Barondi sat calmly in a high-backed chair in the living room, as is now customary, noble ladies not only do not share a living room with their husbands, nor do they even spend the night in the same bedroom.

So much so that even in the cold of winter, when the duties of the wives had been fulfilled, the noblewomen would leave their husbands' rooms and go back to their own rooms.

Barondi's living room was in the main building on the south side of the left side of the castle, and it was not too close to Alexander's room, passing through a small arch that allowed only one person to pass through, and after this arch, Barendi's world belonged to Barenti.

It's just that Barondi really spends very little time here, and when Alexander is away, she spends most of her time either in the main court or in the vault, and when Alexander is there, she is even less likely to return to her living room, so while waiting, Barendi passes the time by looking at the furnishings in her room that she usually doesn't pay much attention to.

A maid pushed open the door and entered, and in the doorway not far behind her, Gina Brigitte stood.

Barondi looked at the woman with a slightly critical gaze, and then her eyebrows were imperceptibly raised.

The ordinary appearance that can only be said to be not ugly did not make Barendi feel any threat, but it is precisely because of this that she pays more attention to this woman.

Then she noticed the heart-warming eyes of this young woman named Gina Brigitte.

They were very vivid eyes, they looked very bright when they stared at something, they didn't look pretty, but they showed a rare keen hunger and concentration.

"Ma'am."

Gina bowed slightly, she had heard of the countess, and it was because she had allowed that Paolo Busaco to have the audacity to disturb the silence of the University of Bologna.

"I heard you live in town with those of your fellow teachers now?" Barondi opened her mouth to ask, and when she saw that Gina was about to speak, Barendi didn't wait for her to answer, but just said to herself, "You should live in the castle, and your clothes are too plain, which is not in line with your proper status." ”

"My identity?" Gina looked at Barendi with some surprise, confusion and surprise in her eyes, which always seemed to see through a lot, for the first time.

"The Count is a man who understands women, or should he say that he is always very tolerant of women, no matter who it is, he will only do it according to their own will, but this is also limited, after all, his status is different now, so as his woman must also consider holding up a façade for him."

"I'm sorry ma'am, I think you misunderstood." Gina finally understood what the indifferent lady in front of her was talking about, she wanted to laugh a little, but then she looked serious, "You completely misunderstood my relationship with your husband......"

"Miss Brigitte, please stop making unnecessary quibbles, it will only delay time, or make us all more embarrassed," Barondi interrupted Gina a little impatiently, she stood up and walked towards Gina, and then slowly circled around her, "I don't know what the Count likes about you, but I don't care about that, as his wife is obligated to tolerate her husband's affair and some hobbies, so you don't have to worry about being treated unfairly." I can assure you that you will get your rightful rights, and if you are pregnant, your child will be treated accordingly, so you can now move into the castle. ”

Gina looked at Barondi, who was talking about all this as a routine, and paused slightly, before suddenly asking, "Count Montina, is he such a bad person?" ”

"What did you say?" Barendi frowned, she felt that this woman seemed to be a little too presumptuous.

"Madame, I think you have completely misunderstood my relationship with your husband," said Gina, whose expression was calm, and her gaze met Barondi's slightly stern gaze, and in a calm tone, "I assure you that there is no relationship between me and the Count as you think, for to me he is a noble and generous patron, and there is no personal relationship between me and your husband except in Pavia because of my school migration and dealings with the Count. ”

Barendi looked at Gina in surprise, as if she didn't believe her words.

"Madam, perhaps it is a good woman to be an earl in your mind, even to be celebrated and boastful, but not to me," Gina said, looking at Barondi's face that had gradually sunken, and there was a hint of seriousness in her expression, "Madam, I don't think that marriage is the inevitable final destination of a woman, there are too many sacred things for me that need more attention, and those are enough to make my life worthwhile." ”

"Are you going to be a nun?" Barondi looked at Gina with some surprise, although she was surprised that Alexander was actually interested in a woman who aspired to become a nun, but thinking that maybe this would save more trouble, she thought it would be good.

