Page 83 of DATE
There was no trace of blood left in his room; it seemed as if the master had vanished from the world.
The fire, with the smell of burnt straw, consumed his body entirely, and even the bone fragments were collected and buried.
It was truly solved—without any future trouble.
When Hedy heard about the small fire in the outskirts, she was on her way to the monastery with a basket in hand.
"How did the fire start?"
"They say the owner of the cart fell asleep with a pipe in his mouth, and a spark flew onto the nearby straw."
That was quite careless, but as long as no one was hurt, it was fine.
Hedy snapped out of her thoughts and walked into the courtyard to find da Vinci.
In this era, there was no CBS, no television or radio. If one wanted to hear the latest gossip, they had to go talk to friends—everything was rather closed off.
But because of that, she had a lot of free time to check on the progress of this procrastinator’s work.
As she walked in, before she could even see anyone, she suddenly heard a melodious and expressive sound of a violin.
Who’s playing the violin?
Hedy quickened her pace, turned a corner, and entered the hall.
Da Vinci was holding an oddly shaped viola da gamba, andleaning against the wall next to him was a handsome young man. Both of them looked up at her at the same time.
The young man’s clothes were set aside, and he was only wrapped in a linen cloth, half-naked.
He—wasn’t wearing clothes?
Had they just—
"Did I interrupt something?" Hedy realized what was happening, placing her basket on the wooden table nearby. "I brought some wine, cheese, and other snacks. You two can continue."
"Wait a moment—" Da Vinci suddenly spoke, stopping her. "What do you mean by interrupt?"
"I—I didn’t mean anything else," Hedy tried to ease the atmosphere. "I didn’t know you could play the violin."
The man suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist, frowning slightly. "Did they tell you those rumors too?"
Sodomy, homosexuality, blasphemy?
Hedy instinctively replied, "Those aren't sins."
"No," Da Vinci said, "As your friend, I should clarify things." He looked at her. "I’m not gay, and I don’t need to go to any government-run brothels."
"I just... despise sex, and therefore, I don’t wish to engage much with women."
"What?"
"I’ve always thought that sex is ugly, dirty," he took a deep breath. "I don’t understand why so many people are so passionate and happy because of it."
Hedy hadn't expected da Vinci to discuss such personal matters so openly—
Sometimes, expressing disgust requires more courage than expressing affection.
"...I know he's your model," she instinctively glanced at the slender, unique lines of the young man’s form before turning toda Vinci. "And I also know about the accusation they placed on you before."
