Chapter 429 Travelers Never Say Goodbye

At the same time, Aiwass, with Isabel disguised as Yulia, easily found Janice.

Because Janice wasn't hiding at all.

She sat atop the largest clock tower in Red Queen, looking down at the entire Glass Island, slowly painting stroke by stroke. If one had good eyesight, one could see her presence just by looking up.

Although fifth-level experts usually remain hidden from the public eye, Master Yanis is an exception. She's quite well-known on Glass Island. After all, she's a world-renowned top artist and the organizer and editor-in-chief of the Glass Steps newspaper, so her social circle is quite wide.

In the Red Queen District, an upper-class area populated by priests, businessmen, and scholars, there were many people who could recognize Janice at a glance. Naturally, no one would bother her.

Aiwass has no ability to fly, but Isabel is different.

As a "jack of all trades," she softly sang a lively ballad that made both of them feel lighter, while painting in the air with her fingers. In the blink of an eye, she painted a pair of illusory wings on Aiwass.

They were two pink wings, resembling butterfly wings, with only the outlines. They resembled a circle of light, emitting particles continuously. Aiwass immediately understood how to use them.

——There is no principle or reason.

Just because wings are painted on it, it can naturally fly.

Aiwass hugged Isabel from behind and flew up with a big jump.

That posture was more like floating than flying - it was like jumping with all its strength on the moon, and it floated directly to the top of the tall clock tower.

Isabel, in her Yulia form, was so small and light that Aiwass held her like a kitten. She exclaimed with a mixture of joy and fear, as if she were on a roller coaster, and reached out to grab Aiwass's collar and cuffs.

When Aiwass landed, the illusory wings behind him turned into light powder and dissipated.

Janice only took a glance and immediately recognized Isabel's disguise.

She burst out laughing: "How did you come up with this idiot disguise, little Isa? So cute..."

"...Is there something wrong with me, teacher?"

In the pink light, Isabel changed back.

She asked shyly, but seriously, "I should be exactly like Yulia..."

"It's like realistic painting. New artists with a bit of experience always make this mistake at some point, thinking their work is realistic enough. People who don't understand painting will exclaim, 'It really looks like it,' but they can still vaguely sense an inexplicable stiffness."

"I won't mention those nonsense words like 'soulless,' 'emotionless,' 'lacking tension.' To me, it's simple—your painting isn't realistic enough, your observations aren't complete enough. At the same time, you're trying too hard."

Janice smiled and pointed to the drawing board in front of her: "What do you see?"

Aiwass and Isabel looked over.

With Janice's level, she can draw a moving magic painting at a rapid speed.

But now Janice is just painting slowly.

It's like a newbie who has just started painting... He has been sitting here for most of the day, but the drawing paper still only has outlines and structures, lacking a lot of details.

But even so, Isabel could still tell at a glance that what Janice had painted was the Glass Island.

But it is not the Glass Island of today, but the Glass Island of sixty years ago.

——She saw the past through the present.

The houses are mostly just faint outlines, and no one has a painted head.

But Isabel could tell at a glance that this was the Glass Island and not the current Glass Island, and she could even feel the mood of the passers-by.

Although Janice hadn't drawn the sun at all, Isabel could still tell that it was a cool autumn afternoon.

“Only when you truly grasp the whole can you omit and modify.”

Janice said leisurely, "You drew everything you saw and remembered, creating a perfect reproduction. But is what you observed really all there is?

"—Are you seeing Yulia's outward appearance or her inner self?

"You remember her face, but do you remember the shape and softness of her earlobes? You remember her hairstyle, but what about the part of her ears and the back of her neck that was hidden by her hair?

"You saw her figure, remembered her height and build, but you didn't see her inner bones. You didn't notice that her leg muscles had atrophied due to long-term lack of nutrition and exercise, and that the way she stood was actually a leverage for her legs, which lacked strength.

"You didn't notice that her smile was actually a distant and polite one, and you didn't notice the scrutinizing, rational look she gave people. Did you notice her feelings for Aiwass? Do you know why she was so absorbed in studying alchemy? Do you know what she liked, and why she liked it?"

Janice turned around and said in a calm and serious tone: "Little Issa... Her Majesty the Queen of Avalon. I will give you one last lesson.

“Art is the epitome of beauty, but its essence is nothingness.

“Art comes from reality, from matter, from the beauty of life that is everywhere in the world. But the beauty of art itself is virtual. It comes from abstract consciousness and contains embellishments and lies.

"The essence of beauty is a mirror image. It is infinitely close to reality, but it is not a replica of the truth. Because fake things are fake and can never be real. No matter how realistic it is, it is always 'realistic'.

"I ask you again, little Isa—what is the path to beauty?"

"...Yes, aesthetics?"

Isabel replied tentatively.

Hearing this answer, Janice smiled with satisfaction.

Because this was the answer Janice taught Isabel when they first met. It was Janice's true legacy.