"Of course not," Gina shook her head, seeing that Barondi's expression changed a little, she asked in a funny tone, "why do you think that a woman should either be someone else's wife or mistress, or a nun, isn't there something else that can be done, for me what I aspire to do is to finish my studies, I want to be a doctor no worse than any man, this is much more important to me than marriage." ”

As she spoke, she looked at Barondi, who was looking at her strangely, and said, "I should say that I have no interest in being a vassal of a man, which makes me feel like I am gradually forgetting who I am, I don't like this feeling, just as horses don't like to be bridle on their heads, I don't think women have to be part of men, although God tells us that Eve was born of a rib of Adam, not created by God alone, but I don't think it's my destiny, so please don't worry ma'am, I will neither bother your husband nor cause you trouble, I just want to take control of my own life and future, so you are completely at ease. ”

Barendi looked at the young woman in front of her in a daze, she had never seen such a woman, let alone heard such deviant words, but deep down she had to admit that she had indescribable envy, admiration, and even a trace of imperceptible jealousy for her courage for this woman.

Barendi sat down and looked at Gina with her elbow dragging her chin, and after a while she nodded slowly: "Don't worry, maybe I don't fully understand what you said, but I can be your protector, believe me that you will meet a lot of enemies in the future, they will make things difficult for you because of your words, and even accuse you, at that time you can ask me for help, I will give you a safe place." ”

Gina silently glanced at Barendi, then took the edge of her skirt and bowed her head slightly, saluting.

Looking at Gina, who turned and walked out of the living room door, Barondi pondered for a moment, and then let out a soft sigh.

In Rome, in the Marino Palace, a series of joyful laughter echoed in the corridors, and the laughter was interspersed with childish cries of "babbling" from time to time.

Lucrezia excitedly took Alexander's arm and walked around the Marino Palace, although there were still many places in a mess because the whole palace was being renovated, but just walking around those places that could be accessed made her feel inexplicably happy.

Although the Potico Palace is smaller, it is no less ornate than the Marino Palace, both in style and interior, and perhaps in the future, the completely renovated and rebuilt Marino Palace will become an enviable place in Rome, but the mess here is not so pleasing to the eye.

Lucrezia was glad that she was walking in the palace for the first time as a hostess.

Among Alexander's women, Sophia was the first to live here, and then Barondi, and Alexander's sister was able to act as a mistress even when there were no other women.

So even after being with Alexander, Lucrezia has never had the opportunity to appear in Marino Palace as the heroine, so she is naturally unwilling to let go of this rare opportunity.

Alexander could understand Lucrezia's thoughts, so although his visit to Rome was actually very busy with various affairs, he still found time to satisfy Lucrezia's desire to enjoy his hostess.

From time to time, Lucrezia would stop to tell her daughter, who was being held by the nanny, about the value and significance of some of the precious works of art displayed in the palace, and later she insisted that Alexander take them to the basement to see the fine wines stored in the cellar.

Lucrezia was in a good mood after such a circle, and Alexander could not help but be a little surprised that Josa had arranged the palace in such a luxurious way, and although the renovation work was still ongoing, he could already anticipate how amazing the new Marino Palace would be in the future.

"This will be your palace in Rome, and everything here will be yours, you know?" Lucrezia excitedly stood in front of a large fountain being built in front of the Marino Palace and said to her daughter, who had no idea what the pile of stones in front of her was, and the Duchess of Pisa had the same thoughts as her father, just wanting to burrow her head into her mother's ravine and eat a full meal.

But Nomerlo's appearance still disturbed Lucrezia's good mood, and she had to leave with Estelles to leave, while the private secretary looked at the back of their mother and daughter's motorcade leaving, and pondered slightly.

"And what did the Pope do you command?"

Alexander's inquiry woke Nomelo up, and the secretary turned to Alexander and bowed slightly, and the two walked up the steps of Marino Palace together.

"That's right, Your Majesty thinks that you should probably pay attention to your safety during this time, after all, the current situation is very complicated." Nomelo said.

"May I understand that His Majesty is hinting at the little tricks that Caesar is planning?"

Nomerlo's face was calm as usual, and he did not look surprised that Caesar's plot was exposed on the spot, on the contrary, he seemed to exhale slightly: "I know that all this cannot be hidden from you, can you tell me how many eyeliners you left in Rome?" ”

"At least enough to know who is trying to plot against me."

For Alexander did not answer positively, Nomelo did not care, he continued: "Your Majesty asked me to tell you that your safety in Rome do not worry, of course, since you have known all this in advance, I believe you must have been prepared, Your Majesty just hopes that you will not forget that you are a family after all, and he hopes that you will forgive Caesar's behavior, and at the same time, Your Majesty will compensate you for this." ”

Alexander nodded noncommittally, and although it was a bit surprising that the Pope would send someone to warn him, as long as you think about it, you can understand the purpose of Alexander VI's actions.

