𝐋𝐀 𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐀 𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀

rp blog for glass palace hq

[youwerethereforme]

Medici The Magnificent   2.05  |  3.03

[whiterosesofscotland]

buonoroberto​:

He wondered whether she would come. He could lie to himself but he knew very well where his prayers were last night. He was praying that he would see her again. As if he was sick, as if love was this sickness he could not shake off. He tried, he really, really did to live a life without her and now, when he was coming back to Italy, to see his baby sister married off again and when he was ready to join his brother-in-law`s resistance group, he wondered whether perhpas Lucrezia slipped a wedding invitation to the Scottish Queen. Out of respect? Out of diplomatic scheming? Or perhaps a little friendship? He had no idea whether Valentina and Lucrezia even had any form of friendship but somehow he naively hoped that perhaps Valentina could guide Lucrezia, help her, look after her. Not that his little sister needed it, she was not weak but she was a person and no matter how much Robbie tried to picture his life with tribes in Amazonian rain forest , he simply loved his family.  His skin toned, his face covered in facial hair, already silver fox. He looked better than ever, though tired, but a smile was playing on his face. Vito, Vito, Vito he had to remind himself of his new name before he set his feet on the Neapolitan ground. HOME, finally. He wandered the town, looking for a cheap accommodation, hoping that he would catch a glimpse of the Queen`s ship, but luck was on his side and as he was cooking the fish that he was given by the kind fisherman, she walked the aisle, everyone trying to do their best so that her feet did not touch the dirty ground of the harbour. The Medici girl was coming and no matter how much the Neapolitans despised anyone who wasn`t Neapolitan, she was the Queen. Glorious, beautiful. Many screamed, tried to touch he gowns and while Robbie was exhausted and barely standing he screamed with all the strength that he had left. ‘Valentina de Medici’ because that was who she really was, wasn`t she? Not the Stuart queen, not the future bride of the Norwegian emperor, but his beloved Valentina, the love of his life who he could not stop fighting for. 

Unknowingly for Scotland, Valentina had plans to strip herself from the crown of Scotland, leaving it sorely for her son. Any of his uncles or Scottish cousins could be regents for Scotland, and perhaps, would gladly take it. No matter who she marries, where she travels to, she wanted to only be known as a Medici, one of the greatest influencer families that Europe had ever known. 

Of course, there lies a better opportunity for the past Prince and Valentina to unfold their romance once more, but Valentina had felt she had burned those bridges, unfortunately. Halvdan was a choice she didn’t want to consider anymore, as regardless, she would never be seen as their equal even though she was the Queen Consort. She desired power in her own unique way, but it was a lonely life and away from the people she had loved held dearly. These past few years have been trying, and Valentina was tired of being sad. No matter how much beauty she held, she was dark on the inside. Blackness. The woman who enjoyed loved and passion was no longer giving--nor receiving. It was against her better judgment. 

Though her turning away from Halvdan has not been official, but Lucrezia was made away and a discussion was to be in agreement of one of her daughters marrying Henry, and when they’re of age, will marry and Henry will be King. One of her daughters will be Queen. Isn’t that a blessing in disguise? Her name was shouted and chanted. But not as being a Stuart, but of a de Medici, and Valentina couldn’t help but bring a smile to her features. After many months, she had retired her armour. How much had she missed these exotic colourful gowns she had loved to flash and show off. And for a wedding, she was going to make sure to dress just as extravagant as their reunion. “Long live the Queen! And many years of happiness in her marriage!” The Queen shouted back.

[whiterosesofscotland]

Upon receiving the Queen’s invitation to her wedding, Valentina was surprised and had to take a second glance at the names. One name she wasn’t familiar with, but what a social climb to be married off to the Queen! Upon arriving on the ship along with other royals who would be attended, it was like for only a little while, the war was forgotten. Valentina was blinded by a marriage she didn’t want and is still coming up with ways to get out of it. Sometimes, she had missed just being a Medici, and that was all she wanted. Going back to Italy, living the life she had wanted with Henry. Why was that so much to ask?

