Chapter 84 Hope Blue Diamond (I)
◎Brother and sister◎
In the year 1082 of the Catholic calendar, a violent storm blew from the Syracuse Peninsula and swept across the world. No one could tell where it started, but we have reason to believe that the center of the storm was always in the Papal States, in Florence, and in the hands of the great Saint Sistine I.
"Before Saint Sistine I declared his legitimate rule over Assyria, he left Florence in a low-key manner and went to the Roman capital of Perigord. There is no specific record of this trip in any of the documents of the Papal States. It was vaguely mentioned as if it was just an ordinary tour of the Holy See. But half a month after the Pope returned to Florence, Queen Amenra's will was made public to the world through the Vatican.
"And the first person to express support for him was Queen Sancha I of Roman, who people thought would strongly oppose it. In the subsequent confrontation between the Papal States and Calais, Roman always stood firmly on the side of the Papal States, even though the Queen had a confirmed marriage agreement with Emperor Calais. Apparently, during that secret visit, the Pope and the Queen reached an unknown agreement, which laid the foundation for the subsequent 'Golden Alliance', although we still cannot know the specific content of the alliance agreement until now.
“Was it really blood and family affection that made the queen magnanimously give up her rule over the Assyrian Empire? Or did the Pope promise something more tempting? Hundreds of years later, we can only look at the portrait of Saint Sistine I and imagine his political wisdom and his cunning and ever-changing language skills.”
The last line of words was written in blue ink on the smooth paper. The printed and handwritten words on the paper were densely intertwined. The hand closed the heavy book, and a line of gold-plated words on the cover was revealed.
——"Millennium Florence: Founder of the Kingdom of God on Earth - Saint Sistine I (Part 1)"
August 1082 of the Christian calendar, Calais.
Besser is located on the border between Romanesque and Calais. As a typical border town, its business is very developed, but the town's public security is also extremely chaotic. For many years, it has been a battleground between Romanesque and Calais.
Fifty years ago, the lord of Bethel died and the royal family of Calais took back the land as a royal asset. However, due to the remoteness of Dudley, Bethel was almost a no-man's land to some extent.
The royal family of Calais did not care much about the development of Basse. There were no minerals or resources worth noting here. In fact, even the locals did not think there was anything good about Basse. They were just unable to leave this chaotic place because of their poverty.
There is a square in front of the city hall of Berser. This building, built with royal funds, is the most advanced and luxurious one in Berser except for the lord's palace left by the former lord. However, people do not care so much about this weak mayor. Anyone with a little power or wealth will not be sent to Berser to be an official. The people of Berser have developed a pair of sharp eyes in the long-term chaos and they immediately saw through the weak nature of the mayor.
The Juneflower Square in front of the city hall soon became a gathering place for vendors, who organized markets here. The mayor was unwilling to pay attention to it and just stayed in his office every day thinking about how to return to the power center, Dudle. Such laissez-faire made the market in Bethel more prosperous, and many merchants from the Roman Empire and even the Papal States were willing to come here to participate in the buying and selling.
But things seem to be different recently. Merchants with a keen sense of nose have smelled an ominous and tense atmosphere in the air. The gates of Besser, which are never closed all year round, are guarded by soldiers who were transferred from somewhere. They ignore those who want to enter the city, but carefully examine everyone who wants to leave Besser.
"Those soldiers are not ordinary people. Dick saw eagle heads embroidered on their clothes. That is the symbol of the royal family!"
"What? Is it true what they said about William the Softheart being transferred back to Dudley?"
"Bah, how is that possible? Someone even saw our good mayor entertaining the soldiers' officers in the new brothel. If he could leave, huh, I would be the new mayor of Berserk tomorrow!"
"I suspect they are here to capture a fugitive, and a very important one at that."
"Ha, they will be disappointed. There is not much else in Bethel, but there are many fugitives. May the Lord bless that poor man."
The new soldiers became the talk of the town among the residents of Besse, but the residents did not know that this blockade was not just aimed at Besse. All the border cities of Roman and Calais were tightly sealed off, with easy entry and difficult exit. The lower-level soldiers were only told that they needed to find a man with blond hair and purple eyes. This description of appearance was so targeted that the first thing that came to the minds of all the soldiers was the Viscount who had been favored by the Emperor for several years.
So did the uncrowned queen of the empire have a conflict with Your Majesty and secretly escape?
The Calais soldiers, whose brains had been poisoned by all kinds of romantic and outrageous love stories, suddenly realized.
No wonder the higher-ups didn't allow a high-profile search. It still sounds quite embarrassing that His Majesty was abandoned by his lover.
The soldiers, who were also men, spontaneously sympathized with the almighty emperor.
But only a small number of senior executives knew who they were looking for.
There is an important figure whose identity cannot be revealed directly. He also has special blond hair and purple eyes, but because of his noble status and low-key words and deeds, no one would associate such a search with him. They would rather the soldiers misunderstand that they are looking for the emperor's lover, weakening this serious political event into a gossip, and avoiding the exposure of the scandal of the Calais search for the Pope.
