123~ You truly care for your elder sister, don’t you?
“This painting, excellent???” Upon hearing Tillysha’s unreserved praise, Sophia’s eyes flickered, then she shook her head. “……… Clearly, it’s nothing but a failed piece.”
“Then, if I may, Miss Sophia, can you hand over this failed piece to me?” Tillysha grinned.
“……… What will you do with it?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to frame it and display it at home. Is that okay?”
“………”
“Of course, if you don’t want to, it’s fine. It’s just a bit of a shame, that’s all.”
“Take it.” By the time Tillysha said this, Sophia had already handed over the painting without looking back.
“Thank you~”
“There’s nothing to thank. It’s just a painting, and it’s useless to me anyway.”
Tillysha carefully took the painting with both hands, laying it out with utmost caution, as if handling a flawlessly exquisite masterpiece.
This deliberate action subtly moved Sophia’s heart.
Unfolding the painting, the vivid sunset scenery depicted was so lifelike it was hard to believe it was created with mere paint and brush. The contours of the waning sun, the last remnants of warmth hidden behind the mountains, each light ray reflecting upon the vast sky was portrayed so realistically, it felt as if one could reach out and feel the warmth and temperature of the sun.
As the sun sets, radiating its final glow and warmth to the earth, despite its brilliance, there’s a certain melancholy. The trees and cliffs beneath the mountain are shrouded in shadow, creating an intense visual impact that makes one feel as if they’re right there in the scene.
It’s clear that the painter possesses deep artistic skill in landscape depiction, with both proficiency and unique talent.
Although the age of elves cannot be judged by their appearance, after brief interactions, judging from the tone of voice and manner of expression, Tillysha concluded that Sophia was quite young. While it’s uncertain of her relationship with Aistride, Tillysha felt that Sophia was even younger than Aistride.
To achieve such a high level of artistic accomplishment at such a young age is indeed quite rare.
Tillysha shifted her gaze to the signature in the bottom right corner of the painting.
Sophia Aurenyman.
“Miss Sophia enjoys scenes of sunsets, evening glow, autumn winds, lone cities, and crumbling ruins, doesn’t she?” Tillysha carefully packed up the painting.
“………” A flicker of surprise crossed Sophia’s eyes.
“Sorry, I might just be speculating.” Seeing the other person’s silence, Tillysha added.
“……… How did you know that?”
“I can read it from your painting.” Tillysha looked towards the horizon where the sun had set, the remaining redness lingering on the mountain tops.
“In this painting, you have specially chosen the last moment before the sun sets to depict, and your skill in portraying sunsets is quite mature. It shows that you have your own unique insights and experience in this field. This level of painting cannot be done by someone who suddenly decides to paint a sunset.”
“It seems that you have a lot of experience in portraying similar desolate seasonal landscapes.”
“…….. You seem to have knowledge about paintings too.”
“Just a little. Nothing much. I’m just an egg buyer, one who can only judge the quality of eggs at most. I don’t lay them.” Tillysha joked lightly.
“In terms of painting landscapes, you are very professional. Though I haven’t seen many paintings, you’re the only one who makes me feel as if I am inside the painting.”
“How do you know my name?” As soon as these words were spoken, Sophia realized it was on the painting she had just handed over.
“I can paint more than just landscapes.” For some reason, Sophia couldn’t help but say.
“Oh? What other types of painting do you do?” Tillysha was curious. “If you don’t mind, can you show me for my appreciation?”
“…” Sophia instinctively tightened her bag on her shoulder.
“Uncomfortable? It’s okay, sorry for disturbing you today.”
“It’s fine.” Watching the radiant blonde hair, Sophia wanted to say something but stopped.
“Excuse me.” Sophia was about to leave, and Tillysha also planned to go back to her seat to finish the rest of her salad.
As Sophia walked, she was lost in thought and didn’t notice the threshold of the balcony entrance, tripping over it with her foot wrapped in children’s white silk stockings…..
