Chapter 59: Seizing the Future

“Excuse me, is this your son?”
Leo looked at Gregory; the boy appeared to be just a child—how had he ended up here?
Was this in accordance with continental customs?
“Don’t all you priests prefer…”
“No, no, that’s slander.”
Leo accepted a glass of wine, took a small sip to moisten his throat.
“Perhaps some people in the Church have those inclinations, but I never got along with the Curia. Maybe it’s a matter of taste—I’ve always preferred women, so they never quite accepted me.”
At that, Maria laughed.
She leaned against the edge of the bath, her laughter bubbling forth as if truly amused. Leo watched her until she finally stopped.
“I’d heard of your unruly character, but I didn’t expect you to be so witty as well.”
“So, is your son suitable?”
Leo raised an eyebrow. “As a mother, to face your own son in such a manner—truthfully, I find it difficult to accept…”
“You must not be Roman.”
With a charming smile, Maria gestured to the maid behind her.
The maid came up behind Leo and pressed a warm towel to his shoulders and neck, beginning to massage him.
Meanwhile, another maid brought over a tray bearing a delicately roasted quail.
But Leo was not interested.
He waved her away, dismissing the offering.
“I’m indeed not Roman,” Leo said candidly. “If anything, I’m more like a Germanic barbarian from the north who picked up a bit of etiquette in Tuscany. So, I don’t quite understand your ways.”
“My child, Gregory, he is destined to face all of this.”
Maria drew Gregory closer to her.
“Born into this family, he must learn to confront temptation and come to terms with the world’s darkness. If I were to paint a pretty picture for him, how could he ever face the storms ahead? He is, after all, the Count of Tusculum.”
With that, Maria lowered her head and kissed Gregory on the forehead.
But Leo still shook his head.
“Let him leave.”
Maria, looking up, seemed surprised.
“There’s no harm in letting a child learn of such things a little later. Besides, it’s inconvenient to talk business with others present.”
As he spoke, Leo reached up and sent the massaging maid away.
After a moment’s silence, Maria nodded. She turned and waved her hands; all the maids obediently withdrew, leaving them at a distance. Gregory also left the bath, pausing to glance back at Leo as he went.
A child born to a house of emperors.
“All right, Lady Maria, let’s get down to business,” Leo said. “You didn’t invite me here simply because the Tusculani family has more money than it can spend, did you?”
“Of course not,” Maria replied. “You must know something of our family’s history.”
The history of the Tusculani family.
Leo shook his head slightly; how could he not know, after all his years in the Curia?
As the most stubborn of the conservative factions, the Tusculani had suffered more than most. Maria’s husband, the Count of Tusculum, had died under mysterious circumstances in 1058.
His brother, the former Pope Benedict IX, had been forced to abdicate in 1045. In 1056, he died mysteriously in a monastery.
Now, the only male left in the entire Tusculani family was young Gregory.
A house that had held the papacy for generations had been reduced to this.
Though history would later record a revival for their family, none living through those times could have imagined such a resurrection seven centuries hence.
Everyone believed the Tusculani were finished.
“If you know this, you should understand why I sought you out,” Maria said, moving closer. “I am only a woman; I cannot protect Gregory. But you can.”
Protect Gregory?
Leo was taken aback, then smiled.
This was a hot potato indeed.
Even a fool could understand the political significance of the Tusculani. Leo was no fool and had no wish to invite catastrophe.
“I’m sorry, but such a thing I…”
He didn’t get to finish. Suddenly, he found himself unable to speak.
A soft warmth pressed against his lips, sending a wave of sensation through him. Even after they parted, Leo was still a little dazed.
He’d been ambushed.
“Don’t be hasty; let me finish.”
Maria’s hands encircled Leo’s neck as she leaned against him, just like lovers.
“I represent the entire Tusculani family—”
A warm breath brushed Leo’s ear, provoking an involuntary reaction from his body.
Maria, as she spoke, continued to tease him.
“Now, the doors of the Tusculani house are wide open to you. You may take whatever you desire. What more could you want, my lord Leo?”
Maria’s delicate, pleading gaze shimmered with emotion.
One look into her eyes, and Leo felt as if he might be drawn in, so much so that he dared not meet her gaze directly.
“Leo, I humbly beg you, grant our family your protection.”
Maria’s yielding submission left Leo struggling to maintain his composure.
Even in this heated moment, Leo had not lost all reason. He knew that allying himself with the Tusculani was a gamble—a wager from which there was no turning back.
If he could not defeat the reformist clergy and become pope, then like Benedict IX, he would likely end his days confined to a monastery, dying in obscurity.
But wasn’t it the same for Maria?
A widow and her child, cornered by the powerful reformists, with scarcely any hope of survival.
Yet Leo’s forceful emergence and his opposition to the reformers had become, for Maria and Gregory, a beacon of hope—a glimpse of the future.
Maria was determined to seize that future.
And in truth, she had.
As Leo pondered, a sudden jolt ran through his body, as if an electric current had shot through him, making him suck in a sharp breath.
Old Romans indeed—they knew every art of seduction.
“Look at me, my lord Leo.”
Maria hooked her arms around his neck, pressing closer. Leo’s hands rested on her slender waist, the smoothness of her skin thrilling his senses.
“If you agree, the Tusculani family is yours. Benedict IX’s legacy is yours. My husband’s inheritance is yours. Gregory as well.”
“And I am yours too.”
“I…”
“Don’t speak.”
Maria bit his shoulder.
“Prove it with action.”