[whiterosesofscotland]

like i will post a fresh starter for your character

[bynightafangirl]

Bonus: 

[brigadepuppy]

[whiterosesofscotland]

hail-halvdan‌:

He smirked slightly when she said that flowers was a good start. He wasn’t the best or even very talented in any of it. He was never one to think he had to ‘woo’ a woman. Women flocked to him in Norway, more so when he was in different lands. His presence held space in every room he walked in, but for her, he had to share it. He had to give the space to her. And tonight was a start. 

He stepped towards her when the servants left. “I am the time and never one to shy away from a challenge” He said confidently. His mind turning and spinning, wondering what is there to know, what she would tell, what he could learn.

Valentina felt that she was an open book, especially since she was already well known prior to her already a list of past husbands. Though, while two wasn’t quite plenty, it was well enough to feel defeated by the fact. Two failed marriages. It felt almost useless to remarry again when two were already unsuccessful. For years, she had always had her heart on her sleeves, having plenty of suitors, lovers, prospecting husbands, two husbands. It wasn’t already well known how much she wanted to be properly loved but there wasn’t one yet that matched what Valentina desired. Well, she thought. 

“Perhaps, it is time to fully surrender?” The Queen told him before turning from him, walking towards the open terrance of her chambers, revealing the beautiful green lands of Norway and their mountains. She leaned her body against the brick rails, elbows holding her body up. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on, Valentina remembered though, it was only a few nights ago. He had a bit too much ale, and Valentina, on the other hand, had too much wine but when did she never? The gentle kiss upon her knuckles, such gesture she would’ve never imagined from the frightful invader that he was known to be. And here he was, showing such gentleness with her. She wondered, what was in her that made people show their true vulnerability to her? The night sounds soothed her, the ambience of the night with crickets chirping, and the wind blowing through the leaves. The very dimmed room with the reflection of the candlelight shadows dancing on the walls. It reminded her of the summer nights in Florence. Valentina waited for him to join her in the terrance so they can begin their time together, which, Valentina had never felt so nervous. She licked her lips together before speaking again. “You’re a mystery to me,” Valentina told him, finally. “I think that is what makes all of this so thrilling. Because there is so much suspense?”

[whiterosesofscotland]

demetriaxsverker‌:

Demetria did not waiver in her stance as Valentina got closer. When she practically accused Demi of not holding any power in her words, the ivory haired girl actually smiled slightly. “If you think, that being Queen is the only way to have power, you have not been around me long enough.” Regardless of position, Demetria had more power than any queen would have beside her brother. Halvdan would take his sister’s word over his future Queen and she knew it. She also knew no one would ever out rank her in her brother’s eyes. It was almost a pity that Valentina would constantly be second and didn’t even realize it. Demetria took a breath and took one step back from Valentina. “I can see why my brother chose you.” She said, her tone changing slightly as she crossed her arms. “I honestly thought he would never marry. But I know this is wise diplomatic choice.” 

“You have not been long around me enough either, Princess,” The Queen told the other, rolling her eyes. She thought it was unfair to have the Princess judge her on just little things but thought it was unjust for herself to do to her. But that was how the world was. “It is for the best,” Valentina told her, also crossing her arms in agreement. “It brings our countries together and forever build the empire,”

[gotladies]

Missandei in S8, EP2: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

“I’d like to see the beaches again.”

[ask-meme-addicts]

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" sentence starters

❝ There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about. ❞

❝ The ugly and the stupid have the best of it in this world. ❞

❝ We shall all suffer for what the gods have given us, suffer terribly. ❞

❝ I have grown to love secrecy. ❞

❝ Your cynicism is simply a pose. ❞

❝ You know we poor artists have to show ourselves in society from time to time, just to remind the public that we are not savages. ❞

❝ Conscience and cowardice are really the same things. ❞

❝ I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects. ❞

❝ A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies. ❞

❝ Is that very vain of me? I think it is rather vain. ❞

❝ None of us can stand other people having the same faults as ourselves. ❞

❝ I like persons better than principles, and I like persons with no principles better than anything else in the world. ❞