At this sight, Tillysha, quick on the uptake, caught Sophia who was about to collide face-first with the ground, but her bag wasn’t as lucky.
With the movement of her body, the small leather bag fell to the ground, the drawing board making a ‘clang’ as it hit the floor, causing the papers to scatter everywhere.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, no problem.” With Tillysha’s support, Sophia regained her balance, quickly getting up and immediately crouched down to gather the scattered papers.
At this moment, before Tillysha could take any action, she heard Sophia’s somewhat agitated voice: “Don’t! Don’t look!”
Don’t look?
Tillysha couldn’t understand why the other person’s emotion suddenly became so agitated.
While she had no intention of prying into others’ paintings, unconscious actions are hard to control. Sophia’s reminder was redundant, and Tillysha wouldn’t have deliberately paid attention to what she was painting anyway. But with that shout, Tillysha instinctively glanced at the scattered paintings on the ground and immediately blurted out.
As Tillysha suspected, Sophia was truly skilled at painting landscapes, especially those with a melancholy autumn theme — like moss-covered and荆 thorn-ridden abandoned castles, desolate ruins of lost towns…..
But aside from these landscape works, most were portraits.
She wasn’t just good at painting landscapes; she was equally good at portraits. Yet, upon closer inspection, it seemed that Sophia was painting the same person over and over again.
Because Tillysha was so familiar with the person depicted in the paintings, combined with Sophia’s impeccable painting technique, she immediately recognized who it was in the painting.
Aistride.
Ah, so, Sophia may very well be Aistride’s bl**d relative, but………
Even for extremely close relatives, to have so many paintings centered around one person is a bit absurd, isn’t it? What kind of liking could that be?
Though not in a position to comment on the family dynamics, in her past life on the Blue Planet, Tillysha wasn’t without siblings, and even her closest cousin wouldn’t go to such extremes.
There were more scenic paintings, but far less than the number of paintings dedicated to Aistride. If Tillysha were to describe it, she might think that this girl, Sophia, dreamt of Aistride even in her sleep, constantly thinking about Aistride at every moment, hence painting so many pictures of Aistride.
Remember, painting people is different from painting landscapes; it requires some knowledge of human anatomy. So many paintings with different poses—Aistride, much as she might like Sophia, would never have time to strike so many poses for Sophia to paint.
And some poses? They simply did not fit Aistride’s image. Aistride would never be caught posing in those ways. So, it must be Sophia’s imagination at work.
Painting someone so vividly without using a live model, Tillysha didn’t want to imagine how familiar Sophia must be with Aistride—possibly down to every strand of hair, every patch of skin.
Without deep familiarity or constant thought of Aistride, there’s no way Sophia could paint like that.
But even then, it was still within reasonable limits; the girl was probably Aistride’s younger sibling, like a younger sister. Between sisters, such strong affection is… okay, right?
“Where, where is it?? …….” Sophia’s small voice was tinged with urgency as she rummaged nervously through the scattered paintings on the floor.
Not really understanding what she was looking for, Tillysha’s gaze inadvertently fell upon a black-and-white sketch hidden between the paintings, momentarily making her smile somewhat strange.
“Miss Sophia, I believe you’re looking for this?” Pulling out the partially covered painting, Tillysha jiggled it.
“Ah.” Upon seeing the painting in Tillysha’s hands, Sophia hastily reached for it. “Yes, that one……”
“You’re welcome.” Tillysha handed the painting over to the increasingly pale-faced Sophia with a gleeful smile. “But……”
“Although I have no right to say this, I think you’re still too young, Miss Sophia. Art knows no shame or gender, but such a subject might be better left for you to study once you’re of age.”
“……” Handed the painting by the ever-smiling Tillysha, Sophia felt her world go black and white.
“Many other paintings have fallen, I’ll help you clean them up.” And without waiting for the forlorn kneeling elf to respond, Tillysha hummed softly, tossed her hair back to keep it from falling down, and elegantly bent over to pick up the scattered papers.
