The Law of the Silent Gentleman

"I haven't been back here for a long time. It's been ten years. It's really nostalgic."

Theodora folded her hands in front of her and stood behind a beech tree, looking at the villa down the hillside. Enzo put one hand on the hilt of his waist and looked around vigilantly.

The villa is surrounded by lush beech woods, and there is a small stream flowing not far away. It must be very cool in summer, but it looks quite bleak in winter. The villa has been left unattended for a long time, the tiles are full of fallen leaves and dust, the fence has been drilled by wild animals, the garden is full of weeds, the gate is sealed, and the things in the house must have been looted long ago. A broken shell.

"Maybe there is something hidden in it, a secret room or a secret compartment? I'll go in and have a look. You wait in the carriage." Enzo said.

Theodora pulled the hem of his clothes and shook his head at him: "Even if Vito really hides some secret, it must not be in the villa. Boniwell is not stupid, how could he not find the secret room?"

"So what does that painting imply?"

The female scholar lowered her head and thought for a while, then glanced at Enzo, motioning for him to follow, then picked up her skirt and walked into the woods. She walked through the dark woods with ease, even though there was not even a beast path under her feet, she would not lose her way. Enzo had long been unable to distinguish east, west, north, south, and could only tell by feeling that they were not heading towards the villa.

They walked for a while, climbed a hill, and suddenly saw a clearing in the dense forest, surrounded by trees on three sides, and facing the hillside on the other side, standing on the clearing, just overlooking the terrace at the corner of Sacon Villa. Standing on the terrace of the villa, you can definitely see this hillside when the weather is sunny. There are slides and seesaws erected in the open space, a swing is hung on the thick branches across the sky, and the side facing the steep **** is piled with stones, the height is just up to the child's chest.

Enzo suddenly realized that this must be the playground of Giuliano's childhood. He could almost picture the little redhead boy climbing up and down the slide, with the young governess watching him from the swing. Perhaps there is a set of white hollow tables and chairs on the terrace of the villa in the distance. The host and hostess of the villa are sitting at the table drinking tea and waving in the direction of the hill from time to time.

"Giuliano used to play here."

Theodora held the chains of the swing and looked wistfully at the corroded boards.

"That's where the painting was painted. Only you know this place. It's much safer than the Chamber of Secrets."

After all, she looked up at the branch where the swing was hung, pointed to the two parallel old scratches on the wood and said, "Look there. Those two scratches are where the swing was hung before, and it is exposed, indicating that this The side swing was taken off and then put back on."

Enzo kicked away the fallen leaves under the swing: "The soil is very soft, unlike the surrounding areas, it has been dug up."

Since he didn't have earth-digging tools, he had to dismantle the swing and use the wooden board as a shovel to dig up the soft soil. Before digging too deep, the plank touched something hard. Enzo threw away the plank, and with his hands he pushed aside the soil at the bottom of the pit, and took out a copper box from inside. He blew away the remaining soil on the box, and then took out his favorite lockpicking tool. Theodora stood aside, watching him with folded arms.

The box was opened in a short while. Enzo wiped his hands on the clothes, and impatiently took out what was inside—a stack of letters. He opened the top one and frowned: "I can't understand a single word."

"show me."

Theodora took the letter and glanced at it quickly: "This is a ciphertext, which replaces each letter in the Imperial language with the corresponding Dragon language letter one by one. It is difficult to decipher unless you know the substitution rules."

"Difficult? Does that mean there is still a way to crack it?"

"Of course. Because there are always certain letters that appear frequently in a language and certain letters appear less frequently, knowing this, cracking the ciphertext is not a problem."

"You seem to know a lot about ciphertext?"

Theodora looked up at Enzo: "This is the most basic history. "The Great Expedition of Omaran" recorded that the emperor communicated with his subordinates in cipher text, and "The Expedition" is a must for noble children. Reading the list, if Giuliano was here, he would have seen it at a glance."

"Oh...I always thought it was a bad book..." Enzo scratched his head.

The female scholar looked away and shook her head slowly, her expression seemed to say, "I'm really ignorant", "How can such a person be Giuliano's teacher", "I'm misleading my students".

"Uh, can you crack the ciphertext?"

"I can try, but it will take time."

"I'm afraid there is not much time left for you, you must hurry...the sooner the better."

