Page 237 of DATE
In contrast… Michelangelo, who had been stood up so many times, seemed to be the complete opposite extreme.
No wonder he cried while eating.
After all the hard work of determining the size and style of a sculpture, carrying stone down the mountain with a group, enduring repeated injuries every day, and still being stood up…
Hedy rubbed her brow, feeling a pang of sympathy for the boy.
With his background, he could have lived the easy life of apampered nobleman.
To sacrifice so much for art—this was truly a passion that came from the heart.
Botticelli was still busy in his studio, but Leonardo, upon hearing that Hedy had returned, hurriedly came down from the upstairs.
“Hedy—” he called out, signaling for her to stop and wait for him.
The servant discreetly withdrew, giving them enough space to converse privately.
“Today, there are guests from the south at the Doge’s Palace,” Leonardo glanced around, apparently checking for eavesdroppers. “It seems someone is looking for you.”
“Looking for me?” She paused, surprised. “What’s going on?”
“They’re from Rome, dressed very elegantly,” Leonardo explained. “I was reporting to the lord on my research, and overheard a little.”
“Blue eyes, black hair, a woman in her twenties,” he lowered his voice. “Someone is looking for you.”
Hedy furrowed her brows, feeling a sense of unease.
When she had first come to the Medici Palace, she had indeed fabricated such a story.
At the time, she was just a foreigner without any status or confidence, stumbling over her Italian.
Her identity as someone fleeing from the Roman Papacy had been a last-minute fabrication, but it had fit well with the Medici family’s position at the time.
But since the appearance of the ruby ring, it seemed that she, Lorenzo, and Leonardo had all come to understand her extraordinary background.
An alchemist would hardly possess such an obviously aristocratic possession.
—Not to mention the thirty-plus facets of the diamond, whichwas technology that didn’t exist in this era.
The matter of the ring had occupied her thoughts for quite some time.
She could understand why Lorenzo had yet to return it to her. After all, he was still pretending to believe her lie, and everything had been peaceful for the past four or five years.
If her true identity were exposed, it would lead to an awkward and troublesome situation.
Over the years, Hedy had been steadily aligning her interests with those of the Medici family, deepening her connections so that various industries and public affairs intertwined like the roots of a gnarled tree.
As a result, her protection under the Medici name had become more secure, and she could safely conduct business in Milan as well.
But in reality, she was from Florida, USA, five hundred years in the future, with no connection to the Roman Papacy. She hadn’t even set foot on Roman soil in this life and didn’t know anyone from there.
— So who could be looking for her?
“What did the lord say?”
“He’s cautious,” Leonardo said, noticing she was still puzzled, his expression betraying some concern. “He mentioned a relative was here before, but two years ago, they went to Milan, and now their whereabouts are unknown.”
Fortunately, due to the lack of communication and transportation, the Romans couldn’t detect the half-truths in these statements, and they didn’t linger long before leaving.
