Joshua's face turned pale suddenly, he knew that this was the truth, but Pius III's merciless words still gave him a heavy blow - he wanted to shout at Pius III for a moment, but Pius III raised his hand to stop his rebuttal, looking at his unwilling expression, the old man showed a vicious smile undisguisedly, "Do you know why I didn't choose you?" He paused: "Or do you think there's anything about you that can't be compared to Giulio?" ”

Joshua thought about this question many times, but the answer was almost the same each time, and he whispered, "He is indeed smarter than me." ”

"Indeed." Pius III nodded: "What else?" ”

"Looks?"

"Probably."

"Character?"

"Maybe."

Joshua was silent for a moment: "He is a little more merciful than I am. ”

Pius III smiled: "That's right," he waved his hand, "Anything else?" ”

Joshua was silent for longer this time, but Pius III showed patience that he had not had before, as if he would not give up until he received a real answer from his mouth, "...... I don......'t know," Joshua said trembling at last, "I don't know, teacher, be merciful, am I not bad enough?" Why are you being so me, please give me even a tenth of your love for Julio, or, only one hundredth, one thousandth, you won't treat me like you do now! ”

"Well," said Pius III, like a cat that had had enough of playing with mice, "I'll give you the answer, and the most important thing is - Julio. Although the Medici had a surname, in a sense, he did not have a family. ”

"How is that possible?" Joshua was surprised, "The Medici have always valued him. ”

Pius III snorted lightly, "Important? That was after he became the Archbishop of Lucca, and before that, he had only been given financial care as if he were any other bypasser, and when he was still an infant, he was entrusted to me, taken out of Florence, and wandered around the region of Umbria, with no nurses or maids with him, only me and a group of monks and mercenaries, and it was a fluke that Giulio survived - when he grew up a little, as you can see, more as a pupil of mine than a Medici, and nothing elseAt that time Joe. The Medici have all been ordained as bishopric assistants, but does anyone in the whole of Rome know that there is a second Medici? Lorenzo can be generous in money without spending too much on a nephew, let alone when he is old. The Medici gradually gained the favor of the Borgias, and he feared his own son, the useless Pierrot. The Medici was seized by Giulio as the head of the family, and instead of seeking more benefits for Giulio from Bolkia at the last and most critical moment, they deliberately turned a blind eye and turned a deaf ear - even if it was Pierrot. It's the same with the Medici privately cutting off the Medici family's financial support for Giulio, do you know what was given to Giulio in his will?

Two vineyards, aha! What a considerable bequest, given to a small merchant, or to a craftsman, or to an ascetic, he would have been moved to tears, but what was it to a Medici? Nominally, Giulio is still his son.

Julio. The Medici was truly valued when he became Archbishop of Lucca and deposed Pierrot. The Medici began with the wrong decision made by the Medici family in 1494, which led to the Medici family being almost expelled from Florence, and it was Giulio who reversed the situation with the two precious outputs of cashmere and lanolin, which allowed the Medici to survive, telling me, "Pius III suddenly asked, and Joshua's heart twitched violently because of the sudden dissatisfaction with the Medici family, It was because he had managed to steal the recipe for Giulio's potion for extracting lanolin, as well as the recipe for the dye, that he thought Pius III had guessed it, or found it, so he interrogated himself, but fortunately, while he was pondering the words, Pius III had already asked him the question: "If you were a Medici, wouldn't you be grateful to him?" Will you not value him? ”

— but I wasn't a Medici, and not only was not, but the thought of it made Joshua want to vomit.

Pius III, however, did not need Joshua's answer: "Since then, the Medici have been courteous to Giulio, but what good is that?" Lorenzo in order to give Joe. The Medici exchanged for a cardinal's red hat, which almost emptied the pockets of the Medici and Florence, and the plundering of the Medici by Charles VIII in 1494 made it even worse, and they were simply dispensable for Giulio......" he said as if talking to himself: "They can only bring Giulio endless troubles and torments......