"I know, and I'm also very curious about what troubles the Sacon family got into to end up in misfortune."

When they returned to the carriage, Enzo, contrary to his previous indifference, graciously opened the door for the female scholar and helped her into the carriage. Theodora kept looking at him strangely, but said nothing.

The carriage drove up a country road. From time to time, you can see groups of farmers rushing towards the city. A voice suddenly came from the carriage: "You won't force him to do what he doesn't want, will you?"

Enzo looked as usual, and nimbly steered the horse around the puddles and stones on the road. "What do you mean?"

"If Giuliano doesn't want to be the Reticent, you won't force him?"

"Of course not, I respect his wishes."

"But I don't think you are the kind of person who gives up easily."

"I'm not giving up, I'm just...willing to wait and see."

"Sir, I study dragonology, and you love Alice Iniesta. The two are very different, but there are similarities. There is a concept in dragon culture that is similar to what people often call 'fate', called 'nameless' They believe that everything in the world is the result of the "unnamed force" running in the dark, and the future of all things is set from the beginning of birth. Alice Iniesta believes that the gods can dominate human beings No matter how hard mortals struggle, they cannot escape their fate. Aren’t the two the same? Are you absolutely sure that Giuliano will definitely follow the path arranged by the gods no matter what? That’s why he dares to speak so confidently? "

Enzo looked ahead, and the majestic city walls of Vanessa and many towering spiers were gradually revealed from the winter fog, and the howling cold wind brought the long bells of the temple.

He suddenly didn't know whether he should cry or laugh. Is this something to celebrate, or to regret?

"Yes, I believe so."

"I am back."

Enzo pushed open the door of "The Room of Silence" and found Giuliano lying on his back on the bed with his hands under his head, looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. As soon as he heard Enzo's voice, he immediately jumped up from the bed and crawled to the edge of the bed on all hands and feet.

"Did you find anything?"

Enzo responded vaguely, sat on the bed, and moved a little closer to Giuliano. "I found a few secret letters, and your teacher took them to decipher the ciphertext."

"There is really something! I didn't have much hope..."

As he spoke, he gestured to take off Enzo's clothes. The assassin was taken aback, "Why are you so active today?"

"...What are you thinking, I just changed your medicine for you." Giuliano snorted contemptuously.

Being despised by two people in one day made Enzo extremely depressed.

Giuliano helped him take off his shirt and the bandages on his body. The wound has healed well, showing no signs of infection, and will be fully healed in a few days, leaving only a scar. Giuliano took out a bottle of wine, dampened the gauze, and gently rubbed around the wound. Enzo bit his lip and said nothing, but the muscles on his shoulders were tense. He is struggling with the pain.

After cleaning the wound, Giuliano put new gauze on him, wrapped it neatly, and tied a bow by the way. Fortunately, Enzo couldn't see behind him, otherwise he would definitely protest.

"You're getting better at bandaging wounds."

"I'd rather never have the opportunity to use my strengths. I don't want you to get hurt."

Giuliano spread his palms against Enzo's back, moving up his lean muscles. Every few inches, you can feel the bumpy old scars in your palms.

He has suffered so many injuries.

"I remember you saying that every wound suffered by the Reticent will be unforgettable. Do you remember the origin of every wound on your body?"

"I remember it, but it's not a happy memory."

Giuliano's palm rested on his right rib, where there were three parallel scars, thin at the ends and wide in the middle, like animal scratches. "How did this injury come about?"

Enzo frowned slightly. "Six years ago, I went to assassinate a rich man in Doroxinia. He kept three mutant sharp-toothed mastiffs. This is a souvenir from one of them."

"What about the other two ends?"

"It was made into a leather jacket by me, do you want to see it?"

Giuliano didn't answer, the palm continued to move, brushing a thin, deep scar in the middle of his back. "What about this injury?"

"Three years ago, he went to assassinate a nobleman in Nidal. His bodyguard was very skilled. He used a straight-edged knife that I had never seen before. The blade was as thin as a cicada's wing. The moment the knife was unsheathed, it was the most fierce."

"I guess, that knife was also brought back by you as a souvenir?"

"No, it's broken."

Swim your fingers along the shoulder blade to the left heart. Enzo twitched uncomfortably. "Is that enough? If you want to hear about my glorious achievements, I can tell you vividly and vividly for three days and three nights, until you vomit."

