I put out his fire

Nero's new estate stands on the top of a mountain near the river.

Here is an open flat land, paved with evergreen lawn.The grass was ankle-high, and among it grew blue-and-violet cornflowers and fiery poppies like flecks of splattered paint.

The mountain was very high, and Nero and Rhodes walked for a long time to reach the top of the mountain.

Columns are arranged on both sides of the gate, and the arched gate is very classical.The manor is made of sand-yellow stones, has three floors, and the circular vault is like a bulging cloud, like a lost pearl that has fallen from the realm of the gods into the mortal world.

The two approached by stepping on a field of green grass, passing by several marble sculptures.The eyeballs of these gods are carefully carved to cast shadows according to the angle of light, thus showing black eyeballs.

They stood on the stone road leading to the gate of the temple.

The red-sun-colored castle jumped into view, sandwiched between the clear blue sky and green grass, like a pool of metal welding the sky and the earth.

Rhodes pulled the flying temples behind his ears, and the voice was mixed with wind: "This castle is more luxurious than the house you live in now!"

The slaves greeted him graciously and kissed Nero's feet.The mountain wind is very cold, carrying the bitter taste of green grass.The wind whistled.

Nero stared at this scene, the bright yellow castle was reflected in his wax-like eyes, deepening the original color of the eyes.

He said with a dark face: "I don't like it here."

Rhodes squinted at him, "Why?"

"Because it's so lonely." Nero said, frowning.

Rhodes stared at his melancholy eyebrows and remained calm.

The two stomped cornflowers and poppies under their feet, walked through the grass to the edge of the steep mountain top.

The side of the mountain is as straight as a cliff, giving people a dizzy feeling of cold feet.At the foot of the mountain are densely packed shops and houses, arranged along the river bank.The laurel trees on the river bank are very lush, and the shade of the trees is bulging, squeezing the original wide channel into a stream as thin as a stream.

Women walk around with clay pots on their heads, and vendors carry goods on their shoulders.The crowd was as small as ants, busy and prosperous.

"This is the place we walked through on Lupercalia." Nero pointed down, "All the houses along the coast are named with my surname, including this mountain."

Rhode's black hair was blown up.Under the prosperous sun, he still has sharp facial features, and his overly glamorous beauty does not diminish a bit.

Nero stared at his clear profile, and said solemnly: "I took the initiative to visit my mother today."

Rhodes came alive, "You reconciled with her?"

"Not yet." Nero said, "She will do anything to achieve her goal, who knows what shocking behavior she will do someday."

Rhodes chuckled.He stepped on a short rock, and his gray iron-colored sandals stood like a sword among the long grass that was blowing.

Nero's eyelashes drooped slightly, and under the bushy eyelashes cast a dark gaze, "I asked her something about your father."

Rhodes' face turned pale for a moment.His straight sword eyebrows were stretched like frost, but the fingers pressing the sword were trembling slightly.

Nero said cautiously: "Your father didn't volunteer to become a guard back then."

Rhodes' eyes moved slightly like needles.He tightened his body and said nothing.

Nero was silent for a long time, "Your surname is still full of people's scolding. I really want it to be seen again..." He said seriously.

"Don't do such a stupid thing!" Rhodes refused, "You'd better not be contaminated with this stigma. Let it live on people's lips as a joke, and eventually be taken to the coffin..."

Nero was noncommittal.He pinched off a red poppy, put it under the tip of his nose and sniffed it.

His nose is small and straight, and there are light freckles on it, which makes him always have an immature temperament.

Rhodes turned sideways, snatched the poppy he was holding, and inserted the slender stem between Nero's curly locks of hair.

He examined it for a while, then removed the flower, "It's not pretty." He shook his head and said.

Nero blushed a little.He stood with his chest in his arms, his eyes wandering around, looking timid.

Rhodes looked playful.He moved the poppy closer and sniffed it in small steps.

The mountain breeze blows over, with a slight fragrance of poppies.So in Nero's senses, Rhodes had a potential and inexplicable connection with this potentially toxic fragrance.

Rhodes has thick black hair and black pupils, but his complexion is very fair.Under this simple color, the red poppies on the sideburns and his vermilion lips are particularly conspicuous, with a gorgeous and coquettish temperament.

