Her hand holding the brush came to a halt, her eyes wide with disbelief.

From the large canvas she had been working on for the past few weeks, a pair of dark black eyes gleamed happily at her, thin red lips that smiled sincerely, the girl inside the canvas had a peaceful look that glittered with happiness.

She couldn't believe she could accurately paint that person on her canvas, the girl from her dreams and a friend she had missed so much.

But something wasn't quite right.

Her gaze was drawn to the girl's eyes. The girl had a birthmark under her eye in her dream, which she remembered vividly because she had the same dream for several weeks. Her friend, on the other hand, does not have any birthmarks on her face.

That made her desperately want to fix the crescent birthmark beneath the girl's eye, but she couldn't. She feels compelled to keep the birthmark for some unknown reason.

“Mrs. R…” Someone knocked on her painting studio door and stood there silently, not daring to enter. “The Duchess Sixon wrote a letter concerning the art exhibitions and auctions. They wanted you to finalize which paintings would be displayed and which would be auctioned.”

Mrs. R nodded without turning around, and then she raised her brush again, this time incising her signature in the bottom right corner of her painting. “What about the other artists, Esther? Have they gathered their works of art?”

“Yes. I've put all of the artwork in the room you've set out for them.”

“Esther came into the room.”

Esther raised her eyes from the file she was holding. “Pardon me. Mrs. R, what exactly are you saying?” Mrs. R had never allowed anyone into her painting studio before. Because of that, Esther didn't seem to believe what she was hearing.

“Please come in and let me know what you think of this painting.” Mrs. R spoke up once more, this time with a sense of urgency.

Esther hurried over to Mrs. R and stood beside her, observing the only painting in the room. “She is very beautiful. Is this someone you know?”

“These weeks, I've been dreaming about her.” Mrs. R sighed, her gaze wandering into the painting.

“Do you intend to put it on display or list it up for auction?” Esther asked while looking at Mrs. R's list of paintings that were going to be auctioned off that had not met the quota given.

“No. I can't put it on exhibit or sell it. I plan to present it to her family. After all, no one wanted to be astonished when their family member's painting appeared at an auction.”

“I get what you mean. However, Mrs. R, you must still submit one more painting for the auction. In the afternoon, they will come and collect all of the paintings.”

“Alright then. I only need one more, right?”

Esther nodded.

Mrs. R led Esther out of her studio and into the next room, where she stored all of her paintings as well as the other paintings by different painters, who had submitted their artwork for the Sixon family auction.

Mrs. R is a well-known painter among the nobility. Despite the fact that her expertise is landscape paintings, female nobles frequently commission her to paint their portraits or their family portraits.

One of those who used her services was the Sixon family. Mrs. R had painted the family portrait from the time their son was still in his mother's arms until the Sixon family's daughter came of age.

The paintings that will be presented and auctioned are, of course, landscape paintings with an imaginary or blurry human in the background.

One of them is a painting that Mrs. R made during a hunting event years ago.

The Sixon family event, which takes place every year, brings together several groups of artists.

Apart from paintings, a number of other artists will display and auction off their sculptures and other works of art, such as jewelry and ceramics.

That's why the room that used to be solely dedicated to Mrs. R's paintings is now crammed with the works of other artists, paintings, sculptures, and boxes containing jewelry and ceramics, all of which are neatly and securely sealed.

Mrs. R carefully went through the many boxes until she came to one of the walls where her painting was displayed.

Kling!

“I'll find out who it is.” When she heard a sound coming from the front door, Esther shouted from the doorway.

Mrs. R let Esther leave her. She was still preoccupied with deciding which paintings to auction.

“Lady Lilith... Lord Kael... You've arrived… Quite early.” Esther greeted the siblings as they entered the shop.

“I'd like to see Mrs. R's painting again... The painting of a young lady, she looks familiar. Mrs. R promised me yesterday that she would show me the finished painting today.” Lilith went straight to Mrs. R.'s studio room.

“Please accept my apologies for my sister's behavior, Prin—”

Esther lifted her hand to silence Kael. “Now is not the time to call me that.”

Kael didn't say anything else, he just bowed his head slightly at Esther before catching up with Lilith, who was still standing in front of Mrs. R.'s studio door.

Since yesterday, Lilith kept telling her about Mrs. R's newest painting, then her story shifted to her promise with one of the girls who had come with them to this city. His sister had an endless supply of stories to tell, which bothered him sometimes.

“If only I'd paid attention to her face.” Lilith muttered, her eyes narrowed in an attempt to see the painting clearly through the doorway. “However, I believe it is her. I recall her birthmark beneath her eye.”

“...”

Lilith finally turned her head to look at her brother, who was motionless, after noticing Kael near her but receiving no response from the man.

“Kael... Kael…” Esther yelled at her brother, but he remained unmoved until she frowned and began to stamp on Kael's feet. “Are you stunned by her? Tsk…” she exclaimed after getting Kael's attention back.

“Mrs. R's paintings always look more stunning than what they really are.” Kael said casually, but his attention stayed glued on the painting, which gave him an unsettling feeling in his heart.

“Do you think Mrs. R will sell the painting at the auction?” Lilith wondered.

“No.” Esther's stern voice came from behind them. She handed Kael the file she was holding. “Before transporting the items, you must inspect them all. The box has all of the item information labeled on it; all you have to do now is make sure you don't bring or leave the wrong item.”

Esther then turned to face Lilith, her stern expression softened. “Mrs. R has invited you over tea, Lilith. Kael will be able to join after his task is done.”

The two girls left Kael and went to the small garden behind the shop where Mrs. R was waiting for them with a cup of tea and various kinds of cakes.

“My lord, the freight carriage has pulled up in front of the shop.”

Hearing his subordinate's voice, Kael eventually took his gaze away from the painting and closed the door to Mrs. R's studio.

Soon, Kael's thoughts were consumed by his task, and he forgot about the emotions he felt when he saw a painting he would never see again.