Chapter 7 Misty Rose (VII)
◎Meeting in the library◎
Julius withdrew his hand and pulled down Raphael's clothes to cover his legs. He pressed the steaming sheepskin water bag on his knees and finally covered him with the ermine blanket.
Raphael watched him slowly turn down his folded sleeves and smooth out the wrinkles on his clothes. When he was done, the patriarch of Portia took the cane that was leaning against the table.
“Empty assumptions are meaningless fantasies.” Julius did not make any categorical denials or promises, but said matter-of-factly, “What answer do you want from me? That I will never betray you? That I will always be loyal to you?”
He suddenly smiled, and his tone became softer than ever before.
"Rafa, you are my student. I taught you politics, history, literature, how to gain the most benefit in the struggle... I also taught you not to trust anyone."
Julius looked at the young Pope with a complicated expression, and his voice was as soft as a feather brushing: "Have you forgotten?"
Such a cold yet realistic warning was almost equivalent to declaring that he was not completely loyal to Raphael, but this answer made Raphael relax a lot.
When one really wants to betray, it is impossible to be so blatant. Julius will certainly use sweet words to seduce his prey. This lord who grew up immersed in the treacherous affairs of a big family has the good habit of using any means necessary. For this reason, Raphael is sure that at least at this moment, Julius has no intention of hurting him.
To people like them, the hurtful truth is much more beautiful than the touching lie.
Julius did not leave, but leaned against the edge of the oak table and saw the parchment under Raphael's hand.
It was a grant application, initiated by the Florence Security Patrol, requiring the Pope to pay off the salary arrears of St. Lion VI during his reign, totaling 1,260 gold florins.
This amount is just a drop in the bucket for the Vatican, but this application should not appear here.
The Florence Security Patrol is directly under the Florence Sheriff and is responsible for the security of the entire Florence. Their salaries are paid by the Florence Administrative Office. The Pope actually commands the entire Papal States and Florence, but in name he can only be the leader of faith and religion. These worldly affairs are handled by the Administrative Office and should not be presented to the Pope at all.
It’s like the director of the department in charge of spiritual and cultural life suddenly received an application from a clerk in the finance department. Not only did he find the wrong leader, but he also crossed the level.
Julius knew the captain of the Florence Security Patrol. He was the son of a minor noble family. He had paid a lot of money and energy to get this lucrative position. Similarly, he was also a smooth and flexible person, otherwise he would not have been able to stay in this position that was easy to offend people for several years.
Such a person would never make such a low-level mistake.
Since it was not a mistake, it was intentional.
They are testing the new pope.
Julius thought about it briefly and realized which families might be behind this, and his eyes darkened slightly.
"They are targeting Portia," Julius took the parchment from Raphael and read it from beginning to end. "I will handle this matter. The Portia Bank will send 50,000 gold florins to the Pope's Palace. You can use the money. After that, the bill from the Pope's Palace will be sent to the Rhine Palace--"
Duke Rhine paused, took off the badge ring on his right thumb, put it on the table, bent his knuckles and pushed it in front of Raphael: "If I'm not here, you can use it to sign the bill at Portia Bank first."
Raphael lowered his eyes to look at the ring. There were intricate patterns on the bronze ring surface, a variation of the sword and staff emblem of the Portia family, with a crown shape composed of water droplets on the top - symbolizing that the holder of this emblem was the head of the Portia family. How many people would be fascinated by this emblem, but it was now casually placed in front of him.
——A scene similar to the previous life.
In his previous life, the salary approval application for the Florence Security Patrol was also submitted to his desk. He trusted Julius very much at that time, so he asked Julius about the relevant matters. The patriarch of Portia said exactly the same thing, took the responsibility to solve all the problems for him, and promised to bear all the expenses of the Papal Palace in the future.
He was not lying. After Raphael handed over the financial power of the Papal Palace to him, the Secretary General of the Papal Office solved all problems perfectly. Raphael never worried about money again, and similar malicious temptations never appeared in front of him again.
The only thing was that Julius in his previous life never took off his ring and gave it to him.
The things behind this ring are enough to make everyone salivate. The Portia Bank, which spans half the continent and controls the economic lifelines of several countries, only recognizes this badge. The people of the Portia family are willing to give everything to get this ring, but the person who really owns it gave it to another person so lightly.
The process is quite casual.
Raphael stared at the badge ring for a moment. During this time, Julius was also carefully examining his student, his eyes full of inquiry.
