and quickly, “Yes.”
Such a neat answer made Redrick pause, and then he made small talk: "Why don't you ring the bell?"
Julius said indifferently, "Once the cardinals have made a preliminary agreement on the candidate for the new pope, the bell will be rung."
He spoke very quickly, and Redrick couldn't help but laugh: "I said, it's bad luck for him to meet you."
This time, Julius said nothing, and didn't even look at him. His hard profile was like eternal frost. He left Redrick behind and walked away quickly without any of his usual polite goodbyes. Such behavior was simply unbelievable for him, like some kind of unbearable escape.
Redrick watched the fluttering corners of his robe disappear in the porch, then turned and walked towards the Pope's bedroom.
He was very familiar with this place. When his father was Pope, he often came here. After Raphael came to the Papal Palace, he came here less often. After his father passed away, this was the first time he came here in so many years.
There is no one guarding here.
Redrick stood at the door for two seconds and laughed sarcastically.
As the Pope of Florence, no matter how glorious he was during his lifetime, this was the fate he would suffer after his death.
He pushed the door open with one hand, and the strong smell of spices mixed with the faint smell of blood hit him in the face.
This bloody smell was obviously not something that a deceased person would have. Just because he hated Raphael did not mean he was happy to see him being brutally murdered.
Redrick stood at the door for a while, and suddenly felt that everything was extremely boring.
All the emotions thrown into the black hole were pulling him down empty. What was the big deal whether he looked at it or not? He was just a dead person. All hatred and disgust disappeared at the moment of his death. After all, there was no grudge between them that had to be taken to the grave. Raphael could not choose his birth, just like he could not choose his death.
A poor man.
Redrick smiled and gently closed the door he had pushed open, bidding silent farewell to his half-brother whom he had never acknowledged through the door.
May you rest in peace in the arms of God.
Duke Lusen turned around and walked down the steps lazily, remembering that he hadn't been on vacation outside the city for a long time. Perhaps this was a good opportunity. There seemed to be a lover who he hadn't seen for a long time at the villa, singing very nicely... He thought about hounds and picnics in his mind, and by the way, he thought about how much Julius would spend to buy a papal crown for Kane. The last bid emptied half of the Portia Bank, but in recent years, the Portia family has been frantically making money under the name of the Pope, and the money spent is just a drop in the bucket. After Kane takes office, the Portia family will be able to prosper for many more years...
These had nothing to do with him, a lazy duke. All he had to do was eat, drink and have fun, and when the time was right, marry a wife of equal status to fulfill his mission.
Of course, he would be careful not to give his future wife the trouble of having an illegitimate child.
When he reached the gate of the Papal Palace, he heard melodious bell sounds coming from the tall bell tower. The slow, long and heavy bell sounds echoed throughout Florence. The monks who brought the news were dressed in black robes, like ominous ravens, carrying the news of the Pope's death to every corner. The history books would write the name of the deceased, but what kind of judgment and evaluation it would give him was not what Redrick cared about.
At this point, a short era slowly came to an end with the sound of bells.
The author has something to say: ☆
After I died, it’s time for a separate extra chapter, so I’ll write about the story of my previous life.
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