[Notre Dame de Paris] Papal Way

The time has entered winter, and the nights in Paris are starting to get colder.Mill John came across the street humming a little tune, his hat askew, his suit wrongly buttoned, and a healthy flush in his face—he had evidently just returned from some The fun-seeking places come out.

John is obviously in a good mood, as for the reason for this happiness is because of an extra kiss from the hostess, or because of the many golden babies that are about to be acquired, even he himself does not know.Humming a little song, he approached the Notre Dame Cathedral, which looked more and more solemn under the night, and saw that the gate was still open, so he staggered over.

When he walked to the gate, his swinging arm was suddenly grabbed by a hand.John looked aside drunkenly, and couldn't help laughing: "It's you, man? Gringoire, God's horn! How is your masterpiece selling?"

Standing in the shadow of the porch was a tall, thin young man.He had straw-blond hair and was not exactly handsome, but he wasn't ugly either.After hearing John’s words, with a bitter expression on his face, he replied: “Poets are always poor.”

"What are you standing here for? Visiting my good brother?" John asked.Gringoire and John could only be regarded as nodding acquaintances before, and they might not even know what each other looked like. Recently, they gradually became familiar with each other because they discovered that they had the same hobbies as themselves, at least in the hands of John. When I have money in my wallet, I don't mind taking this "buddy" to have fun together.However, Gringoire's personality was much more conservative than his. Although he was eager to gain the attention of the girls, he was still somewhat restrained in what he could really do.

John likes to watch him be at a loss when facing a group of boobs｜fat｜buttocks. Every time he sees that funny look, he will laugh out loud.However, since he squeezed a fortune from his brother, he has been a bit extravagant during this period of time. The money bag that was originally swollen quickly became empty. If he doesn't think of a way, he will wait until next month. It's time to drop your coat and drink the northwest wind!

Claude's order came at just the right time, John excitedly spent his last gold louis in the tavern, singing praises, while thinking about how to get a fortune from his brother this time Money—maybe a tax advance would be nice?With this kind of calculation in mind, he came to Notre Dame happily, with a bit of the pride of a winner in his heart.So after seeing Gringoire who was described as miserable, the little scheme to pull the opponent out became very clear.

Gringoire replied: "Yes, I am here to visit the teacher - with my recently written script. You can also read it, this is an excellent miracle drama! - it is me for the next year's Dauphin A work specially prepared for the engagement with Princess Margaret."

John rolled his eyes and felt that he could easily offend his brother. If he went in with someone with a backrest at this time, the result might be better.So he said: "Come on, buddy, let us go in together! A little later, Mr. Bishop will refuse to receive guests!"

He tugged Gringoire's arm in turn, and forced him into it.Gringoire staggered a few steps before complaining: "Oh, I wanted to ask you something, but why did you drag the topic away instead? To tell you the truth, I came here , in addition to recommending me to the teacher who asked me to get the opportunity to get the Holy Miracle drama, there is another thing I want to ask. But my hot head blew the wind in front of Notre Dame for a long time, but I felt that if I went in like this, I must I will be kicked out by the teacher..."

Hearing this, John couldn't help but stop: "Annoy my brother?" He put his arm on Gringoire's shoulder and asked affectionately, "What can you do to offend him, Pierre? ?”

Gringoire said with a sad face: "Of course it's because of the Egyptians... Do you remember the Egyptian who was hanged two days ago?"

Rolling his eyes, John replied, "Of course I do. He's really pretty, isn't he?"

"If that kind of beauty is born on a woman's face, it will definitely make the Virgin Mary eclipsed." Gringoire muttered, glanced to the side, and continued: "However, what use is beauty? To the adults of the court, it is no different from a leaf or a bit of dust... Well, what I want to ask for your help is, if possible, please help me to say a good word when I ask your brother."

John looked at him and said, "I can't guarantee that. What kind of treacherous requests are you going to say to him?"

Gringoire continued to frown: "Don't ask about this for the time being! I'm afraid that if I say it now, I won't have the courage to walk in that small door later."

Seeing that he was resolutely unwilling to speak, John curled his lips and stopped asking.They went up the stairs one after the other, passed through the dark corridor, and climbed up the clock tower bit by bit.When he was about to go up the bell tower, Gringoire suddenly saw a rugged black shadow hanging in front of the door, and couldn't help but shouted: "What is this?"

John said indifferently, "Probably Quasimodo."

The two of them walked in gradually, and sure enough, they could clearly see a little human shadow under the moonlight.John took out a button, hit it casually, and called, "Hey! Hey! Hunchback, lame and blind! Can you hear me? Get out of the door you're guarding, and let me see me." The brother of the glorious archdeacon is doing something good again!"

Quasimodo raised his head abruptly, with a terrible expression on his ugly face.Suddenly there was a loud noise from the door behind him, as if something had fallen to the ground, and he didn't know what happened.

With doubts in his heart, John stepped to the door step by step.Quasimodo still guarded there firmly, not letting John in.

Estimated the force value of both sides, John stopped in his tracks, and said with a pleasant face: "Let me in, Quasimodo? My brother is inside. I don't know what happened, but you are blocking my way here. It’s too unreasonable!”

Because he knew that the deaf man couldn't hear, he deliberately raised his voice to tell the people inside the door.Sure enough, within a short while, a whistle sounded melodiously from inside the door, followed by Claude's suppressed voice: "...Come in, John."

As if he had received some order, Quasimodo quickly left from the door.John triumphantly opened the door, and walked in with Gringoire: "Good night, my good brother! Your brother responded to your call with a sincere heart and came to see you with a gift!"

