The Reversed Hierophant

Half a month later, the churches in Florence began to submit their lists to the Papal Palace. After the secretaries and clerks compiled the lists, they eliminated those whose age and height did not meet the requirements and gave the remaining lists to Rafael for review.

This job was originally supposed to be done by the Secretary General of the Papal Court, but Rafael had not yet announced his appointment of one. The cardinals had inquired about this matter overtly and covertly, and had even “recommended” several people, but Rafael had suppressed them all.

The Secretary General of the Holy See is the deputy of the Pope. As a symbol of religion, the Pope is pure, unique, and wholly devoted to the worship of God. He swears to reject all the temptations of worldly power and dedicates his body and mind to serving as God’s spokesman, so he cannot hold any secular positions. Therefore, as his agent, the Secretary of State is almost equivalent to the highest executive officer of Florence.

The position of Secretary General of the Holy See is enough to make everyone salivate, especially those nobles without clerical positions. Although the identity of the secular lord of Florence was not as supreme as that of the Pope, the power and wealth in his hands were real.

But no matter how much they inquired, Sistine I, who had the sole power to appoint the Secretary General, refused to announce his decision. The cardinals didn’t even know whether he hadn’t found a suitable candidate or if he didn’t want a Secretary General to act as his agent at all.

If it were the former, that would be fine. But if it were the latter…

Then they would have to reconsider the temperament of this new Pope.

Cardinal Lombardy had privately cursed the Portia family countless times for this, including vicious insults against Rafael himself and his female relatives. Cardinal Lombardy’s sons had long been accustomed to their father’s rage. When the two brothers entered the Lombardy Palace with their riding whips, they heard their father’s complaints coming from upstairs again, so they tacitly avoided the study to avoid being implicated.

“So what else did that Pope do to make Father so angry?” the younger brother asked casually.

“It must be the matter about the Secretary-General. You know, Father has always wanted you to take over this position, but the Pope seems to have his own ideas,” replied his brother.

The younger brother showed a disdainful expression on his face: “His own ideas! Ha! He was put into that position by Julius Portia. Did Portia allow him to have these cute little ideas?”

“You’re right. I heard that in order to get him to that position, Julius gave at least 100,000 gold florins to each cardinal, not including various manors and real estates. As a result, as soon as he got that position, he immediately rebelled… Julius must have been furious. He had probably never met such an ungrateful white-eyed wolf in his life.”

The two brothers couldn’t help but laugh. Julius was their peer, but in the world of fame and fortune in Florence, he was someone even their father had to treat with caution. They enjoyed laughing at his mistakes, as if they were the ones who defeated him.

Similar remarks were rampant in the Holy See. Everyone believed that the Pope and the Portia family had fallen out, and that this was an opportunity. Perhaps they could obtain more benefits from the young Pope who had no support. The matter regarding the Secretary-General was just a test, but no one expected that the seemingly young and inexperienced Pope turned out to be so unyielding, impervious to any persuasion.

He seemed completely indifferent to flattery and unmoved by threats. Unlike his angelic and gentle appearance, this man was like a big stone, so hard that no one could do anything to him.

Cardinal Lombardy was unaware that his two sons were whispering outside. After finishing his routine greetings to Rafael and Portia, he began to look at the documents sent up from below. On them, was a list of names and the churches they belonged to, including the Holy Grail Church in the lower town.

The Papal Palace was selecting new guards, which was certainly a good opportunity to place their own people. The cardinals and nobles were all taking action. They each had several closely related churches, perhaps built or sponsored by them, or perhaps the priests there were their relatives or subordinates. In short, it was not difficult to select a certain number of qualified children from these churches.

Cardinal Lombardy saw the name of the Holy Grail Church and his thick black eyebrows furrowed, but said nothing.

“Is that all?” Cardinal Lombardy had a square face, with rough eyebrows, and short, strong limbs, like a worker who had been working on the docks for a long time. His appearance was not only unrefined but also too rough. However, this appearance was indeed very popular with ordinary workers, which was an important reason why he was able to climb all the way from a small church on the verge of ruin to the position of cardinal.

