The Reversed Hierophant Chapter 82
Testament
Rafael lowered his eyes. After a long moment, he repeated in a whisper, “Revenge?”
He remained silent for a long time, attempting to form a smile, but it never fully materialized—the curve of his lips faltered halfway and faded away.
“Alright.”
Compared to Ashur’s suppressed, agonized plea, his agreement was almost offhandedly light, making one wonder if he had truly made up his mind.
But no one was better at weighing the pros and cons than Rafael.
Upon hearing his answer, Ashur’s entire body seemed to relax. She knelt on the ground, the sleeve dagger falling onto the soft carpet. Spots of blood stained the surroundings. She wiped the blood off with the hem of her skirt, ignoring the continuous fresh blood flow, and carefully pulled out a tightly wrapped object in oil paper from her inner clothing.
She gazed at it, cradling it solemnly in both hands, raising it high above her head while deeply bowing her body.
“This is the Queen’s last will. The full version.”
Rafael took the oilpaper scroll, hesitated for a moment, glanced cautiously at Ashur, and opened it, revealing the meticulously protected will inside.
A will not read publicly, without even the legitimate heir, Sancha, present—its legality might be questioned.
Ashur’s lips twitched, her expression strange for a fleeting moment, but she quickly became emotionless again. “Please trust my judgment.”
Rafael didn’t press further. He unrolled the parchment and began to read, his expression quickly shifting to shock—a rare sight. He was long accustomed to being the Pope who never revealed his emotions, never showing any emotion that might invite speculation besides a smile. But what was this?!
“This is impossible.” Rafael’s eyes widened. He instinctively denied it, immediately checking the document in his hands.
“This is impossible… Are you sure it’s the original? I mean, it hasn’t left you from beginning to end?”
Ashur’s voice was firm. “I’m certain. I was the one who wrote it down as Her Majesty the Queen dictated it.”
Rafael stopped. He fell silent for a moment. “Then, you truly didn’t do something you shouldn’t have?”
For example, forging the will on your own?
Rafael originally did not believe Ashur would do such a thing. But after realizing Ashur was willing to sacrifice everything for Amandra’s revenge, he had to consider the possibility.
“…I wouldn’t,” Ashur retorted, somewhat unable to bear it. “I would never defile the Queen’s honor and will. Please believe that this was all Her Majesty’s own choice!”
Rafael’s gaze returned to the parchment, and he said softly, “But this is impossible…”
Ashur countered, “Why is it impossible? You question the Queen’s love for you, but the fact is, she never thought of abandoning you or denying your existence—she just never found a suitable opportunity to acknowledge it all, and this is everything she intended to give you.”
The queen’s attendant, left in the world of the living, bowed her head until her forehead touched the ground, her palms facing up. This was an Assyrian gesture of respect for the most noble person.
“—Your Highness, the Grand Duke.”
Rafael’s pupils constricted sharply, reflecting the fierce handwriting on the parchment.
“I, Amandra Sargon, daughter of King Zhenya and Queen Hashur, rightfully appointed by heaven, the eighth monarch of the Assyrian Sargon Dynasty, hereby decree my last will as follows:
Should I suffer the greatest misfortune in the world, I will distribute all my possessions as follows: all private property belonging to Amandra Sargon shall be divided equally between my eldest son, Rafael Garcia, and my second daughter, Sancha Isabella Gondola Romanina.
…Hereby, I must solemnly declare and make public that the Pope of Florence, Sistine I, Rafael Garcia, is the natural son of the late Pope Vitalian III, Delacroix de Portia, with his birth mother being Queen Amandra Sargon of Assyria. He was born on February 4th in the 1057th year of the Florentine calendar, on the Assyrian Saint Sandrine Estate. In accordance with the compassionate and protective love of the Eternal Sky for all living beings, his birth was declared legitimate, reasonable, and proper, and was unanimously approved and welcomed by the Assyrian royal family, led by myself and my father.
…Accordingly, Rafael Garcia possesses all the virtues befitting a man and a monarch. Given the complex geographical, political, and religious issues between Rome and Assyria, he shall be my first heir and inherit the throne of Assyria. On the day this will is made public, he shall automatically receive the title of Grand Duke of Assyria, serving as Crown Prince of Assyria until he is fully prepared to become the ninth monarch of Assyria after me. Until the birth of his first heir, Sancha shall retain the title of Grand Duchess of Assyria.
If he dies before his enthronement, or if he dies without an heir, the Assyrian throne shall be inherited by Sancha.
If he refuses to accept, the Assyrian throne shall be inherited by Sancha, and this clause shall be permanently kept secret and not made public.”
