Chapter 63: Golden Ouroboros (Thirteen)
◎Sudden confession◎
Raphael felt that there was something wrong with the way François looked at him, but he had never been exposed to this kind of emotion since he was a child. Even though he noticed that François was a little abnormal, he didn't know what this abnormality was.
Calais prepared a banquet with great courtesy to entertain Raphael and Sancha. No one mentioned the assassination case of Francis IV at the banquet. Everyone was laughing and talking, as if this was a timely event.
The next day, the Calais delegation set out and finally arrived at the Castle of Hosanco successfully. This time the journey was smooth and they did not encounter any unexpected incidents.
The nobles of Calais and Roman also gathered in this remote town. The nearby castles and manors had been divided up by powerful nobles. The lesser nobles who were not qualified to move in could only find a way on their own. So tents were soon set up around the Castle of Hosanco, and flags embroidered with various family emblems fluttered in the wind. With the Castle of Hosanco as the center, the town was strictly divided into two districts, left and right. Calais and Roman were clearly separated by the castle. Raphael stood at the window of the castle and looked down, and found this scene particularly interesting.
Although it is called a castle, compared with castles built in prosperous places, the Hosanko Castle can only be regarded as superficial at best. The walls are peeling off due to erosion by wind and frost, and are covered with emerald green ivy. The gray-white main building has many potholes, and there is even a very obvious defect on the top of the tower. All the glass windows are newly replaced, and the windowsills are covered with velvet carpets, but you can also see the mold underneath that has not been wiped clean.
The servants tried their best to decorate this place magnificently and beautifully, but in Raphael's eyes, their efforts were undoubtedly like covering a skeleton crawling with maggots with gorgeous brocade.
The scale of Hosanko Castle is not very large. The three most important figures occupy a room on one side respectively. The entire Hosanko Castle is divided into three styles by distinctive decorations from the inside.
The engagement signing ceremony started quickly and ended quickly. Both François and Sancha were in no mood to procrastinate on the matter. All the negotiations and probing had ended long before. All they had to do now was to quickly sign this thing, which was called an engagement but was actually a covenant, so that they could get more capital to do what they wanted to do.
As a witness, Raphael naturally occupied the most important position.
Compared with the lengthy engagement letter that was more than ten feet long, this pledge letter only had a few lines of text, which listed the identities and names of the engaged couple in a standard format, as well as the agreement to never betray each other under the witness of the Holy Lord.
François and Sancha signed their names on the parchment, followed by Raphael.
The gold-plated feather pen felt cold in his hand. Raphael stared at the signatures of the engaged couple above, which had not yet completely dried, and signed his name in the witness column.
When he put down his pen, the cannon shots outside the Hosanko Castle blasted, and all the nobles in the room stood up, applauded and cheered, sending their sincere blessings to the newly-married couple. The nobles waiting outside the castle also smiled warmly and congratulated each other. They witnessed the birth of the most noble couple in the world, and everyone had a proud smile on their face.
Raphael left the joyous hall quietly and silently. He was not the protagonist at the moment, and the Pope's departure did not attract anyone's attention. However, a pair of hazel eyes in the crowd moved over like a shadow, silently watching him disappear at the door.
In the open space under the castle, a grand banquet had been set up to celebrate the completion of the engagement ceremony. Rare and expensive ingredients had been transported here continuously since the previous two days. It seemed that François IV had made up his mind to hold an unprecedented banquet here. The surrounding villages all received rewards from the emperor. For the first time in their lives, the poor people ate white bread without sand and bran, sizzling barbecue and sweet wine. Barrels of wine, mead and fruit wine were transported to every inhabited place for free, and they were allowed to fill and drink at will.
According to Sangxia's estimation, the cost of rewarding the surrounding villages alone reached tens of thousands of gold florins. When Princess Beligo mentioned this matter to Raphael in private, she frowned with heartache.
As Roman's princess, Sanxia is certainly not stingy with the money. Every one of the rare treasures in her hands is valuable. Every year, the total value of the birthday gifts given to her by the nobles can reach hundreds of thousands of gold florins. However, Roman is recently mobilizing troops for the Assyrian affairs. The expeditionary force across a long distance requires huge military expenditures. Even the Roman court has begun to tighten its belt to supply supplies to the front line. Amenra led his army to Assyria, and all logistical supplies and funding were managed by Sanxia. So Her Royal Highness the Princess also tasted the bitterness of being the head of the family.
