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Hedy’s heart skipped a beat as she realized these people had come specifically because of her.
“What could they want from me…” she murmured. “Could it be about penicillin?”
“The lord asked me to pass on a message,” Leonardo frowned.“He said you should avoid going out for a while. Those people might come back looking for you.”
“Did you notice what they were wearing? Were they people from the pope’s circle?”
Hedy’s first instinct was that it had something to do with politics.
Two or three years ago, Leonardo had accompanied the lord on a campaign to the southeast, capturing several cities and opening up the ports of Florence on both the east and west sides.
That war had significantly weakened the Roman Papacy, and it was entirely possible that they still held a grudge.
If they erased her existence, it would be like removing the strategist and right-hand person, causing a series of ripple effects.
Hedy took a deep breath, feeling a deep sense of unease.
"I understand." She thought for a moment and added, "I’ll wear a hat when I go out from now on, and be extra careful."
"They were dressed like servants, and their accents didn’t sound like they were from Rome. I remember some of the patterns on their clothes, but I can’t recall which family they belong to," Leonardo said as he led her to the easel. He grabbed a piece of charcoal and quickly sketched the emblem from memory.
It was a coat of arms with eight grass leaves surrounding four corners, and in the center was a bull with a curled tail.
Hedy stared at the sketch in shock, her face going pale.
"Do you recognize it?" He noticed her color drained instantly and instinctively reassured her, "Don’t be afraid, Hedy. We’re all here to protect you."
"Even if they try to cause trouble in Florence, I can take you to Milan, or to Venice," Leonardo said, sitting closer, his hand instinctively grasping hers.
Hedy remained silent for a long time.
She recognized the emblem—
It belonged to the infamous Borgia family from Spain.
Incest, poisoning, simony, assassination...
Two popes would be born from this family, and they would go on to disrupt the once orderly Europe, creating countless enemies over a hundred years.
If she remembered correctly, the current ruler was Alexander VI, a man in his fifties who had killed at the age of twelve.
—Countless rumors and legends surrounded them, but how could any of this involve her?
CHAPTER 17
The vaccination against cowpox turned out to be simpler than Hedy had imagined.
She already had a rough understanding of the principle behind it, and now conducting experiments on death row inmates was still quite convenient.
Smallpox and cowpox were not the same disease, but both could be fought off by the same pathogen resistance.
Cowpox was actually a type of herpesvirus that infected cows, and it could also spread to humans who came into contact with infected cows.
After workers on cattle farms contracted this disease, they were less likely to succumb to smallpox when exposed to the virus, much like after being vaccinated, significantly reducing the risk of death.
When Hedy confirmed the related immunity, she had even worked together with biologists from the Florence Academy to conduct joint research. Unfortunately, the microscopes of that time were still quite primitive in many aspects, and most people still followed her views and ideas for analysis.
The grapevines in the lab had been transplanted to the experimental garden, with designated personnel taking care of them. In about four or five months, they could begin confirming the toxicity of the fruits.
