Chapter 35 Jadeite Gem (6)
◎Fire◎
They returned to the Orange Blossom Church before nightfall. Ferrante did not speak all the way, as silent as a shadow. Raphael accepted his silence tolerantly and told him some trivial things calmly, occasionally mixing in a little about Leah's past - Ferrante's attention was always caught by the Pope unconsciously. In fact, if Raphael deliberately wanted to make someone like him, no one could escape his charm.
Everything was normal in the Orange Blossom Church, and no one seemed to have noticed that the Pope had been missing for a short while. Raphael took off his wide cloak and walked along the dark and narrow stone corridor while talking to Ferrante who was following closely behind him with his head turned sideways. The churches, which were converted from monasteries, were built with huge gray stones. These magnificent and solemn buildings often had long arched corridors, tall and narrow windows, and spires that seemed to reach the sky. The interior was dimly lit and always lacked heat. As soon as you stepped through the door, you could feel the sudden drop in temperature and the smell of candles burning for years.
Walking in from the still damp and warm outside, Raphael immediately felt a pricking pain in his knees. The Orange Blossom Church was good in every way except that the temperature was not suitable for him to live in. However, he did not raise any objection, although his opinion would always be considered as the primary factor.
Ferrante took the long cloak from him, slung it over his arm, and followed the Holy Father. Then he stopped at the corner of the corridor - because the distinguished person walking in front of him suddenly stopped, and Ferrante was glad that he was not distracted, otherwise he would have bumped into him.
Turning the corner is the Pope's suite. Ferrante tilted his head and saw the reason that stopped the Pope.
At the door of the Pope's room stood a tall young man, wearing clean armor and holding a helmet in his hand, revealing his long golden hair. He looked like an ancient knight who had just walked down from an icon, radiating the virtues of integrity, purity and humility.
"Oh...shit." Raphael murmured.
Raphael's eyes wandered, and for a moment he wanted to turn around, but he quickly reacted - why should I be afraid of him? !
When he turned around to look at the other person again, Leshert also saw him and strode towards him.
"Your Majesty."
The knight saluted him, his forest green eyes under his golden hair were rich and transparent, the pure green was clearer than the finest emeralds.
He was looking at Raphael with disapproval with his extremely beautiful eyes.
"Your Majesty, where have you been? I didn't receive any notice from the monks about your going out.
Not in the room. I'm sorry I can't look for you in a big way. It's very dangerous outside. If you don't come back when the bell rings, I will consider blocking all the streets——"
Leshert spoke in a serious tone, and Raphael felt a little guilty, but his expression remained calm, and he simply avoided this dangerous topic: "What do you want to see me about?"
Leshet had a lot of things to do and didn't come to him often, which was why Raphael didn't tell him. It was purely a coincidence that he was caught this time.
"The Secretary General sent in Dr. Polly. There is also a letter from Roman." The upright Knight Commander answered the Pope's question obediently.
The letter, which was packed in a cowhide bag of appropriate size, still carried the knight's body temperature. Raphael took the letter, turned it over and checked it. The letter was well sealed, and there was a gold-plated rose and a long sword on the sealing wax, which was the royal emblem of Roman. The signature in cursive script below was tall and beautiful, with a sharp sense of arrogance.
It's a letter from Sangxia.
After leaving Florence, the princess still maintained a certain correspondence with Raphael. She seemed to regard Raphael as a trustworthy friend. In her letters, she talked to him about philosophy and art, or complained to him about the annoying nobles in the Roman court. Sometimes there were some gifts along with the letters.
Following the ancient royal rules, Sanxia also has female companions who grew up with her. These female companions are from the families of Roman powerful officials and great nobles. Becoming a princess's companion is extremely beneficial to their future marriages. Moreover, Sanxia has the title of Grand Duchess of Assyria and will be the Queen of Assyria in the future. However, Sanxia does not like these female companions who come to her for the sake of interests and rules. She has complained in letters more than once, "Even if they are willing to read something other than the Hail Mary and storybooks? I really don't want to talk to them about how to capture the heart of a handsome knight, nor do I want to study how to use belladonna to make pupils bigger and look pitiful - the number of people who died from belladonna in history books is enough to fill a palace, but they don't care at all!"