Raphael thought of Sangxia's expression at that time and couldn't help but smile. This smile was like a flower floating in the water, which was soon washed away by the current. A hand holding a golden cup was handed to him, interrupting Raphael's thoughts.
The scarlet wine swayed in the golden cup, reflecting a shimmering light. Raphael saw his own face reflected in the water, staring at him hideously and twistedly in the ripples.
Raphael turned around without taking the golden cup. He looked at the person who appeared here at the moment with a puzzled expression: "Your Majesty? You should be down there accepting people's congratulations now."
François IV, dressed in his best attire, smiled shyly: "I'm not used to that kind of environment...Aren't you not participating?"
The emperor, who was adorned with gold and silver ornaments according to Calais' aesthetics, looked like a big golden doll. His long, thick hair like woolen curls was draped behind his back, and his soft and kind eyes showed the innocence of a deer. He did not look like an emperor with great power at all.
"I am not the protagonist of this event." Raphael said politely.
"You are so cold to me," the little emperor said softly, as if he was sighing, "but you are so affectionate to everyone around you, and my fiancée is also very close to you. Is there something I haven't done well enough to make you unhappy?"
Raphael frowned very quickly and explained subconsciously: "Please don't misunderstand me. I must solemnly declare that Her Highness Sangxia and I are just friends. She will be your most loyal wife. I don't want my existence to cause a rift in the harmonious relationship between you."
"It doesn't matter," Francois said, but he didn't seem angry at all, but inexplicably happy. "I don't mind it, but you call her by her name, but still call me Your Majesty."
The little emperor looked straight at Raphael, the meaning of which was self-evident.
Raphael was stunned for a moment, and the strange feeling in his heart became more and more obvious.
The pale-faced little emperor took another small step forward and handed the golden cup to Raphael. He said in a light voice, "When I was in Dudley, my teacher of religion mentioned you to me. Of course, as the Holy See of Florence, how could religious history omit you?"
François' eyes moved closer, breaking the social distance. The distance between the two was so close that they could almost feel each other's breathing. The smile on Raphael's face was already a little stiff. He looked at the noble emperor coldly, and the emperor seemed to be unaware of his hostility towards him: "We were born in the same year."↑
He changed the subject very quickly, like a hysterical patient grabbing those discrete fragments of thoughts in his own world.
"…We are the same age and in similar situations…How interesting. I have an uncle who wishes I would die immediately, and you also have a secretary general who controls everything about you. We are all puppets in the hands of others. We have to do whatever they tell us to do, Your Majesty the Emperor—ha, the Supreme Pope!"
He chuckled, and a sickly blush appeared on his snow-white cheeks: "Aren't we the same? I understand you, and you understand me, even though we have never met before, but in this world, I am you and you are me! Everyone around us wants to take fame and power from us, hyenas surround the throne, there is always poison in our wine glasses, and long knives hang over our beds——"
Raphael's expression changed instantly when he heard some of the words. He warned in a low voice: "Your Majesty!"
François not only did not stop, but he sped up his speech. The soft and sticky tones were mixed together vaguely, like sticky paste, the venomous tongue of a long snake, swimming into Raphael's ears cunningly: "What are you afraid of? Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. How could I hurt you... No one in this world loves you more than I do. I knew from the first moment I saw you that our souls are the same."
Raphael's expression changed completely. He took a step back suddenly, and his whole body was as stiff as a plaster statue. Shock, anger, and astonishment flashed across his lavender pupils. Francois looked at him steadily, holding the golden cup in front of Raphael, with a trace of hurt in his eyes: "You don't believe me?"
This is simply the ravings of a madman!
Because of the great shock he suffered, Raphael's language ability was temporarily lost. He never dreamed that one day he would face such a situation - his good friend and non-blood sister's fiancé expressed his love to him in front of him? !
Not only were they of the same gender, but they also had sensitive identities. One was the Emperor of Calais, and the other was the Pope of Florence. Raphael was extremely shocked and even wondered if this was just a silly joke. In the next second, Francis IV would show an expression of success. If so, Raphael was willing to forgive his offense - as long as he admitted that it was a joke!
But those light brown eyes were always looking at him with an overly devoted smile. At a certain angle, when the sunlight shone down, François' light brown pupils seemed to be covered with light gold, like the vertical pupils of a snake, filled with inorganic and cold spying. Raphael felt cold all over, as if he was taken into the hunting range of a snake hidden in the bushes and crawling. The strange feeling of being entangled and licked all over his body made him dizzy.