Yes, these soldiers who blocked border cities with great fanfare and searched for "fugitives" did not know that the person they were actually arresting was the monarch of the Papal States and the controller of human faith, Saint Sistine I.
Why the Pope came to Calais and why he was secretly hunted down sounds ridiculous, but it happened in August 1082.
There are many small hotels near the Piazza della Signoria, which provide accommodation for passing merchants. The chaos of these buildings is comparable to the wild and free-spirited slums in Florence. Some apartments have more than a dozen people living in one room, and the landlords collect a small profit to make a living. Everyone's face shows numbness caused by the torture and devastation of life.
A pair of siblings recently moved into a dark and narrow hotel. The elder brother was tall and strong, with a straight back and an obvious temperament of having undergone rigorous training. His face was hidden under a large cloak, but one could see that his jawline was neat and smooth. He must be a rare handsome man, and his sister -
Even though she was held in her brother's arms at the time and covered tightly with a cloak, the proprietress could swear based on her experience of receiving countless guests that she was definitely a stunningly beautiful lady, just by looking at the little bit of her profile revealed through the gap.
The brother and sister both had a temperament that was incompatible with Bather, but their clothes were so old that they were frayed. Perhaps they were wandering children from a declining aristocratic family. Such people were not uncommon. The landlady was curious for a while and then forgot about them. She had all kinds of customers, and as long as they could pay the rent on time, she didn't care about their background or what they had done.
The tall man pulled the hood of his cloak low and took three or two steps up the old, creaking wooden stairs. The edges of the stairs were densely packed with blue-black holes eaten by insects. He always suspected that this section of the stairs would suddenly break, which made him unable to help but take a few steps in a row and pass through this staircase as quickly as possible.
The corridor on the second floor was so narrow that he could hardly turn around. The floor was painted red and the paint had peeled off a lot. The corridor was a strange red and white mottled color, which looked creepy. There were eight rooms evenly distributed on both sides of the stairs. He quickly walked to the room on the right at the end and turned the door lock with a rusty copper key - the kind that required some strength.
The rusty brass hinges creaked reluctantly, the man flashed into the room, closed the door with his backhand, and then looked inside the room.
The room was very small, without any decoration or partitions, and could be seen at a glance. There was a table and a chair under the window, a chest of drawers against the wall, and a bed against the side of the chest of drawers.
The man took off his hood, revealing the face of the leader of the Knights Templar.
He bowed to the man sitting on the bed and said, "Your Holiness, there is nothing unusual outside. They are only at the city gate and there doesn't seem to be any signs of a large-scale search in the city."
The person sitting on the bed, wrapped tightly in a quilt, raised his head.
That was none other than Pope Saint Sistine I, who was supposed to be sitting in the Florence Temple.
He was not wearing any clothing that suited his status. Like all ordinary people in Berserk, he wore a linen corseted robe with an empty collarbone. His long light blond hair, which was always neatly tied behind his back, was casually draped over his shoulders, disguising and softening the overly masculine lines on his face. Combined with his already overly handsome features, he looked so beautiful that it was difficult to tell whether he was of the right gender.
He was reading a small book. His slender white fingers, noble and elegant temperament, and the sunlight coming in from the window made him look glowing. But when you add the poor environment around him and the crudely made and even crumbling booklet in his hand, the scene became "The Daily Life of a Down-and-out Noble in Exile".
Wait, a booklet…where did the book come from in the room?
Leshert was sure that he had checked the entire room carefully and did not see any reading materials with words - for the lower class people, books were expensive and impractical. Given the current literacy rate, it was impossible for books to appear here.
As if he had heard the Knight Commander's thoughts, the Pope, who was sitting on the bed, lazily turned over a page of paper and answered casually: "The boss's wife gave it to me when she brought me lunch. She seemed to think that we had some unspeakable secrets, such as financial ones..."
As he spoke, the corners of his mouth raised in a meaningful arc, and this half-smile expression was extremely lethal on Raphael's face.
Leshert walked over with a frown, adjusted his angle to look at the book in the Pope's hand, but a white hand cleverly blocked the contents on it.
The Pope turned his body slightly, smiled and winked at the Knight Commander: "I think this may not be suitable for you, my Lord Knight Commander."
His dodging made Leshert feel a little nervous. To evade pursuit alone with the Pope in the enemy's territory was an experience that was too stimulating even for the Knight Commander. Since discovering their dire situation, the Knight Commander, who was tasked with protecting the Pope, was under great pressure. He had to be vigilant and be wary of everyone and everything around him, including this book that suddenly appeared.
"Forgive me for the offense, but I must ensure your safety, Your Majesty." The Knight Commander's voice was tense. As he spoke, he moved closer to Raphael, put one knee on the quilt, leaned forward, and tried to reach over Raphael's body to grab the book.
