TWELVE Ch 2

Vittorio Nardi was a twenty-one-year-old young man who had been arrested ten days ago on suspicion of being a member of Dante’s 12. A student of the Faculty of Medicine at Bacci University, he was currently unconscious due to torture.

Dante’s 12, an organization aiming to overthrow the republic by opposing the government, leaders, and the state, was the subject of various rumors regarding its origins. What was certain was that its founder was a philosopher named Dante Piccini and that he had formed a secret society by gathering eleven members who shared his ideals.

In the past, Dante’s 12 sought revolution by organizing direct popular uprisings, but they now operated among the masses by establishing branches throughout Lubano or running communities among the urban poor. The members not only held diverse occupations—such as carpenters, tailors, philologists, and goldsmiths—but were also a mix of men and women.

Maintaining a hierarchy among members and performing strict rituals during the initiation process, Dante’s 12 took the white barn owl as the organization’s symbol and possessed their own secret meeting places. Judging by the fact that individuals had been arrested in small towns other than the capital, Bacci, members were spread across the country, though their exact numbers remained unknown.

Despite the fact that the former President, Raffaele Galassi, had suppressed thirty-three associates during his term, they had still failed to catch even a glimpse of the tail of the person called the Grand Master, the leader. Since taking office, the current President, Carlotta Viscardi, had issued several new edicts regarding the arrest and detention of Dante’s 12. Among them were barbaric torture and executions by burning.

The Republic of Lubano government defined Dante’s 12 as an anti-government secret society and, under the pretext of defending the republic’s security, created the 6th Corps to root out those involved with Dante’s 12.

The Republic Army wore black uniforms decorated with red embroidery, and on the chest of the uniform was a red hawk insignia symbolizing the republic. The hawk was shaped with both wings spread over a white shield, the shield was surrounded by ears of wheat, and a golden sun was drawn above the hawk’s head. The red hawk and the white shield signified immortality and security, respectively, while the ears of wheat and the golden sun symbolized the abundance and permanence of the Republic of Lubano.

“What is the reason you had private meetings with Vittorio Nardi?”

Now that the fact that Vittorio had been meeting Giovanni for some reason had been revealed, Giovanni was also under suspicion of being related to Dante’s 12. Since he would be unable to return to the university unless he cleared his name, Giovanni had to defend himself in this spot.

However, Giovanni, who was staring intently at Romeo, said something completely unexpected.

“Your eyes are quite beautiful. Did I mention that?”

At the sudden compliment, the soldier standing to Romeo’s left, looking at the wall with his chin raised, glanced at Giovanni’s face. Romeo, who was watching Giovanni without a stir, also had one eyebrow give a microscopic twitch, just once.

“They are beautiful pupils that shine like the night light. Truly, you possess such exceptionally beautiful eyes.”

“…”

At the compliment mixed with admiration, Romeo pressed his lips firmly together until his jaw muscles stood out.

It was because of a strange sense of bewilderment rather than unpleasantness. It was only natural. He had never imagined that a person dragged to an interrogation room under suspicion would dare say such a thing to him, an officer. Furthermore, was he not a man, and was the other not a man as well?

But that was all. A light twist of the end of his eyebrow was the extent of it. Romeo looked at Giovanni quietly with a stiff face that seemed to wear a mask. He did not reveal any particular expression.

“I once saw a face resembling yours in a tapestry hanging in a wholesale shop in the market. A beautiful one with small, white cheeks and blue eyes…”

“Answer only what you are asked.”

When his words were cut off, Giovanni moved his gaze to Romeo’s black hair visible beneath his military cap. Looking at the glossy, neat texture of the hair, he scanned the face thoroughly and said in a relaxed voice.

“You must have heard stories about me at least once, Captain.”

Romeo had eyes that were sharp yet long and soft. The slender jawline gave a refined impression, and the bridge of his elegantly extended nose was sleek at the tip. His lips, of an appropriate thickness, looked vibrant with a rosy hue, and though they were held firmly shut, the upturned corners of his mouth combined with his clear cheeks to look as beautiful as a painting. His long neck wrapped in the collar of the military uniform and his slim waist held upright appeared fragile at a glance, but a perfectly soldierly attitude could be glimpsed in his shoulders, which were spread straight without disarray, and his forearms extended upon the table.

Judging by the atmosphere exuded by his appearance and his reaction to the compliment about his eyes being beautiful, Giovanni was certain that Romeo was far from being solemn or authoritarian.

“It is not only anatomy that I have devoted my attention to for a long time. I love sculpture and painting. When I am stuck in the basement for days on end looking only at corpses, I grow to long for living things. I draw anything. Anything that is alive. However, there are not many people who feel proud to offer their bodies to me as subjects for the imitation of a painting or sculpture. Everyone is reluctant. I understand. Because there are those who feel ashamed not only of showing themselves but also of the act of drawing. Even sculptors and painters hide their interest in the human nude.”

Romeo’s beautiful appearance, which did not suit the dingy interrogation room, stimulated Giovanni’s curiosity, and the thing his gaze was drawn to most was his eyes. Beneath the thick eyelashes that cast shadows, the two blue-shimmering eyes were surprisingly transparent and clear. The blue pupils, shining more than real jewels, were so beautiful they made one forget the fact that he was blind.

“Vittorio allowed me to draw his body.”

Giovanni said, leaning his body toward the table so slowly that no one in the interrogation room would notice.

“I have been drawing Vittorio’s nude for a long time. Every time he stopped by my house, I drew dozens of sheets.”

Unlike the casual way he spoke, the content of what he was saying was unconventional. Therefore, Romeo stared at him like a person who had forgotten to blink. He did not speak.

Giovanni was a professor at a prominent medical university. The statement that he had been drawing the nude of a student he taught not only failed to match his reputation but also sounded like an unbelievable scandal according to social conventions that allowed interest in the human body only from a medical perspective.

“Being offered the professorship at the Bacci University Faculty of Medicine was an opportunity gained thanks to my reputation. At that time, I had already published two anatomy books. Anatomy lectures at universities that involve practicing on human corpses are not very old; originally, one studied only with books. The fact that lectures are now given by actually bringing in corpses and dissecting them is a result of the influence of my anatomy books. I am the very person who first advocated for the importance of practice.”

From a slightly closer distance, Giovanni scrutinized Romeo’s face. He knew that Romeo was twenty-six years old. Also that he was from Neve, a southern region of Lubano, and that he lived with two younger siblings in a boarding house on 3rd Rosati Street.

“Vittorio had been interested in me since the time I worked at Bacci Hospital, having heard the rumors. He was a dedicated student who always sat in the most visible seat whenever I gave anatomy lectures. Even on days when there were no lectures, he did not hesitate to visit often and ask personal questions.”

“Are you saying that he frequented your house and helped you because he wanted to do so himself?”

“That is correct.”

“Is that the only reason you met privately?”

“Yes, there is nothing else besides drawing.”

Romeo raised his chin and fixed his head straight. Giovanni’s gold-colored pupils, visible as a blur, were directed toward his own face.

“When was the last time you met him?”

In the lecture logs placed on the table, the students’ class attendance was also recorded. Vittorio had not shown up at the dormitory or the school for four days starting from the day he was arrested. A student who shared a room with him discovered propaganda materials of Dante’s 12 in Vittorio’s desk drawer and informed the Republic Army, and that evening, Vittorio was caught in a shop alley near Bacci University.