Every word was written in the common language, but for a moment, Rafael felt as if he couldn’t understand the text at all.
Ashur raised her face and quietly gazed at him. “Your Highness.”
From the moment she met Rafael, she had not addressed him as “Your Holiness.” Until now, she chose to call him “Your Highness”—the title representing the Crown Prince of Assyria.
According to Amandra’s will, from the moment he first laid eyes on this testament, he was the presumptive Crown Prince of Assyria. And if he was willing, he could even announce his succession to the Assyrian throne at that very moment, becoming the ninth legitimate Assyrian monarch.
From the looks of the will, this was a result of Amandra’s careful consideration. Indeed, although the marriage alliance between Rome and Assyria empires was for the ultimate goal of a powerful, unified empire, whether viewed from political, economic, or religious perspectives, Rome and Assyria, separated by a vast ocean, were ill-suited to become a single united empire.
The most pressing issue was, as the monarch of this unified nation, should he rule from Rome or Assyria?
In this era where transportation was still inconvenient, a lord leaving his territory for more than three months risked rebellion—let alone governing such an expansive, vast nation.
Sancha had always been considered the future heir to both the Roman and Assyrian empires. Even she herself likely believed this, since Amandra had only her as a child, and the Assyrian royal family had always been sparse in numbers. In Amandra’s generation, aside from herself, all direct bloodlines had been extinguished, and the collateral lines were so distant one would have to trace back to Amandra’s great-grandfather’s generation to find relatives.
But no one knew that the Queen had never truly made such a decision.
It was only after Sancha successfully inherited the Roman Empire and ascended to the throne that Amandra finally brought this imminent issue to the forefront of her considerations.
She could not burden Sancha with the complexities and disputes of both Rome and Assyria.
During the years she governed on Sancha’s behalf, she had suffered enough from such hardships.
The high priest had said she had long left her native land and was “the wife of Rome,” not “the daughter of Assyria”; yet the Roman people had always saw her as an outsider.
Sancha had been in the Roman Empire since birth. She had never set foot on Assyrian soil for even a day. How could the proud and untamable Assyrians easily accept such a ruler?
Even if she were the offspring of their most revered Queen Amandra, it would not suffice.
Then… perhaps Rafael?
“With the Queen now deceased, we cannot know what internal struggles she underwent at that time, nor how she determined that her eldest son, who had never practically governed a nation, could shoulder the heavy burden of Assyria. One must understand that, compared to the harmonious, unified, loyal, and docile Rome she left for her daughter, what she left for her eldest son was a genuine mess—a chaotic powder keg, a quagmire of mud. The unruly Assyrians could point their spears at a monarch they distrusted. Every nation in the world was frantically fishing for the interests they desired within—this was the country the Queen left for her son.”
“…Moreover, when she entrusted this heavy burden to Pope Sistine I, the other party was still completely unaware. From the records of Signora Bianchi and the memoirs of contemporary Papal officials, we can say with certainty, borrowing an Eastern idiom, that Sistine I was ‘sitting at home when disaster fell from the sky.’ Before this, the entire world had no knowledge of this arguably insane decision.
“Not even the most imaginative person could have connected the Assyrian Queen to Sistine I’s biological mother. All that was known at the time was that Pope Sistine I was born into a collateral branch of the Portia family, his parents both obscure figures. However, there were rumors in Florence then that he was the illegitimate son of Pope Vitalian III—the origin of this rumor traces back to Duke Redrick. As the legitimate firstborn son of Pope Vitalian III, his malice toward Pope Sistine I was baseless and endless. Some speculated at the time that Pope Sistine I might indeed be the Pope’s illegitimate son, and his mother must have been a prostitute. No one could, and no one dared, connect the Assyrian Queen to that prostitute—except for reality itself.
“So when this testament was made public, the uproar it caused was comparable to the current President of M Country claiming to have had a child with the Queen of J Country, and that child now happens to be the Pope of Florence. With this, you can imagine how shocked and how difficult it was for people to accept it—especially for the devout believers.
“They couldn’t understand how their Holy Father could be an illegitimate son not blessed by the Lord. But beyond this minor issue, a more serious political problem arose because the Queen’s testament led to a new question: Could the Pope, the Shepherd of the Lord on earth, who had sworn to renounce all worldly wealth, titles, and power before assuming the Holy See, truly become a worldly monarch again? As the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, if he accepted this throne, would it mean the sanctity and transcendence of his role as Pope would be completely dissolved?
“No one had ever considered this question before, but history and reality indisputably placed it before Pope Sistine I at that time. What this extraordinary monarch, ahead of his time, thought and how he reacted, we have no way of knowing. What we can ascertain from unraveling history is that the Queen had made the wisest and bravest decision of her life.”