The fingers stopped and pressed against the left side of the back behind the heart. There was a **** running through the body, leaving horrific scars on the chest and back.

"What about this injury? It's so close to your heart, yet you're still alive."

"...It's my fate." Enzo murmured.

"Which expert stabbed it?"

Enzo silently dodged to the side, grabbed his clothes and put them on his body to cover his back, preventing Giuliano from stroking.

"I don't want to mention it."

"why?"

"Not a pleasant memory."

"Did you lose?" Giuliano was very surprised, "You will lose too? Who is so good?"

Enzo's face suddenly became ugly. Giuliano shut his mouth knowingly. He understood that the scar was unusual, not a capital for soldiers to boast about their achievements, but an unbearable shame. An ordinary swordsman might use exaggerated words to beautify that defeat, turning it into a noble battle that was gloriously defeated, but the Reticent never lied, so Enzo would not flaunt his defeat either.

"If you don't want to say it... then... forget it..." Giuliano walked on thin ice, afraid of touching the pain in Enzo's heart. Having been with Enzo for so long, he found that there are still many unsolved mysteries about the assassin.

Enzo put on his clothes, got up and walked to the window with heavy curtains, clutching the front of his clothes with both hands, his expression was changing, twisted in pain for a while, and brimming with joy for a while. Giuliano sat on the bed tremblingly, not knowing what to do. He had never seen Enzo display such an abnormal state, and he looked very...crazy.

At this moment, Enzo turned around suddenly, with an indescribably fanatical expression on his face, and said in a low voice, "I didn't lose. In the end... I won in the end!"

Giuliano swallowed hard, his Adam's apple rolled: "You, are you okay...?"

The jacket hung loosely over Enzo's shoulders, leaving his chest wide open, and the scar on his heart hurt Giuliano's eyes. Enzo walked towards him, he could hear the assassin's heavy and muddy breathing, as if he had been through some fierce battle just now.

Enzo knelt down in front of him, looking straight into his eyes. Like a butterfly caught in a spider's web, Giuliano was caught by his silver-gray eyes, his whole body stiffened, his hands and feet were numb.

"When I got this injury, I was still very young, only half your age now."

Enzo's voice seemed to come from far away.

"A Reticent was ordered to assassinate me and my mother. He almost succeeded, my mother died, and he left me with this wound. But I didn't die. I tore off the holy symbol around his neck while struggling. Not long ago he prayed to the gods, and he got the answer: the first person to touch his holy symbol will inherit his sword. So instead of killing me, he healed my wound. He became my teacher.

"I tried to escape countless times, and was caught by him countless times. Finally, I decided to obey him and learn all his skills, so that he can no longer stop me. In the end, I succeeded-beat him, cut him the thumb of my father, and drove him out of Vanessa. He fled like a stray dog. No one has heard from him since in the Yords. I thought I was free at last, but I found myself caught in the shadows of the gods. A prison weaved. I can't go back to my former identity, and if I do, I'll be killed. But I don't know how to live as an ordinary person, no one taught me how to be an ordinary person, no one gave me advice Maze, I only know the way of the silent person, my head is only the voice of the gods, my eyes can only see the way they point out, without them, I am completely at a loss. If I am not the silent person, I will I don't know how to live."

Enzo stood up and looked down at Giuliano expressionlessly. His pale face was like a statue overlooking all beings in a temple.

"Only once, Giuliano, only once, did the gods give me a choice, and instead of answering my prayers, they let me go and gave me the choice."

He gently brushed away Giuliano's hair, "If even you leave me, then I will..."

Giuliano waved his hand away and threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around his waist. The two rolled onto the carpet together.

"Why are you suddenly saying such terrible things!" cried Giuliano. "I will not leave you! I will always be with you, whether you are the Reticent or not, whether I am the Reticent or not. I will be with you." Together!"

He buried his head on Enzo's chest, "I know I'm not qualified to say such things with my skills, but I still want to say: I will protect you in the future and never let you get hurt again! You belong to me, as long as you I am mine alone, and no one can take you from me—not even God!"

Enzo pressed the back of his head, trying to crush him into his arms and hugged him tightly, a broken sound came out of his throat, whether it was laughter or crying.