Gringoire closed the door carefully before turning to face Claude.I don't know what kind of strange wood was burned, or the smell of alchemy reagents, the room was filled with a rather intoxicating strange fragrance... and Claude's face was not as pale as before, The white shirt was covered with a priest's robe, and he stood in front of the tall desk and test bench, watching them motionlessly.

... No, it doesn't seem to be watching, but it seems to be just absent-minded.

A thought flashed through his mind, and Gringoire heard Claude's unusually suppressed voice: "What are you here for, Gringoire?"

"Thanks to your teaching, sir, I'm here to report on my learning progress." Gringoire said respectfully.Out of some strange intuition, he always felt that today's archdeacon looked very wrong.

"You are already a teacher, I have nothing to teach you." Claude said coldly, and looked at John again, "How about you, John?"

"I came here in response to your invitation." John also noticed something unusual and replied.

Claude lowered his head, and said after a while, "Pierre, please pick up the mortar I dropped on the ground."

Gringoire walked obediently, and picked up the mortar.But when he put the mortar on the test bench and pushed it in front of Claude, he didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt like he was being glared at.

He retreated to the side in confusion, thought for a while, and stood by the fireplace again, keeping a relatively safe distance.Moreover, after standing in the cold wind for so long, he didn't have thick clothes to protect him from the cold, so his hands and feet were already a little stiff from the cold.

John didn't have as many scruples as he did. He stood there briskly and said briskly: "To be honest, why did you call me here, Mr. Vicar? If you want to buy me some clothes, you don't have to. You have sent me with those golden livres, and you can continue to send me with livres."

Claude said coldly: "Of course I have my own reasons for calling you here. Just stand aside first—Pierre, why are you here?"

Gringoire was puzzled, and repeated his own words: "I will report my study progress..."

A blush appeared on Claude's face, his body seemed to be shaking, and it took him a long time to hold back and say: "If this is your reason, you can go out now, Mr. Gringoire."

"...Actually, I also brought my work." Gringoire said hastily, taking out his masterpiece from his pocket, "I heard that the Palace of Justice is preparing for the Crown Prince and Marguerite next year. The engagement of the princess was soliciting for a drama about the Holy Miracle, and it happened that I recently created one...It is very philosophical, it satirizes the current bad atmosphere and sings the praises of truth, goodness and beauty..."

Claude glanced at him lightly, that look seemed not as cold as before, Gringoire felt encouraged, and quickly put the manuscript on Claude's desk: "I am waiting for your criticism and guide……"

Claude said coldly: "Is there any more?"

"And... and... just..." Gringoire felt that this scene was not at all the same as his imagination, and there always seemed to be a very weird atmosphere in the room.He glanced at John for help, and said, "I have one thing to ask you... In religion, falling in love with the same sex is a very unforgivable mistake, isn't it?"

Claude's body trembled suddenly, a light red color quickly spread to his cheeks, and his lips began to tighten|bite unconsciously: "...Of course it is."

Gringoire became even more frowning: "...So, intermarriage with pagans is also forbidden?"

Claude sneered very impolitely: "What do you think?"

"Well, then..." Gringoire asked dejectedly, "if he committed the great crime of desecrating the corpse of a heretic, he would go to hell as well?"

The coldness on Claude's body was even stronger, but the blush on his face intensified.He held onto the edge of the table tightly with his fingers, and said after a while, "Is your question over?"

Gringoire did not dare to say any more, and nodded with a mournful face.Claude looked painful, and whispered: "...That's right, falling in love with the same sex or falling in love with a pagan is the same unforgivable sin..."

He suddenly raised his head again and stared at Gringoire fiercely: "Aren't you leaving?"

Gringoire had never encountered him being treated so ferociously before, and tremblingly said: "I, I will take my leave now..." After saying that, he ran away in a panic.

John was the only one left. Facing his brother's different attitude from the past, he couldn't help but feel a little uncertain, and said in a low voice, "Hey, my good brother...why did you ask me to come?"

"John." Claude looked indifferent, but his tone softened a lot, "You have been my younger brother since you were a baby..."

John looked at him puzzled.From infancy...?Why does this sentence always sound wrong?

Claude turned his head sideways, as if avoiding his gaze, and said after a while: "There is such a story, a woman gave birth to a man's child because of other people's fault, in order to protect the man's family, this woman concealed He quietly gave birth to a child and raised him. Later, due to various reasons, the child was adopted by another family... and after he grew up, his father found the one who adopted him Family, do you think the child should go back with his father?"

"A bastard, then?" John said indifferently. "What are you worrying about, my good brother? If his father asks him to go back, he will, of course. Besides, it's someone else's business— —You haven't said what you've called me for!"

Claude pursed his lips tightly, tilted his head slightly as if he was listening to something in the air, and said after a while: "...I understand, John. Have you seen the knife and the mortar on the table? "

John nodded in confusion.

Claude said softly: "Now... use this knife to cut a wound on your hand, let the blood flow into this stone mortar."

"..."

Until he walked out of the gate of Notre Dame, John couldn't figure out what his brother called him for.

He scratched his head in confusion, and hissed again at the pain in his palm.Looking up, his good friend Phoebe was looking at his fiancée affectionately on the opposite balcony.

John couldn't help scolding cynically, and decided to go back to the warm tavern to find the beautiful barmaid Lisa and have a good time.

……

And on the top of the North Bell Tower of Notre Dame.

Claude firmly grasped｜the edge of the table, his back arched involuntarily: "...ha..."

His skin was no longer as cold as it used to be, and now it was astonishingly hot.And Ace, who showed his figure, was touching his hot cheeks with his fingers, rubbing shallowly: "... blood?"

The icy blue eyes were astonishingly bright, and Claude looked at the stone mortar with a light halo due to the injection of blood, and said hoarsely: "...It is the medicine that will make you immortal."