Nero stared at him blankly, as if in a fugue.The bangs that fell on his forehead were all blown up, showing some neatness, which weakened his shy temperament.

In fact, Nero looked at Rhodes' face more than anyone else.But every time he looked at it, what he felt full of love was the glimpse of the two when they first met.

Nero was dazed.He took the poppies in Rhodes' hands, and gently inserted them on his temples where the hair was flying wildly.

"You're so pretty, Rhodes..." he murmured.

Rhodes froze for a moment, and his corner of the eye glanced at the petals close to his cheeks.He looked at Nero who was in a daze, without showing any resistance.

Nero suddenly woke up as if awakened, a surprised expression jumped out of his dazed face like shedding his shell.

"Oh sorry..." Nero said humbly.He withdrew his hand embarrassingly, his wet eyes hidden under the overlong eyelashes.

At this moment, the affection suddenly arises, like the first breath of the lovers before kissing, there is a faint ambiguity.

Rhodes didn't say anything.He removed the poppies from his temples, twisted the stems with his fingers, and the petals swirled like the hem of a dancer's skirt.

"Poppies and cornflowers have the effect of stopping bleeding and healing wounds." He looked at Nero and said, his eyes had deep meaning, "Maybe you can try this for the female slaves whose hands are injured..."

Nero felt palpitations, as if his heart was pinched by a dry hand, and he began to panic.With his naturally pessimistic eyes, he predicted the ending of a lost lover.

"You never forget them." He murmured in a low voice, his voice suppressed, revealing some sickness.

Rhodes smiled, and picked off a bunch of red or purple flowers and plants casually.His pitch-black figure looked up among the swaying green grass, and his slightly curled black hair pointed to the blue sky. Nero felt sore when he saw it.

……

Nero lived in the manor for a few days symbolically.

Slaves sent papers for administrators to process.He began to struggle with the day-to-day running of Rome.

It was night, and the moonlight came in through the window, forming a white beam of light.The pile of dry wax oil was as high as a cone, and the slave was shaking his lupine, too sleepy to keep his eyes open.

It was late at night.

Nero washed his face with warm water, held up the smoky smoker, and lowered his head to smell the aroma of bergamot.

He worked all night without rest, and he was so tired that he had a splitting headache.

Nero, the new official, is facing difficult problems.

A strange disease similar to poisoning appeared in the city of Rome.

Many patients vomited and had diarrhea, their tongue coating was a strange blue-green color, and even the vomit was blue.The whites of their eyes are frighteningly jaundiced.Some seriously ill people even faint and urinate blood.

Many patients have died as a result.The frightened Romans thought it was a curse from the devil, and they panicked for a while.

Nero dispatched a team of experienced doctors to examine the condition.But doctors can't do anything about it.

Rhodes held a fruit knife and peeled a lemon neatly.The sour and bitter fruit was so precious that only the wealthy in Rome could afford it.

Nero put down the engraving pen, and slowly folded the densely written parchment.Overwork made him sluggish.

"Try this." Rhodes brought the sliced ​​lemon over. "It is said that this fruit that can sour the tongue will make the body healthy."

Nero was lying on the table, his spine limply bent, and the old candlelight danced on his soft silver hair.

"I'm so tired that I can't even lift my arms... Rhodes." He said in a daze, his voice was hoarse due to long-term fatigue, "This strange disease almost made Rome restless. I will still be at sunrise tomorrow I rushed to the temple before to participate in the sacrificial ceremony of the God of Disease."

The corners of Rhode's lips curled up in a playful way.

He put his hands on Nero's arms and moved slowly through the fabric until he touched his thin shoulders.

Nero's muscles stiffened inch by inch with his touch, like ice slowly forming.Evil thoughts grew in his mind like weeds, and Nero immediately lost his breath, and a certain part was congested and painful.Blush took root in his ears and gradually stained his pale neck.

"Oh... don't touch me..." Nero buried his face in his arms and said dully, "Please! Rhodes. Why do you always have to be like this..."

Rhodes did not retreat.He rubbed Nero's shoulders and pressed it against his trembling back, and the soft and shiny black hair poured onto the side of Nero's face.

He turned his face slightly, his lips were only a few millimeters away from Nero's red ears, and the warm breath was entwined into the ear holes like threads.

"Is it comfortable..." Rhode's voice was low, and it was naturally very sexy close to the ear.