The two men, each with their own thoughts, said nothing. In the end, Raphael also stretched out his hand, but did not pick up the ring that symbolized power and huge wealth. Instead, he gently pushed it away - the posture was exactly the same as Julius.
"No, thank you very much for your sponsorship, but the Papal Palace will soon have income, and the current difficulties are only temporary - as long as this month passes." Raphael restrained all his emotions and spoke softly.
"If that bothers you, fifty thousand gold florins will be enough."
Raphael continued.
He is not a fool, why would he refuse free money? But the same goes for this: there are pie tastings in the world, but there are no free grand dinners.
Fifty thousand gold florins is neither too much nor too little, just enough to help the Papal Palace overcome its current difficulties and get rid of the prying eyes caused by Portia. If it is more, it will not work.
He was the Pope supported by the Portia family. It was understandable that people with ulterior motives wanted to test Portia by testing him, but if the Papal Palace was tied to Portia - just like in the previous life, he would completely become a puppet of Julius.
You might even become Portia's target. │
Even his death was unclear.
Raphael's fingers stroked the ermine blanket on his knees that was heated by the water bag. The soft touch calmed him down a lot.
His refusal obviously caught Julius off guard. For a moment he even bent down slightly, wanting to get a closer look at Raphael's expression.
"What did you say?" Julius' voice was so soft that Raphael could hardly hear it.
“Do you know what you are talking about?” Julius looked at the young Pope. There seemed to be a thin layer of light on his long golden hair. The clear and hazy luster surrounded Raphael, making him as holy as the legendary archangel with the same name.
"I know it very well." Raphael did not avoid his scrutiny.
Rejecting Portia's kindness and help when the situation is not stable yet is equivalent to facing all the malice and temptation alone - the enemies of the Portia family will gather around like hyenas smelling meat.
He will no longer have Julius' meticulous protection, nor will he have the leisurely and comfortable life like in his previous life.
But if the end is such a tragic death, what is there to be nostalgic about the beautiful process?
The determination in Raphael's eyes made Julius purse his lips. The patriarch of Portia felt as if he could no longer understand this student from the day Raphael took over - he had only been away from him for such a short day! The dependence and trust in Raphael's eyes all turned into thick and impenetrable defense. This unknown change made Julius deeply annoyed. He couldn't find the source of this change, nor did he know how to get everything back on track.
Julius's life in the past had been smooth sailing. His talent and background were enough for him to get everything he wanted. But when facing Raphael, he suddenly found that all his previous methods were useless.
He could not use force against a distinguished Pope, nor could he buy the answers he wanted with money, nor could he speak ill of his students.
Such a dilemma was unprecedented in his life.
Julius stood up straight, his thin lips pressed into a line, his deep purple eyes behind his glasses darkened. He turned his cane, and the end of the ebony and silver-inlaid cane pressed deeply into the carpet. In the silent confrontation, the patriarch of Portia said nothing, threw the parchment back on the table, turned around and left.
Raphael let out a silent breath, summoned the deacon to come in, put the unclaimed badge ring on the table into a box, and handed it to the deacon: "Give it to Julius in person and have him sign for it personally."
The deacon bowed respectfully, took the box and left.
Raphael, who was sitting alone behind the desk, remained motionless in that position for a long time. He slowly lowered his head and began to deal with other documents without any change in expression, as if he was not the one who had just spoken words of severance from his mentor.
After signing his name, Raphael looked at the next document and was stunned for a moment.
It was a list of members of the Papal Guard and the captain's appointment letter.
The Pope's Guard belongs only to the Pope himself and exists to protect the Pope. They are only loyal to the "Pope" rather than the Pope himself. Every captain of the Pope's Guard must have a letter of appointment signed by the Pope himself and then swear allegiance to the Pope, even if it is just a superficial procedure.
The captain of the Pope's Guard had his name spelled on the document in sharp, slender letters: Born Tillet. In his previous life, he had also served as the captain of Pope Raphael's Guard. He was very loyal to his duties. During the time he was guarding the Pope, there had never been any mistakes in the Papal Palace.
A man who could be trusted, if Raphael hadn't died so quietly.
The Pope was murdered, and there was no guard on duty outside the door. Whether he truly didn't know about it or it was related to him, Bon Tillet was no longer trustworthy.
Raphael crossed out Bonn Tillet's name without any hesitation.
But who to appoint...
Raphael suddenly realized that he couldn't think of a person worthy of entrusting his life to.
