Chapter 134 Heart of the Storm (Twenty-one)
◎Birthday◎
The spring of the Christian calendar year 1086 arrived in such a turbulent time.
To everyone's surprise, after the noble rebellion of the Papal States broke out, Saint Sistine I of Calais did not return to Florence immediately. He only sent a few letters from Tudor to Assyrian Gunda. The letters did not even mention anything about Theon VIII. But it was this indifferent attitude that made it seem that he did not take Theon VIII seriously.
Everyone - even Pope Tion VIII himself - recognized from the bottom of their hearts the rule of Saint Sistine I over the Papal States. They were all waiting for an outcome, an outcome that would inevitably see Raphael win.
However, Raphael did not take any action. He acted as if he was completely unaware of the chaos in the Papal States and continued to stay peacefully in the palace of Dudley.
In the winter of 1085, the winter festival was over.
No one really thought that he knew nothing about the situation in the Papal States. They firmly believed that Raphael's composure at the moment was definitely the result of a bigger and more terrifying conspiracy. Perhaps when he returned to the Papal States, the Church and the nobles would face an unprecedented purge. Some people who were frightened by their own speculations even fled to other countries secretly, determined to never set foot on the land of the Papal States again.
Among all the betrayers, the one who bore the greatest pressure was undoubtedly Tyn VIII.
This target who had completely raised the banner of rebellion against Saint Sistine I had been restless for several months. Although the entire Papal State nominally submitted to him and the Holy See also obediently respected him as the Holy Father sitting on the throne of Saint Leo, Tion VIII could not feel at ease no matter what.
He didn't even dare to live in the Papal Palace, where traces of Raphael were everywhere. Ferrante was notorious, and he was terribly afraid that this assassin would rush out from a secret door and cut his throat.
So after successfully taking over the crown of Saint Lea, less than a month later, Tion VIII moved out of the Papal Palace and returned to the Lombardi Palace where he lived when he was a cardinal. In order to save face, he used the Lombardi Palace as the Pope's palace to prove that he did not "flee in panic."
Although everyone could see that the Pope was a weakling, this made the nobles look down on this new crown who was only in good shape.
On the contrary, the three sons of Tyn VIII disobeyed their father's harsh reprimands and happily moved into the Papal Palace, thus confirming the fact that the Papal States belonged to the Lombardy family.
Another person who was as uneasy as Tyn VIII was the Portia family.
They were divided into two factions. One side believed that they should reconcile with the Holy See as soon as possible to resolve the current chaos in Florence, while the other side believed that they should fight the Holy See resolutely to the end until the winner was decided. The only consensus reached by the two sides was that they should immediately show their loyalty to Raphael.
No matter why they stood against the Vatican, they firmly stated that they were loyal to Raphael! The fight with the Holy See was to free Raphael from this huge burden. In short, everything was for Raphael!
This letter expressing feelings arrived in Dudley half a month after the chaos, but until the spring of 1086 came to Florence, the Portia Palace had not received a reply from Dudley.
Such silence frightened them beyond words.
Human joys and sorrows are not shared. Dudley, far away in Calais, is not affected at all by the current tension in the Papal States. When February came, they held a grand birthday celebration for their new emperor. The whole city was plunged into boiling joy. Thanks to the Calais royal family who used to love luxury and pleasure, the residents here are very good at enjoying celebrations. In the past few months since Dudley changed hands, no large-scale celebrations have been held, making the residents, who are tired of holding back, eager to show their skills immediately.
All the windows and railings facing the street were tied with colorful ribbons and flowers. The streets were lined with fresh flowers. Every fifteen street lamps, a municipal commissioner would carry a wine barrel to distribute wine. The whole Dudley exuded an intoxicating atmosphere of joy.
Raphael handled the opening dance as usual, dealt with the ministers he had to deal with for an hour, and then found an excuse to leave the hall.
Instead of spending time dealing with others, he would rather go back and see what gift Sang Xia sent him.
