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She needed to come to an agreement with him as soon as possible, pulling Leonardo out of the theater and getting him to focus on designing defensive structures and improving military weaponry.
By 1480, the Medici family seemed to have reached its peak.
The lord had a much stronger constitution, and many of the parasites and fraudsters in the family business had been cleared away.
What was even more remarkable was that the neighboring city-states were at peace, and trade had flourished even further.
As Hedy thought about these matters, she quickly ascended the stairs and knocked on the office door again.
When Cosimo opened the door, he instinctively glanced at her hands. When he saw that she hadn't brought any new gadgets with her, there was a brief look of disappointment on his face.
Lorenzo was reviewing the quarterly investment reports.
The evaluation and auditing methods she had provided were indeed efficient and concise, allowing one to quickly find the key points in a sea of information.
Hearing the announcement, the lord looked up. His first reaction was to check what she had brought with her.
But there was nothing.
Hedy stood before him, momentarily at a loss for words.
There was so much to say—where should she even begin?
And how could she say it without raising his suspicions?
Lorenzo, seeing her hesitation, paused and spoke calmly.
"You've done a lot since the end of the year."
"And they were the right things."
He put down the scroll in his hand, meeting her gaze, as if scrutinizing her emotions and thoughts.
"Is there something you want in return?"
Hedy hesitated for a moment before deciding to bring up the topic of Florence’s surrounding defenses.
Before she could speak, the lord spoke again.
"But then again... why are you doing all these things?"
He was an exceptionally intelligent man.
Since he took power at the age of twenty, not being clever could easily lead to death.
This young woman before him possessed beauty, intelligence, eloquence, and knowledge.
Yet she had no interest in gold or in forming ties with any powerful figures.
—So, what exactly did she want?
Lorenzo had once briefly suspected that she, like some of the beautiful noblewomen, might be trying to get closer to him for some kind of romantic or flirtatious relationship.
But that thought, the moment it appeared, was quickly dismissed.
This woman always kept a distance from men. She never spent time alone with any male, and wherever she went, she always took a maid with her.
Even with him, she kept the distance between them in a neutralspace, neither too cold nor too intimate.
