Julio carefully folded Lucracia's letter and placed it in a locked box, stood up from his desk, and stretched his waist, which was sore, from sitting for so long.

Looking out of the window in front of the desk, you can see a small half of the Rose Coast, the crimson rocks look like cinnabar wrapped in gold in the morning light, the deep gray-blue water dips into the white sea sand, and the black shipwreck is toppled at the water's edge, the mast pointing to the sky.

Brest is a seaport city, it is located on the west side of the Brittany peninsula, north of the Gulf of Brest, the river La Ponfield flows into the sea from its side, although it cannot be said to be as prosperous as the Loire, but it can also be called neat and rich, but Anna of Brittany did not live in the city of Brest, but lived in seclusion in the small town of Prugverin on the promontory of Saint-Matthew, on the promontory stands the Celtic-style Monastery of St. Matthew, built in the sixth century, which is said to contain the holy body of the Egyptian saint Matthew.

The sea breeze howls all day long, and it is barren and monotonous, and it is sparsely populated, which makes Caesar, who likes noisy and extravagant, very unaccustomed.

Fortunately, Caesar's mission had already been partially completed, and Pope Alexander VI generously cited eight facts to prove that the new king of France, Louis XII, had no choice but to do so, and the convent was the end of her life, and Louis XII could finally openly and fanfare pursue Anna of Brittany, the widow of Charles VIII. The Duchess of Brittany had to leave her retreat and move to the Château de Brest, lest the quiet life of the monks be disturbed by the frivolity of the suitor, and her companion, Louis XII's cousin, Charlotte, daughter of the King of Navarre, always followed her, and continued to fulfill her duty of companionship and the power of surveillance, Caesar. Borgia eagerly pursued him – humiliated by the near-callous refusal of the Neapolitan king's daughter Carotta (she had said she would not marry the son of a bishop who was a bishop), and it was obvious that he would do his best to satisfy his new betrothed, for which he tossed the gold coins of the Holy See and purchased numerous expensive gifts for his future wife.

Not only did he go by himself, but his musicians, attendants, clowns, etc., and the town, which had been disturbed by the noise of these people, suddenly became quiet.

Giulio stayed, and the Duchess of Brittany wanted him to instruct the monks of St. Matthew's Abbey on how to administer the "Blessing of St. John" to the people. Seriously, Giulio was quite surprised, he thought that the work had already been carried out throughout Europe, but according to the female officials next to the duchess, Charles VIII was indeed moved, but he thought that when he got Naples, or captured the Pope, he could snatch this glorious chalice without paying a price, so although the upper echelons of France had been planted with cowpox, among the commoners, there were not many people who received the blessing, especially Brittany- This untamed territory is always on the verge of breaking away from France, stretching out its little feet and feet to test it.

Caesar comforted Giulio many times, for it seemed to him, and to those around him, that being forcibly left in such a deserted town at this critical moment, to perform the sacraments for a group of poor paupers, was a punishment for an archbishop—and he even had analysed with Giulio whether the latter had angered the duchess at any point.

Giulio didn't care, and told him that it would be a pleasure for him to live a full and spiritually uplifted life than to follow Caesar and King Louis XII of France and watch the nobles and priests flatter and welcome him in every possible way, and let him stay quietly in the town, and teach the monks to vaccinate against cowpox.

——————————

"Borgia ought to be glad," said one of the maids-in-waiting, "though he was also known to be of good countenance and graceful manners, few of them were able to take their eyes off him when the archbishop appeared—how beautiful he was, and when he was born, an angel must have landed and kissed him in the face." ”

"Aren't his hands beautiful?" Another maid said wistfully: "His feet are also beautiful, and that day I saw him come out of the sea, and the sun shining through the water illuminates his feet, and I would rather kneel down and kiss them than the Holy See." ”

"Why don't you say you'd like to kiss somewhere else?" The friend next to her said with a wink.

The maids giggled.

"It's a pity that this adult seems to already have a lover." One of the maids said, "I saw him kissing an unmarked letter." ”

"I don't know which lucky one it is." The second said lazily, turning her head, and almost at the same time she jumped up and curtsied in a panic, her movements alarming the others, and when they saw the comer, they all blushed, and after a hasty salute, they scattered in all directions.

"I'm sorry," said Mrs. Goodheart, "I've indulged them too much." ”

"It doesn't matter," said Giulio, "they all look very energetic." ”

"That's how kids should be." Mrs. Kindness said.

Giulio subconsciously glanced at Madame Kindness - she was the most important female official of the Duchess of Brittany, and an unfortunate widow with a rich territory and castle, and if it were not for the duchess's protection, she might have had a second bad marriage early. At this time, men always classify women and her possessions as thoughtless objects, and the only one who does not have such thoughts is probably Julio, and Madame Kindness calls these maids children, but she herself is very young, even if her face is always hidden by a dark veil, but the skin of her hands and neck is as white and smooth as cream, and her voice is full of crispness and brightness that only young people have.

She looked kindly at the young archbishop, perhaps the commoners and the lowly nobles did not know why, but as the Duchess of Brittany and the former and future Queen of France, Anna certainly knew who St. John's face had originally fallen on: "The Duchess would very much like you to give us some help and guidance, not only from the monks of St. Matthew's Abbey, but also from all over Brittany, for the upcoming St. John's Day." After that, about 500 people who have never received blessings will gather here.

