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“No... That shouldn’t be your name,” Leonardo felt the name was too harsh. He took a deep breath, gently stroked the boy’s hair, and reassured him again, “What’s your name?”
The boy paused, as if he had found redemption once more. His eyes quickly filled with tears.
“Bazzi,” he mumbled. “I should be called Bazzi.”
He hesitantly opened his mouth and took out the ring that had scraped the inside of his mouth numerous times.
“Sir... Sir... Can you take me to Genoa?” the boy pleaded. “I need to give this ring to a general, please.”
When Leonardo saw the ring, it felt as if lightning had struck his body.
The silver ring was adorned with jewels forming a white rose, and the engraved initials inside were ones he had personally carved.
Hedwig... His lover...
“Where did you get this from?!” He spoke, feeling his blood boiling, his heart uncontrollably racing. “—Did you see her?”
The boy was stunned for a few seconds.
“I am the one you’re looking for. Leonardo di Piero da Vinci,” the man almost gritted his teeth, struggling to hold back tears. “Where is she? Is she alright?”
The boy slowly assessed him and asked, “Are you really him?”
Leonardo gripped his shoulders tightly and looked into his eyes. “You saw her, didn’t you? Black hair, blue eyes, and very beautiful, right?”
“Yes, I saw her,” the boy answered hesitantly. “She’s dying. She told me to find you.”
Those words made the officers behind them gasp collectively.
Leonardo’s eyes grew hollow and desperate, and he fought to control his emotions. “Where is she?”
“She’s on a ship, a sturgeon salvage boat. That ship has already left,” the boy lowered his head and took out the bracelet he had been holding in his palm to show him. “It should be heading to Rome.”
This was a gift from the lady to the boy, but he thought the gentleman needed it more at this moment.
"Is she... sick?" Leonardo mumbled.
"Yes, there are doctors on board, and many others," the boy clumsily explained. "She can't get out of bed, they had to lift her onto the deck to get some fresh air. Her voice is so soft now."
Tears suddenly streamed down Leonardo's face.
Even when he had been abandoned by his parents as a child, he had never wept or begged anyone for help.
But even imagining that scene, even realizing that she might never return to him, his heart twisted in unbearable pain. He felt as though he were suffocating, drowning in his own anguish.
He took a deep breath and wiped his face, and when he turned to look at his soldiers, his expression had returned to its usual resolute and composed state.
"We’ll find her, we’ll continue to Rome."
Even if it was only her body, he would bring her back.
Everyone involved in this would pay the price.
If the Roman Church truly killed her, he would destroy every church in sight, then sink her body into the deepest part of the sea.
They quickened their pace, as though racing against death itself.
Leonardo ordered several subordinates to go to Florence to retrieve penicillin and other medicines, while he and the rest of the group arrived in Rome ahead of schedule.
