Alexander's visit certainly surprised the Patriarch of Bucharest, but when he heard his question, the Patriarch could not be calm at all.

The so-called "marriage without the blessing of the church" is actually synonymous with fornication between men and women, and although this way of speaking of moral degradation seems to be more acceptable, although it may not sound so difficult to accept, in fact, this kind of behavior is full of ugliness and even depravity for people with status.

Although everyone knows that this moral restraint has long since ceased to exist in name only, the well-disciplined Orthodoxy seems to be better, and the Vatican, which has been completely corrupted to the point of undisguised morality, has long since become a garden for prostitutes and a paradise for prostitutes.

Among them, the most direct representative of this corruption is the old father-in-law of the earl in front of him, Alexander VI's blatant possession of more than one mistress, and even openly admitting that he had an illegitimate child, which has long become a common scandal in the Eastern and Western churches, and many church people have exclaimed that this is the biggest scandal in Christian society in a thousand years.

So when Alexander revealed that he might have a "marriage that was not approved by the Church", the Patriarch was not surprised, at least the Duchess of Pisa was enough to prove everything, the problem was that the Patriarch did not understand why Alexander had revealed it to him.

After all, if he wants to solve the troubles of such a so-called marriage in the church, his public and private fathers-in-law can say that they are the authority in this regard, but now that Alexander has found him, this can only show one thing, that is, this "marriage" is likely to have nothing to do with those two old fathers-in-law, and even a little conflict with them or their daughters.

The Patriarch decided to be careful, and he told himself that he had to find out what he was dealing with, after all, the Earl's status was quite sensitive, and it would be terrible to get involved in any trouble.

"It is a grave sin not to receive the blessing of the Church," said the Patriarch with a stern expression, and when he noticed the look on Alexander's face, he found that he was not angry at what he said, but that he was listening attentively, and continued, "God punished Adam and Eve for stealing the forbidden fruit and fornicating with their own desires, and God punished Eve and all the women of her descendants for suffering in conception because of this, which is the suffering that women are destined to suffer, Because they tempted men to turn away from God and fall into depravity, they were born with this greatest original sin. Such a marriage cannot be recognized by the Church, so it is null and void, and it is not even necessary to declare that it ever existed. ”

The Patriarch's voice was stern and unforgiving, and more than ever he had spoken these words, with bitter hatred of sin and unrelenting coldness.

And the patriarch's heart is simple, no matter who takes the initiative to post this kind of matter between men and women, at this time, as long as all the fault is put on the woman, it is they who have seduced the man, it is they who have betrayed the holy marriage, and maybe even they have seduced and deceived the young nobleman in front of him because he is young and strong, then as long as he finds a reason for liberation from the doctrine, there should be no problem.

The Patriarch, though he had little affection for these morally corrupt Catholics, could not but admit that the only way to get him out of such a trouble, both doctrinally and practically, for the city of Bucharest, was to blame the woman for all the crimes.

What's more, the woman wasn't here, so at least she shouldn't have caused more trouble because she might have offended some great noblewoman in words.

The Patriarch was secretly pleased with his wit, but he was inevitably a little ashamed, but when he finished the call, the Patriarch suddenly noticed that the atmosphere around him seemed to be a little wrong, and then he saw Alexander on the other side staring at him with a look like an enemy.

The Patriarch was slightly stunned, and then he suddenly remembered what Alexander had just said, and immediately realized that he might have completely misunderstood the meaning of the earl's words from the beginning.

"How to prove the legitimacy of a marriage that has not been blessed by the church."

In other words, the Count's request is not to deny what most men would do at such a time, but to give legitimacy to such a marriage!

The look on the patriarch's face suddenly became a little embarrassed, and he paused a little before he said cautiously: "However, if the two parties who love each other can dedicate this marriage that only exists in the secular world to the church, then this originally immoral behavior can still be forgiven by God, but this step is very complicated, and the status of both parties may also bring some trouble, after all, this may involve many people." ”

Alexander nodded, the Patriarch's inconsistencies didn't concern him, all he cared about was the result.

