"And the Vatican Palace and Castel Sant'Angelo." Giulio said.

Duarte smiled coldly and contemptuously: "These two places have been looted by mobs countless times," he said, "what else do you hope to find from inside?" Even my benefactor, the Holy Father Alexander VI, was sent to the mausoleum barefoot under a veil, without even a ring on his finger, do you think I would have him buried in such a humble manner if it were possible? ”

"If it were someone else, maybe not," said Giulio, "but if it were you, Duarte, that you were more Borgia than any Borgia, though not a Borgia, and that you would not spend any effort in a useless place, and that Alexander VI was dead and unconscious, and you would immediately flee from him—but not for yourself, but for his children, and perhaps you would have begun to transfer the assets of the Holy See very early on, in case Caesar. If Borgia's career fails, then as long as there are countless Jinducat, then they will at least have a chance to make a comeback.

But Caesar died......"

"Yes," Duarte interrupted, "since you know it, Giulio. Medici, Luigi, Caesar, Luclayia...... They are all children I watched grow up, but all three of them can almost say that they died at your hands, Medici, how can you think that I will put the Borgia inheritance in the hands of their enemies! ”

"Because Lucrecia would rather take Avery . Borgia, and Spole and Lepi handed it over to me, not you? ”

Duarte visibly wavered, but he immediately became firm: "Avery is just a cowardly child," he said, "and this chip alone is not enough." He looked at Giulio, "Just let me take them all to hell." ”

"So," said Giulio, "I'll give you one more reason, Duarte. Blandao, when people hear this name, they think that this is a Portuguese, because the surname Blandao is very common in Portugal, but Lucrecia told me that this is the surname given to you by Alexander VI, and your original surname should be ...... Piruzzi. ”

Duarte jerked his head up and gave Giulio a fierce look.

Giulio was unmoved: "You are not only an Italian, but also a Florentine, at that time, as a member of the Piruzzi family, you were negotiating with some chamber of commerce in Pizzo, but I did not expect that the Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Turkish Empire suddenly launched an attack on Italy - you were captured, as a slave, you were probably sold several times, until you went to a Portuguese ship, and you were killed by Rodrigo. Borgia discovered. You are not a criminal, a heretic, as people say. ”

"Yes...... Duarte hissed, "but so what? The year was 1480, and I had been a pagan slave for three years, and under the instruction of the whip and the soldering iron, I had forgotten that I had been such a devout cult - the Lord had forsaken me, and Italy had forsaken me, and I was like an animal, no, it should be said, I was inferior to an animal in the eyes of the pagans, and I was young and very strong when I was captured, but after three years I had only bones and skin...... And I was the only slave who was taken away at that time. I was sold to a ship, and it was said that a believer had made a vow to buy a hundred believers, and I was so happy that I thought I could go home, but he only replaced his nephew with me, because we looked alike, while his nephew was going to the bottom of the ship to do hard labor because he had killed his enemy—ha, you know what, he recognized me, but he didn't even say a word! Even if it's just to send a message to my family......"

"You don't have ......"

"Of course I didn't, and if I had been shouting, I was afraid that I would never see Italy again, and I would never see Florence again—I don't know what I was supporting, maybe it was hatred, and I was almost taken to the bottom of the boat, shackled, and never seen the light of day—but I jumped into the sea and swam to Rodrigo. Borgia's side, when I spoke, my tongue and palate were glued together, and I tore them open with my hands, and they were drenched in blood and soaked in the sea, and if I hadn't suffered enough as a slave, I would have fainted, but I didn't, so Rodrigo took a fancy to me and took me back to Italy. ”

"Why didn't you come back?"

"What am I going to do when I come back? I don't matter to my family, I don't have to live in the city, and I'm as small as grit in Italy as a whole, but I think maybe I can do something about it. ”

"What do you want to do?"

"Whatever it is," Duarte said, "has been ruined by you." ”

"I said, you're more Borgia than Borgia." Giulio said: "What you want to do should be as Rodrigo. Borgia helped in order to achieve his ambition - a united Italy, with a strong monarch. ”

He lowered his head and looked at Duarte: "A monarch too strong to let his people be plundered, bought and sold, and humiliated." You used to think that man was Caesar. Borgia ......"

Yes, Duarte once thought that an ambitious, young and wise, strong and benevolent monarch - when he recalled countless times in his nightmares that the pagan soldiers were pouring through the land of Italy like a tidal wave, and the soldiers who were supposed to defend it fled in a hurry with the populace - though they had swords in their hands and shields in their hands, they were no braver than a three-year-old child.

He was taken as a slave, and the people around him, in addition to the wars of other countries with Italy, were taken and bought because of the strife between the city-states, and even because of the feud between the families, because God said that a Christian could not be the master of another Christian, so they were sold to the heathen.

Is this his country? Is this his city? Is this his kindred?

"But I can promise you," said Giulio, "that I will do my best to achieve this wish which you cannot fulfill—that I will unify Italy, that I will make it strong, that no one can bully at will—that every people who live with it will find peace, happiness, and peace." ”

——————

Duarte had never looked at the young man so intently, and in his memory, Giulio . The Medici was also a bereaved puppy as Pope Alexander VI called him, and he wanted to laugh at his indiscretion - no, he should remember that it was this young man, and his teacher, who destroyed the seemingly behemoths of the Borgia family and the devilish Alexander VI without even causing much turmoil - and saw how the city of Rome had become orderly while he went into hiding......

And then there are Lucca, Florence, the exiles from Romagna...... When Alexander VI realized their mistake, he gathered and handed over the information before the Father's throne......

They, or rather, he, have already taken the first step.

"I don't believe you." Duarte said.

"I don't need you to trust me." "You don't even have to hand over those hidden assets, although it's going to be a little tough – we're going to ...... Slowly, or you want to give them to people you think can achieve your ambitions, but then Italy will remain in disarray for many more years, so I'll have to put you to death, maybe you have other means, but you can only wait until it happens, and then we can figure it out.

If that's what you want to see. ”

——————

Duarte pointed out three secret chambers, all in Castel Sant'Angelo, from which about 800,000 gold ducats and golden florins were found, as well as jewels worth one-third of the value, including all the vestments and rings worn by Alexander VI, and countless relics and utensils.

"Finally," Duarte said, "I have one more question for you." ”

"Please."

Duarte looked at Giulio with a complicated expression. Medici.

"I wonder," he said, "how did you acquire so much knowledge?" ”

Giulio was a little confused, but he replied anyway, "Learn." ”

"I don't think that learning will allow you to do so much," Duarte retorted: "There is some knowledge that we don't think Picromini could have mastered, he is your teacher, and where did you cross that line?" ”

"So what do you think?"

Duarte was silent for a moment: "...... The Apple of Eden," he asked, "does it really exist?" ”

Giulio didn't give him an answer.

But Giulio is not lying, he is indeed learning, but he has studied for two centuries - and in the last "century", his identity is the same as that of the current Giulio. The Medici are a little similar, in addition to not being born out of wedlock, he is also the only son of a second son, and his family can almost be described as a family, he has no pressure of survival and the distress of choices, he can learn anything he likes, and because of the special relationship between his uncle's profession, he can also understand some things that ordinary people can't access...... But......

He didn't think he'd come here.