Cesare POV:
This morning, I realized that Antonio didn't come back last night from King Gabriel's birthday celebration. Honestly, the thought that something might have happened to him scares me...
While I was thinking about Antonio, going down for breakfast, Marcus approached me...
"Good morning, Your Eminence..."
"Good morning, Marcus... Do you need something?"
I think someone is more jealous than me right now. Marcus is acting quite strangely at the moment.
"Hey, Cesare... I've been thinking about something," Marcus said, dropping the formalities.
"What a coincidence, little demon, so have I..."
"What if Antonio is one of the descendants of King Julius? That king who had supernatural powers and could charm anyone with his charm..."
"Hmm, it could be true... Who would have thought that a hero like Antonio would be capable of doing perverse things like in the past nights... I mean..."
"That's why, diabolical cardinal, I believe he is one of Julius' descendants... You know well what was said about him, don't you?"
"Yes, well, that's why I'm sure he is one of them, especially..."
"If the descendant of his devoted servant says so, then it might be true..."
"Oh, come on... My mother was just a simple maid, nothing more..."
"With how much fun your mother had, Antonio could be your half-brother, don't you think?", Marcus said.
"Well, that might just mean you have a plan against him, right?"
"How dare you say something like that, you little demon? Say it! Next time, I'll devour all your energy...", Marcus said.
"Do it... Let's see who's stronger than the other, don't you think?"
Well, it seems that he did have a plan against Antonio after all... A diabolical plan to get revenge for last night's incident... Honestly, I truly love Antonio, but I can't just stand by and do nothing when he's having fun with his king... Anyway, I agreed, so there was nothing else to do but wait.
The plan was as follows: I would ask Antonio to come and have tea in the palace garden after I had given him a substance that would immobilize him... After finishing the tea, it was time for me to fully indulge, while Marcus took over.
The events that followed were presented in the previous chapter. Now, let's return to the present.
Antonio POV:
Marcus and Cesare started fighting again like two little children craving attention.
"Um, I'm still here..." I tried to interject between the two of them.
Honestly, I enjoy seeing these handsome guys argue, but my head still hurts, and I feel like the room is spinning around me... Anyway, I hope I recover soon... I hope...
"Huh, Master... Or rather, the descendant of our Master... Anyway, from now on, we shall address you as Master... Are you alright? You don't look too good," Marcus said.
"Well, from today onwards, we shall address you as Master, so... Marcus..."
"It feels very odd to call me by my name..."
"Can you feel the power emanating from Antonio?", Cesare said.
"Wait, the power of King Julius... Cesare..."
"We should do something urgent... It seems very serious!"
Hmm, I guess it wasn't a good idea to participate in such activities after all, so I'm starting to feel sick... Or maybe my existence in this world is just a dream, and I still can't wake up? Anyway, it's not like I eat anything other than the food prepared by Benjamin and some dietary supplements I buy. I need to think about it somehow... I think if doctors were to run some tests on me at the hospital, they would have to extract all the chemicals I've consumed.
"This is not good; we need to do something to help Antonio recover!" Marcus said.
"Can you die from physical exhaustion? I believe so..."
"I knew nothing good would come out of meeting the descendant of Julius, don't you think?", Cesare said.
"Even if nothing had happened, you were the first one to encounter him, right? So, it's your fault!"
"Well, then we should treat our Master the way our predecessors treated his father, don't you think?"
"So... We need to take responsibility, right?"
Their gazes suddenly turned perverse... I know nothing about King Julius or anything about my father, but I don't want to go through what I went through this morning anymore. Plus, if it were to happen again, I want to be proactive, not passive...
"Anyway, maybe later, for now, I'd like to take a walk in the garden and contemplate the meaning of life or something of the sort..."
"Oh, no problem..."
"Take care, Master..."
"Usually, you two are extremely eager for action, but now I appreciate that you let me stroll instead of..."
"Wait, King Julius was completely different from Antonio... Is he the descendant of the great king?" Cesare said to Marcus.
"Do you still have suspicions? You should ask your mother about King Julius and the similarities between the two, don't you think? Especially regarding activities-" "Enough, that's it..." "Wait, Cesare, what is this?" "This is the special ring of King Julius, with which he could communicate with divinity and control the people around him... Is he the descendant of King Julius?"
Well, this garden is huge... It's so vast that I can't even see its end... I think it would take me half an hour by car to reach the end of the garden, let alone if I were to walk... Not a single leaf was fallen on the ground, which makes me believe that the gardener is a very meticulous person.
I realize it's a palace, but still... It's the palace of a bishop, not a king... It's not like it's the first time I've seen such a building, but even in the 21st century, bishops don't have such villas... Though I think I saw one like this belonging to a businessman in my parish... Oh yes... He used to attend the Mass daily because he liked my voice... How nice...
