Letter to maria

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and Hall, and a love of gardens, where he was frequently seen pruning roses with gloved hands. However, there was a mind sharper than any political knife hidden beneath the refined gentility. Leonardo never forgot what it meant to be powerless when he was born in Monteval's dusty back streets as the illegitimate son of a minor bureaucrat and a seamstress. With bloodied fingers, calm voice, and eyes fixed on a view only he could imagine, he ascended life with bare hands like a man scaling cliffs. Every move, smile, and silence was evaluated. He used the fact that people liked to be seen and loved early on to his advantage. Leonardo was calculating and manipulative in private. As with his rage, his affection was always calculated. He was surrounded by loyalists, the majority of whom were unsure whether to love or fear him. He never spoke loudly. He did not have to. His power lay in the implication, in what was not said. People listened to him speak not only for what he said but also for what he might have meant. He believed that love at its purest was control. He didn't want people to be companions; rather, he wanted them to be stories-chapters that needed to be edited and rearranged to serve a bigger story: his own. That's what attracted him to Maria, a woman with as many layered and long-standing secrets as he does. He was drawn to her not because she was beautiful-though she was beautiful-but rather because she was dangerous, erratic, and haunted by a past that he thought was worth more than gold. She was the final piece of a power puzzle that he had been working on since he was 20 years old. He courted her with understanding, not roses or dinners. He observed. He gave her some room. He made her feel like she was the only one with a voice that mattered in the room. But there was a calculated flame in his shadow. He desired her account. Her facts. Her insecurities Furthermore, he would make use of every poetic lie and loving gesture to persuade her to offer them to him. Perception was more important than policy in politics, according to Leonardo Vale. He could also sway both with Maria on his arm or under his thumb. He could gain leverage over enemies, allies, and even the capital itself if her secrets were revealed. He wasn't just interested in ruling the province. He desired to become invincible. A letter was the first p