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"We should tell that mermaid story again sometime," he said sincerely. "It was truly beautiful."
——
Although the British ambassador was somewhat skeptical about the invitation to "bring the king himself to Florence as a guest," he politely expressed his gratitude and, three days later, departed with his attendants in a carriage.
From summer to autumn, subtle changes were taking place across Italy.
— The scrutiny of incoming refugees began to tighten, and areas such as universities started to strengthen patrols and identity checks, paying closer attention to the comings and goings of students.
The stationed military forces at the ports began to increase, and more mercenaries began to hold fixed positions and roles.
At the same time, commerce and agriculture in various regions were developing at an incredible pace. This land was already fertile, and with the large varieties of crops Columbus had brought back from the East, they even found ways to cultivate pepper.
Many of the burdensome taxes were completely abolished, and farmers no longer had to be drained of the last silver coin in their pockets when autumn came. The population began to grow at an accelerated pace.
Idle mercenaries, according to government orders, helped with the reclamation and cultivation of land, and more and more foreign crops began to take root and thrive in the land.
In industry and commerce, workshops began to spread like wildfire in various cities, absorbing large amounts of labor.
Penicillin was being widely produced—it was still monopolized by the Medici family, but its price had become affordable for the majority of people.
The government issued strict orders to control the number of rats and filth in the streets, and the trend of keeping cats gradually became popular.
At the beginning of September, the first steam engine officially started running in the textile factory in Florence.
It was fully powered by coal, and a single machine could match the work speed of dozens of people, working tirelessly day and night.
Engineers from the Florence Academy gathered around, opened a bottle of wine, and shared a large cup with the workers, all smiles.
At this moment, a letter arrived from England, with the red and white roses on the wax seal still classical and elegant.
Their king had already set out and was expected to arrive in Florence around October.
The queen, upon receiving the letter, was sitting beside a cradle, using a small bell to play with Antonia.
"a—a!" The little girl tried to make a sound. "aa!"
Leonardo, who was sitting nearby reading, froze for two seconds in disbelief and said, "Hedy—did you hear what she just said?!"
"She's only nine months old..." Hedy, thinking she had misheard, placed the letter aside and asked, "Say it again?"
The little girl tilted her head at them, silent, not making a sound.
Meanwhile, Alberto, in the other cradle, was holding onto the edge, and in his baby voice, he also managed to say, "aa."
Leonardo felt as if his heart was about to melt.
He almost lost his balance, picked up one of the children, and was so happy he could have spun in place.
"Hedy—"
"I heard it too," Hedy said slowly, resting her chin on her hand. "You can be happy for five more minutes, but then I'm going to get jealous."
By now, she no longer had to guide any of the research at the Florence Academy—
From electromagnetism to engineering, from chemistry to pharmacology, more and more subjects were developing their own systems and paths, and they were continually attracting more researchers.
When some papers and progress reports were submitted, there were formulas and contents she no longer understood.