The steward stood beside him: “Yes, my lord, only seventeen names were reported.”

Lombardy frowned and pondered, “Alright, that’s fine. That pretty boy won’t be able to keep all of them anyway. Other families will try to slip their own people in. Seventeen… hmph, that’s about right. Is there anyone you’re paying special attention to?”

The steward pointed out a few names, “These few. They’re the right age, very clever, healthy, and good-looking. They’re very likely to be kept, and they’re quite pious.”

Pious, Lombardy’s mustache twitched. They both knew very well who they were devout to.

“Why is there a Holy Grail Church? Ferrante? That’s a good name.” The cardinal tapped on the name.

The steward glanced at it, “Oh, the head of the Holy Grail Church said he’s a very clever fellow and quite ruthless. I heard he went to a glass workshop to scrape together enough to pay the priest’s fee.”

They didn’t mind the church’s exploitation of children. Such behavior existed everywhere, as long as the benefits handed over in the end were sufficient.

“Glass workshop?” Even the hard-hearted cardinal, who prided himself on having seen everything, couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. The ‘glass workshop’ here was clearly not an ordinary workshop for producing glass, but a more obscure and deeper metaphor. In the lower town, female brothels were referred to as ‘rose gardens’ while ‘glass workshops’ referred to male brothels. Obviously, even Lombardy found the child’s behavior incredible.

But the surprise was only temporary, and the cardinal soon laughed heartily: “What a remarkable young man! I like his spirit. How much did that priest ask for?”

The butler replied, “Two gold florins.”

“Oh,” Lombardy hadn’t heard such a small number in a long time. He casually circled Ferrante’s name, “Give the supervisor five gold florins and bring the boy to the manor. Cultivate him well. If that pretty boy doesn’t like him, leave him to my children. He’ll make a vicious guard dog.”

The butler nodded and took note of the order.

Half a month later, suitable children from the surrounding cities of Florence were also sent to the Papal Palace. The deacons cleared out a secluded corner for these children to live, and their martial arts and writing were taught by members of the Papal Guard and seminary students. Rafael, of course, would not personally manage them. In fact, he didn’t even have time to look at them.

Sancha was about to return to Rome. After their meeting in the library, they had met privately twice more to finalize their cooperation. In fact, even Sancha herself was surprised at the speed of their progress.

She knew her mother well. Years ago, Princess Amandra had married King Lav XI of Rome to save the dying Assyrian Empire. She had then gritted her teeth and clawed her way up the Roman court, eventually becoming Regent of the Roman empire and Queen of Assyria. Just from this simple description, one could have a sense of the bloody storm that she had weathered.

As a woman who had risen to such a high position, Queen Amandra needed a stronger will and a colder, harder heart than any man, as well as an indelible suspicion. Cooperating with the Pope was something that should have required much hesitation and consideration. Even if it had been delayed for a year or two, Sancha wouldn’t have been surprised. But it had been done so quickly…

Could the letters she had written to her mother have had an effect? Sancha wondered inwardly, then couldn’t help but laugh at her own vanity.

Her mother was someone who would always put the country before personal emotion. How could she change because of a few words from her?

Or had something happened in the Roman empire that made her urgently seek an ally?

At this thought, Sancha began to feel anxious.

Rafael put away the parchment scroll on the table. On it bore the personal emblem of the Queen of Assyria and the seal representing the Roman royal family, as well as his own signature and seal. There was no one else in the reception room except him and Sancha. This was a secret alliance.

If Amandra hadn’t encountered trouble, or if Rafael had not needed help, the world would have never known that there had been such an alliance between Assyria and Florence.

But… Rafael looked at Sancha across the round table. The little princess was wearing a rose-red dress today. The silk flowers and pearl decorations on the skirt hem were sparkling. Her light wheat-colored skin looked more vibrant against this unique red color.

Assyria might soon be in trouble. Rafael stroked the papal ring on his thumb, recalling what happened in his previous life.

