Page 204 of DATE
"Good afternoon—Daoreno." Hedy lowered her head to show him the internal structure of the bird. "Look, there’s no rectum, no need to store feces. This is one way to reduce weight."
"And the bones..." Leonardo murmured, noticing something.
He carefully removed two sections of bone, weighed them in his hand, and then cut them open to examine. "It seems like they’re hollow inside?"
In addition to the long feathers, they identified the presence of air sacs and lungs.
Hedy took notes beside him, then casually tore a piece of paper and folded it into a paper airplane, gesturing for him to look here.
She carefully judged the wind direction and angle, sending the small triangular paper plane into the air—
It spun and fluttered like a bird, even making two complete circles in the sky.
"How did you do that—" Leonardo's face lit up with excitement. "Can you teach me?"
Hedy lowered her head, tore two more pieces of paper, and showed him how to fold the wings and body of the plane.
"And if the wings are rolled into a cylindrical shape, the way it flies will change too."
Leonardo, completely focused, began following her folds, and soon he had made a plane of his own.
He raised his hand high, letting it soar through the air, and couldn’t help but laugh joyfully.
Hedy looked at him and suddenly had a better idea.
"If we can find thin wooden boards and rubber bands..." she said quickly, pulling him toward the washbasin. "We could make something that flies higher and faster."
She thought that those materials would probably be found in the hardware market.
As they walked towards the bustling market, Hedy talked with him about storing kinetic energy and designing the wings.
Women gathered around large baskets, selling seafood, while vendors shouted about honey and syrups.
There were also street performers, and various little trinkets and goods made the market seem alive and chaotic.
Should the rubber bands be made from cowhide or from hoof tendons...? She thought of the model airplanes children made, constantly searching for similar materials.
Leonardo, understanding what she intended to make, followed her closely, helping with the search.
He came across various wooden rings, silver rings, and... a gilded pen, inlaid with rubies.
Leonardo paused for a moment, instinctively asking, "Where did this come from?"
This couldn’t be another pen—he recognized the wear marks immediately.
The vendor gave a sly smile and replied mysteriously, "This is the biggest bargain I’ve had today—some kid said he found it by the roadside and sold it to me for five gold coins."
"Found it?!"
"Heh—who knows where he stole it from?" The vendor waved his hand dismissively. "Could be some maid's child sneaking into the master’s room."
Hedy happened to walk over just as the vendor spoke, and when she saw the pen, she immediately realized what had happened.
Her pen had somehow ended up here, like a stolen item being passed around.
The vendor, noticing the well-dressed young woman approaching, raised the gold pen and called out, "From the old Duke of Venice’s collection—would you be interested, madam?"
Hedy froze for a moment, then asked directly, "How much?"
