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"Three glasses of wine a day, would that be enough?"
Hedy shook her head, clearly unwilling to compromise on this matter.
"You can gradually reduce it. Start with five glasses a day, then cut it down to one a day, then one every two days, until you no longer drink at all."
"If you allow your body to deteriorate like this, it is irresponsible to both your family and to Florence."
The lord clutched the blanket tightly, then hesitantly asked after a long pause, "What about malt liquor?"
"No," Hedy replied firmly. "If you're thirsty, you can have orange juice or boiled water instead."
She could sense that he trusted her, but she still said with a serious tone, "If your condition does not improve under the control of your diet and water intake, I will accept any punishment."
Lorenzo lay there, his knee still burning with pain, exhausted and frustrated. At this moment, he was silent, as if sulking.
Hedy sighed inwardly, glancing at the distant fire before continuing to massage his injured knee.
For some reason, she suddenly began to softly sing an old Austrian folk song.
"Edelweiss, edelweiss..."
Her voice was gentle and calming, making one feel drowsy, wanting to drift off to sleep.
"Small and white, and bright..."
This song, later popularized worldwide by The Sound of Music, made Hedy a bit homesick.
She missed life in America and also the memories of her childhood in Vienna.
The song was long and melodic, the tune as soft as velvet.
Cosimo stood silently nearby, and suddenly noticed that the lord had fallen into a deep sleep.
Normally, when he had these attacks, he would endure it alone, the pain often lasting for hours, sometimes affecting his movement for days after.
But for centuries, there had been no effective way to cure this disease, and people began to believe it was merely a sign of wealth and privilege. The suffering, though, was something others could never fully understand.
Hedy continued massaging for a long while before realizing that he had fallen into a deep sleep.
It was hard to imagine… someone who had made such remarkable contributions to science and culture, and yet was only thirty years old.
She carefully covered him with the blanket, trying not to make a sound, then quietly left the office.
Cosimo followed her out and, with a serious expression, thanked her.
"Lord, when is your birthday?"
"January 1st, in just over a month."
The first day of the new year?
Hedy paused, suddenly recalling something.
At the beginning of this year, she had just moved into the Doge’s Palace, still in a semi-house arrest situation, and was unaware of many things.
The grand banquet held at the palace back then—was one of them actually for his birthday?
This was definitely a great opportunity to get closer.
