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"I feel like she just wants to be friends with me now..." Da Vinci mumbled. "Maybe there’s no hope left."
"No, Leonardo," Botticelli said, his eyes lowering as if remembering something. "Don’t give up."
"At least you can still see her every day. At least she’s still by your side," he murmured. "Even if you haven’t seen her for just a few days, you rush to ride south through the night. If you were to completely lose her..."
He paused, looking at Da Vinci, his words carrying a weight of understanding. "You’d probably end up like me, living in invisible shackles. And those shackles are tied to the heart, where each beat of pain pulls at your entire body."
The person he had deeply loved had already passed away, but even now, he was almost accustomed to this feeling that shadowed him, following him wherever he went.
Yet, when he thought of Simonetta’s smile, he still felt a suffocating ache.
It was pain, yet a form of joy, the same as before.
"Leonardo," Botticelli said, his voice steady but intense. "You need to hold onto her."
He fixed his gaze on Da Vinci. "Love will bring pain, but that’s what makes it precious."
"I will," Da Vinci replied, a smile finally lifting his features. "There’s no one like her in this world."
CHAPTER 16
When Da Vinci regained his senses, he found himself standing in the center of the dance floor.
The violin was playing a new piece known as the waltz, and the entire hall was dazzling with gold and splendor, filled with elegantly dressed people.
As he turned his head, he noticed Hedy smiling gently in front of him, extending her slender hand toward him.
Da Vinci paused for a moment, bowed, and kissed the lace-embroidered glove, carefully drawing her into his embrace.
The sound of the organ and flute blended together, and the bright trills and arpeggios made one think of flying white herons. Countless noblewomen's long gowns swirled around them, and she rested half in his arms, her expression relaxed and tender.
They were so close, as though they had always been destined to be near and rely on each other.
“Hedy…” He could no longer remember how many times he had softly called her name like this, lifting her gently into the air with the rhythm of the crowd.
She was light and slender, as if she were a sprite dancing on tiptoe over a spring.
Da Vinci watched her spinning and smiling, unable to resist reaching out to adjust the falling strands of her hair. As he held her tighter, he lowered his gaze and their foreheads touched.
If only time could freeze at this moment, and never move forward...
“Mr. Da Vinci?” A servant knocked on the door, “Are you still there? What would you like for breakfast today?”
The man, with his messy brown hair, woke up from his dream, annoyed, and buried his face in the pillow again.
He had never felt so... so averse to breakfast.
“I don’t want any!”
“But Miss Medici is waiting for you to dine together,” the servant said cautiously, “Should I refuse her?”
“Hedy?” He shot up in bed, instinctively clutching the pillow. “Is she looking for me?”
“She’s still freshening up. She should be ready in about fifteen minutes, and then she'll head to the side hall.”
“I’ll go immediately!” Da Vinci exclaimed loudly. “Breakfast should be the same as hers!”
Due to the need to visit multiple estates to study diseased plants, Hedy had heard many things unrelated to leaf blight in recent days.
