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"Tonight, you will sleep in the woodshed and will not have any orange juice."
"If I see anything like this again, we’ll send you back to your father, do you understand?"
The boy sniffled and nodded, still trying to protest, "I really haven't seen this, please believe me..."
The child's innocence and foolishness always seemed to go hand in hand.
Hedy sighed inwardly and gestured for him to go wash his face.
She turned to see Leonardo standing nearby, his expression complicated, and suddenly realized something.
Perhaps this situation made him think of his own helplessness as a child.
Did he have bad memories from his childhood?
Was he afraid he might end up punishing the boy too harshly?
"Leonardo?"
Leonardo snapped back to attention and looked at her. "This boy... he really is a bit troublesome."
Hedy reached out and gently touched his forehead, her tone softening. "We can't indulge him, but there’s no need for extreme measures either."
In her past life, she had raised three children, always being a kind and rational mother.
She knew exactly how to handle such a child.
"Maybe he really wanted to bring some money home to his family," Leonardo instinctively explained. "We can’t think of him as entirely bad."
Hedy gazed at him for a long while before looking away.
His actions and words were, in fact, contradictory.
Though he called the boy a little devil and scolded him for not being obedient, his behavior was unconsciously protecting and mitigating the situation.
Deep down, he didn’t really want to see the boy feeling sowronged.
This sense of compensation… it likely had something to do with his cold childhood.
The next few days passed in relative calm.
Neither the pen nor the trinkets went missing again.
The boy, it seemed, had learned his lesson. Though he became more timid when he saw her, he gradually became more efficient in his work.
To reward his progress, Hedy gave him a few small toys, and the boy smiled for the first time in a long while.
News from Florence arrived again. It seemed the lord's illness was still fluctuating, but there was no urgency for her to return.
It was also reported that some of the grapevines in the area had fallen ill, though the situation wasn’t severe for the time being.
Aside from that, several other letters arrived, including greetings from the Duchy of Ferrara and letters from old friends in Florence.
Several noble families warmly invited her to attend upcoming celebrations or banquets, and Botticelli had sent distant greetings from Rome.
When Hedy returned from a visit to the farm, she was in a slightly downcast mood.
The persistent rain had made the hay damp, and many of the cows seemed sluggish, though it was uncertain whether they were sick.
