Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?-Chapter 488 - 103 Canossa’s Penance

Aske suddenly woke up.

Ah, it was exactly midnight.

Even if he rested for a moment, it was impossible to sleep throughout the night. At most, he could get four hours.

Turning his head, he saw Eleanor sleeping soundly in his arms, her soft blonde hair had made its way into his neck, making his skin itch a little.

However, her scent was quite pleasant. Eh, did this girl wear perfume? Or was it her natural fragrance?

It took Aske a few seconds to ponder this. First, he ruled out perfume, because Eleanor was a girl who wouldn’t even wear extra hair clips, let alone spray any perfume.

As for a natural fragrance, that was even more ridiculous. In Aske’s knowledge, white people were more often associated with body odor rather than body fragrance.

But this world was derived from the "Song of Iron and Fire" world, not medieval Europe from history, and he had never heard of any female NPCs having body odor.

Hmm, maybe it really was a natural fragrance. Considering this golden-haired girl’s noble birth, it’s possible every piece of clothing she had worn since childhood was scented and rubbed off on her over time.

So it’s not a physical trait but monetary ability?

He tried to pull his arm away but couldn’t. The girl was holding on tightly, as if she was afraid he would suddenly run off.

Yet judging by her strength, Eleanor’s body must have already recovered.

So Aske unceremoniously pinched her nose.

"Ha-huh!" Eleanor suddenly sat up from the ground, gasping for a bit before she realized Aske was smiling at her.

"Squad Leader!" she called out somewhat angrily and a little guilty. She was just worried that he hadn’t slept last night and had heard everything she had said...

"Your body has recovered, right? Then let’s go!" Aske waved his hand grandly.

Ah, a sore neck and a dry mouth, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Eleanor quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Aske," Eleanor quickly followed behind him ten minutes after leaving the cabin and suddenly said, "Did you really not read the letter I tucked into the book?"

"No, why?" Aske asked.

"Um..." Eleanor said, "It’s like this. Nora’s family has business dealings with the Medici family in Florence, so they will probably first reach Florence, then head to Solomon City."

"So, what are you saying?"

"They’ll likely be waiting for us in Florence," Eleanor looked ahead, pausing for a moment.

"Or... come to fetch us personally."

Aske turned around just in time to see a formation of helicopters heading their way. A young girl leaned out from the cabin and waved vigorously in their direction.

"Not a bad show," Aske commented.

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"Wow, Ellie, you have no idea how worried I was about you!" In the cabin, Nora sat between Aske and Eleanor, gripping her hand anxiously as she scolded, "You actually dared to do something like that!"

"Nora..." Eleanor didn’t know how to react, just maintaining an apologetic smile.

"We weren’t too worried at first since Aske went to rescue you! But then we heard that the killer was caught and killed on the spot, and I was almost scared to death!"

"Got caught?" Aske interrupted her.

"Yeah," Nora was also puzzled, "They said he was killed on the spot by the Acid Erosion Dragon."

"But later they said the killer was a Hussite member from Tabor, so everyone calmed down again. Anyway, something definitely got mixed up."

"After that, we went to Milan to make calls, then took a shuttle to arrive in Florence to ask for help. It just so happened that the Emperor was negotiating a truce with the Church Court, so Governor Luca said he could send helicopters to search for you."

"Wait, the Emperor and the Church Court are negotiating a truce?" Eleanor asked incredulously, her face brightening with hope.

"Mm, yes," Nora nodded.

At the Imperial Camp, about 60 kilometers to the southwest, lay the Church Court’s frontline stronghold, Canossa Castle.

Climbing up the mountain road, the Acid Erosion Dragon Hedwig accompanied the Emperor to the gates of the castle, where they requested an audience with the guards of the Pope’s Guard.

However, the guard said the Pope was napping and would not let them in until the Holy See woke up and was notified.

So the Emperor and the Acid Erosion Dragon had no choice but to wait outside.

After a full three hours, there was still no response from the castle.

"It’s clearly an attempt to humble us," the Acid Erosion Dragon whispered, reminding the Emperor not to lose his temper.

By now, the Emperor was so angry he was grinding his teeth, muttering something incessantly. Since the Acid Erosion Dragon was close by, he could hear the name the Emperor kept repeating.

Sofie.