Nero's heart beat irresistibly, almost beating against his breastbone.He even felt that the excessive heartbeat would cause him to die suddenly.

He grabbed the corner of the table and broke free.In a panic, his palm accidentally touched a sharp fruit knife.

A sharp dull pain suddenly came from the palm, like a long thorn being nailed into it.

The pain woke Nero slightly.His eyes touched the blood-red palm, and he froze on the gurgling blood in a trance.

Rhodes put away his joking look in an instant.With a tight face, he said with some concern: "Are you okay?"

Nero stared blankly at his palm.Thick bangs covered most of his deep eyes, and he was thin and pale, even if he was healthy, he looked sick.He has an awkward, sickly nature that more or less dictates his will.

A trace of relief popped up on the corner of his mouth.Nero slowly raised his brows and revealed a very absurd smile.

"Now you should never forget about me..." He said weakly, his lips were very pale.

Surprise flashed across Rhodes' face, and his body tightened like a piece of iron.

He looked at Nero calmly for a while, walked away the bewildered slave standing aside, and bandaged Nero's wound in silence.

Nero paled.He held Rhode's arm weakly, his forehead hair was stuck to his eyelids with cold sweat, and he looked depressed.

"Can you not leave tonight..." He said quietly, with an uncontrollable melancholy in his tone.

So the two slept in the same bed for the second time tonight.

Nero's palm was cut, and he regained his energy.He sat on the bed in a daze, staring at Rhode beside him in a daze.

Rhode's messy long hair fell on the pillow.He was already very drowsy, his blinking speed was getting slower and slower, and his face became more and more calm.

He glanced sideways at Nero, "Still asleep?"

"I can't sleep," Nero said. "I'm not even sleepy."

Rhode sat up with his arms propped up, his loose pajamas opened to his chest, exposing his hacksaw-like collarbone.

He rummaged through the wooden cabinet by the bed for a while, and randomly pulled out a piece of parchment with curled corners.

The parchment was yellowed and wrinkled, and the paper was engraved with dense letters in metallic ink.Nero cast a curious look.

Rhodes and Nero sat together, shaking off the dust from the parchment.

The warm yellow candlelight shines on the white pajamas of the two, and they cuddle up to each other under the quilt.

"Story is a good medicine for disease and insomnia." Rhodes said so, suppressing the desire to yawn.

He smoothed the creases with his palm, glanced at the words on it, and sighed annoyedly: "Damn it, it's actually Greek!"

"Then let me read it." Nero took the parchment and scanned the contents at a very fast speed.

Rhodes closed his eyes half-closed, sleepy images floated up like steam, gathered in his mind, forming heavier and heavier clouds.His head felt heavy.

Nero moved the dying candle closer to illuminate the writing on the paper and read:

『Minos is the prince of a small country. His ambitious parents placed high hopes on him since he was born.On the day he fell to the ground, the whole country held a three-day and three-night worship ceremony to celebrate his birth.He has a noble blood, a sonorous voice and lovely curly hair, and a pair of bright golden eyes that seem to be forged from gold.Minos has concentrated the favor of his parents and the whole country, and no one does not envy him. 』

Rhode's breathing became heavier and heavier, and he tried to listen with the last bit of energy.

"In order to know the fate of Minos, the king and queen went to the Temple of the Sun to ask for divination.However, the oracle they received was: "Your son will die because of his own eyes."』

There was a thoughtful look on Nero's face.He continued to read:

"This dignified couple is paranoid, always showing affection in eccentric ways.Worried, they pondered for a long time, and finally cruelly gouged out Minos' eyes, and threw them into the fire to burn them. 』

Nero paused here, as if thinking about something.

At this time, the candle flickered and then burned out, and everything in front of me was soaked in darkness like falling into an abyss.

Rhodes slid into the bed, lying on his side with his back to Nero, his hoarse voice was full of sleepiness: "Stop reading... go to sleep..."

Nero put the parchment in the dark, and quietly got into the warm quilt.He lay facing Rhodes, staring at his messy black hair in the night.

Rhodes' breathing calmed down quickly.

In the darkness, Nero secretly lifted a few strands of his black hair, kissed them, and then lay down to sleep with a smile on his face...

The author has something to say: Roman Vinegar King Nero~