White Soft Glow

Rome lay close to the western Mediterranean, while the Vatican was in the center of Rome. Going by ship meant taking a long detour; traveling overland was much closer.

But the Vatican might not have any records on the Knights Templar. France, which claimed to have looted every library in Italy, actually had more Italian books than Italy itself.

"Did they believe it?" Pomona asked, taking the glass Severus handed her. It held rose-colored champagne.

"I don't know." Severus curled his lips and said meaningfully, "But they thought it was a good subject. We didn't tell them about the plan to build a bank."

Pomona shrugged. She had long known the plan was insane.

"During the Cold War, Switzerland hollowed out quite a few mountains. Venice doesn't have their natural advantages in that regard." Severus sighed. "Have you heard of the country San Marino?"

"Where's that?"

"The third-smallest country in the world, only slightly larger than Morocco and the Vatican. Legend says it was founded by a group of Christians who, led by San Marino, escaped persecution by the Roman emperor. They settled on Mount Titano and established a city-state. For more than sixteen hundred years, it has maintained the political system of the Roman Republic. Gianluca thinks it would be a good place to dig a vault. In the sixteenth century, San Marino was drawn into the conflicts of many surrounding countries, yet it survived in the end. By the eighteenth century, San Marino had gradually declined into an oligarchic republic ruled by a handful of monopolists and was nearly annexed by the Papal States. In 1797, Napoleon recognized its right to independence and respected San Marino's autonomy. He even permitted San Marino to expand its territory, but San Marino refused any expansion. Later, after Napoleon's defeat in 1815,