The Emperor was trying hard to concentrate his thoughts on his daughter, to barely contain the complete fury over the Pope’s humiliating actions at that moment.

Of course, Pope Innocent wasn’t a shortsighted man either. By evening of the same day, he pretended to have just woken up from his nap, hurriedly welcoming the Emperor and the Demigod, who had been waiting outside for an unknown length of time.

The Emperor knelt humbly and miserably before the Pope, beseeching the Holy See to forgive his sins. Innocent listed his crimes apathetically, and the Emperor admitted guilt to each one, even squeezing out a few tears.

Finally, under the witness of the Pope and a Cardinal, the Emperor was forced to stamp the covenant listing all his sins, and only then did Innocent agree to forgive him and cease hostilities with the Empire.

This confession, written from the Emperor’s perspective and bearing his seal, was quickly printed in millions of copies, sent to every Duchy, every Diocese within the Holy Solomon Empire. It was posted on the doors of every town and even village church so all the Empire’s Believers could see the Emperor’s personal admission of his sins and the Pope’s generous and merciful pardon.

The Emperor could not remember how he left Canossa Castle and returned to the Imperial allied camp. At any rate, upon his return, he declared himself bedridden, and the Dukes immediately organized the remaining forces to head north, planning to cross the Alps and return to their countries.

Along the way, they gathered many previously fleeing deserters. Upon learning of the Dukes’ decision to return to their countries, most of these deserters surrendered immediately, and by the time they reached the foot of the Alps, their numbers had tripled that of the Dukes’ own armies.

Therefore, the Dukes had to discuss the matter urgently and once again proclaimed amnesty for these deserters, reorganizing them into the ranks.

Otherwise, if a mutiny by the deserters occurred in the mountains, the Demigod could easily slay them all without effort, but this precious labor force from the Duchies would be completely lost.

In fact, both the Dukes and the Emperor were fully aware of the changes in the situation brought about by this defeat.

The Imperial allied army as a whole had suffered terrible losses but not to the extent of shaking the nation’s foundations.

The prestige of the Saxon Family had plummeted, and the Emperor’s confession letter had become widely known; his political life had already entered a state of practical Death.

Hence, after returning home, the Saxon Family would need to deal with the successive rebellions within the Lorraine Duchy as soon as possible, temporarily having no time or energy to interfere with external affairs.

The great families would welcome a golden period of development. Without the strong control of the Iron Throne from the Aachen Palace, competition and friction between Duchies would intensify, and strategic alliances would become quite important.

Of course, the moral authority of the Iron Throne would still remain in the hands of the Saxon Family.

Emperor Otto would stay seated on the Iron Throne in a zombie state (doing nothing and incapable of doing anything), enduring another 2-3 years. Once the situation within the Lorraine Duchy was completely stable, the Family would arrange to hand over power to Prince Otto the Younger, so as to completely rid the Saxon Family of the negative impact of this incident.

During this time, as long as the Emperor did not make another blunder, the Church Court would without doubt help the Iron Throne hang on to a thread of life — indicated by Innocent lifting the Emperor’s Excommunication, yet not restoring his deposed status:

The Church Court did not want an extremely strong Emperor, but they also did not want the Empire’s Duchies to be autocratic and fragmented. They wished for the Empire to remain balanced, stable, and maintain the status quo, as this would benefit their continuous economic Plunder, goods dumping, and talent extraction against the Empire.

The Holy Solomon Empire, this traditional goldmine of the Church Court, would soon resume operations after this unsuccessful rebellion.

And the main culprit behind this incident, The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps, had already declined an invitation from the Medici Family, transitioning through Florence to journey towards Solomon City.

Meanwhile, at the gates of Florence City, the Imaginary Dragon Bruno waited for the man he sought an audience with, Cosimo, the current Family Head of the Medici Family.

"I understand your point," Cosimo, accompanied by a guard, said as he leaned on his crutch, "but the time is not right yet."

"The Emperor has already withdrawn the bounty on The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps," Bruno declared earnestly. "The Empire harbors no animosity towards them."

"I understand what you’re saying, but the time is not right yet," Cosimo repeated mysteriously, and slowly extended his right index finger, pointing towards the night sky above.

Bruno immediately understood his meaning, why the Medici Family would prevent him from contacting The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps again.

Raphael.

That is the will of the Holy See.