I put out his fire

Chapter 55 The End of the Story

Anthony has been in prison for some time.

Because of his felony, he was isolated from other prisoners and huddled alone in a closed cell.

The prison cell is no more than an arm's width and half the height of a person. The only palm-sized window is still locked, and it will only be opened when meals are delivered.

It is not so much a prison room as it is a nest suitable for snakes and rats to hibernate.

In such a cramped space, Anthony couldn't sit or stand, and could only lie on his side with his legs bent.

He was whipped several times, and his ragged skin was soaked in blood and feces every moment.This feeling of being slowly infiltrated by filth into his body, and finally pickled into maggot food, made him almost collapse.

The slave stepped on his iron boots and opened the small window with a key, revealing half of his dirty, smudged face.

"Give me light..." Anthony muttered, "I don't want water or porridge, I just want a little light... is that okay..."

He stuck his parched mouth out of the small window, breathed heavily with the strength that could almost squeeze all his muscles, and made a sound like a whistle.

The slave held his breath, quickly fed him a few sips of water, and said impatiently, "Someone has come to see you."

"Who? Who came to see me?!" Anthony snapped his mouth back, raised his hand from the mud, scratched the edge of the small window with his nails.

He tried his best to lower his chin, staring at a pair of blue eyes covered with mud and gum, desperately looking out of the narrow window.

With a slight pity on his face, the slave pointed behind him.

A turbid figure appeared in his turbid vision, like a mass of weeds floating in sewage.

Anthony froze in bewilderment, his facial features were still on his face, as if he was trying to accept a brand new race.After a long time, his nostrils with the shadow of his nose trembled twice, and tears immediately covered his entire face like mucus.

"Oh...it's my brother..." Anthony choked up.

His legs soaked in feces and urine seemed to regain consciousness, and the joints that had been dead for a long time seemed to be able to rotate again.He is like a dying person who is led to the God Realm by a messenger, grateful for this moment with all his faith and soul.

Munch was wearing a short robe that didn't reach his knees, and his neck and fingers, which were covered with jewels, were now bare.His forehead hair was messy in front of his eyes, and his face was sunken due to his thinness during this period.

He lost all his family wealth, and his whole person exudes a dilapidated temperament. Only from the hands clasped in front of his lower abdomen can he see his long-lasting noble posture.So his temperament seemed to be worn out and trampled on by the hem of a lady's skirt.

All he could see from the dark window was Anthony's chin.

"My God! My poor Anthony..." he screamed.

Menxi stumbled over, knelt and sat in front of the small window, barely squeezed his hands into the small window, and touched Anthony's face.The narrow window nearly jammed his wrist.

Anthony, unable to move, turned his face, kissed his hand frantically, and shouted: "I almost forgot the fact that I am still alive...Brother...Your arrival made me realize that I am still human, not a humanoid maggot……"

Menxi burst into tears: "Who would have thought that a nobleman wearing toga would be imprisoned in the lowest prison! My poor brother!"

Anthony screamed in grief, "Oh... those damn jailers are throwing snakes and rats at me... I've had enough...Enough!"

Anthony, who hadn't seen the light for a long time, stared at the light leaking in from the window, and tried his best to see his brother from the narrow field of vision.As far as he could see, he unconsciously kicked the wall with his legs.The way he struggled was like that of a stranded fish slapping the beach with its body when it is dying.

"How are you...brother..." He twisted his body and asked.

"I was deprived of almost all my property, Anthony... I was stripped of my nobility and lost all my military power, and the little money I had left was not enough to buy a foot-washing slave!"

Anthony hurriedly asked: "What about our land?"

"Oh..." Menche was distraught, "Of course it's all confiscated! Claudius plans to use my land to build brothels and baths... That insidious cripple is most willing to borrow other people's money to strengthen his face! He likes See me broke! I swear, he absolutely loves it!"

Anthony slammed his forehead against the window frame, and cried, "Oh! man is a mean thing, there is nothing intolerable..."

