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Caesar's face darkened, and the previous fake affection he had shown her shattered completely.
"You have no idea what it's like for our family."
That so-called Pope, the man at the peak of power, had dozens of mistresses and countless illegitimate children of questionable origin.
And he and his sister had no choice in the matter whatsoever.
In the past, just to get a meal or be treated kindly by the servants for a day, they often had to pay a humiliating price.
He sacrificed his own marriage, even going so far as to court a woman fourteen years older than him, only to be used as a pawn by the one he called "father."
"Caesar Borgia," Hedy said, sitting by the window, her voice calm and distant. "Your father sees through all your little schemes."
His face suddenly turned pale.
"You think, in this ongoing farce, that you're the one calculating against him, when it's really him who's been calculating you?"
"No—"
"By offering up his son, he can continue extorting from Rome and Genoa, gaining all these benefits with no cost to him."
"And you," she raised an ironic smile, her tone cold and steady, "you delude yourself into thinking you can gain even a fraction of favor from him."
Caesar’s face twisted with anger. He leaped to his feet and took two steps forward, raising his voice. "What right do you have to speak like this?!"
"Youth," Hedy said, staring directly at the dagger he raised high without an ounce of fear. "If you lay a hand on me now, you’ll only lose more."
Caesar clenched his teeth, gripping the dagger but still hesitating to strike.
"I have no interest in your relationship with your sister," she continued, her voice softening with pity. "But remember this: in the face of power, people have no feelings."
No matter whether he was the Pope's legitimate son, or whatfuture he and his sister would have—if Alexander VI was greedy enough, they were both destined to become sacrifices.
The sound of a dagger hitting the floor echoed through the room.
Caesar staggered back a few steps, a desperate smile crossing his face. "What do you want me to do? Kill my father with one blow? Then let you go?"
He had believed that by cooperating with his father in this matter, he would earn his favor and slowly gain power, giving him a chance to protect Lucrezia.
Whether it was kidnapping her with the help of insiders or pressuring Florence for military aid, it was all meant to prove his loyalty to the papacy.
But this Medici... she was telling him that it was all a scheme of his father's from the beginning.
He was nothing from start to finish.
"I’m telling you this because I want you to wake up," Hedy glanced at the dagger on the floor and said slowly, "—And this wedding can be stopped."
"Stop it, and then what?" Caesar's voice was still filled with anger. "You’re still a captive, and I’m still the ridiculous bastard. Nothing will change."
Hedy suddenly laughed.
"No, you’re wrong again."
She spoke softly.
"You can escape from all of this."
"Escape? Escape from my father? Or from the Borgia name?" He gave a sarcastic smile.