Less than a year after his coronation, Assyria had rebelled again. This country, having long been accustomed to turmoil, could not maintain the united peace forcibly caused by Queen Amandra for a long time. What’s more, there was Calais watching covetously from the sidelines and the Romans themselves also had many opinions about this foreign queen, so the Assyrian rebellion was long expected.

As the Queen of Assyria, Amandra would lead her army back to her homeland and suppress the rebellion, before dying in battle. Shortly after, conflicts would erupt between the Calais Empire and Roman Empire.

There was no need to elaborate on the subsequent turmoil. At that time, Rafael almost worked himself to an early grave in order to maintain the independence and stability of the Papal States among the major powers, as well as to protect the believers from being slaughtered in the war.

However, his efforts were akin to a mantis trying to stop a chariot in the face of the wheel of time. Otherwise, he would not have received the ironic evaluation given to him in history books: “Sistine I, a staunch adherent to outdated principles, was granted the final mercy of death before the dawn of a new era. It was the last grace of the Lord to him.”

Now the Assyrian rebellion has not yet occurred, but there must have been signs. The queen was extremely intelligent and must have discovered something unusual. The alliance with the Papal States could only be considered a safety measure. As far as Rafael knew, Amandra seemed to be pushing for amendments to the Succession Law.

Rome currently adopts the “Sarik Succession Law”, prohibiting women from the rights to inherit the throne. Sancha is the only legitimate child of King Lav XI. Of course, Amandra would try her best to win the Roman crown for her daughter, but compared to a female heir, especially born from a foreign woman, the nobles were more afraid that Rome would eventually become part of Assyria. They firmly opposed Sancha’s succession and demanded a male heir from the collateral royal bloodline.

This was also why, even though it had been nearly three years since the death of King Lav XI, Rome still had no supreme ruler, and the queen served as regent instead.

The tug of war between the two sides was covert and fierce. It seemed that the Roman nobles’ tolerance for Amandra had reached its limit. They’ve chosen to start from Assyria and drive this foreign queen back to her homeland.

Amandra, on the other hand, has decided to bypass the legal provisions and seek religious support first. If even the Pope recognizes the legitimacy of Sancha, then the difficulties she faced would be greatly reduced.

One of the main reasons why she was so eager to forge an alliance with Florence lied in this reason.

Rafael watched Sancha, who was still oblivious to the impending storm, but ultimately decided not to say anything. While Sancha may still be young and naive, it didn’t mean that she was foolish. She would soon figure out the deeper meaning behind this alliance.

He was just pondering why Amandra hadn’t sought an alliance with Florence in the previous life. He didn’t believe that such a clever and decisive woman would give up such a good opportunity. What had changed to cause the two trajectories of fate to diverge?

“In the name of Assyria and Rome, we hereby sign a covenant. Assyria and Rome shall maintain eternal friendship with Florence under the leadership of Sistine I, without betrayal or suspicion, until time itself proves the end of this covenant.”

Sancha extended her hand and grasped Rafael’s wrist, and Rafael returned the grip.

This ancient gesture of swearing an oath has a symbolic bloody meaning: those who betrayed the oath would have their wrist severed, paying for the betrayal of their allies with their own blood.

“In the name of God, we hereby sign a covenant. Florence will maintain eternal friendship with Assyria and Rome under the leadership of Queen Amandra, without betrayal or suspicion, until time itself proves the end of this covenant.”

Rafael repeated the oath in a deep voice.

“100,000 gold florins as a congratulatory gift for your coronation will be sent to Florence immediately, and there will be additional funds gifted to you afterwards. If you have any needs, we would be happy to fulfill them for our ally.”

The conclusion of the agreement brought a sigh of relief from Sancha. The pampered little princess’s expression became radiant. “Especially when it comes to money, you know my mother is the richest woman in the world.”

The little princess winked mischievously and laughed happily. Sunlight streamed through the window and fell on her face, making her eyes sparkle like gems.

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