The two brothers complained to each other like two sewers spraying sewage.

Anthony turned his face away, and one ear was soaked in the blood stained with maggots.

"I want to live, brother..." he cried, "I thought that if one day I became a commoner, I would end my humble life with dignity. It was only when I lingered in feces, urine and blood that I finally understood that human dignity can be compromised infinitely! Even if my body is covered with contempt and phlegm, I don’t want to die..."

Menxi pressed his forehead against the window frame, and the smell from inside made him cry, "I won't let this go on, Anthony...I want to save you..."

He instinctively covered his nose, "I want to save us..."

Anthony coughed twice, and said with difficulty: "What are you going to do?"

Meng Xi slumped on the ground.

His blond hair had lost its luster, and white hairs took over the top of his head like burgeoning mycelium.In fact, he is very much like a still life composed of bones and flesh, and his breathing is just a forced sip of air.

"Accumulate property and land, and let our assets reach 40 sesterces again." Munch said, "Restoring the status of nobility is a top priority."

Anthony spoke in the darkness like he was spitting out black mud: "But the money we have left can't even buy slaves, let alone buy land...Even a mere foot of land in the city of Rome is worth ten carts of gold." ..."

"I will find a way to borrow money." Menxi was unmoved. "I have served as a priest and a general for several years. Even if I have no money, the contacts in my hand are enough for me to eat and drink for a while..."

"Oh..." Anthony rolled his head in the mud, "That relief is only temporary... Ladies need money to buy expensive peacock blue eyeshadow, and husbands need money to feed a group of warlike hornets. Fighters. Nobles are actually the poorest people in Rome..."

Munch's fingertips were trembling.He said excitedly: "I should think of something. I want to change the current situation. Even if I can't change it, I have to do something... Oh! Just let me do something!"

Anthony fell silent.He squirmed his legs in the cramped space, like a worm trapped in a shell.

"Okay, I'll wait for you to rescue me..." he cried.

……

In the depths of winter, it snowed heavily in Rome.The Romans cherished the infrequent snow very much. They firmly believed that snow had medicinal properties, added snow water to food, and made snow into various shapes and placed them in shrines as offerings.It was cold and damp, and the air flowed like ice water.

Nero held up a piece of dry parchment, walked past the brightly flamed fireplace, and came to the misted glass window.

The snow outside was reflected through the glass, and his silver hair reflected a transparent bright color, as if it was covered with ice crystals.

"The end of that story is written on this parchment," Nero said. "Remember Minos who fell in love with the banshee?"

Rhodes glanced at him and continued to nibble on the apple in his hand.He only wore a pair of baggy trousers, and leaned against the fireplace topless.His trousers fluttered in the wind from the fire.

"Read." He said shortly, as if giving an order.

Rhodes' hair was thick and black, and his lips were as red as a sensual rose.All the colors on his body are ostentatious and obvious, including his skin that is so fair that it is eye-catching.

Nero blew off the dust on the paper, smiled and read:

"A prince endowed with divine power and a notorious banshee are in love.For the Banshee, Minos even broke with his parents.

There was a lot of discussion in the kingdom and even neighboring countries, and everyone was attacking.Minos was defined as "a man who wasted divine power and disappointed and angered the gods", and his reputation went from being sought after by thousands of people to being shouted and beaten by everyone.

Amid the crusade from all over the country, Minos took the banshee to live in the mirror villa and lived a hidden life.

In order to let the banshee live a normal life, Minos came up with a way: take off her eyes, and give her his extra pair of eyeballs.

However, the curse did not go away with the removal of the eyes.

After replacing Minos' eyes, the banshee tried to open her eyes, and the doctor who replaced her eyes immediately turned into a bottle of stone.

Her eyes still turn to stone those they see.

The failure of the eye-changing technique caused Minos to be reviled more severely, and even the slaves secretly laughed at his confusion and stubbornness.The angry king and his wife took the throne and forced him to kill the ominous banshee immediately.