"That's it. To achieve beauty, you must discover beauty. To discover beauty, you need aesthetics. Observation is the ability to discover beauty. In this sense... every painter is a detective. They always discover details that others cannot see."

As Janice spoke, she turned her hand over like magic and a bunch of fresh white roses dripping with dew appeared from her hand.

She smiled and waved the flower at Aiwass, then handed it to Isabel.

Isabel hurriedly caught the flower with both hands and examined it intently. But after staring at it for a long time, she still couldn't see any flaws. She could only exclaim in admiration, "Teacher, you're amazing! I can't see any flaws in it at all..."

“Because it’s true.”

Janice smiled and said, “These are the flowers I bought for Sofia this morning.

"—What's true can't be false, and what's false can't be true. Do you understand now, little Isa?"

“…I seem to understand a little, but not quite.”

Isabel answered honestly.

Janice just smiled and said, "That's right. Beauty is the crystallization of life, and you still have a long future ahead of you."

She said, sighing softly.

Janice looked up at the sun, her eyes warm and bright, as if she was looking at someone.

Isabel suddenly realized something: "Teacher... aren't you going to watch your grandmother's funeral?"

"No."

Janice smiled gently and winked at Isabel like a young girl: "As long as she doesn't say her final goodbye, she's not gone forever, right?

"My old friend must still be somewhere. One day, I will see her again. Perhaps in the physical world, or perhaps in the dream world.

"And before that... my journey, drifting like the wind, never ending, will begin again."

She spoke softly, a dim yellow light flashing in her pupils: "Before that, I have to draw a good picture for her.

"This is a promise we made when we first met, but it has never been fulfilled."

But soon, it was replaced by bright yellow, which represents balance.

She sighed, put down the half-finished painting, and casually threw away the brush in her hand.

As the paintbrush left his hand, it turned into dots of color and disappeared into the void.

But the moment she let go of the brush, the painting became complete, enriching its details like a blooming flower.

Aiwass, who had remained silent, suddenly reacted when he saw this scene.

Rather than saying that Janice was drawing with a pen, it would be better to say that she was trying her best to control the pen in her hand and draw those things as slowly as possible.

At her level, she no longer needs pens and paints to paint.

And if she finished this last painting, she would have to leave Avalon.

She obviously didn't want to leave Glass Island and didn't want to say goodbye to her old friend... That's why she sat here alone, painting the painting that she hadn't finished sixty years ago.

Although Sophia has been dead for a week... the death of a friend is like a mellow wine, the aftereffect of which has only now come up, turning into sadness and nostalgia as light as rain.

——And now, Janice has finally overcome the desire for twilight in her heart and chosen to let it go.

Isabel obviously didn't think so much.

She just opened her eyes wide and looked at the miraculous scene in amazement.

It's like spring has arrived, and flowers are in full bloom. The seasons in the painting change from autumn to winter and then back to spring.

The flowers are in full bloom and everything becomes so beautiful.

And after the painting turned into spring, the details of the faceless passers-by on the street gradually became rich and detailed.

It was as if a world was created from nothing—another girl who was seven points similar to Isabel gradually floated on the painting.

She stood under the bell tower, the most conspicuous place in the painting.

The girl's eyes were bright and clear, she had her hands behind her back and a bright smile on her face.

Finally, Janice's image was sketched out. Except for her more ethereal and indifferent temperament then, she looked almost identical to Janice now.

She was standing in the direction that Sophia had looked back at when she was young, with her drawing board on her back, and she turned her head slightly to look up at the bell tower and outside the scroll.

It was as if sixty years ago, someone was standing on this bell tower and saw Sophia and Janice shopping below.

Sophia naturally did not take Janice shopping that year.

She had not been at Janice's exhibition for long when she was captured by people from the Temple of Silver and Tin.

They later became friends, but they didn't have the chance to stroll around leisurely. Sofia was always busy, always worrying about others. And as a queen, she didn't have the chance to stroll around.

When she really had free time, she was already very old and could only sit on the bed and knit sweaters for the younger generation.

But this painting looks so real, as if such an event really happened.

"I'm giving this painting to you. Just think of it as..."

Janice peeled the solidified painting off the drawing board and handed it to Aiwass.

She looked at Aiwass and Isabel and suddenly laughed. "Well, consider this a gift for you. I wanted to leave quietly, but who made you find me? It's also my fault for painting too slowly... too slowly.

"Life is short, cherish it."

As she spoke, she casually reached out and touched Isabel's face.

As if painting something - Isabel was "painted" by her, and with just two light touches, she completely turned into Yulia.

Even Aiwass found it difficult to tell the difference between this "Yulia" and the real Yulia.

"Study hard. You still have a long way to go."

Janice smiled and put the drawing board on her back.

She turned around and waved casually. On the last day of the year, when families were reuniting, she chose to leave alone.

No goodbye.

Travelers wandering the world never say goodbye.

Update completed! Thanks to the three leaders who contributed! !

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(End of this chapter)