This posture made it easy for the Knight Commander, who already had long arms and legs, to take the book from the helpless Pope. He flipped through it hastily and his face suddenly turned red. The redness spread all the way to his ears like fire. The Knight Commander, who was honest, kind... and abstinent until now, felt like he was on fire.
It was very interesting to see the serious and dignified Knight Commander being shy. Raphael was not angry even though he was pressed down on the bed. He looked at Lesherte on him with a smile and said seriously, "So I said, Your Excellency, this is not suitable for you."
There was no text in the booklet, only crude pictures. For Leschert, who had only read serious and boring literature and the most "romantic" literary work he had ever come into contact with was a hardcover collection of love poems, the content in the booklet was enough to shatter his three views.
No, it's not that the Knight Commander is so... well, naive. He certainly knows what's going on between men and women, but, God, please forgive him, he is the kind of traditional man who will remain faithful to his wife after marriage, insist on having a night out twice a week, and regards excessive entertainment as a devil that shakes his will... uh, the kind of... "feudal" monk.
So when he heard from the Pope - none other than the Holy See! ——When he held this book in his hands, you can imagine how strong the shock was for him.
For a while, Leshter was completely confused.
His proud reaction ability failed. Although it was not his intention, his extraordinary memory and reading ability allowed him to see the pattern clearly at the first time. Those unheard-of postures completely shattered Leshert's thinking. He tried hard to forget those things, but human memory is so rebellious. The more he wants to forget something, the clearer he will remember it. He had to start reciting gospel chapters silently to suppress his heartbeat.
"I wonder if you have forgotten something, sir?" Raphael moved his legs and motioned to the Knight Commander to check their current situation.
Their current posture was really too intimate. Half of Leshert's body was pressed on Raphael. He could even feel the Pope's heartbeat. The air he exhaled when he spoke brushed against his neck, causing a strange shudder.
Halfway through reading the scripture, Leshet jumped up in panic and uncontrollably recalled a certain posture in the booklet - which was very similar to their current posture.
The thought that flashed through his mind made Leshert's legs go weak and he almost fell headfirst onto the bed.
"You you you... I'm sorry, I, I'm not..." The Knight Commander was almost fuming.
The overly upright Knight Commander subconsciously began to reflect on himself, and even forgot that Raphael should be the culprit of this incident. As the Pope, it was not appropriate for him to read such a book. However, Leshert obviously did not think of this.
"The lady boss obviously misunderstood something," Raphael did not give Leshert a chance to react. He lightly pushed the blame away from himself. "She seemed to think that we were the descendants of the downtrodden nobles who had drifted here, and that we were at the end of our rope. She
'Kindly' offered me a job. ”
He glanced meaningfully at what Leshert still held in his hand.
This is not an uncommon occurrence.
Many fallen aristocrats who have lost their wealthy lives tend to degenerate faster than normal people. Their overly superior living environment, luxurious lifestyle, and the attention they received in their early years have made them lack the courage to cope with hardships, while their arrogant and extravagant character makes them eager to choose a more "easy and enjoyable" way to make money.
Even in the slums of Florence, as far as Raphael knew, there was no shortage of women of noble birth in the Rose House. Some of the noble ladies were even sold there by their fathers and brothers. Such girls were often more popular.
Obviously...the "kind" proprietress also regarded him and Leshert as impoverished nobles who had drifted to Beser.
After understanding what Raphael meant, Leshert was stunned for a moment, and then anger appeared on his face: "How could she do this! If there really is a girl who was seduced by her..."
The Knight Commander frowned and said nothing more, a flash of regret in his forest green eyes.
Raphael had been paying attention to Leshet's expression, and at this moment, he suddenly realized that Leshet was really putting himself in the shoes of those girls who might have been deceived and seduced and feeling the pain.
Even though he didn't know those girls, even though he was extremely far away from their lives, at this moment, he felt sad for them almost with compassion.
Oh my God, Raphael moved his body instinctively and shifted his gaze unnaturally. He was a little... he didn't dare to approach such a person.
"Another thing," Raphael quickly changed the subject. He felt that he had to say something, or at least not linger on this topic any longer. "Francois is still not moving? Can we contact the Holy Raven?"
"There is no movement related to Emperor Calais. He probably didn't expect that we were in Perse. The blockade here is just a conservative measure." When it comes to business, Leshert forced himself to gather his thoughts and reported everything in detail. "I can't contact anyone in the Pope's Palace. There is no trace of the Holy Raven in Perse."
Raphael frowned, this was not good.
More than a month ago, after receiving the will from Ashur, he thought for a few days and decided to go to Roman to meet Sangxia first. On the way back, he was attacked by a large number of assassins.
The author has something to say:
Da da, a new volume, let’s start with an easy start. Ah, although escaping doesn’t seem to be that easy? But for Raphael, it's just a leisure activity... [Confirmed]
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