Chapter 5
I was dumbfounded as soon as I heard about the report to the church.
This wasn't the Joseon era with its "men and women shouldn't sit together after age seven" rule. How could they report people for naturally meeting and becoming friendly through conversation?
If we had actively encouraged mixed-gender table seating like a club, I wouldn't feel so wronged.
"So what exactly happened?"
A sigh involuntarily escaped my lips.
My hands unconsciously clenched tightly.
My subordinate butler, Samuel, shook his head.
"Viscount Valiano reported to Assistant Bishop Christian that Cafe Medici was facilitating natural meetings between women and men, claiming it was an extremely lewd act that goes against the Bible and doctrine."
Of course, noble marriages were, in principle, supposed to be with 'partners chosen by the family'.
In theory, romance between men and women was considered as lewd as walking around naked in the park and having sex.
However, this principle was rarely followed in practice.
Except for the heirs of high-ranking noble families above the rank of baron, many other children often fell in love and married after meeting at balls.
"Are they so pure themselves? Unbelievable bastards."
As in medieval and early modern Europe, in principle, one man was supposed to marry one woman and love her for life.
However, in Europe where machismo and bravado were measures of power, it was extremely difficult to love just one woman.
Sponsoring courtesans, coercing maids hired specifically for their looks into sexual relationships through intimidation, and so on...
By European standards, they satisfied their sexual desires through 'free love'.
Men who didn't do this were branded as lesser men and became the subject of gossip among nobles.
It was the same in the Tuscan Empire, and the church didn't particularly crack down on this culture.
They just used it as an excuse to extract a bit more donations during confession.
Ah, many church priests also went out the back door to wash away their anguish or entered into common-law relationships.
However, in our medieval Tuscan Empire, when the strong break ethics, it's romance, but when the weak do it, they can become sinners just for breathing.
"Assistant Bishop Samuel claims that Cafe Medici is a place where young men and women engage in lewd behavior and blaspheme against the Lord, and says he will severely punish it in the church court."
"I suppose the Assistant Bishop himself will act as the judge."
When you hear about a church trial, you might think of witch hunts where burning at the stake was the default, 'trials that start with the decision to kill'.
Sentencing people to death by burning was considered a harsh execution even by medieval standards and was rarely carried out.
Moreover, since I hadn't openly denied the church, they wouldn't go so far as to kill me, the second son of the Medici family.
However, the verdict wouldn't be light.
"The Assistant Bishop will surely order the closure and confiscation of Cafe Medici, and the recovery of all money earned so far. In addition, he'll use all sorts of excuses to label me as lacking in faith."
Cafe Medici was already a trend in the Tuscan Empire.
Nobles sought natural encounters here, enjoying conversation, and Medici family cakes had become indispensable at banquets.
If I could save up like this for about a year, I could buy a small village with money.
And I had gained political influence incomparable to that.
Moreover, for a 20-year-old kid to achieve such feats in just a few weeks?
The noble factions opposing our family must be going crazy with the desire to crush such a strong competitor.
'That Assistant Bishop bastard must have been promised a considerable sum in exchange for my destruction.'
"Even if I could somehow withstand the confiscation of Cafe Medici, if I'm labeled as lacking in faith, I'm finished."
Being labeled as lacking in faith was like having a record of serial killings in Korea.
Because in the empire, faith was something everyone was supposed to have.
"What will you do? Will you ask the Baron for help?"
In a 21st-century trial, with no proper evidence, just appointing a decent lawyer would result in a not guilty verdict.
However, the Tuscan Empire's judicial system was centered on testimonies.
Even if I presented hundreds of pieces of evidence that I did nothing wrong, it would be almost useless if there was consistent testimony from a witness.
The higher the status of the witness and the accuser, the more effective the consistent testimony became.
Someone like me, a second son of a baron family, had a lower social status than the Assistant Bishop and Viscount Valiano, so even if I brought dozens of pieces of evidence of my innocence, I'd probably still be found guilty.