Just when the pressure of public opinion reached its peak, the banshee ordered her guards to cut off her head in order to maintain Minos' throne. 』

Nero paused for a moment, shook the fingers holding the edge of the paper, and continued to read:

『Minos came after learning that the banshee committed suicide.He was yelling like crazy, and bloody tears flowed from the eye sockets that had been removed not long ago.He laughed wildly, cried loudly, tore his hair, tore off the silk that wrapped his eyes, and hugged her already cold head.

Half insane, he saw the half-closed eyes of the banshee, and kissed her desperately.The moment his lips touched, he instantly turned into stone.

As the oracle said, he finally died under his own eyes. 』

Rhodes stopped nibbling on the apple, and looked over with a pair of black eyes coldly.His eyebrows had a tendency to droop, giving him a slightly pitiful look.

Nero raised the tip of his eyes and met the pair of black eyes.At the moment when the eyes met, he suddenly felt a sense of fate between the story and reality.He had a presentiment of great sweetness, and great sorrow.

Rhodes accurately threw the apple core into the trash can.He folded his arms, half-closed his eyes, with a gesture of not paying attention to anything, and the glimmer of light condensed on his pupils danced between his eyes.

"Let's go back," he said. "This story sounds disturbing."

The overwhelming snow almost wiped out everything.The two walked on the top of the mountain, and the snow was thick enough to reach their ankles.In this pure white to terrifying snow scene, Rhodes walked step by step, with a moist atmosphere in his brows and eyes.

Nero followed him, watching him out of the corner of his eye.Against the background of undulating, gray-brown ridges in the distance, Rhodes' red lips were sharply defined, showing a sense of hope.

Rhodes walked to the edge of the mountain top, stepped on a rock with one foot, bent down slightly, looked down the mountain and said, "The water below the mountain has risen even higher."

Nero patted the snow particles on his trousers, and his chest was tight after walking for a long time in the cold weather.His breathing became heavy to the point of wheezing, and he exhaled clouds of white mist from his nostrils.The long-standing aristocratic etiquette made him feel depressed, and he was unwilling to breathe through his mouth.

He followed Rhodes' line of sight.

Huge layers of snow piled up on the water, moving slowly, like drifting pieces of seaweed.From time to time, chunks of snow sank into the water.

"The heavy snow exacerbated the flood situation," Nero said. "It was the flood that left me in debt. Now that I have a name, I will be responsible for the repair and reconstruction of the destroyed buildings."

Rhodes put his legs down and sat on the thick snow.He brushed away the accumulated snow and plucked a blade of grass from the lawn.

"How much have you paid off those debts?" he asked.

Nero sat down next to him. "I haven't paid a penny. My mother never asked me for a debt."

Rhode raised one corner of his lips and said with a sigh of relief, "She still loves you."

Nero's eyes darkened, and he lowered his head and said, "She doesn't love me, she just wants to protect my surname."

Rhodes was twirling the grass in his hand, and glanced at him with interest, "No matter what her purpose is, she is someone who can protect you. Don't hurt her, Nero."

Nero nodded, the bangs covering his eyebrows dangling.Buffy freckles scattered across his nasal bone and under the eyelids stood out against his pale skin.

"I will." He looked at Rhodes through the locks of hair, "I promised you."

The two walked down the hill, bypassed the flooded area, and entered the long-awaited carriage.

The coachman sat on the carriage and drove the horse. The carriage moved slowly in the snow, passing a row of bare sea buckthorn trees.Immediately, two rows of straight ruts appeared on the snow, and the bow-shaped horseshoe prints were sandwiched between them.

Rhodes opened the curtain of the car window, and saw the sky among the branches under the car hood with a circle of red crystals hanging on it.He tightened his black gloves, grabbed a handful of snow from a branch, turned around and slapped Nero on the face.

Nero was stunned and touched his face in bewilderment.His voice had the unique nasal voice of some young people, and he looked at Rhodes almost timidly and said, "Did I do something wrong?"