Later historical books would not hesitate to dedicate an entire chapter to discussing this story from the distant past, presenting all sorts of speculations with great relish. Finally, it printed a single line in clear black letters on a white page:
“She brought forth the best monarch this world has ever known.”
Compared to the conjectures and musings of later generations, Rafael’s situation was absolutely more difficult and complex.
The will Ashur brought was like a bomb packed with gunpowder, shoved in front of Rafael and blowing up in his face. The usually quick-witted and agile Rafael couldn’t even react immediately.
His mind was a complete muddle, from “how is this possible” to “am I dreaming?” For a moment, he could only stare blankly at Ashur.
The Queen left a testament, publicly acknowledging his identity? She acknowledged he was her child? And she entrusted Assyria to him—she believed he could be her heir?
Rafael was very clear about Amandra’s obsession with Assyria.
Unlike her rule over Rome, where she was managing it for her daughter, regardless of people’s suspicions, Amandra never had any ulterior motives for Rome. In her heart, she was always only the Queen of Assyria; Assyria was the territory this mother wolf guarded.
And now, she had handed her most cherished country to him?
This shock was more astonishing to Rafael than suddenly becoming the monarch of Assyria. The crown that had fallen from the sky gave him mixed feelings; to put it in the simplest terms…
He had never received such a generous gift—a gift from a parent.
All children receive gifts from their parents as they grow up, whether a toy, a flower, a mansion, or servants, but Rafael hadn’t.
Old Aaron wasn’t his father; their relationship was merely one of desperate collaboration between two vagrants trying to survive. Old Aaron taught him to steal, and he would give the stolen goods to Old Aaron to exchange for food. As for Lia, she had given him hugs and kisses, but it was just the compassion of a kind woman toward a pitiful street urchin.
After being found by Vitalian III in the slums, Rafael got a new last name, Rafael gained a new surname, unrelated to Delacroix. He still could not call his father “father.” The Pope had his own family, his own wife and children. The person who could legally stand by his side at banquets was not Rafael; Rafael could only exist as his secretary, assistant, and distant nephew.
There wasn’t much warmth between Delacroix and Rafael back then.
Having crawled out of the slums, Rafael had had enough of the painful days of not having enough to eat or wear. He was afraid of being abandoned again, so he used all his talent and wisdom to please everyone around him, showing them the side they most wanted to see.
In front of Delacroix, he was a clever, lively, and wild son; in front of Julius, he was a sharp, intelligent student with whom he had a spiritual connection; in front of the doctor, he was a quietly enduring, obedient patient; and in front of Delacroix’s wife, who hated him to the bone, he was a timid, incompetent, and low-profile bastard who would never get in her sons’ way…
He played the part so well that no one saw through his anxiety and fear.
Naturally, to play the part of an illegitimate son who wouldn’t get in the way of that lady, he couldn’t be too intimate with Delacroix. Delacroix also didn’t invest too much emotion in him. This father gave him an excellent education and living conditions, but these were things his children should have. If Rafael hadn’t been lost back then and had been successfully brought to Florence by his knights, his life now would probably be similar to Redrick’s.
But those extra gifts?
Rafael “sensibly” rejected them all.
By the time he grew older, past the age when he should have been receiving gifts, no one thought to give him gifts anymore.
By then, he had become an indispensable right hand to the Pope, reviewing highly confidential documents in the papal court, handling obscure and complex political affairs. No one saw him as a child anymore; he was their ally or enemy. Later, when Delacroix passed away, his name was not in the published will.
But today, long after he had stopped caring about these things, his mother told him: You are the heir to my vast domains and the recipient of all my glory.
For Rafael, this was… simply too much.
The young Pope’s thoughts were in turmoil. He hadn’t even considered the series of political upheavals this testament would bring. As a religious leader, could he obtain actual ruling power over a vast country? The issues involved were far too many, enough to cause tremors between the Papal States and all other nations. This also involved the allegiance of millions of believers—after acquiring such a vast territory, would the Pope still be content to be a religious leader? If he issued a call to the faithful, how many would rush to Calais without hesitation?
Rafael’s gaze shifted slightly.
The words on the parchment gradually blurred. A term he had read in his youth and forgotten in his memory inexplicably returned to him.
The Kingdom of God on Earth.
How many Popes had dreamed of this? In the glorious heyday of the Church, the Pope’s flags flew on every ship and over every city. The names of the Holy See were engraved on bronze plates and stone tablets, the recitation of their holy names echoing across oceans and lands.
If he could recreate this glory—
Rafael thought vaguely.
—If he could establish a true Kingdom of God on Earth—
Would he then truly gain the power to defy fate?