In no time, Sophya, who had just come to her wits a bit, mechanically gathered the scattered paintings with Tillysha’s help.
“Well done. Fortunately, there were few people in the canteen today; otherwise, if those things were seen by others, both you and Miss Aistride would feel rather troubled.” Handing over the last painting to Sophia, Tillysha’s eyes shone with elegant amusement.
“…… Don’t tell anyone.” After receiving the painting and quietly slipping it into the board’s layer, Sophia finally spoke after remaining silent for so long.
“Hmm? What did you say?”
“Don’t… Tell anyone.” Sophia turned her head away, her cheek flushed suspiciously like a little apple that had fallen from a tree.
“Uh? What shouldn’t you tell anyone?” Tillysha tilted her head, feigning ignorance.
“……”
“You have to be more specific.”
“…… Well, the black and white one I painted of Aistride and all these others… Don’t tell anyone!” Sophia was becoming a bit self-destructive at this point.
“Ah ah! Got it, no worries, I’m not interested in gossiping about people’s hobbies behind their backs. I won’t tell anyone else.”
“You know, Miss Aistride is your elder sister, right? That’s why you know her body so well?”
“No, that’s not…… These are all…… purely from my imagination……”
“OOOOOOHHH~ So you truly care deeply for your sister.” Tillysha gave an exaggerated wink.
“……” Despite the apparent cheerfulness in Tillysha’s eyes, Sophia felt uncomfortable all over.
After hearing Tillysha’s promise, she let out a sigh of relief.
“Art, how could art ever be shameful……” Sophia blurted out after a pause.
“Hmm? I didn’t say it’s shameful?” Tillysha tilted her head a bit. “Could it be, Miss Sophia views herself that way?”
“No, no!” After saying so, Sophia quickly packed up her small bag and fled like a shot, yelling back to Tillysha as she ran: “If you dare to tell anyone…… I’ll take you with me in my downfall.”
“Pfft……” Tillysha covered her mouth, wondering when she had become so mischievous.
After finishing her last bit of salad, she returned the plate and left the cafeteria.
On her way home, Tillysha picked up a few tag cards, a marking ink pen, and a picture frame from the school’s sundries shop.
The night draped the vast estate in a cloak of darkness. The courtyard, which was bathed in moonlight, compared to the daytime added a few strands of quiet elegance and distinct beauty, though it lacked a bit of vitality.
Flower and tree branches swayed gently with the breeze, emitting an invigorating and pleasant fragrance. The moonlight cast a layer of hazy moonlight over the flowers and plants.
Swiping her way into the garden, Tillysha closed the estate gate, walked to the front of the house, and as she looked back at the yard filled with streams and bridges, she felt an indescribable sense of security.
This could be considered a place to stay for now.
At Coleman Academy, why formal teammates are important is because the culture of team affiliation at Coleman Academy is very strong. Before officially becoming a Coleman student, there is a one-time opportunity to decide on a teammate. After formal enrollment, once teammates are chosen, they are very hard to change.
And because teammates live under the same roof, daily study, life, and chores must be shared together, harmony in temperament and mutual compatibility are indispensable. Clashes are common in daily interactions, so it’s impossible to be quarrelsome about every little thing.
After entering the house, Tillysha removed her marigold flower accessory, transforming the cool elegant blonde girl into an ordinary black-haired boy.
Living alone in such a large estate does seem a little lonely, so maybe, bring in a few more people?……
However, this thought was quickly dismissed by Dillin.
Still, forget about it, it’s too troublesome, living together inevitably causes some people to notice the issues between Dillin and Tillysha. If it gets out, the exposure risk increases, with more cons than pros.
Walking to the bedroom’s door, looking at the painting she obtained from Sophia, for some reason, she lost interest in it, but still prepared it neatly, framed it, and hung it in the corridor on the first floor.