"You are drunk." Raphael finally said coldly, "You said some irrational words, I didn't hear clearly, I hope you will think about it carefully after you wake up. His Highness Sancha is still waiting for you downstairs, the nobles of Calais and Roman are waiting to send you blessings, and your uncle is also waiting for your return in Dudley - don't drink so much, Your Majesty."
He emphasized the force of his last few words, reminding François not to forget his identity.
The little emperor looked at him, his pupils slightly dilated, like a deer that had been kicked, with a thin mist filling his eye sockets: "Oh my God, how can you be so cruel to me?"
Raphael gasped in unbearable pain.
Is there something wrong with Francis IV's mental state?
"No, I'm fine. I'm fine." The little emperor's tone rose briskly. He seemed to have heard Raphael's thoughts and smiled.
He curved his eyes, and the way he smiled was very strange. Every muscle seemed to be overexerted. His two dark smiling eyes were hooked on his snow-white face, giving a strange and distorted feeling.
"Following His Majesty's teachings, I am sincere, kind, honest, and helpful," he smiled to himself, and when he looked at Raphael, his expression was filled with undisguised fascination, "I trust you as I trust myself. It doesn't matter if you don't believe me now, but you will eventually understand that we are the only two of our kind in this world. We are the same."
He raised his hand slightly, as if to touch Raphael, and the Pope took a step back again: "The engagement ceremony is over, my duty is done, and I will leave Hosanko tomorrow."
After Raphael finished speaking, he quickly turned and left the corridor, leaving the emperor standing alone by the window, staring blankly at his back.
"...What a wonderful soul, my other self in this world, my body left behind in a foreign land, my brother, lover, partner..." François mumbled incoherently, and suddenly laughed foolishly. He drank the cold wine in the golden cup, licked the wine on his lips with the tip of his tongue, and carefully restrained his overly exaggerated smile, like a monster hiding himself little by little in the human skin.
Raphael, who faced the biggest shock in his life, threw himself into the armchair. He was used to the sinister nature of human beings and the cunning of conspiracies, but it was the first time he had seen a situation like François... which dealt a strange mental blow to people.
He sincerely hoped that the little emperor was just going crazy and did not really have any extraordinary thoughts about him.
No, it doesn't matter if you have such thoughts. Raphael has no prejudice against same-sex love. The doctrine criticizes same-sex love in order to encourage fertility, but Raphael does not think that cracking down on homosexuality can increase the fertility rate. Ancient Rome also had the famous Holy Legion. At that time, homosexuality was a trend that swept the entire society. The tyrant Nero even married a male queen. In short, Raphael doesn't care who François likes.
But the prerequisite is that François can keep these outrageous ideas hidden quietly.
Most of the marriages among the nobles were for fun, and it was common for couples to have their own lovers outside. Sang Xia had been prepared for this. The purpose of their marriage was to gain the support of the other party's power. It would be ridiculous to talk about love, but there must not be a third party with the same power as them.
Leshet just happened to come to him to report some matters. When he entered the room, he saw the Pope sitting in front of the fireplace with a grim expression on his face. When he saw him come in, his frown did not relax.
"Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?" Leshert walked to the Pope and did not sit on the chair next to him. Instead, he subconsciously chose a position closer to the Pope, knelt on one knee beside him, and put one hand on the armrest of the Pope's chair - this was an overly intimate gesture, but because of the Knight Commander's overly upright posture and protective movements, Raphael did not notice anything wrong at all.
"No...nothing." Raphael denied quickly.
What Emperor Calais said to him could be described as a scandal that shook the world, and he couldn't tell the truth even to Sangxia.
"That's right. I was looking for you. Assemble the team. We will leave tomorrow. We will first go to Belico to rest and then return to Florence." The young Pope closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His long light golden hair fell on the chair. His face, which was always calm, looked a little haggard.
Lesherte asked in surprise, "So urgent? The celebration should last for several days. Isn't it inappropriate to leave now?"
Raphael gritted his teeth: "...Don't worry about it, I will explain it to Sang Xia."
Lesher noticed that he only mentioned Sangxia, but did not mention the other person he needed to say goodbye to. He kept this in his heart and nodded obediently: "Okay, I'll prepare it right away, you have a good rest tonight."
Raphael did not respond to him and remained in deep thought.
The author has something to say:
Raphael was scared to death by the little emperor's confession hahahahaha
He had never seen such an exciting scene in his entire life, and the innocent kitten was completely furious.
Also, please note the premise that the little emperor fell in love at first sight, he had heard of Raphael a long time ago!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