❝ There is nothing that art cannot express. ❞

❝ The harmony of soul and body—how much that is! We in our madness have separated the two, and have invented a realism that is vulgar, an ideality that is void. ❞

❝ My heart shall never be put under their microscope. ❞

❝ It is only the intellectually lost who ever argue. ❞

❝ I feel that I have given away my whole soul to someone who treats it as if it were a flower to put in his coat, a bit of decoration to charm his vanity, an ornament for a summer’s day.” ❞

❝ In the wild struggle for existence, we want to have something that endures, and so we fill our minds with rubbish and facts, in the silly hope of keeping our place. ❞

❝ Those who are faithful know only the trivial side of love: it is the faithless who know love’s tragedies. ❞

❝ People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. ❞

❝ Courage has gone out of our race. Perhaps we never really had it. ❞

❝ Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind and poisons us. ❞

❝ The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. ❞

❝ Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul. ❞

❝ You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know. ❞

❝ Wherever you go, you charm the world. Will it always be so? ❞

❝ Time is jealous of you, and wars against your lilies and your roses. ❞

❝ Our limbs fail, our senses rot. We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were too much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yield to. ❞

❝ You like your art better than your friends. ❞

❝ I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die. ❞

❝ Young people, nowadays, imagine that money is everything. ❞

❝ Credit is the capital of a younger son, and one lives charmingly upon it. ❞

❝ Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic. ❞

❝ The way of paradoxes is the way of truth. ❞

❝ I can sympathize with everything except suffering. ❞

❝ Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world’s original sin. If the caveman had known how to laugh, history would have been different. ❞

❝ Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes. ❞

❝ You are quite delightful and dreadfully demoralizing. ❞

❝ I am always late on principle, the principle being that punctuality is the thief of time. ❞

❝ I adore it, but I am afraid of it. It makes me too romantic. ❞

❝ Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. ❞

❝ Passion is the privilege of people who have nothing to do. ❞

❝ If I ever did a crime, I would come and confess it to you. You would understand me. ❞

❝ When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one’s self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance. ❞

❝ There is always something infinitely mean about other people’s tragedies. ❞

❝ I want to make Romeo jealous. I want the dead lovers of the world to hear our laughter and grow sad. I want a breath of our passion to stir their dust into consciousness, to wake their ashes into pain. ❞

❝ People are very fond of giving away what they need most themselves. It is what I call the depth of generosity. ❞

❝ The only artists I have ever known who are personally delightful are bad artists. ❞

❝ It often happens that when we think we were experimenting on others we are really experimenting on ourselves. ❞

❝ Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them. ❞

❝ To be in love is to surpass one’s self. ❞

❝ Poor? What does that matter? When poverty creeps in at the door, love flies in through the window. ❞

❝ Our proverbs want rewriting. They were made in winter, and it is summer now; springtime for me, I think, a very dance of blossoms in blue skies. ❞

❝ I shudder at the thought of being free. ❞

❝ I know you would never harm anyone I love, would you? ❞

❝ Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives. ❞

❝ Of course, it is sudden—all really delightful things are. ❞

❝ The reason we all like to think so well of others is that we are all afraid for ourselves. The basis of optimism is sheer terror. ❞

❝ Unselfish people are colourless. They lack individuality. ❞

❝ You are much better than you pretend to be. ❞

❝ I cannot understand how anyone can wish to shame the thing he loves. ❞

❝ When we are happy, we are always good, but when we are good, we are not always happy. ❞

❝ The real tragedy of the poor is that they can afford nothing but self-denial. Beautiful sins, like beautiful things, are the privilege of the rich. ❞

❝ Being adored is a nuisance. ❞

❝ You are dreadful! I don’t know why I like you so much. ❞

❝ You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you have never had the courage to commit. ❞

❝ Love is a more wonderful thing than art. ❞

❝ There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating—people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing. ❞

❝ The secret of remaining young is never to have an emotion that is unbecoming. ❞

❝ I knew nothing but shadows, and I thought them real. ❞

❝ You taught me what reality really is. ❞

❝ You used to stir my imagination. Now you don’t even stir my curiosity. ❞

❝ I have grown sick of shadows. ❞

❝ You don’t know what you were to me, once. ❞

❝ You have spoiled the romance of my life. ❞

❝ Without your art, you are nothing. ❞

❝ There is always something ridiculous about the emotions of people whom one has ceased to love. ❞

