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"In fact, I remember that ring very well—diamonds are incredibly hard, and no one could have cut it into so many facets," Da Vinci lowered his voice, watching Hedy closely. "When the lord first summoned me, his servant asked me to identify that ring."
A cold shiver suddenly crept up her spine.
"Are you saying... he might have known all along that I secretly sold that strange ring?"
Hedy felt her mind go blank.
Her initial thought had been simply to survive in this strange and ancient place. If things went poorly at Da Vinci’s workshop, she needed enough money to buy food and water, to stay alive.
But everything changed so quickly. She could never have imagined that so many things would unfold the way they did.
“Do you remember when this happened?” Da Vinci asked.
“Last year, at least a year ago.”
“Do you think... he would connect that ring to me?”
“It’s hard to say.”
An entire year had passed.
During this time, aside from the semi-fake interrogation at their first meeting, where he questioned her under the pretense of the pus and orange peel about whether she was a witch, he had never shown any suspicion in other situations.
Hedy herself had even directly asked him similar questions—Aren’t you curious about my secrets?
His answer had been that everyone had secrets, but what the Medici family wanted was her loyalty.
That answer had fit perfectly with his banker persona.
Rather than sending an unknown girl to the executioner’s fire, Florence and the Medici family now possessed water purification systems that were hundreds of years ahead of their time. They had microbiology that could change countless perceptions and had saved the lives of two children.
The priorities were already very clear.
“Do you need me to help you find an escape route?” Da Vinci, noticing her prolonged silence, clearly worried, asked. “You could go to another place, become a nun in disguise, and no one would notice.”
“No, I’m safe now.”
Hedy raised her head to look at him, her voice steady. “Even if he knows the ring is mine, I’m still safe.”
She had started to grasp the core rules of this world.
It was not so different from the world 500 years later.
There was only one rule: profit.
As long as the benefits she brought to the family while staying alive far outweighed any minor doubts about religion, she would be protected and sheltered.
This was also the reason the lord had decided to give her a more solid identity after she saved the lady of the house and young Giuliano.
What she needed to do was continually deepen the lord’s trust in her while creating more benefits for him.
Whether the ring was still in his possession or how he was thinking about it, the bigger picture would remain the same, and it wouldn’t change.
Da Vinci quickly confirmed a few minor details, helping Hedy lock the wooden box into the secret compartment within the walls of the darkroom, hidden so well that even an earthquake wouldn’t reveal it.
He didn’t press her for the origins of the items, though he was quite curious about the craftsmanship of the diamond. Unfortunately, she wasn’t familiar with much of that information.
After leaving the darkroom, Da Vinci turned a copper ornament by the fireplace, ensuring everything was returned to its original state. He then took out some of his previous work to share with Hedy, looking like a carefree child in the process.
