Chapter 37【VIP】

A winter wind blew snowflakes through the long streets of Furland. At the corner, an old woman selling mulled wine added a handful of wood to the stove. As sparks crackled, she whispered to the young woman buying the wine, "This is the third time—it's the little girl from the tailor shop to the east. She said she went to a hunting party and never came back."

The girl's fingers crumpled her purse. "But the lord said they might have been chosen by the emperor to enter the palace..."

"Enter the palace?" the old woman stirred the boiling wine with a slotted spoon. "Last time, the night watchmen found half a lace cufflink in the woods. It must have been eaten by a wild beast."

Opesa heard this conversation as her leather shoes trudged through the snow. She pulled her cloak tighter around her, her eyes scanning the crooked notice posted on the street corner—the Hunting Club's Missing Persons List.

She walked over to the mulled wine stand and took out a few coins: "Madam, a bottle of mulled wine."

"Okay." The old woman nodded and took out a bottle to fill Opesa's glass with wine. She couldn't help but glance at Opesa. "Madam, may God bless you."

Opesha certainly knew what she meant: "Thank you."

Many young women have mysteriously disappeared from the hunting party, as if they had evaporated. A rough estimate suggests there are about a dozen missing, from wealthy businessmen to ordinary people. Now the entire country is plunged into deep fear.

Women did not dare to go out easily, and men would hold their weapons tightly at night. The atmosphere on the streets became tense and depressing.

Opesa wondered if not going hunting was a good thing or a bad thing.

She couldn't enter the palace, and she couldn't possibly hope for Henry to come find her. Her only chance was to use Ludovico's identity as a church painter to promote the collection to the palace.

Perhaps this disappearance is related to her influence on the world line, and she can't delay it any longer.

The main storyline has always stagnated. If this continues, she will definitely be dragged into it because of the impact on the world line, and will never be able to escape.

"Aren't you leaving yet?"

In front, Sinderel stopped and looked at Opesha who was in a daze.

"I'm coming." Opesa shook off her messy thoughts and quickened her pace with the bottle filled with mulled wine - the hunting party had caused panic in the past few days, so Sinderel took the initiative to act as her "guard", following her closely whenever she went out.

Ever since the hunting meeting, her store's orders and customers have dropped sharply, which can be considered a short vacation. She can take advantage of this period of low customer flow to discuss the art collection with Ludovico.

Originally, she didn't want Sinderel to follow, after all, it was related to her main quest, and she certainly didn't want Sinderel to know that she was secretly making connections.

But after Xindrell learned about this, his expression suddenly became as gloomy as a beast: "Do you think I'm useless, or am I the only one who is not good enough?"

"Of course, it's so you can have a rest." Opesa was afraid he would start to go crazy again, so she quickly held his hands and tried to explain with concern, "Look, you have to sew and revise the manuscript. You are so busy every day that you don't even have time to rest. I feel sorry for you."

After finally convincing her, Sinderel suddenly thought of something and approached her, his whole body emitting murderous intent: "If it's like before, I will blind his eyes and cut off his hands."

Opesa was so scared that she broke out in a cold sweat, fearing that if she didn't let him go, he would follow her and cripple the painter she had worked so hard to hire, so she had no choice but to let him follow.

The streets were much quieter than before, and it took a long time to walk past a few people who were hurrying by with their heads down.

After quickly walking through several streets in the snow, they arrived at the door of the Whisper Shop.

"Mr. Ludovico." Opesa stepped forward quickly and saluted. "Good morning. Have you been waiting for a long time?"

"Good morning, ma'am." Ludovico's shoulders were covered with a thin layer of snow. He gently brushed away the falling snow, smiled slightly, and took off his hat to salute. "It didn't take long."

"Look at you, you're covered in snow, and your lips look like they're covered in white powder, and you still say you didn't wait long." Opesa quickly took out her key, opened the door, and beckoned Ludovico in. "Come in, I bought some mulled wine. Have a glass to warm you up."

Ludovico remained humble: "I am truly sorry to trouble you, Madam, for a mere insignificant person like me to go out in such a dangerous and cold weather."