❝ There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. ❞

❝ I can’t bear the idea of my soul being hideous. ❞

❝ You cut life to pieces with your epigrams. ❞

❝ Things like that make a man fashionable in Paris. But in London people are so prejudiced. ❞

❝ One should never make one’s début with a scandal. One should reserve that to give an interest to one’s old age. ❞

❝ How extraordinarily dramatic life is! ❞

❝ I don’t think I am heartless. Do you? ❞

❝ The moment she touched actual life, she marred it, and it marred her. ❞

❝ Life has everything in store for you, ❞

❝ We live in an age that reads too much to be wise, and that thinks too much to be beautiful. ❞

❝ If one doesn’t talk about a thing, it has never happened. It is simply expression that gives reality to things. ❞

❝ You must not tell me about things. What is done is done. What is past is past. ❞

❝ I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them. ❞

❝ You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you. ❞

❝ if I told you, you might like me less than you do, and you would certainly laugh at me. I could not bear your doing either of those two things. ❞

❝ Your friendship is dearer to me than any fame or reputation. ❞

❝ You became to me the visible incarnation of that unseen ideal whose memory haunts us artists like an exquisite dream. ❞

❝ Whatever I have done that is good, I owe to you. ❞

❝ There is something fatal about a portrait. It has a life of its own. ❞

❝ Perhaps one should never put one’s worship into words. ❞

❝ There seems to be something tragic in a friendship so colored by romance. ❞

❝ It has a corruption of its own, worse than the corruption of death itself—something that would breed horrors and yet would never die. ❞

❝ The past can always be annihilated. ❞

❝ How exquisite life had once been! How gorgeous in its pomp and decoration! Even to read of the luxury of the dead was wonderful. ❞

❝ Is insincerity such a terrible thing? I think not. It is merely a method by which we can multiply our personalities. ❞

❝ I am tired of myself tonight. I should like to be somebody else. ❞

❝ I love scandals about other people, but scandals about myself don’t interest me. They have not got the charm of novelty. ❞

❝ You don’t want people to talk of you as something vile and degraded. ❞

❝ You must not say things like that. They are horrible, and they don’t mean anything. ❞

❝ You have had more to do with my life than you think. ❞

❝ Each of us has heaven and hell in him. ❞

❝ Youth smiles without any reason. It is one of its chiefest charms. ❞

❝ Keep your horrible secrets to yourself. They don’t interest me any more. ❞

❝ What is it to me what devil’s work you are up to? ❞

❝ I wish you had a thousandth part of the pity for me that I have for you. ❞

❝ The husbands of very beautiful women belong to the criminal classes. ❞

❝ I am not at all surprised that the world says that you are extremely wicked. ❞

❝ It is perfectly monstrous, the way people go about nowadays saying things against one behind one’s back that are absolutely and entirely true. ❞

❝ Nowadays all the married men live like bachelors, and all the bachelors like married men. ❞

❝ Everybody I know says you are very wicked. ❞

❝ I like men who have a future and women who have a past. ❞

❝ Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast. ❞

❝ He atones for being occasionally somewhat overdressed by being always absolutely overeducated. He is a very modern type. ❞

❝ What do you want? Money? Here it is. Don’t ever talk to me again. ❞

❝ Each man lives his own life and pays his own price for living it. ❞

❝ The man who could call a spade a spade should be compelled to use one. It is the only thing he is fit for. ❞

❝ I think that it is better to be beautiful than to be good. But on the other hand, no one is more ready than I am to acknowledge that it is better to be good than to be ugly. ❞

❝ To be popular one must be a mediocrity. ❞

❝ We can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible. ❞

❝ I wish I could love, but I seem to have lost the passion and forgotten the desire. ❞

❝ My own personality has become a burden to me. ❞

❝ Death is the only thing that ever terrifies me. ❞

❝ The world has always worshipped you. It always will worship you. ❞

❝ Life has been your art. You have set yourself to music. Your days are your sonnets. ❞

