Page 153 of DATE
As you walked closer, your gaze would be drawn to countless moments from the Bible’s miracles.
Gold, wings, crests, sculptures, and gods...
The palace and the temple seemed to be indistinguishable.
Botticelli directed the servants to mount the painting in its designated spot, while Da Vinci looked up, observing the magnificent and grand scene.
A large shell floated on the Aegean Sea, with the blue sea and the trees so vivid they seemed alive.
Venus, her body bare, stood on the shell, her expression both confused and pure.
She had just arrived in this new world, her long hair cascading down to her waist, and her hands instinctively covering her lower body.
The wind god and the god of time had brought her to the shore, and the goddess of spring raised her hand to drape a magnificent robe over her.
At this moment, flowers fluttered around like butterflies, and the ripples of the sea were gentle and restrained.
Once the servants had finished, they bowed and excused themselves, leaving only the two of them standing in front of the painting.
Da Vinci stared at the painting for a long time before asking, "Another pagan myth?"
"A beautiful legend from Sicily," Botticelli murmured, his eyes lingering on the bewildered girl in the painting. "…This is the eternal, neither born nor dying."
He suddenly laughed, lifting a hand to his forehead as though trying to dispel some memory.
"I should call Hedy to come see this—she even suggested I paint stars on the robe, and it really does look great."
"Wait," Da Vinci spoke again, pausing for a moment before looking at him. "You seem to enjoy talking to her a lot?"
"Mm?" Botticelli chuckled. "I like her."
"Like?" Da Vinci tried to understand the word. "In what way?"
"Are you asking if it’s the same kind of 'liking' I had for Simonetta?" Botticelli met his gaze, still calm and open. "Leonardo, you should understand something."
"Even if she only shows those light blue eyes, there will be countless men who lose themselves in them."
"People have an innate perception of beautiful things, and an unconscious urge to possess them. If you paid attention, since she arrived in Florence, there have been quite a few men who’ve proposed to her, haven’t there?"
If she revealed more of her wisdom and insight, it would only enhance her charm, like fine wine that intoxicates those who encounter it.
"No... I’m not asking about that," Da Vinci breathed deeply. "Why is it that you can like two people at the same time? Do you want to propose to her?"
"Could, but not planning to," Botticelli turned his gaze back to the painting of the confused goddess, his tone softening. "Not all emotions need to be reciprocated or lead to any conclusions."
"They exist there, just don’t touch them."
"Once you care about them, they have the power to hurt you."
He couldn’t bear to feel that pain again.
"I don’t understand..." Da Vinci sighed deeply, still confused and with a complex mood.
He could understand Archimedes’ ancient treatises, could glimpse the secrets of bridge construction, yet he felt he could never quite reach that strange emotion that poets and singers endlessly sang about.
"I don’t understand why people fall in love, why they become so obsessed with another existence to the point of madness."
"I don’t understand what love is."