While I was outside meditating, I felt a sudden change in my entire state, and I regained my senses... Honestly, I thought I would wake up in my room in my 21st-century parish, or maybe at the hospital, next to Benjamin, but... I was still in this place, pinching my cheeks to snap out of it, but the pain was real. So, after all, it seems that I have transmigrated to the 15th century...
As I was trying to recover, I heard a strange sound coming from the far end of the garden. Wait, what? C-Cats? No... They're not cats... They're white tigers?! How did this bishop afford something like that? Wait... They're coming this way...
"Master... Watch out!" Cesare shouted.
To my surprise, Cesare tried to defend me, but even that didn't stop the tigers from running towards me. M-My ring! Where's my ring? Honestly, I wouldn't care about that ring if it hadn't been given to me by my father... The only gift I received from him and the last one...
Anyway, I tried to run inside, but I didn't succeed much, as the tigers were already behind me, and I could feel their claws scratching my back, causing blood to flow rapidly.
I started screaming in pain. It hurt like hell, even though I'm a vampire... I still wonder what would have happened if I weren't a vampire. While I was lamenting, Marcus came out and started attacking the tigers with the sword he had. Honestly, I couldn't let him kill those animals, so I stopped him after making sure they couldn't harm anyone anymore.
"Oh, Master... Your ring..." Marcus said to me.
"T-Thank you... You know, it's the last gift my dad gave me before he left... Anyway, what are these dangerous creatures doing here?"
"Now that I think about it, creatures like these couldn't be in Heaven... They aren't in Heaven..."
"You foolish and idiotic cardinal!" Marcus began to scream.
"Calm down... There's nothing to fear... Anyway, you're a vampire, aren't you?"
"You had to come to Wallachia and bring your pets with you, didn't you? Look what you've done!"
"Wait... Pets? Where the hell did you get these animals?"
"Let me explain..."
"Just because you have money for a hundred years doesn't mean you can spend it on exotic animals, don't you think?"
"My poor animals... Lucy and Bel..."
"Wait, why did you name them after demons? Lucifer? Beelzebub?"
"Well-"
"They only lost a few teeth... It's not like they won't grow back... But to attack Antonio? I should have killed them..."
Now that I think about it, I really can't figure out what kind of people they are... Anyway, it's not like it matters, right?
"Cesare, now that I think about it... Where did you get these animals from?"
"Well, I received them when I was at the Vatican, and I trained them... Well, at least I thought I did... They're usually not this wild, so I don't know what happened today..."
"Anyway, I like tigers... It's just that I don't think they like me very much... Honestly, I've never had any friendly connection with cats, so tigers, being felines, I guess-"
"It's not your fault... Anyway, aren't you amazed that you're the son of King Julius, the greatest king who ever lived?"
"Oh, come on... Honestly, I don't know my father, but... Is my father being a king? Come on, seriously now..."
"That ring in your hand is the ring of King Julius, with which he could communicate with divinity or perform miracles and such. Are you sure-"
"Wait, what? This is the last gift from my father before he left... What the hell is happening to me?"
"Anyway, this ring makes you the descendant of King Julius, so, at least theoretically, the heir to the throne..."
"Ha... It's not like he doesn't have other sons, right?"
"Well... Yes, he has four other sons, but it is said that the one who will inherit his father's powers is the one who receives his ring... So-"
"But it's impossible... Me? To become a king or anything else? Are you saying that all my gifts come from this ring?"
"Oh no... The ring has no power. The power lies within you and your direct relationship with divinity, so..."
"Am I to understand that the stigmata and the others are not due to the ring?"
"No... The ring is just an outward sign... Well, my mother was your father's servant before he fell in love with her... So, we could say that you are my master now..."
"How lovely... I wanted to punish someone for this morning... A servant who poisoned his master..."
"I-I... I mean-"
"I'm just kidding, regardless of that, you can't say now that you can kick me out of the priesthood or anything, right?"
"No... Anyway, I'm sorry..."
"It's alright... Anyway, it's quite late, and we should leave, don't you think?"
"Y-Yes... Good night!"
"Good night!"
Honestly, I can't believe I'm the son of King Julius, the greatest king in history. King Julius was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in the 15th century, but there's no way I can be his heir. Honestly, I have no desire to be a king. I want to be a priest. I want to remain a cleric... Why? Because I'm interested in having the power to convince people through my words, not through weapons, soldiers, or anything else. Plus... A king has to have heirs, right? So... I don't want to have heirs and extra problems, so I will refuse this duty and remain a simple priest, bishop, or cardinal until the end of my life...
However, one thing still amazes me... Why did those tigers harm me? Maybe because they are Cesare's tigers? Maybe because I've never been fond of cats, let alone tigers or lions. Well... I just hope that my time spent here won't be overshadowed by the fear of those tigers... After reflecting on all the events of today, I fell asleep, feeling extremely exhausted. I hope tomorrow will be a much better day for me than this one, especially since tomorrow is the first day of the month, so... If it goes well from the first day, maybe it will go well later on.