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By the time Hedy finished, she could no longer bring herself to turn around.
Trembling, she turned away, feeling as though she was falling into an icy abyss.
The man who had hired her as an alchemist, granting her permanent status, protection, and the means to transform all of Florence—who had even introduced her to the masters of the academy and bishops—was now gone forever.
Even when she impulsively led an army on a northern campaign, he had written back to say that the Medici family would always be her support.
But he left all of this to her, and quietly, without a sound, he had gone.
"Lorenzo..."
The man had peacefully passed, his breathing gone forever.
When the funeral was held, the entire city mourned.
Clarice arrived at the study, her crying so intense she couldhardly catch her breath, but as she left, she forced herself to compose a resolute expression, taking charge of the funeral arrangements as the lady of the house.
Leonardo was the second to arrive. He checked Lorenzo's breathing immediately, then gently took the curled-up Hedy from the corner, carrying her back.
He noticed the familiar signet ring on her right hand but didn’t ask a single question. He simply cared for her as she slept, wiping away her tear stains with a warm cloth, and kept watch over her through the night.
"—Lord, for those who believe in You, life is but a transformation, not destruction; when we finish our journey on Earth, we will enter the eternal homeland."
For Catholics, death was the beginning of eternal life.
As Lorenzo’s coffin was paraded through Florence, the entire city gathered along the streets, singing hymns of Hallelujah in devotion.
Giovanni de' Medici, who succeeded as the Bishop of Florence, held a mass for his father. His expression was one of sorrow mixed with a sense of relief.
"—Open the gates for me, when I enter, I will praise the Lord."
The crowd sang in unison, the ancient scriptures echoing throughout the cemetery.
The war, which had seemed inevitable, finally broke out.
Florence’s north and south were attacked from different fronts, and the battles in Rome prevented the army from retreating.
People thought that Florence was doomed—
With Lorenzo’s passing, it meant that his young children and helpless wife would face all of this complexity alone. The entire nation seemed to be on the brink of collapse and destruction.
But then, another Medici lord appeared.
She took control of the banking system, and in her hands, she held an army of twenty thousand mercenaries, as if she had beenpreparing for this moment all along.
General Da Vinci and several other commanders swiftly took control of the situation and executed a powerful counterattack—
On December 5, 1486, the Duchy of Modena fell!
On December 14, 1486, the Duchy of Siena surrendered!
On December 31, 1486, Rome was defeated!
The central part of the Apennine Peninsula was unified, and all the fragmented territories were brought under the control of one family—
And that family’s name was Medici.
Pope Alexander VI was dragged, bound, and pushed to the center of the judgment platform.