"Yes," Joshua said, holding back the reluctance in his heart, "you were the one who gave him everything!" ”

Pius III stared at him, as if he had spied into the secret of Joshua's heart, "You said that Julio was kinder than you, and you are right, and I love him more because of it," he said calmly, "It is the same for everyone, Joshua, and everyone wants to sleep with the lamb instead of lying next to the hungry wolf." ”

"But teacher," Joshua cried out in pain, "I'd rather die for you." ”

"I know," said Pius III, "and, the departure of Julio has made me aware of a problem, Joshua, which is why you are here, and I have made a mistake—that my student, my disciple, may be a benevolent man, but my heir cannot—you know what I am going to do, right?" ”

Joshua opened his mouth, "...... Of course," he said excitedly, "of course." ”

"Tell me!"

"Reformation ......" Joshua trembled: "With reunification!" ”

Pius III smiled slowly, "Yes...... But I must not be wrong again, Joshua, and if you are to inherit my mantle, you must swear to me that you will have no connection, neither earthly nor Spirit. ”

"I swear...... It's just you, it's only your command," Joshua cried out, "Do you want me to dig out my heart and show you?" ”

"No, you don't understand what I mean – only those who have no fetters or scruples can truly and wholeheartedly work for God." Pius III made a gesture and the monks identified it as Giulio. The armor prepared by the Medici was moved, and instead a humanoid object covered with dark purple velvet was carried - just looking at the outline, it was also a piece of armor, Joshua glanced at Pius III, and walked towards it at his signal, his hand on the velvet, feeling the hardness under the softness, for a moment, he did not even dare to reveal the answer, if he was self-righteous again.

But Pius III said: "Open it." His hand moved before his brain.

The purple velvet cloth dyed from the extract of shells as expensive as gold fell to the ground, and no one cared about it, and all eyes were focused on the armor, what a delicate and majestic armor, different from ordinary armor, it was black, covered with golden thorns, and the pattern on the chest was not the coat of arms of any family, but the triple crown of the pope, behind which were two crossed keys (heavenly and temporal), under which was a cross, and on each of the armguards there was an angel with a trumpet, On the leggings are St. Francis, the patron saint of the aevators, and St. Mardin, the patron saint of the military.

Even Joshua, who had some doubts about Pius III's sudden transformation, could not say that this armor could be more than the other, most important, that Pius III had left to Julio. Medici's is more precious.

"This is what I gave you." Pius III said.

"Give me ......," Joshua muttered.

"And everything here." "I have lost Giulio, and my life is destined for me not to have a third heir, so it is only you, Joshua, but I have prayed to God countless times that my choice this time is no longer wrong!" ”

"It can't be wrong!" Joshua said firmly, "I will not disappoint you, I will do what you will, whatever you want me to do, as long as you show me, I will go." ”

"Is there a cliff ahead?"

"I'll go too."

"Is it a mire?"

"I'll go too!"

"Is it the enemy?"

"I won't hold back in the slightest!"

"So, what about your blood relatives!?"

"I have no blood relatives," said Joshua, "and little Lovere died twenty years ago." ”

"But your father doesn't think so," said Pius III, "you know what makes me hesitate, Joshua, Juliano. Della. Lovere will only destroy my career. Thou art his son again, and he said to many, A son cannot disobey his father. ”

When Joshua heard this, he couldn't help but look disgusted: "His son is dead. ”

"But he and his family...... They are also poison ivy planted in the abyss, and when you inherit my place, they will be entangled! ”

"Then I'll cut them off!"

Pius III stared at him, "No," he whispered, "you can't do it." ”

"I ......"

"You don't have to say anything," Pius III said seemingly disheartened, "I know that it is impossible for you to do it, even Giulio is inevitably bound by family affection, not to mention yours, you should love your father very much, and the Lovere family, everyone knows, whoever becomes the pope, his family can flourish." ”

“…… That's not me," Joshua said eagerly, "That's not me, teacher, I'll do better than Giulio!" ”

"Do you swear?"

"I swear!"

"Then take an oath," said Pius III, "if you can do ......it well," he leaned down slightly, pressed Joshua's shoulder, and said a few words—no one heard him say anything but Joshua, and Brother John saw Joshua's face change abruptly from gray to a terrible red—like those sick people who had a high fever and were about to die.

"Okay," Joshua said tremblingly, "yes, I swear, teacher, I swear." ”

After saying that, he couldn't bear such intense emotions anymore and fainted.