❝ The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame. That is all. ❞

❝ The world is changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curves of your lips rewrite history. ❞

[whiterosesofscotland]

demetriaxsverker‌:

Demetria turned to look at Valentina from the window when she said she was fit to rule the empire. “I never said you weren’t fit. I only said there are few who are.” Maybe Valentina jumped to that conclusion herself because she had insecurities and doubts herself. Demetria didn’t know. The ivory haired woman stepped forward and said, “I do not know you, Valentina… nor do you know me.” Demetria took a breath and walked back towards the taller woman. “But if you ever do anything to jeopardize, betray, or hurt my brother, what my family has worked for, or any of my people, I will personally make sure you regret it for the rest of your life in the worst way you can imagine.” Demetria said in a low menacing voice. It was like the big brother talk only coming from a smaller, younger, sister. 

Surely, all this talk was only for the love and protection she has towards her brother. Perhaps, it was why her own brother had never successfully married--not with the wrath and jealousy that his own sister held whenever a woman got close to his heart. However, what did the princess fear? What made Valentina so much as a threat? “Or what? What can you possibly do?” Valentina told her, inching closer towering over her despite only being a few inches taller. “At that point, I’ll already be Queen. Your word won’t hold a chance to me,” Was she already digging her own grave? Not that Valentina cared, as she was living in her own special hell. “Your threats are empty, Princess.”

[whiterosesofscotland]

hail-halvdan‌:

He cracked a small smile when he saw that she liked the flowers. He didn’t know much, but he knew flowers were a good start. “An apology” He said “For not being a great host” He chuckled a little. “I ask you to consider being my bride and I ignore you almost the entire time youre here” He shook his head, knowing how crazy it sounded. “I am truly not a charmer at all. You know of all people I am the type to cut to the chase. Patients is not my virtue” He paused. “So this evening, I want to take the time to learn more about you, if you let me” 

“I wouldn’t call it ignore--rather, you were preoccupied,” Valentina told the other as she walked over to her vanity and lifting the glass of wine she had already previously poured and rested it on her lips. She took a swig back of the wine before placing it down on the surface. Her eyes taking another glance at the flowers and a small smile formed at the crease of her lips. “Well, the flowers are a good step, a very good step,” She answered, before waving her hand towards the servants, gesturing for them to leave. “To get to know me, it will require a very long night. I’ve been told that my mind is as deep as the ocean. In that case, do make yourself comfortable, your Majesty,”

[whiterosesofscotland]

buonoroberto‌:

He said what he had to say and then there was  nothing but emptiness. He cleared his throat, his heart. He didn´t know what he was going to do next. He had no plans. He was telling himself, he would run to South America, America, somewhere and everywhere but in reality he was just lost and tired and he wanted to make things right. He felt like a child who had made a mistake and now he was waiting for someone to tell him what to do. He let his beloved sister take the throne, face their enemies alone, her, no older than 24 and a mother of three and he was standing in front of the woman he loved and he didn´t know what to do. She was right, they wanted different things.

“We do” yes, they did. She, the queen and him? He just wanted to be free, to live a simple life. “I would give up my life for you, Valentina but I would not give up my life for the crown. It is a poison within, all that power, all those intriques. Does it bring you happiness?” He knew Valentina was a kind, gentle, motherly, fair woman but she was also ambitious. He just wasn´t. “If you asked me to die for you, I would. But even if your people would accept me as your husband, as your Consort, which is unlikely what would I do? You ask for independence, for power and I wish you all that but what can you offer me? Being in love with you is just a part of me but not my whole personality and not my whole life. I am sorry to say that but I need to explore, I need to work and mainly” that thought did come to him very recently and he was almost afraid to say it not to jinx it “and I don´t want my children growing up fearing being poisoned and being doted by servants as if they were unable to dress themselves. “ Maybe they were really not meant together. “You know that Henry would have a good life, Valentina. Maybe not as rich as now but still good. He would be loved but I think you know that and you have already made up your mind. If the war ends, I am here Val, I will wait for your decision but if you say no then we might remain friends but know we are free to do as we wish. I really do want to have a family, Val. My own little family. I have messed up so much in my life, I just want a calm life somewhere, anywhere. I don`t care about titles and money or land. Maybe this war has showed us who we truly are.’