Opesa was looking for a cup inside, and said with her back to him, "What are you talking about? I'm the one who troubled you. Since you insisted on not accepting payment, this is the only way I can treat you."

Ludovico stood at the door, smiling but saying nothing. His gaze slowly shifted to the side, to Sinderell, who was walking silently, standing still, and looking at him coldly.

The moment he saw Sinderel's face, Ludovic was surprised, even a little stunned, and his polite expression also showed a crack.

It was such a beautiful face, almost as perfect as the statues he had seen in the church.

He has painted countless portraits of God - painters all love to beautify God and make him the most beautiful image in the world, even if they have never seen God's true appearance.

But the moment he saw Sinderel, it seemed as if God's face took shape, so beautiful that it was difficult to tell whether he was male or female. That was the standard image of God, who is genderless and invisible.

Painters need to search for beauty, they always do.

God of beauty!

Ludo extended his hand to kiss it: "Hello, I guess you are the lady's daughter..."

Before he could finish his words, his vision spun. The next moment, he felt his lips freezing cold. He blinked and saw his wound kissing the frozen ice.

Ludovico: ...

On his neck.

Sharp, pointed, and silvery.

The blond boy approached him, gently exerted force, and controlled his throat with the back of the knife, making him unable to speak, his dark eyes filled with warning.

He glanced back into the store, made sure Opessa didn't look back, and then turned back to Ludovico.

"Do what you have to do." His voice was filled with disdain, so low that Ludovico couldn't tell it was a young girl. "If you have any other thoughts, I will sentence you to hell on behalf of God."

Ludovico's mind was going through a ridiculous revolving screen at the moment - he had intended to approach the person in a graceful and elegant manner, but who would have thought that as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, a knife would be placed on his neck.

His Adam's apple was painful from being pressed by the back of the knife. He stared at the beautiful face in front of him, which looked like it had stepped out of a painting. He wanted to explain something, but he couldn't speak because of the restrictions on the person, so he could only nod with difficulty.

"Hey... where's the cup?" There was a tinkling sound coming from the store, mixed with Opesa's mumbling.

Sinderel danced with his long fingers, made a beautiful knife flower, sheathed the dagger, and walked into the store without even looking at him.

He casually opened a drawer, took out three cups and placed them on the table.

The cup was placed with a little more force, replacing Sinderel's language.

Opesha turned around and walked over with a smile: "Oh, thank you!"

After finishing his work, Sinderel returned to the counter as usual, the corner that belonged to him alone, picked up the book, sat on the wooden chair and began to read, entering a state of indifference.

Ludovic stood there awkwardly with his hands clasped, glancing at Sinderel from time to time, still feeling the aftermath of what had just happened.

He suddenly remembered the burnt bread he had eaten this morning—it smelled sweet, but it was hard to eat, just like Sinderel.

"Sit down, sir, why are you standing?" Opesa blinked, her expression full of innocence as if she had been excluded.

Ludovico pulled the corners of his mouth dryly and pulled the chair next to Opessa to sit down.

Just as his buttocks touched the chair, a cluster of extremely sharp and sinister rays suddenly shot out from the left side, piercing the back of his neck.

Ludovico was frightened and silently pulled his chair aside.

Only after the tingling sensation disappeared did he dare to sit down slowly.

Opesa handed him the poured mulled wine: "Here, warm yourself up quickly."

Ludovico reached out his hand, and the icy pricking sensation at his back reappeared. He immediately smiled brightly and raised his hand deliberately so that the eyes in the dark could see that he had not touched Opessa. "Ah, thank you, ma'am."

Feeling like sitting on pins and needles.

Ludovico had stayed up late painting the night before, and while he was waiting outside the door, his back and waist had been aching and he was looking forward to sitting down.

And now he would rather stand at the door and sit with the snowflakes.

He swore to God that although he had painted countless women as an artist and was now interested in Opesha's unique creativity, he would absolutely dedicate everything to God and would never be single-minded, let alone be interested in a married woman whose face was unknown.

If only the beautiful woman with an unhappy face could hear his silent protest in his heart.