Roman's gift-giving team had arrived in Dudley a few days ago. Raphael was busy with official duties and had forgotten to go and see it. Ferrante did give him a list, but he put it aside and only remembered it now.
The monarch, who will officially be twenty-nine after today, walked along the garden path, distracted by Roman's recent situation, and his thoughts quickly jumped to Sangxia's birthday.
Sanxia is three years younger than him and is 26 this year. The queen's birthday is in the middle of the year. I heard that in recent years, people in Rome have been very concerned about the queen's marital status. It was better when Francis IV was alive, but when the little emperor passed away, the subjects in the Roman court and the public were almost crying with anxiety. According to the average life expectancy of this era, Sanxia is now an elderly mother. If she doesn't get married, I'm afraid those subjects will die for her advice.
Raphael frowned unhappily when he thought of this. After Syracuse completely surrendered to Raphael and Sancha, everyone realized belatedly that this pair of siblings, who were related by Queen Amenra, actually held such enormous power, especially since they were not even married yet!
As far as Raphael knows, almost all independent political entities, including the Principality of Pompadour and the Duvisi Federation, have tentatively sent proposals to Sanxia. In fact, Raphael is a more attractive choice, but the image of this young monarch in their minds is too bloody and fierce, so they would rather explore Sanxia's way first.
Raphael asked his sister's opinion in a vague way. The young queen replied quickly and frankly stated that she would not get married. As a female ruler, she had an absolute advantage over male rulers - she could easily have an heir of her own bloodline without any complicated confirmation method.
So the queen said shockingly: "...I will choose a lover who suits my heart, and then give birth to my own child. I don't have to endure a bad marriage and a philandering husband, and I can also cultivate an heir who absolutely suits my heart. Holy Lord, if you were my sister, I sincerely recommend this superior way to you..."
Raphael...what else could Raphael say.
He was genuinely happy that his sister had found a way to make herself happy.
It is true that Sang Xia's behavior will certainly be fiercely criticized, and perhaps they will even label her with a bad name, accusing her of being promiscuous and vulgar... But seriously, which noble couple doesn't have their own lover after marriage? What they couldn't tolerate was that Sangxia had escaped from the marriage shackles imposed on women by men, making them lose the only tool that could restrain the queen.
In a marriage, which party actually benefits has always been a debatable issue.
And Sang Xia directly overturned this weird game table created by a man.
Raphael didn't mind the possible scolding, because Sangxia wouldn't mind either, and being scolded wouldn't cause any harm. More importantly, no idiot would dare to scold them in person, so it wouldn't be a big deal to show a little insignificant tolerance.
So this good brother sincerely wrote to his sister to ask what kind of men she liked, and he would help her find one that met the requirements.
Even though they curse the queen for her promiscuity, when faced with the opportunity to become the queen's lover, which man would give up?
After the letter was sent, Raphael's birthday arrived before he received a reply.
The reception room was already filled with boxes of all sizes. Ferrante was leading people to count the gifts and choose the appropriate way to display them. The gifts had already been checked when they were delivered, and what they were doing now was to show them to the owners of the gifts.
As Raphael entered the room, he was dazzled by the dazzling array of jewels. He paused, walked in calmly, and picked up a huge ruby necklace that was placed on the cushion at the entrance.
The necklace inlaid with diamonds and surrounded by rubies looked like a flowing galaxy in his hand. Raphael took a look and threw this priceless jewelry back onto the cushion. Placing it in this position showed that it was just the worst of these gifts.
As soon as he walked over, a maid wearing gloves carefully placed the necklace back on the cushion and left with the gift that His Majesty was obviously not very interested in.
Sapphire rings, gold swords, ancient parchment holy books, bones said to be the remains of saints, exquisite handicrafts...all kinds of intricate and gorgeous utensils, jewelry, and works of art are displayed in this room like worthless commodities. It can be seen that the royal families of various countries have racked their brains to take out the best things in their bottom drawers, and they don't ask to show their faces in front of Raphael, but only hope not to be hated.
