Whatever the poor Constène may have been upset by the Duchess's last words, let us turn our gaze back to the Abbey of St. Martin.

After Ezio left, Giulio summoned the monk who served him to take down what was said to be a very clean plate, and as the monk was about to leave the room, he seemed to change his mind again: "Bring me some bread," he said, "with a thick layer of cream, sprinkled with berries and cheese, and a plate of bacon." ”

The monk obeyed the order and could not help but wonder in his heart, this lord never overeats, and eats lightly at night, could it be that the previous messenger brought him some good news to make him appetite? Unbeknownst to him, as soon as he left the hallway, a man came out of the prayer room on the side of the room. He wore a luxurious velvet coat with a round neck embellished with precious stones, a row of small sparkling buttons made of polished shells, the cuff straps of his underwear peeking out from his wrists, with Neapolitan-style embroidery, and on his left chest, a personal coat of arms - a crown on top, two black wolves standing facing each other, and the crown on top was chartered by King Ferdinand II of Naples, for whom he knighted Ralph and two others who saved his life at the Battle of Seminara, and gave each of them a small fief.

It is a pity that Ferdinand II died of disease or poison two years ago, his official marriage left no heirs, and it was his uncle, Frederick IV, who inherited the throne of Naples, the new king of Naples did not have a good impression of his nephew, and the same was true of the courtiers and knights he promoted, not to mention that Ralph and the other three were only lowly mercenaries before, and he did not hesitate to list all kinds of crimes to take back the territory and title of the three people, The nobles who had been aided by the three men at the Battle of Seminara began to pretend to be deaf and dumb, and only one or two of those who were still grateful sent messengers to deliver a letter to Ralph had the honor of appearing before Giulio, instead of being hanged in the wasteland like the other two.

If he had tried to take refuge with other nobles, perhaps he had, but he had no soldiers, he was alone, and people didn't know much about him, so after thinking about it, Ralph came to Giulio cheekily and asked him to say that there was really nothing wrong with this master except that he was too merciful and cowardly, and indecisive—although these two points were enough to kill, but now he only wanted to find a temporary place to stay, or possibly, he could climb the Bolgia through the Medici.

But he also had to sigh, if there is a goddess of fate in the world, then she must have a cat - otherwise how could his fate line be played with messed up, he just arrived in Brest, he heard the news of Giulio's assassination, and then his master put the cruel truth in front of his eyes - they were done, not to mention friendship or alliance, and now they only maintained the most superficial layer of illusion and did not tear it up, and this layer of illusion, when the Medici left Brest, was completely broken.

According to Ralph's earlier thoughts and habits, and the custom of the mercenaries, he should leave and turn his horse's head and go to Caesar. Borgia, wagging his tail and begging for mercy from him, the future king of Italy, to see if he could get a flesh or two bones; But perhaps the devil drove him mad, he didn't leave, he lived in the small town of Prugverin for a while, and then came to Giulio's side, and became his deputy in peace.

"Why?" Ralph said, "Probably because I went to Nuoro before. ”

"Oh, where you went," Giulio asked, watching him gobble up as fast as Ezio, "what's going on?" ”

"All is well," said Ralph, who had been a little worried about the boys, knowing that it was only on very rare occasions that mercenaries would be treated with respect and favor from their employers, who had worked for the Medici for twenty years. The Medici were better when they were alive, but not until Pierrot. When the Medici took control of the family, their situation became very difficult, and when they were safe, their expenses and commissions were deducted, and their grievances were ignored, and when Charles VIII's army surrounded Florence and needed them, Pierrot thought they were not reliable enough because of his previous inconvenient treatment (Ralph: You know), and instead of summoning them, he hired three hundred strange mercenaries, and as we all know, as soon as they came into contact with the French army, they left their employers and fled.

But then, remembering Lorenzo's favor, Ralph and his boys escorted the rest of the Medici family out of Florence, but at that time he thought that this would be the last time, and when the Medici people had a place to live, he would take his men to Rome or Pisa, who knows, but in a few days, Giulio and the Medici turned the tide, and the Medici people, although they did not receive complete understanding, could at least return to their old mansion and live in peace, and he was richly rewarded, Returned to the original camp.

When the battle of Seminala came, he was both grateful and angry at the young master, and grateful that he had willingly left the merit of saving the king to him and the other two mercenary captains, and was annoyed that before he knew it, the hearts of the lads had gone into the hands of another—but they had nothing to blame, and even he was addicted to the goods, horses, weapons, and armor that the merchants had brought with them, and who could pay in installments or take out loans.

His concern was that after the battle subsided, Giulio. When the Medici returned to Rome, the lads became a burden, and the wandering mercenaries who had nowhere to go were much more pitiful than the dogs with their masters, and Ralph thought that he would summon them back when he had established himself in Naples.

Unexpectedly, he was unlucky earlier than Giulio and Medici. But when he went to visit the lads in Nuoro, he found that they were all doing well, that they had plenty of meat, bread and fat, fruit and vegetables and wine from the monastery there, clean and warm clothes, and a small bath. They trained from morning to evening as the monks prayed—in addition to what Ralph had taught them, they were constantly experimenting with and familiarizing themselves with the battle of horses and arquebuses, which neither Ralph could provide, nor was he able to provide, and the horses, cavalry equipment, gunpowder, and muskets alone were enough to make the golden florin flow like water.