The painter was in tears.

Opesa was introducing the clothes and props she was currently selling. Ludovic listened attentively, opened the painting box, took out a pen and paper and started taking notes.

After briefly introducing the product, Opesha took a sip of mulled wine and said, "Okay, then, Mr. Ludovico, is there anything else you would like to clarify?"

Ludovico held his head and uttered a dazed "Ah, oh... a little bit."

"Please go ahead."

He put down his pen and said seriously, "Currently, the products released by Secret Language are very popular in Furlan. Drawing only those products might not produce satisfactory results. If possible, I would like to draw some of Secret Language's private collection of products that have not yet been released."

Opesa thought for a moment and said, "It's something I can consider... It's really too expensive to go to banquets every time to promote my products." Besides, the person in front of her was a professional painter, so maybe she could use him to polish her new products.

Thinking of the sky-high entrance fee, Opesa was shocked. She turned and called to Sinderel in the corner, "Sinderel, go get the manuscript for the work."

There was a sound of book spines hitting the table from behind, and a moment later, a pile of manuscripts appeared on the table.

Along with the manuscript came Sinderel's bland sarcasm: "You better hope this second-rate artist can understand your work." He glanced at Ludovico and added, "Don't be an idiot."

Opesha immediately became unhappy and glared at him, saying, "Don't be so rude! When has my drawing ever been anything less than lifelike?"

"Miss, when it comes to painting skills, I don't want to be looked down upon by you." Ludovico straightened his collar. In the field of painting, he was full of confidence and was always ready to show his talent and dampen Sinderel's enthusiasm.

Ludovico had been suppressed by him since he entered the door, and he was full of grievances. Now - he finally got the chance to redeem himself.

He slowly picked up a manuscript and prepared to read it. He had already arranged the comments in his mind. He even went over the terminology that he had already memorized, waiting to speak it out as soon as he opened his eyes.

"Hmm..." Ludovico slowly raised his eyes.

At first glance, there were two strokes and three horizontal strokes on the paper, an oval on the top and a triangle on the bottom, with a few large, scribbled characters next to it: "The Forbearing and Restrained Uniform Temptation".

Ludovico: ...

Ludovico: "Ah... This is the beauty of the broken egg. It must have been drawn with a minimalist, abstract technique to achieve this effect. Let me guess, it must be a prop!"

Opesha: "No, actually it's a top."

Ludovico: "Oh... then the golden ratio must be used here. Look at the lines, straight and slender, it must be a skirt!"

Sinderel snatched the manuscript from his hand. "It's shoes." He folded his arms loosely and glanced at them casually. "A long robe with a tulle design at the bottom to highlight the legs. The upper part of the shoes is decorated with vines or rivets."

Ludovico: "That's certainly not..."

Opesa exclaimed, "Oh, haven't you seen this batch of new manuscripts? They're all correct."

Ludovico: ...

The words he had planned to say stopped on his tongue, and Ludovico's smile froze on his face.

Opesa: "Sir? Why do I feel... alive, yet dead..."

Sinderel sneered, his back slightly bent, and casually rested his hands on either side of Opesa. He said lightly, "However, I don't completely reject what you said. It does apply in some places." He lowered his eyes to glance at the spread-out manuscript paper and tapped it with his knuckles. "Here."

"Let me see."

When he said this, he dragged out the last syllable very slowly, and his eyes never left Ludovico, slanting across Opesa's head and accurately pinning Ludovico.

That gaze was cold and extremely aggressive, as if it wanted to penetrate the opponent's skin and pores, corroding from the inside out.

It's like a beast marking its property. In the oppressive feeling of being above it, the constant gaze creates marks of possession, openly declaring sovereignty.

Ludovic felt as if he was being tortured by that gaze, and it was difficult for him to breathe.

But soon, he closed his eyes and smiled peacefully.

"I'm really not well-educated." Ludovico said softly, his eyes narrowed slightly, and a meaningful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. "I still need to learn more - Sinderel..."

He didn't say anything else, but looked at Sinderel deliberately and made a lip gesture.

"'gentlemen'."