There wasn’t any point in arguing--Valentina wasn't going to admit that she was power-hungry because knowingly, this was all that she had ever wanted, and desired. Well, not in the beginning. The thing is, she can’t see herself going back to her old self. She had now desired the world in her hands, the world looking up to her. Valentina was the lord’s protector until Henry becomes of age. “I can’t reason with these people,” Valentina told him, quite quietly too. She sign, feeling her throat becoming dry as she tried to put the words together. Being Queen wasn’t what she had all imagined. “I do not even know if I can trust them,” She continued, hinting towards the Scots and the Norwegians. She wasn’t going to dare to tell Robbie of Halvdan’s proposal, and in which she had accepted. She wasn’t sure if she could trust him if his word was law. “What were they worthy to have, that imagined the destruction of me... I just want to show Scotland and the world of what a Queen I can be... I how I plan to serve them,”

She approached him, closing the gap between them even more and brought her hand up to his hand. Her hands still smooth and soft beside the slight callose that formed from wielding her sword caressed over his cheek. “And to have you love me for me, and by at my side,” Her features harden, knowing that it wouldn’t be that easy for him to just accept. “I guess, I am prepared to live a life without you. Perhaps, to marry another only to imagine it was you instead. I live in torture, thinking of these moments. That we go all these months not seeing each other, breaking each other’s hearts because of our stubbornness. My ambition, your sought for freedom. Keeping us apart. There’s a burning in me, I feel on fire and there is guilt, and I can’t get rid of either,”

[whiterosesofscotland]

🔓 who is henry going to marry? who is valentina going to choose for him?

If Valentina had it her way, no one is worthy of her son! 

[whiterosesofscotland]

🔓 best friend?

Best friend? No one. Why need friend when you can be Queen instead?  *cough* Maybe Demetria if she can get the damn stick out from her ass ( @demetriaxsverker )

[whiterosesofscotland]

🔓 where does Val reside? or where is she planning to make it her home after the war is over? also what countries is she technically going to rule if everything goes according to plan?

Technically speaking, perhaps in Scotland atm, or on their family’s residence in Florence whenever she is in Italy. And pretty much all countries within the Norweigan Empire she will be ruling if everything goes to plan accordingly. Basically an ‘Empress’. 

[whiterosesofscotland]

🔓 I know Henry is technically a baby but any headcanons for older Henry? What does he take after? What is he like?

So, I am glad someone asked because he has been on my mind a lot lately. Henry will always be Italian, will be raised Italian too. I think out of spit with Alasdair, she will do exactly that. But maybe, will know Scottish traditions through his aunt, because Valentina will never keep him away from family. 

For Henry, I sort of always pictured him looking strikingly like his father? In his youth, he was the spitting image of his mother but grew up looking more like his father? Lucious long curls, blue eyes, olive skin. Regardless, being raised in any royal family, whether it is with the Vittoria’s, de’ Medici or Sverker would do quite a lot of influence on him? He is only just a toddler now and can be easily manipulative in whatever family he is raised into. In Valentina’s eyes, with Medici and Sverker being two very powerful families, and very much alike. I do expect Henry becoming quite similar in the sense of how Valentina and her brother are alike? Older Henry, I see him very influenced in the military, taking quite the interest in politics and also fine entertainment. Though, looking much like his father, he is also a carbon copy of his mother too?

I would think, later on, he would be adopted into changing his surname from Stuart to either Medici or Sverker, but will always be affiliated with the house of Stuart, too. Just out of respect to his aunt. 

I also imagine Valentina resenting the fact he looks so striking to his father. And the more that Valentina resents, the more he grows to look like him. Like, the more she raised him as a Medici, the more he looks like a Stuart and that bothers her.

Also, adult Henry as Eoin Macken, anyone? Maybe even Orlando Bloom, Luke Pasqualino maybe?