"I beg your pardon, what should they do if they have some trouble because of their differences of faith, and they really need to prove that the marriage is recognized by the Church, or at least by the Orthodox Church?"

The priest was slightly stunned, he could see that Alexander was very serious and even serious when he asked, which made the patriarch begin to treat the matter with caution.

The patriarch pondered a little, pondered Alexander's repetition in his mind, and then said very cautiously: "If this is the case, then there are two ways to solve the problem you mentioned, one is for one of the parties to follow the conversion of the other, which will ensure that the marriage can be fully accepted and recognized, and the other is to recognize the legitimacy of the marriage only in the church of one of the parties, but this may involve a lot of trouble, such as the influence of this decision on both sides in the world or in the church, Or is there a fierce opposition that may arise from one of the parties, because such a marriage is clearly not sanctioned by the other church. ”

Alexander listened attentively, he knew that the patriarch should have at least guessed that one of the parties to the marriage was him, but he probably never thought of who the other party was.

"Dear Patriarch, I have great respect for the great Bucharest," Alexander suddenly changed the subject, which made the Patriarch a little unable to keep up, but he nodded slightly to express his gratitude to the Count for his praise of the city, and then he heard Alexander go on to say, "In addition to expressing my gratitude to Bucharest for preventing the invasion of the infidels, I also have a deep personal affection for the city, and I think that the people of Bucharest are as great as the city, pious and brave, It was they who prevented Mehmed II, who even conquered Constantinople, and now they are fending off a new invasion by the Ottomans, which is a merit of the Bucharest people and a great contribution of the Church to it, which is an honor that no one can replace. ”

With Alexander's words, the somewhat perfunctory smile on the Patriarch's face slowly disappeared, and he stroked his gray thick beard, and looked at Alexander seriously with a pair of eyes with heavy eye bags.

"I beg your pardon, Count, may I ask you whether these words were uttered in your own name or in the name of being an emissary to Rome?" The priest asked cautiously, though his voice was calm, but the Patriarch himself knew how nervous he was at this time.

This is a seemingly simple question, but it is enough to lead to all kinds of consequences, so that the tall figure of the patriarch involuntarily lowers slightly at this moment, just so that his words do not sound so aggressive.

"It's my own personal feeling."

As soon as Alexander's words came out, he noticed the unconcealable disappointment of the Patriarch of Bucharest.

The slightly furrowed eyebrows because of disappointment almost froze together, although it seemed to be trying to maintain an indifferent expression, but the kind of loss that was about to come out could not be concealed.

Alexander smiled slightly, he knew that he would disappoint the Patriarch with this, but he didn't care, because it was the only way for him to talk about the next "deal".

"But you probably know that I have a special relationship with the Vatican, or rather, with His Majesty the Pope, and we talk a lot...... Oh no, it's my fatherly respect and intimacy with His Holiness the Pope. ”

Alexander's voice was soft, but it had succeeded in attracting the attention of the Patriarch, who, after a deep glance at Alexander, raised his hand sideways and made an inviting gesture.

"Perhaps we may elaborate on the marriage you are talking about," said the Patriarch, as he walked, "you know that such marriages are sinful, but as far as I know, there have been marriages in the history of Rome that have not been blessed and recognized by the Church for various reasons, and many of them have occurred because of the customs of the time or because there were many pagans who had not converted to God at that time, and the Church had some consideration for such marriages. So we can slowly look for relevant examples in these precedents. ”

Alexander nodded his head at the Patriarch's side with satisfaction, he knew that the Patriarch should have understood the meaning of his words, and sure enough, after entering a room full of wooden bookshelves and piled up with various materials and documents, the Patriarch did not rush to find the precedents he had mentioned, but asked in a seemingly casual tone: "Then Count, do you think the Vatican will support King Ladislas's claim to Bucharest?" ”

Hearing this, Alexander had a characteristic smile on his face.

