#876 - The Vanished Medici Family
Chapter 872: The Vanishing Medici Family
East Venice.
Treviso City.
“The court declares that Mr. Mattes Alberisio is the winner.”
The solemn-faced judge rapped the gavel: "Silence!" Then he pointed to the old man in his sixties sitting in the defendant's seat, "Mr. Adrian Casanova, you must hand over the house in the south of the city to Mr. Alberisio within a week, otherwise this court will sentence you to imprisonment or flogging."
“They are liars!” An eight- or nine-year-old boy behind Casanova suddenly stood up and shouted, “I can testify for Grandpa…”
Two court bailiffs, similar to bailiffs, immediately restrained the child and looked up at the judge: “Do you want to lock this kid up?”
The old man Casanova immediately anxiously defended himself to the judge: "Look, he is just a child, please forgive him. I will immediately vacate the house when I go back…"
The plaintiff Alberisio's lawyer snorted disdainfully and turned to the judge and said: "Your Honor, it is obvious that the furnishings in the house are part of the property, and Mr. Casanova has no right to dispose of them."
The judge rapped the gavel without thinking: "The court supports your claim. After the adjournment, the house at 71 Euleron Street will be sealed up until the handover is completed."
The little boy struggled and shouted: "This is unfair! You must have taken their money, those paintings don't belong to them…"
A bailiff immediately slapped the boy, interrupting his words.
The judge glanced at the boy coldly and rapped the gavel hard: "What's his name? Anyway, he's from the Casanova family. For contempt of court, I sentence you to three months in prison."
Casanova panicked instantly, knelt in front of the judge, and pleaded: "For the sake of God, please let him go! I don't want anything, the house and those paintings will be given to Mr. Alberisio."
The judge glanced at him, ignored him, and stood up and said, "Adjourned."
The old man walked out of the Treviso Local Court dejectedly, his eyes red.
He looked at the Holy See at the other end of the street, made a cross on his chest, and murmured: "Almighty God, Ricardo is still so young, please, for the sake of the Casanova family, no, for the sake of the Medici family, show mercy…"
Two fierce-looking strong men walked towards him. Casanova recognized them as Alberisio's thugs.
“Old man, get in the car with me,” one of the strong men gestured behind him, “Sign the property transfer documents first.”
As he spoke, he was about to grab Casanova's collar.
At this moment, a "Gem VI" carriage stopped next to him, and a man in elegant clothes with obvious Gaulish features got out, then quickly walked towards Casanova and bowed to him: "If I am not mistaken, you are Mr. Adrian Casanova, right?"
The old man nodded nervously: "I am, sir."
“May I ask, your father’s name is Paolo Ferdinando Casanova?”
“Yes, sir, that’s my father.”
“Very good.” The Gaul nodded with a smile, speaking broken Italian, “A friend of yours would like to invite you to Florence.”
Casanova immediately became vigilant. He had previously trusted Alberisio and mortgaged his property to invest in the "steamboat shipping industry", but ended up losing everything and owing a lot of debt.
Alberisio's thugs immediately shouted: "What are you doing? This old guy owes my master money, he can't go anywhere until it's settled!"
The Gaul frowned slightly, blocked the man with his body, and asked Casanova kindly: "You seem to be in trouble?"
The old man sighed: "I was plotted against, and the court ruled against me, and I have to repay the debt."
The Gaul hesitated for a moment, then asked: "How much money is needed?"
“1800 ducats…” the old man murmured.
1800 ducats is more than 16,000 francs. The Gaul was obviously a little embarrassed and said to the thug: "Someone will take care of this matter. Now, I must take Mr. Casanova away."
“Don’t even think about it!”
The thug said and reached for the stick behind him, but the Gaul's cane was already against his chest.
Not far away in the car, Alberisio complained dissatisfiedly: "What are you doing?"
The thug turned his head and said, "A foreigner wants to take Casanova away, master."
“Trash, drive him away!”
“Yes, master!” Four more thugs immediately surrounded him.
The door of the "Gem VI" carriage opened, and two men in black came down, drew their guns and pointed them at the thugs, saying in French: "Sir, you go first."
The Gaul with the cane gestured to Casanova again: "Your old friend is still waiting for you."
The latter looked at the black-clothed man's pistol and suddenly retreated stubbornly: "No, unless you take Ricardo with you!"
“Ricardo?”
“He is my grandson.”
The Gaul narrowed his eyes: "Does he have Medici blood?"
The old man was startled, hesitated for a moment before nodding: "Yes, yes…"
“Where is he?”
“In the court’s prison cell.”
“Okay, I assure you, you will see him soon. Now you leave here with me first.”
At three o'clock in the afternoon, in the room of Mr. Hahn, that is, the Gaulish gentleman, Casanova saw his grandson.
He happily hugged the boy and bowed to Hahn to thank him: "You are such a good person, may God bless you. How did you rescue Ricardo?"
“Um… I kindly persuaded the judge.” Hahn added in his heart that the pistol was very good at persuading people.
Casanova bowed and thanked again, then looked around at the men in black in the room and asked Hahn: "You just mentioned that you wanted me to go to Florence to do something very important?"
“Yes, Mr. Casanova.” Hahn immediately shook his head, “Actually, I would prefer to call you Your Excellency Medici. And my friend wants to help you restore the glory of the Medici family.”
“Restore… the Medici family?” Casanova was stunned.
He had only heard his grandmother mention this when he was very young, and had not heard it again for more than half a century.
Yes, he is the descendant of the only illegitimate son of Anna Maria Luisa de Medici, the last princess of the Medici family.