Many times, doing well may not be remembered, but doing poorly will definitely be remembered. This is the same logic as the answer to “how to avoid being eaten by a bear”: just run faster than your companions.
But this can easily lead to a not-so-good consequence, because when you don’t know how well your companions will do... you can only try your best.
No one wants to be remembered by the new master of Syracuse.
When Raphael saw an ancient golden laurel crown, he stopped and looked at it for a long time, then laughed. Ferrante, who was not far away, heard the laugh keenly. His ears moved and his sharp eyes were cast at the innocent and pitiful golden laurel crown: "What's wrong, Raphael? Is there something wrong with the crown?"
When he said this, he had already recalled the origin of the crown. The list recorded that it was sent by the leader of the Duvisi Federation. He was just waiting for Raphael to casually express his dissatisfaction, and Ferrante was about to put the pen of vengeance on the unfortunate Duvisi Federation.
"No... I just remembered that when I was a child, the Duvisi Federation seemed to have held an exhibition for this crown. It was said that it was the only crown of Caesar that existed in the world. That year, the Papal States also invited it to be exhibited in Florence, but it was rejected by the Duvisi Federation."
This matter was neither big nor small. Delacroix did not take it to heart after being rejected, and Raphael thought he had forgotten it long ago. But when he saw the crown today, he suddenly remembered this little episode.
The monarch held up the crown that was said to have belonged to Caesar with both hands, his eyes lingering on the golden laurel leaves. He looked at it for a while, put it down, and said in a relaxed tone: "After returning to Florence, put it in Vitalian III's storage room."
He didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with it, nor did he care how the Duvisi Federation would react when they found out about it. *
Ferrante took note of this, bent down and picked up a huge box: "Come and see this."
Raphael had the rare patience to move closer, and was blinded.
Inside the box were flowers of various colors, the only difference was... these various varieties of flowers were all carved from gemstones.
The whole gem was carved into a flower, with gold and silver as the flower stems and leaves. There were probably hundreds of flowers in a box. Even Raphael was surprised by such a large amount of money: "...Which prodigal son?"
Ferrante's face twisted and she handed him a card tucked inside a bouquet of jewels.
——May your beauty last forever like a flower.
The signature is in Sang Xia's upright and flying handwriting.
Raphael: ...
For the first time, he experienced the unpleasant feeling of holding on to a troublesome brother or sister.
After a long silence, he added dryly, "Not bad, it looks good and has good taste."
Ferrante laughed glumly. Raphael glared at him and pulled out a rose from the jeweled bouquet. The ruby used to carve the flower was rich and bright in color, crystal clear and restrained. The flower was even sprayed with rose essential oil, making it look no different from a real rose except for the feel.
Raphael inserted the jewel rose into Ferrante's collar, patted his chest, and said seriously: "Watch your mouth, sir."
Ferrante cooperated, pressed the rose, and lowered his head: "Yes, Your Majesty."
Raphael took another look at the bouquet of gemstones and picked up a parchment scroll beside it. "How is Florence now?"
When it comes to business, Ferrante's face becomes serious, but there is still a smile in his blue eyes: "It's still very chaotic, but we have received letters of surrender from most of the nobles."
Raphael gently closed the parchment scroll: "It's time to go back."
He looked out the window at the dark night sky and suddenly asked, "We will be in a lot of trouble when we go back this time. Will you leave me for this, Ferrante?"
Ferrante seemed very relaxed: "Where can I go without you? From the moment I kneel at your feet, everything I have is destined to be dedicated to Saint Sistine I."
Raphael put down the orphan book and ran his fingers across the tattered page. "Okay, we'll go back to Florence next month."
Back to where it all began, back to the place of his nightmares... and the throne.
The author has something to say:
It’s Rafa’s birthday! Let's wish Rafa a happy birthday together!
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