Raphael had to admit that he did not hate such correspondence, and he could even feel some relaxation in the process of talking with Sanxia. Sanxia was a very good chat partner. Her education gave her a rich reserve of knowledge. The queen cultivated her into a humble and confident person. She was happy to know all new knowledge, and was willing to listen to the smallest troubles and accept opinions that were different from hers.
Raphael took the letter in his hand and thanked Lesherte. The Knight Commander watched the Pope walk past him and said seriously: "If Your Majesty must go out, for the safety of you and Florence, please be sure to notify me."
Raphael sighed, "I promise, Knight."
After getting a satisfactory answer, Leshert smiled. This kind of pure handsomeness was enough to make all the ladies scream and faint.
Raphael pushed open the door expressionlessly and walked into the room. Polly was sitting in front of the fireplace, warming himself by the fire with a grin on his face. When he saw Raphael come in, the old man, with one hand still holding the fire tongs that he was fiddling with, quickly waved to him.
Raphael closed the door with his backhand, and Ferrante hid in the corner like a shadow. The young Pope walked over and bent down beside Poli. The old man, whose cheeks were red from the flames, glanced at him, his eyes fell on his legs, and sneered: "Are you feeling uncomfortable again?"
Raphael just smiled. The old man reached out and pressed hard on Raphael's legs a few times, cursed a few words, pulled two soft and fluffy cushions from the sofa and threw them in front of the fireplace, pointed at this simple "stool" and said, "Sit down."
Raphael sat down obediently - of course, one could not expect anyone sitting on the ground to have any manners. He bent one leg, while Polly held his right leg in his arms, squeezing and kneading it hard, as if it was a ball of dead dough that would not rise, being rubbed and kneaded by him roughly.
While rubbing the pork, Polly handed the tongs he had just held to Raphael: "It's almost done, pull it out quickly."
Raphael obediently took the tongs and poked it twice in the fireplace. He saw what Polly had buried in the gap under the firewood that was built into a spire: a few eggs, cabbage, and a piece of roast meat.
Raphael stretched out his hand, pulled down a few pieces of parchment from the table beside him, placed them on the ground, and carefully transferred the scalding eggs onto the paper one by one, then the roast meat and cabbage. The surface of the cabbage was covered with carbon ash, and the outer leaves had been burnt, looking black and disgusting.
Polly made a tut-tutting sound. "When I was in the East, they roasted chickens in the dirt and wrapped them in big leaves. They could stuff other vegetables into the chicken's stomach. Unfortunately, I didn't find a whole chicken in the kitchen - oh oh oh, wrap the meat in cabbage for me. Yes, thank you, dear."
Raphael broke off the charred outer layer of the cabbage, revealing the crisp and juicy leaves inside. He tore off a few leaves, cut the roast meat with a knife, rolled it in the leaves, and stuffed it into Polly's open mouth.
By the way, the knife he used to cut the meat was the same one that Sancha presented to him on behalf of the Assyrian Queen at the coronation ceremony.
Polly chewed the meat contentedly and nodded repeatedly. Raphael cracked the egg with a knife and peeled the eggshell lazily. The eggs just taken out of the fire were hot, and his fingertips soon turned red. Raphael only stopped occasionally to shake his hands, and continued to peel the eggs when he felt the pain had passed.
"I told Julius that you should just stay in the Papal Palace. Why did you come here again? It's not safe here." The fire in the fireplace flickered, making the Pope's long light blond hair sparkle, and his side seemed to be covered with a layer of gorgeous gauze.
Polly chewed the barbecue and rolled his eyes. "Unsafe?! Humph, you know it's unsafe?! I'm a doctor. Even if I have to die, I'd rather be the last one to die."
Raphael wanted to say something, but in the end he just smiled helplessly.
It was hard to hear, but he hoped with all his heart that it was true.
Many doctors in the lower city have died, including monks and nuns who assisted in treatment and cared for patients. These clergy who did their best to help people were the truly devout. They tried their best to reduce people's pain, but all the means only delayed their pace towards death, and could not bring them away from the shadow of death.
As Pope, Raphael could not stop their continued efforts and sacrifices. He even had to encourage this practice and call on more people to help others.
"Then why did you come here this time? Have you found any results on this disease?" Raphael peeled an egg, held it in front of him and observed it for a while, then took a small bite. He didn't hear Polly's answer, so he nodded knowingly, "- There are results, but the results are very bad, or you think I can't accept it, right?"