The difference between the two fathers-in-law is very big, compared to Alexander actually preferred to deal with the Pope rather than the old Leverley, because Alexander VI is a person with a strong family concept, although he has the bad habit of pit sons-in-law, but as long as the interests related to the family are big enough, he is still more inclined to maintain the relationship with the family.

The elder Rovere was a man of true interest, and in his eyes both his children and his brothers were nothing more than tools for his personal ambitions.

If it was Konstantin who wanted to murder him now, and as long as it was in his favor, even if he knew that Konstantin's plot might have been discovered, old Rovere would not have warned him in advance in exchange for preventing Alexander's revenge on his son.

Old Rovere was a truly ruthless man, and Alexander VI was somewhat endearing compared to him.

Alexander thought so, and at the same time secretly lamented that Rome was really in trouble today.

This made Alexander feel that something had to be done, because it seemed to him that he could be unwittingly trapped in the great quagmire of Italy.

He knew that Italy would be a whirlpool of trouble for the whole of Europe for a long time to come, where all the powers would compete, and then everyone would find that it would not be so easy to get out of it.

In fact, many people are willing to struggle in this quagmire, they treat Italy as a piece of fat and try to get a piece of it for everyone, and this kind of mindfulness makes many countries even if they know that they are facing a big problem, but they still mix it up like moths to a fire.

However, he could no longer entangle with these people, as the British were about to join the war against France, the Holy Alliance against France would gradually be formed, and the war that should have been suspended due to the onset of winter was now intensifying because of the impact of his invasion of Lombardy.

As for peace talks, Alexander felt that no one really thought that negotiations would achieve their goals, but rather that they were only seen as a rare respite to rekindle the war when the opportunity was ripe.

It was a good time for Alexander to take the time to get out of Italy, but Caesar's actions made him face a complicated situation again.

This annoyed Alexander a little.

Caesar had become a small nuisance, and Alexander felt that he could no longer tolerate such wanton destruction.

Caesar had indeed become a saboteur, and from the information he had received, it was clear from Ulliu's that a plot he was hatching involved so many people that Alexander had to be serious about the consequences he might bring.

While thinking so, Alexander received an invitation from old Rovere.

As a genuine father-in-law, the relationship between Lao Rovere and Alexander is really not intimate, and even if you think about it carefully, it will give people a feeling of inexplicable alienation.

Although this is related to the reckless greed of Tony della Rovere at the beginning, in fact, if you look back closely, you can find that Alexander's relationship with Roverere's family seems to be close from the beginning, and sometimes it is not as close as to another cheap old man.

Instead of inviting Alexander to his hilltop villa, the elder chose Mount Divoe, northeast of Rome.

Monte de Dievo is a large vineyard on the outskirts of Rome, where many of the grapes needed by the city's wineries are harvested.

In autumn, in the distance, you can see that the ripe vineyards cover the southern foot of the whole Diever like a purple carpet, and the vineyard of the Rovelle family in the Devily Hill is also here, and in the depths of the vineyard there is a small but rather secluded manor.

Early in the morning of the 27th, Alexander left Rome and set out for Mount Divoe, followed by a guard of about 30 men led by the guard officer Schell.

Since there was no direct gate in the direction of Mount Diff, Alexander went out from the old gate to the north of the city, and then he had to pass through a section of road to the north before turning east, and ascending the northern slope of Mount Diff along the north-south slope of Mount Diff.

When Alexander's party left the city, a fishmonger who had been setting up a stall near the city gate immediately threw away his stall and ran towards a nearby alley, out of which he rode his horse and ran in the direction of the Tiber.

The man, apparently familiar with the streets of Rome, chose the nearest path, and after passing through the streets and alleys, he ran to the stone bridge over the Tiber River, near the north of the city.

After crossing the stone bridge and entering the Vatican, the man continued to walk through the narrow alleys between several buildings until he was on the road to the Sistine Chapel, when he slowed down his horse.

In front of the Sistine Chapel, Caesar walked anxiously back and forth, looking at the street from time to time, or looking up at the surrounding buildings, which looked like there was only such a small piece of sky.

It was cold in the morning, but Caesar's heart was on fire.

The sound of horses' hooves was heard suddenly, and Caesar immediately stopped to look into the distance.

The messenger rode to the church, and before his mount could stand firm, the man had already jumped off his horse.

"My lord, Count Montina is out of town!" Although the voice was deliberately lowered, the person who reported the news was still a little loud because of the excitement.

"God bless me!"

Caesar instantly let out an irrepressible cheer that was higher than the people who came!