Page 367 of DATE
It was the end of June, and if the pregnancy lasted for ten months, the baby would be born around April of next year.
That time was ideal—it wouldn’t be too cold or too hot.
“We can’t let anyone else find out about this, and we must be very cautious about drinking water and food,” she rubbed her forehead. “This is a very hard secret to keep.”
“What if it’s discovered?” He frowned. “Just like when we prepared for the Genoa war, we need to design an emergency procedure.”
“It’s not the discovery that matters. What’s important is that they might take action against me, and against all of Italy,” Hedy took a deep breath, pulling a letter from the pages of a book, and handed it to him. “When I give birth, you will have full power,just like the second king of this country.”
“That’s not enough,” she whispered. “We need more powerful weapons, and faster support.”
The border defenses from the north to the south needed to be redesigned. She couldn’t rely on the loyalty of the Zino family for success.
Just as Leonardo was about to say something, a sudden loud roar came from the distance.
He instinctively shielded her, pulling her tightly into his arms.
The roar repeated, and the ground beneath their feet began to tremble slightly.
Hedy’s face turned pale, and she grabbed his sleeve, asking, “What’s that? Leonardo? Are they coming for us?!”
A larger, deeper roar came again, this time seeming to come from the direction of the Florence Academy.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Leonardo turned his head to look out the window, his voice cold. “I’ll stay here and protect you.”
They waited in silence for a while, realizing that there was no unrest in the city.
Dechio and Niccolo ran over at the same time, both panting heavily.
“My lord—” Niccolo gasped, speaking before Dechio could. “A student blew up the Florence Academy!”
Hedy froze for a moment, then looked up at Leonardo.
Did you leak the formula ratio?
The man furrowed his brow and shook his head.
No.
“It was half blown up, but the fire has been stopped!” Dechio jumped in to continue. “The explosion started from the warehouse area, and several buildings have been completely destroyed. There are people buried inside!”
“Immediately send mercenaries to help with the rescue,” Hedy stood up. “What exactly happened?”
“I’ve brought the person who knows what happened,” Niccolo turned, and a white-bearded old man was brought in by the guards. “He was the first to know about it, and he was hiding not far away when the explosion happened.”
Hedy gestured for the guards to release him, feeling a sense of unease.
Since it wasn’t the leakage of black powder ingredients, and there were no continuing riots or attacks, could it be… a scientific experiment accident?
“Who are you?”
“My lord,” the old man trembled in fear. “I’m the gatekeeper. I was just fooling around with a cat a little further away from the warehouse.”
“What happened?” She asked. “Did you see the explosion?”
“Actually… I almost ran my legs off to escape,” he showed her the burn holes in his clothes and pants, speaking with a hint of grievance. “This whole thing is just baffling—could it be that God was angry or something?”
“Wait,” Leonardo interrupted his rambling. “What happened in the warehouse?”