In the end, I too had to seek out a person of high status to rely on.
To survive.
"The Baron doesn't like me. So I'll find someone else."
As I'm also a blood relative and vassal of the Medici baron family, they would help if I asked.
But in return, my brother Albert would try to put a collar around my neck.
I didn't want to suffer such a fate after coming to another world.
"I'm thinking of going to Duke Visconti."
Duke Visconti was the lord of Count Beauvant, who was the lord of the Medici baron family.
He was a high-ranking person somewhat distant from us, but he wouldn't just stand by and watch our family, his subordinate's subordinate, suffer an unjust fate.
"The Duke happens to want to suppress the Sforza ducal family and become the top noble in the Tuscan Empire... I'll have to persuade him that I can be of help to that ambition."
To be honest, I'm more capable than my brother Albert.
Albert becoming Baron Medici was honestly just due to his bloodline.
In terms of ability alone, putting anyone else in that position would yield almost the same results.
But how many people could achieve results like mine in such a short time if someone else were put in my position as the second son of the Medici family?
Objectively thinking, there would be almost none.
No matter how much this damned empire is a status-based society, ability is still important, so it's worth trying to persuade based on achievements.
"Send a letter to Duke Visconti. Say that Fabio de Medici, second son of the Medici baron family, wishes to make a proposal that would benefit His Grace the Duke."
**
Normally, a letter written by a second son of a baron family would never be delivered to a duke.
It would usually be torn up by the duke's head butler or at the butler level.
Because a second son of a baron family would at best be equivalent to a lieutenant in the army, while a duke would be in a position equivalent to a general.
"Your Grace, Fabio de Medici, second son of the Medici baron family, has sent a letter directly to you."
The duke smirked upon hearing this.
The Medici baron family, though among the upper ranks of his over ten thousand vassals...
There was an insurmountable difference between himself and a mere baron family.
And now a mere second son, not even the family head or heir, dares to make a request of him?
It was as brazen as could be.
However, when a young man who stands out unusually makes a request without fearing the lion...
Depending on the nature of the request, it could be either a crazy act or a calculated move.
If the former, he would be disappointed, but if the latter?
"Fabio de Medici, that fellow who created the cake and Cafe Medici, the second son of the Medici baron family, is writing to me? How audacious. What did it say inside?"
"He says he wishes to make a proposal that would benefit Your Grace."
"He must be mad."
A subtle smile appeared on the duke's face.
Though he said that, he was curious about what this fellow, who had achieved enough to remain in his memory despite being a mere second son of a baron family, had to say.
"And this Fabio is currently being prosecuted by Assistant Bishop Christian."
"He should be begging for his life, and yet... Has he truly lost his mind?"
As the head of the Visconti ducal family and as a duke, he had seen many types of people over the years.
Among them, of course, were those with genius talents.
'Geniuses often took seemingly crazy actions to produce the best results.'
A certain genius mercenary captain, whom he had made a baron by giving him one of his directly controlled baronies, had charged into enemy territory with thousands of enemies, leading only dozens of soldiers when everyone else said they should retreat.
At the time, it seemed like a crazy act, but as a result, the duke had succeeded in achieving a great victory in a war that was almost lost.
"Still, it's a hundred times better than begging for his life. Why should I help those who beg for their lives without being able to offer me anything?"
"As you say, those who beg for their lives without fulfilling their duties are useless."
"What do you think? It seems like it might be worth meeting this fellow."
The duke was personally intrigued, but objectively speaking, this man called Fabio de Medici was worth investing in.
A man who had grasped the empire's trends, gained political influence and fame in social circles in just a few weeks.
He had achieved this much without much support from his family.
If given money and protection, might he lay not golden eggs, but diamond eggs?
"As Your Grace wishes, perhaps we should make time to see him. He might even be of help in defeating Duke Sforza."
"Very well, let's do that. Clear my schedule for tomorrow afternoon."