Chapter 56: Golden Dawn
——The golden mean.
After just hearing the comments on her first painting, Janice immediately understood Aiwass's aesthetic tendencies.
Moderation is not a derogatory term. It is the path of beauty that she herself adheres to.
The path of beauty influences oneself materially, gradually bringing one's image and temperament closer to one's ideal of "perfect beauty." Janice was neither too tall for a human nor too short for an elf; her figure blurred the lines between male and female, and her face and demeanor were neither mature nor childish.
Because the "aesthetics of moderation" is the most popular aesthetics.
This is Janice's personal understanding of the "path of beauty," and it's also why she walks the path of balance.
Unlike those professional critics of Iris who are sharp-tongued and discerning - they always find some points that even Janice herself can't think of, some details that she herself doesn't care about, and they are immersed in the void and talk about something to themselves.
When creators transform their inspiration into works, there will inevitably be losses.
After all, viewers cannot truly enter the world of the painting, and cannot truly empathize with the painter's thoughts and emotions when creating the painting.
They can only appreciate it based on their own knowledge and understanding.
True beauty has universal qualities that can move people of all races, genders, backgrounds, ages, and cultures. However, when it comes to the question of "what makes you feel beautiful," everyone's answer will be different.
Because rather than feeling beauty from the artwork, it is more accurate to say that they see their own reflection in the artwork.
Your own life, your own fantasies, your own fears, your own dreams.
Therefore, the answers given by viewers will be more or less biased.
Janice likes to ask others what they think of her paintings. As a creator herself, she certainly knows what the standard answers are that serve as a "benchmark."
By asking questions, she can find out whether the other person has real talent, level of skill, and talent. She can also analyze her own personality, experience, and even her own inclinations based on the other person's carefully thought-out comments.
It was as if she saw in these comments the condensed results of life one after another. This was also a kind of psychological test, and she never tired of it.
——But the answer given by Aiwass surprised her a little.
His comments were not tainted with much of his personal colour.
She is objective and fair enough, yet not lacking in sensibility. She speaks frankly about the flaws caused by her immature skills, and also appropriately praises those proud features she carefully laid out but have been neglected by others.
It's like a summary answer given by another self... a more mature self from the future.
There is no doubt that Aiwass is his "soulmate".
"...Are you interested in embarking on the path of beauty?"
Janice couldn't help but ask, "I think you might be the human who has traveled the furthest on the path of beauty."
"Huh?"
Isabel, who was standing by, was startled and looked at her teacher in surprise.
She had never seen a teacher give such high praise to someone!
The teacher's evaluation of himself can even be considered low!
Janice's original words at the time were: "With your talent, it's impossible to reach the limit of any branch of the path of beauty, not even the 'singer'. You chose the 'all-rounder' wisely. If you pursue the pinnacle of singing skills, you will only go crazy before reaching it."
But for some reason, seeing that the teacher recognized Aiwass so much, she did not feel jealous at all.
There was only a sense of happiness and a subtle sense of pride.
It’s like finding a friend with great difficulty, and when you bring him home, his parents give him high praise.
——And I raised this child!
Isabel whispered in her heart.
She didn't dare say it out loud because she was afraid of being scolded. Of course she knew that Aiwass was raised by Professor Moriarty, and she also knew that she had only played the role of Aiwass's mother in a dream. But she still couldn't completely "get out of the role" and still couldn't forget the memories of that dream.
So, this is just what she said to herself.
It is not so much about deceiving oneself as it is about not forgetting.
On the other hand, Janice's mood was also very subtle.
She accepted Isabel as her disciple, partly because she felt "beauty" from Isabel and thought she was cute enough; another part was because she and Queen Sofia were close friends.
They first met sixty years ago, when Queen Sofia had just ascended the throne.
She was a lively teenager then, younger than Isabel is today.
But Sofia's personality was completely different from Isabel's, even the opposite. When she was young, she was full of energy, extremely outgoing, and friendly. She would often sneak out of the palace after dressing up and putting on makeup to go to the theater, or enter the school dressed as a schoolgirl and ask other students for their opinions on various political decrees.