"Patriarch, you know that the Vatican cared deeply about Greater Greece in order to defend against the Ottomans, and the Venetians even paid a high price every year to maintain relations with the Kingdom of Bohemia."

Alexander's words made the Patriarch's heart sink slightly.

He knew what he meant, and it was clear that if Ladislas II really made a claim to Bucharest, in exchange for Bohemia and Hungary continuing to resist the Ottomans and ensure the security of the Western world, the Vatican would not care what the Bucharestans themselves thought.

The Patriarch looked at Alexander with a slightly somber expression, as if trying to judge the truth of his words.

But Alexander's calm disappointed the patriarch.

Like the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Kingdom of Bohemia was a barrier against pagan invasions of Europe, and although the Bohemians were sometimes as devastating as the Ottomans, Bohemia was still the first line of defense against pagan invasions.

In comparison, even with the brave deeds of Archduke Stefan, compared to Bohemia, the European countries certainly know which is more worthy of support.

Thinking of this, the Patriarch's mood became a little worse.

Although Ladislas II swore an oath to protect Bucharest from the Ottomans, the Bucharest people were well aware that such generosity could not come without a price.

The Patriarch was more worried than anyone else, not only about the city being captured by the Ottomans, but also about the possibility that Bucharest might eventually fall into the hands of the Catholics.

The Patriarch's gloomy expression fell on Alexander's eyes, which made him smile secretly in his heart.

Bucharest is a city of good fortune, the miracle that it resisted the invasion of Mehmed II made many people believe that the city is a city of miracles, people believe that many unexpected things can happen here, and now Alexander feels that he should be able to do a miracle here.

Or maybe the city has created a miracle called Sophia, from an ordinary bohemian girl to becoming a Greek princess who carries a legend, Sophia's encounter proves that anything can happen in this magical land, and all he has to do is make this miracle more perfect.

He may not have been able to do it before, but now Alexander is confident that he can change a lot of things, including Sophia's fate.

"Patriarch, Bohemia and Hungary are indeed among the staunchest allies of the Vatican, but that doesn't mean anything," Alexander said slowly, looking at the Patriarch with a puzzled face, "We all know that the king wants to use Bucharest to contain the Ottomans, because it is also about the safety of his Hungary." ”

"So what do you want to say to me, that because of that we don't need to thank the King of Bohemia?" The patriarch shook his head and said helplessly, "The fate of this city is in his hands, if the king gives up Bucharest, it will soon be occupied by the Ottomans." ”

"So here I am," Alexander spread his hands and smiled at the Patriarch, "please believe me, the Ottomans are not as terrible as you think, and as long as we do not make mistakes ourselves, the Ottoman army is not invincible. ”

Speaking of this, Alexander looked at the patriarch's hesitant appearance, but sighed softly in his heart.

Reluctant to admit it, the fear of the Ottomans had actually taken hold of the locals for many years, even if the battle of the Montina army at the Alger River was a testament to it, but when it was time to make a choice, that deep-seated fear would emerge.

"I will support Bucharest, and I can assure you that what you feared will not happen," seeing the Patriarch's eyes flash, Alexander decided to simply state that "King Ladisras's claim to Bucharest is not in the interest of all, at least mine." ”

There was a look of surprise on the Patriarch's face, and he was clearly startled by Alexander's words, which made him open his lips.

"Count, do you know what you're talking about?" The Patriarch lowered his voice and asked with a slightly stern question, "Are you implying that you are going to oppose the King of Bohemia?" ”

"No, it's just for the good of all of us," Alexander corrected, not minding, "because that involves the marriage I just told you about." ”

Under the bewildered gaze of the Patriarch, Alexander said in a calm tone: "I am talking about my marriage to Princess Sophia, you heard the Patriarch right, we are husband and wife. ”