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"My surprise is that... you haven’t even considered selling this idea or making money from it?" Hedy tried to offer some insight. "With this kind of money, you wouldn’t need to paint for anyone anymore."
He shrugged, clearly indifferent to such things.
"I prefer creating," he corrected. "As for money, as long as I can afford food and shelter, that’s enough."
Hedy took a deep breath, suddenly feeling the helplessness of an elder encountering a child.
In her past life, Hedy had gone through several movie investments and real estate failures, and both her middle and later years had been filled with financial struggles.
Many of her insecurities stemmed from these memories.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have let that ruby ring disappear into the black market like it did.
...Although she never understood why the Medici refused to return the ring, she had come to terms with it.
Years of financial difficulties had left her with a constant sense of insecurity.
No savings, no long-term investments—it always felt like she could slip back into those days when she couldn’t even cover basic expenses.
At least in this regard, Lorenzo’s generosity in paying her salary was truly kind.
The gold coins he had paid her over the past three years had been cautiously saved and nearly untouched.
Now, with this substantial starting capital, she could figure out a way to secure a stable business and maybe even join the emerging bourgeoisie in the future.
"Speaking of salary, I don't really need to worry about that now," Da Vinci said, shifting to pick up another scroll and showing her the design inside.
She saw rivers that branched and converged like veins, with the city of Florence standing proudly by the riverbank.
"This is...?"
"This is the city’s waterway planning," he said with a smile. "Thanks to you, I was just appointed as the hydraulic engineer for this city."
"Waterworks?!" Hedy was taken aback for a few seconds. "Why waterworks?"
She had thought the Medici would involve him in dealing with more known issues, but she hadn’t expected the scope to be so vast.
"Making irrigation and water diversion easier can promote the foundational development of the economy," Da Vinci shrugged. "Actually, the lord asked me what I could do for Florence, and I just shared my general thoughts."
...That seemed reasonable.
He then pulled out another parchment scroll and showed her the yellowed records. It detailed the entire water system of the Apennine Peninsula, including the Tyrrhenian Sea at the southwestern corner.
"I’ve been thinking about something," Da Vinci said, turning up the candlelight and sitting beside her as he sketched little mountains and valleys. "Low-lying areas have springs and rivers because they’re fed by flowing rivers from the mountaintops."
"Mm, and then?"
Hedy’s gaze drifted to Pisa, distracted. Her intuition kept her eyes lingering there, a vague sense of unease creeping over her.
"But where does the river water on the mountaintops come from?"
Da Vinci’s pencil traced several contours, clearly caught in his own confusion. Surely, it couldn’t just come from nowhere?
Or maybe angels were pouring water from divine jars?
She snapped back to reality, not directly answering the question.
"What do you think, besides the flowing rivers, is up on the mountain?"