There are three squad leaders who supervise these lads, and they get one day off every seven days, and they get a commission on the rest day - yes, even if there is no campaign, they still have a commission to get, as long as they can complete the training task, do a good job, and get a reward, if they don't do enough or fall behind, not only will they not be rewarded, but even their rest days will be canceled.

Of course, no one objected, except for a bit of desolation, the mercenaries felt that Nuoro was better than Florence or Lucca, and the monks came to teach them how to write and read—not only did they become stronger, but they also began to know how to respect discipline, and the inhabitants of Nuoro, who had begun to tremble, slowly let down their guards, and even thought that these lads were not bad, at least they remembered to give money when they took away the wool or took the girl.

How good, Ralph muttered silently, and perhaps it was then that the devil began to take root in his heart.

"Is there anything you want me to do?" He asked.

"Let's go to Lucca." Giulio said, "Go check it out, and come back and tell me." ”

"What do you want to know?" Ralph asked, then shook his head, "You really decided to go to Lucca, it was a bit dangerous, you know, your grandfather Cosimo was exiled because of the defeat in the war with Luca, Luca and Florence were enemies, they provided you with soldiers and supplies in the Battle of Seminara, it was their duty to the archbishop, but they didn't really have any kindness to you." ”

"I'm not going to be friends with them," said Giulio, "and you went to Lucca as a mercenary to observe two families, one Castelluccio and the other Guinici." ”

Ralph Hadi laughed, "Oh, I know they, a descendant of a former Duke of Lucca, a current first standard-bearer of the Republic, well, I'm going." ”

He rudely pulled up the hem of his underwear and wiped his mouth.

"Seriously," he winked at Giulio, "now you're more than standing in Caesar. You're so much cuter behind Borgia! ”

————————————————

"How's this one?" Madame Kindness took out a silk robe and held it in her hand to show the Duchess.

"Salmon flesh-colored." The Duchess shook her head, "No, it's so hot, he'll run away in terror just by looking at it." ”

"And this one?"

"Green? No, tonight is not the right day for the seed to fall into the womb. ”

"Where's the gold?"

"I'm not going to meet with my courtiers."

"Black?"

"Don't remind him of the husband before me, and the one after me, okay?"

"White?"

"I don't want to leave him with the last impression of a virgin."

"This one? Blue represents humility, simplicity, and maybe he will like it. ”

"But not gentle enough," said the duchess, "I remember that I had a lighter linen robe. ”

——————

When Julio gently entered the room through the window, he saw a linen robe as pale as the moonlight and as soft as the clouds, and the duchess did not have her hair coiled up as usual, but spread behind her like a tidal wave, which looked black in the dim light.

"I beg your pardon for ......"

"Don't say such polite words," said the Duchess, "and there are only you and me in the room. ”

"You guessed I'd come?" Otherwise, it is impossible for a duchess to be without servants by her side.

"I guess you can't wait to leave, and in that case, you won't delay saying goodbye to me."

"I think I have to thank you for ......"

"Has anyone told you that words are hypocritical, only deeds are true?"

"I can do anything for you except ...... This ...... Thing. ”

"So what do you think I need?" The Duchess said sarcastically: "Money, or assassin? Money, I have an income of 300,000 gold a year, and Louis XII has promised to give me another 200,000 livres a year, how much do you think you can give me to buy your life? And the Assassins, are the only husbands or two I am suffering? I can marry a hundred men, as long as they are not kings of France, but there will always be a king of France, either Charles VIII or Louis XII or Henry IV or Philip III, what difference does it make to me? What difference does it make for the French? ”

"Your Majesty......"

"Let's go." The Duchess interrupted him, "You go, ruthless man, alas...... I used to think that if I couldn't get a love, at least I could get a pity, but I must admit that I failed, you are so ruthless, you would rather watch me go to hell than give me a finger, I believed you, but I was wrong, okay, okay, so be it, let me be miserable, anyway, you're leaving, you'll never see me again. ”

“…… What are you going to do...... Your Majesty? ”

"What do you think I'll do?" The duchess got up, got out of bed, passed in front of Giulio, and knelt before the icon, "No, I will not kill myself, I can bow my knee to you, but not to the French—as I have told you, I will not give birth to the heir of the King of France, so that he may take Brittany." ”

"But you'll find out sooner or later."

"They may have been aware of it, for I had four pregnancies with Charles VIII, but none of them were able to give birth to them—if my father had a second daughter, they would have burned me at the stake, and I am indeed a witch...... I'm always going to hell, Mr. Bishop, and I can always hear babies crying in my ears, but I, the executioner, have to do it for the sake of Brittany.

If, I mean, I have to give birth to a child as a last resort, then it will only be a girl, then Brittany will have at least a dozen years to remain independent and self-governing.

That's all I can do.

May God bless Brittany. ”

"But you're hurting yourself."

"It's the first time anyone has said that." "Even the witch I raised," said the Duchess, "cursed me to be torn to pieces by the devil, and no mother would do so, and she swore that I would never be a mother, that I would never have children of my own, that no one would ever love me from the bottom of his heart." ”

"Go away," said the Duchess at last, "but remember my name, Anne, and leave Brest with it, and when I am forgotten by all, please pronounce the name of this poor woman once in a while, even as a reward for me."

Leave, don't come back, don't make me miserable again. ”

With the last words, the duchess put her hands over her face and leaned down, letting the tears drip on the cold stone slab.