| Morning of September 8 - 1248 - Rome - Innocent IV |

* Organ sounds in St. Peter's Basilica *

<< Brothers and sisters, go in peace. May God bless you >>

<<Amen>> answered the faithful in choir.

Finally the umpteenth mass was over, now I could rest, or so I thought.

After all the people left, one of my spies appeared from the shadow of a cathedral column.

He said to me: << Hi Pope, I have some information to give you, can you dedicate me some of your time? >>

<< Yes tell me >> I replied.

He bowed his head: << Thank you, I discovered that Emperor Frederick II has appointed a commoner as his personal knight >>
<< Eh, what's the problem? >>

<< The problem is that it was he who killed Sir Elias >>

What? So it was this commoner who killed one of my pawns who controlled the Emperor?

<< Listen, are you sure of this information? >>

<< Yes, your blessing, I'm sure. My sources are always reliable >>

Sir Elias kept an eye on the Emperor and told me everything, now that he was killed, besides the spies, I have no other way of understanding what he will do.

<< Okay, that murderer on behalf of the devil we will think about later. Let's be careful and see what happens. Ask one of your spies to monitor him continuously >>

<< Of course your lordship >>

<< Well, now go >>

<<Yes>>

The man disappeared from behind the column.

May that commoner be damned for doing such a thing.

| Morning of September 8 - 1248 - Castel del Monte - Attila |

A couple of days have passed since the investiture.

Yesterday my teacher decided to leave again for Palermo, leaving me here in Castel del Monte.

From today I start my training with the other riders, we hope they are not at the level of Sir Elias otherwise I would be bored.

I went to the central square of the castle, where I saw a large gathering of men in armor.

As soon as some of them saw me coming they whispered to the others, in doing so they all turned their attention to me.

I approached them asking them: << Good morning to all of you colleagues, is this the square where you train by chance? >>

Their looks weren't exactly pleasant, I realized I was immediately unpleasant to them.

Among them a knight came forward to talk to me: << Yes, this is the place. Too bad, however, that it is not yours, we do not recognize you as a knight Attila. So even if it is, we don't like its presence >>

Perfect, wherever I go there is always something that must bother me or create problems.

However, the Emperor had ordered me to train, so it was necessary for me to be with them, like it or not.

I asked them: << The Emperor has ordered me to train with you, but I could very well do it alone. But I would like to know one thing, why do you already dislike me? >>

He replied: << But how can you not get there? You're a fucking plebeian who became a knight in one day. The Emperor is a very cultured and rational person, but I can't understand how he could have chosen you. We are noble and we have been training for years, then you become a knight out of nowhere and you are also a plebeian, how can you expect to get along with us? >>

Again this story of the plebeian, if the reasons must always be the same, sooner or later I also stop getting angry: << Listen, let's do this, since you are so sure of your abilities and, in your opinion, I'm just a plebeian let's do this . I challenge you to a duel >>

All the knights remained silent, then that noble fool said: << Okay, so you'll see the difference between us and you >>

We both got into position with wooden swords.

Obviously the situation here is different from how I fought with Elias, I couldn't always kill someone, I would have made myself hate even more. So this time I'll try not to hurt him too much.

As he assumed the classic medieval pose I was simply standing, sword in hand.

He said: << You can already see now that he does not understand anything about how to fight >>

I answered: << I understand, then why don't you attack me? >>

He remained in position for a few seconds. After that, holding his sword in both hands, he charged me trying to make a swipe from above.
What he still didn't know is that, thanks to his retarded moves, his swing was very slow and he couldn't make another consecutive attack. So dodging it was child's play.

Once that was done, holding the sword in my right sword, I had the momentum to hit him in the throat. Obviously if it was a real sword I would have cut his neck, but since I had a wooden sword the blow could not cause anything other than a sharp pain in the throat.

After he hit him hard, he fell to the ground with both hands on his neck, he wanted to scream but couldn't. Apparently I had involuntarily grabbed his vocal cords so hard that it deprived him of his voice.

While he was still agonizing on the ground I was had the anger-filled eyes of the other riders turned towards me.

I sat on the body of the jerk who was still on the ground and said: << Look, if your fighting level is this, then it makes no sense for me to train with you. Now I'm going to go and train alone, this jerk here should be talking again in a few minutes. But if by chance he could no longer speak, it means that I gave him a blow so hard that it deprived him of his voice forever >>

I continued: << I tell you this, if I come to know that you have been hindering me in some way, you will suffer the same fate if not worse. So don't get in the way, have I been clear? >>

I got no response. Honestly, I didn't even care: << Those who keep silent agree >>

I got up from the back of that failure who during my speech did nothing but squirm and gave him a kick in the stomach, so as to calm him down a little.

So I decided to go to a quieter place.

After an hour of training, unexpectedly, I saw Costanza approach me

I then interrupted my training to bow to her.

<< You are a very strange person, I saw from one of my windows what you did to that poor knight. Doesn't what you did to him seem excessive to you? >>

The fact that you know this is a problem, from what I understand you are among the most hostile to me.

I answered his question: << Yes, maybe he is right. But there is a problem, the fact is that when someone categorizes me not for my qualities but from my class of origin, my heart and mind fill with anger. In fact, I would like to ask you too, if you want, to stop calling me "plebeian". I admit I have hands that sometimes move by themselves and I don't want you to be hurt >>

What I said was a veiled threat, but made anyway to the Emperor's daughter. Those last two sentences I shouldn't have said even in a dream, they had slipped out of my mouth.

She understood the threat, looked at me defiantly.

After a few seconds he sighed and said: << Even if this was an obvious threat, I will pretend not to have heard. That said, once I became a knight, I still couldn't call you "plebeian" so I'm forced to call you another way. Let's do this, I'll just call you Attila >>

<< As Princess Costanza wants >>

<< Listen, changing the subject. I'm sure I have the answer to your riddle >>

<< Well, then in your opinion, what is that indispensable thing for our life, but which at the same time is also invisible? >>

<< Faith >>

Of course she was wrong again, but now I was curious to talk to her.

<< You were wrong again, but I would like to ask you why a girl who studies continuously thinks that faith is the answer to that question? >>
Constance was about to start responding when she was interrupted by Gaia Aurobella, the Emperor's internal affairs councilor.

She said: << I'm sorry to interrupt Princess. But by order of the Emperor I have to take Attila and bring him to him >>

What an unexpected twist.