He looked at Rhodes ignorantly, the tip of his nose, temple hair and cheeks were all covered with snow particles, which instantly turned into water in the car with the heater on.His lips were bloodless, hidden in the snow water like a single withered grass.

Rhodes put away his joking expression, saw his unhealthy lips, and suddenly realized that Nero was not pretending to be lofty or out of gregarious, but was used to loneliness in his bones.

"Come here," he said.

He stared Nero in the eyes as he lay back on the couch.His black hair was spread out on silk.

Nero understood, and covered his body, and supported Rhodes' temples with his bright red hands from the cold.

He lowered his head to lick Rhode's lips, traced the shape of his lips back and forth with the tip of his tongue, then pushed in from between the lips, and finally entangled with Rhode's tongue.He bit the tip of his tongue and his lower lip with increasing force, and then he continued to lick his neck like how animals lick to show friendliness.

"I can't be satisfied with just kissing you anymore, Rhodes... I've had enough..." He lay on Rhodes, dressed roughly, with mist caused by lust in his eyes, "I want to take off your clothes , I want to touch your skin... I want to try all the positions in the forbidden|book with you... is that okay?"

Rhodes froze for a moment, then smiled and said, "When did you read the forbidden|book?"

"It was a long time ago, when you still regarded me as a child..." Nero approached his ear, and said hastily: "I secretly bought some books that are not suitable for reading before sunset, every picture in it... ...I even imagined changing to your face...you enlightened me everything..."

Rhodes laughed, raised his hand and rubbed his wet curly hair, "Yes."

Nero pressed his forehead against each other, and their foreheads touched each other.

"Really?" He breathed heavily.

"Really, just today." Rhodes said seriously, "But according to the rules of your nobles, after sunset."

Nero rubbed the tip of Rhode's nose with the tip of his nose.He untied Rhodes' belt, stretched his hand through the loose hem, and touched Rhodes' abdomen smoothly.His fingertips followed the line of the abdominal muscles all the way up, and pressed them from time to time to feel the hardness of the muscles.Soon, his hand reached his chest, where there were a few scars and sword marks, which were uneven, which naturally had the meaning of being abused.

Rhodes grabbed his arm, "This is on the carriage, and there are people outside the curtain."

Nero hugged him around his waist and kissed his neck in a dazed way.His heart hit his chest so hard that even Rhodes could feel the impact through his sternum.

He said in a daze, "Let... let me touch you for a while, I like to touch you... please..."

Rhodes pushed him away a little, suppressed his slightly disordered breathing, and said softly, "We'll talk about it when we go home."

Nero pressed his lips back and forth on Rhodes' face, finally biting his cheek.

At this time, the carriage stopped suddenly, and the drowsy Nero rolled down from the sofa, his shoulder bumped against the wooden post on which the curtain was tied, making a thud.

Nero woke up instantly.

He was a little sullen, lifted the curtain of the carriage, and reprimanded the fearful coachman: "All coachmen who serve the royal family must be guarantors, not horsemen. And you not only violated your principles, but also let your Master fell out of bruises."

He lowered his voice, stood up straight, with an unkind look on his face.

The coachman knelt on his knees and said timidly, "There are several bullock carts passing by in front of me, my lord...I have to do this in order not to collide with them. I'm sorry..."

Hearing this, Rhode stepped out of the car and looked forward.

A man dressed as a merchant drives cattle and pulls a cart full of hay.Behind the ox cart were several equally loaded ox carts, driven by poorly dressed slaves.

Nero looked at the cargo and asked, "Who are they? What cargo are they carrying?"

"They are merchants, my lord..." said the coachman. "It seems that they should be fuel merchants who deliver fuel."

Nero snapped: "Since the founding of Rome, there has never been a case where a royal chariot gave way to a merchant's ox cart."

Rhodes stared straight ahead, suddenly seemed to be hit by something, and muttered to himself: "Virgil..."

"Virgil?" Nero was puzzled, "Who is Virgil?"

The author has something to say: I was locked, so I had to delete some explicit words, hey