They are all poor, but now there are benefactors willing to work for them—and as for the holy things needed for the blessing, don't worry, the holy things are already prepared here, a hundred ounces in total, and even if there is a failure, it doesn't matter, and they can be replenished at any time. ”

Julio calculated in his heart that with the spread of cowpox, the price of "holy relics" not only did not decrease, but increased, after all, those who were apprehensive found that only a few people died because they were "not pious enough", and they became enthusiastic, and now an ounce of holy relics can be sold for nearly a hundred gold coins, plus the inevitable costs of mass and room, alcohol, cotton and nurses, that is, The Duchess of Brittany went so far as to give tens of thousands of gold to vaccinate her people at one time.

To say that 10,000 gold eju is inconspicuous in the eyes of the Holy See and others, but in this era when the people are regarded as cattle and horses, the behavior of the Duchess of Brittany is undoubtedly very respectable.

Giulio agreed, not only out of his own volition, but also on behalf of the Church, Picomini and himself to befriend the future queen of France, the Duchess of Brittany, after all, as far as he met Louis XII, the new king of France, the respect for the Church and the Holy See can only be described in a few words. Thinking of this, Giulio could not help but sigh, Caesar's behavior added fuel to the fire, not to mention the thrifty Louis XII, even he could not help but wonder if the money given to God and the Holy See had become a fur cloak, silk underwear and pure gold stirrups of some bastard.

"Why do you sigh," asked Madame Kindness, who was the first to receive the blessing of St. John in Brittany, and asked softly, "is there anything wrong with it?" ”

Julio raised his head, there are still fifteen days before St. John's Day, Mass, Sacrifice, and Procession are still in preparation, considering that the people who plant the vaccine will have a period of fever and weakness for nearly a week, it is most appropriate to start letting people receive blessings at this time, after vaccination, people can participate in various activities with a healthy body after the arrival of St. John's Day, and if something unfortunate happens, others will quickly be distracted by the upcoming grand procession and Mass.

It's just that what he didn't expect was that the first person to come to receive the blessing was the lady who came to convey the duchess's will.

Today, Madame Kindness is dressed in the clothes of a native Brittany woman, a black velvet blouse, an elaborate embroidered waistcoat, a wide white turban, a colorful and dignified apron tied around her waist, and no extra ornaments on her fingers or neck except for the golden cross on her chest.

She has a pair of clear gray-black eyes, and her gaze is straightforward and calm, which some people may think lacks the feminine humility and femininity, except for Julio. In his last life, there were no more women with such eyes, but in this era, even the arrogant Lucrecia sometimes showed signs of cowardice and anxiety, let alone other women.

The winter sun shone through the closed glass windows into the room, which had been rebuilt according to the Blessing's requirements, the wood still giving off its primitive aroma, only to be muffled by the smell of stronger spirits, the walls were painted with chalk, the stone bricks on the floor were embedded with gums, every corner was cleaned so that no dust could be seen, and the table on which the silver utensils and utensils were kept was covered with linen.

The little maid on the side opened the cuffs for the good lady, untied the tie between the upper end of the sleeve and the shoulder of the outer garment, and removed the whole sleeve, revealing the loose silk underwear inside, and then, the silk sleeves were also pulled up, and several priests around the room immediately lowered their heads, not daring to look directly, on the contrary, the noble lady turned her head to look at them: "Look! She commanded gently and sternly, "This is a sacred thing." When the priests had raised their heads, she signaled to Giulio that he could continue—it is difficult to say what the technique is to grow the vaccine at this time—and in general, Julio would remind people to get enough sleep, eat well, be clean, and recuperate after receiving the blessing, etc., and he also reminded Mrs. Kindness about this, after all, this town is almost always a few poor civilians who have no chance of receiving blessings according to common sense.

Mrs. Kindness rested her arms on the table, her skin was unusually fair, her veins showed a misty stream on the surface of her skin, her arms were rounded, her wrists were slender, but what was even more remarkable was her incomparably wide palms, which could even be compared to a man who wielded a sword, as recorded in the books that Giulio had read that people with such hands, both men and women, had a near-mad thirst for power, and they often held power. But Giulio didn't think any deeper, he wiped his hands with purified alcohol, and also wiped the arms of the Lady of Kindness, "Are you going to turn your face away?" He asked one last time: "It's not a matter of guts and piety, people will always subconsciously stay away from things that hurt themselves." ”

"Do it, Bishop." Mrs. Kindness said, "I have seen blood, and I have seen wounds. ”

Julio drew a cross on her arm, first horizontally, then vertically, his movements were very fast, although the wound was very shallow, but Mrs. Kindness was as she said, full of courage, not only did the arm not shrink and move in the slightest, even the sight did not waver, blood overflowed from the cross wound, flowing down the smooth skin of the elbow, the nun on the side hurriedly wiped them around the wound according to Julio's instructions, and then a thin silver rod was lightly dipped in the vaccine solution, and then slightly on the wound— Those present immediately recited aloud with joy.

Naturally, the person concerned was no exception, but Julio always felt that the smile of the kind lady was quite meaningful.

"What a pious young man he is." As soon as she left the room, the little maid who accompanied Madame Kindness couldn't help but admire, "How delicate his methods are, and how kind his attitude is." ”

"Why don't you mention that he is as handsome as Adonis this time?" Mrs. Kindness teased, and the little maid immediately blushed: "There is nothing taboo about this," said Mrs. Kindness, "Beauty is also a treasure given by God to mankind." She touched the fresh wound, which was beating like a tiny heart under the bandage: "I just hope he can be the same." ”