Polly twisted his face, stretched his neck and swallowed the roast meat in his mouth, secretly complaining that the meat was too hard, and cursed: "You are like a charlatan!"
Raphael didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and corrected him: "In a sense, I am the biggest charlatan on this land."
"I really hate people like you," Polly complained, frowning, "You can't hide anything from you - yes, I have an idea, but it's a bit bad."
"Please tell me, the doctor only needs to find a way to treat it, and I will bear the consequences." Raphael said calmly. He took another bite of the egg and was satisfied to find that the egg was at the right temperature and the yolk was not so dry.
"This method, uh, can't be called a treatment. We've studied it for a long time and can't find any treatment. Anyone who gets sick will only die. It's a fatal disease, so we changed our mind - this idea was provided by Mr. Julius, who asked us to think about how to stop the spread of the disease." Polly licked his lips. When it came to professional issues, this eccentric old man suddenly became reliable.
Raphael said nothing, just focused on eating the egg, but Polly knew he was listening.
"We...we tried many ways, and then found that maybe fire could stop it," Polly moved his body uneasily when he said this. This was a great blasphemy to religious people. The doctrine believed that fire was a punishment from God. Only those who were extremely evil and defiled by the devil needed to be purified by fire. The children of God should be buried in the ground with their bodies intact so that they could have peace after death. "People who died of illness should be burned with fire, including the items they used during their lifetime. The houses they lived in should also be thoroughly cleansed with vinegar water..."
Raphael listened to this shocking statement without any reaction and continued to eat the egg attentively, as if the egg in his hand suddenly possessed some kind of magical power, attracting the Pope to taste it carefully.
"The sick people must be completely isolated from the healthy people. Mr. Julius suggested that a church be specially built to accommodate them. This church should also be thoroughly cleaned and sealed off afterwards. The dead should be sent to a designated location for cremation and buried in the church cemetery..."
Polly stopped talking and showed a look of despair: "Oh my God, I can't imagine... This is too crazy, but we really have no other choice, Rafa, I know this is hard to accept, but, but..."
He couldn't say any more. As a person who had been influenced by doctrine since childhood, he couldn't express this suggestion so frankly.
The young Pope put the last bite of egg white into his mouth and carefully wiped the dust off his fingers. He looked very gentle and peaceful with his eyelids drooping, but this silence only made Polly more uneasy: "Listen, I know this is terrible and they won't accept it, but we have to find a way to save those who are not yet infected. We can't cure it..."
"Let's do it then." After wiping the last finger, the blond Pope raised his eyes and said lightly.
"Ah?" Polly, who had prepared a long speech to convince Raphael, stopped abruptly, his eyes widened, his mind still unable to wrap around the idea.
Raphael smiled at him and said, "You don't need to say so much, and your persuasion skills are really not that good."
Polly was so annoyed by this that his nose twisted: "What did you say?!"
Raphael looked calm, as if making such a big decision was just a piece of cake for him: "I will issue a papal decree to appease them, and the Knights Templar will be on standby at all times. Within three days, all those who died of the disease will be cremated and buried in the Vatican cemetery."
His words were cruel. Although it was Polly who proposed this suggestion, after hearing such a clear and serious approach, Polly still felt an inexplicable chill in his heart.
He remembered that when this suggestion was first made, all the doctors were distressed. They tried to find a better way, but were helpless. Finally, they could only submit this plan to Julius. The reaction of the patriarch Portia was very similar to Raphael. He listened carefully, thought about it, and then agreed.
Polly would certainly be happy about such an efficient pass, but it is undeniable that as a human being, he also felt fear.
They seem to be stripped of all human emotions, just weighing, considering, thinking, and then deciding.
Skip all the sentimental, struggle and sad processes and go directly to the end of rationality.
"That's why I say I really hate people like you." Polly murmured to himself complainingly.
It made him hate, fear and pity.
Raphael didn't know whether he understood the meaning of his words or not. The Pope didn't comment on this obvious remark of disrespect. He lowered his head and peeled another egg, handed it to Polly, and his smile was flawless: "Want to eat?"
Polly looked at him without any reaction, gnashed his teeth in anger, and shouted viciously: "...Eat!"
The author has something to say:
Sistine I's Diary: ...the eggs are choking and hot.
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