He laughed at himself and threw down his pen. There was no need to rush. Instead of hastily choosing a captain, it would be better to pick a group of new members from various churches to join the Pope's Guard. At least he could ensure that some people would be loyal to him.
The next day, the financial officer from the Bank of Portia came with a thick stack of documents. A total of 50,000 gold florins were transported by vehicle into the treasury of the Papal Palace. Raphael's financial difficulties were temporarily alleviated, but only temporarily. The Pope had so many expenses, and the money could not be kept for too long.
The Papal Palace was once again filled with luxurious and splendid decorations. Servants and monks came and went silently. Unlike the palaces of secular monarchs, women in bright and gorgeous clothes were rarely seen here. People mainly dressed in black monk robes came and went holding short wooden signs with thorn patterns. Occasionally, there would be bishops in purple and cardinals in red. As for the white and gold colors... that meant that the owner of this palace rarely came out.
Of course, there are also nuns coming in and out here. They follow the rules of the church, wearing solemn black clothes and tricorn hats connected to long white headscarves, and walk in the residence of the Holy Father as "models of pure women."
So when a bright and lively sapphire blue appeared in such a uniform black and white, even the most austere monks could not help but look there.
Princess Sanxia, led by the nun, visited the works in the gallery of the Papal Palace. These magnificent oil paintings were rare treasures of the Vatican. Even Sanxia, who was used to seeing fine things, couldn't help but stop to look at them.
"The Holy Father is waiting for you in the library." Another deacon came over and whispered to Sangxia.
Princess Sanxia turned around, reluctantly moving her eyes away from the painting "Before the Flood by Raphael", nodded reservedly, and then, under the guidance of the nun, she made a detour, passed through the garden, sun room, reliquary, fountain, and came to an independent two-story building.
Although it is called "Library", it is not just a room. The Vatican's collection of books is huge, and can be traced back to the stone tablets with letters engraved when writing was just invented. The Papal Palace stores the essence of the Vatican's collection of books for the Pope to read in his spare time.
This "library" is two stories high. The bookshelves are not placed in a regular square shape against the wall, but are made into a unique spiral shape in the center of the building. The densely packed books on the shelves spiral up in circles, from the ground all the way to the dome. The stairs rise with the bookshelves, allowing people to reach out and grab any book effortlessly.
As for the surrounding walls, they are mainly made of large-scale glass, ensuring the best lighting at all times. There is a fountain outside, and the sound of gurgling water is gentle, which is enough to make people imagine how pleasant it is to read here.
There were several nuns adjusting the bouquets in the marble vase. Dewdrops were still hanging on the branches and leaves of freshly picked lilac, lavender and wormwood. A monk was walking around with an insect repellent incense burner in his hand. The library was insect-proof and moisture-proof, and most of the spices could not be used here. Some of the sheepskins that had been nitrated were not processed with great craftsmanship and would emit an unpleasant smell, so they could only use this method to cover it up.
Seeing the guests coming in, the monks and nuns quickly finished their work, saluted to Sangxia, and left the library one after another. The nun who followed Sangxia brought a tray from somewhere, on which were gloves, a magnifying glass, a page-turning ruler, and a copper bell for summoning servants. She placed the tray on a wooden platform not far away, saluted, and left.
The only thing left in the library was the lingering fragrance. The sound of the fountain came from outside. Princess Sangxia curiously walked around the magnificent giant bookshelf until a young man's voice sounded in the distance: "Good day, Your Highness, you can read the books here at will."
Sang Xia looked in the direction of the voice and found that the young Pope was sitting on the stairs close to the dome, his elbows resting on the stained glass window, his feet dangling in the air. There was a void seven or eight meters below him. If he fell, the consequences would be disastrous.
But the young Pope seemed not to care about his own safety at all. He was not wearing the gorgeous clothes that Sangxia saw on the day of the coronation. His plain white robe with gold edges meandered on the stairs. The corners of his robe were like drooping wings, fluttering in the wind at his feet. His long golden hair was draped behind him. The sunlight from the stained glass window shone in, framing his profile in a halo of fragrant light. He was so beautiful that it didn't seem real, like an elf walking out of the forest in an oil painting.
Sang Xia's heartbeat was temporarily out of order for a moment.
Her Majesty the great Assyrian Queen Amenra... She seems to have really fallen in love. Is it okay to let the Assyrian cavalry attack the Papal States and capture the Pope now?
The author has something to say:
Sang Xia: Mommy, woooo, woooo, I’m in love!
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