It was Janice's first time to hold an art exhibition in Avalon. At her exhibition, she met the young Queen Sofia. She was so struck by the lovely girl's beauty and vitality that she decided to paint her on the spot.
They were painting and chatting at the same time. But when Janice was halfway through her painting, the Queen's guards rushed over.
It was then that Janice realized that this girl who looked younger than herself was the new queen of this country.
Sophia is extremely outgoing and not bound by tradition.
She disdained many rules, carried out a large number of reforms, and resolutely abolished many traditions that now seemed outdated - such as tortures that were more severe than the death penalty, the custom that women could not become knights, and the old law that knight families could only be imprisoned but not executed... and also the teaching and learning of some "forbidden techniques" for the prosperity and development of the kingdom.
The development of Avalon's alchemy, art, preservation, medicine, as well as professions such as translation and detective in the path of wisdom, all began with Queen Sophia.
Janice stayed with the enlightened young queen for twenty years before leaving her and continuing her own travels around the world.
Now she returns to Avalon and accepts Isabel as her student, simply because she sees the shadow of her former best friend in Isabel. But in fact, she does not think that Isabel can inherit her mantle.
Art requires a great deal of time to cultivate. The five-fold difference in lifespan between humans and elves is an insurmountable chasm in the realm of art.
But Aiwass is different.
Janice keenly sensed in him a beauty similar to her own.
He is handsome and calm, which is undoubtedly a masculine beauty, but at the same time he also has a feminine sensitivity and delicacy; his temperament is mature and his behavior is steady, but he also has the vitality of a young man; as a pastor, he walks the path of dedication, but Janice keenly captures his invisible arrogance towards the world.
This feeling of contradiction and balance made Janice feel as if she saw another self.
Similar to myself but different——
When Aiwas heard this, he was speechless.
Isn't this a coincidence?
Guess what? Shylock just said yesterday that I'm more suited to the path of wisdom. And now, Master, you say today that I'm suited to the path of beauty... How about you two have a fight?
Forget it, I'm afraid Sherlock will be beaten to death.
After Aiwass declined, Janice recommended another round of beauty paths. After Aiwass refused for the second time, she did not force it.
After all, walking on the road requires not only corresponding talents but also some obsession.
If you don't want to, you can't force it.
If you force yourself to follow a path that you don't agree with or like, you will eventually stray from it, and everything will be in vain.
Janice just felt sorry.
Aiwass clearly possessed the talent for the Path of Beauty, yet lacked the desire to pursue it. If he could enter the Path of Beauty, his future would undoubtedly be much brighter than that of the Path of Devotion. He would likely reach the fifth energy level, similar to her, approaching the limits of mortals.
And considering the short lifespan of humans, his talents may be even better than mine.
Thinking of this, she made a decision.
"Since you like my paintings so much," Janice said lightly, "then I'll give you 'Golden Dawn'."
Hearing this, Aiwass suddenly opened his eyes wide and felt his scalp tingling.
Even Princess Isabel couldn't help but gasp and didn't dare to say a word.
Aiwas knew how much Janice loved this painting. Among the three paintings, "Visit to the Temple of Acropolis" was Janice's first magic painting. It was an encouragement to herself who was determined to walk the extraordinary path, and it also concealed her youthful ambition of "comparing herself to the apostle Hippocrates"; and "Crystal Sea" was the scene of the end of the world that she saw. It was a gift she gave to her best friend Sophia, who could not leave the Glass Island and would never have the chance to see how beautiful that scene was... It was a summary of her journey around the world and the crystallization of her friendship.
And Golden Dawn is the pinnacle of her pure skill.
It was a painting she had created when she saw people worshipping the sun in the Horus Empire, inspired by the astonishment she felt at the spectacle of sunrise. It was the best painting she could have created without involving the power of the Tao.
From this painting onward, her paintings were imbued with mystical powers, capable of altering reality. This was the last painting to be circulated and viewed by all mortals, and it is also the most highly regarded of all Janice's paintings.
It is undoubtedly a masterpiece that will be passed down through the ages. Its value is inestimable.
——How could you give something like this to someone the first time you meet them?!
"Of course, it can't be considered completely free..."
Only when Janice said the next sentence did Aiwass finally breathe a sigh of relief.
It's OK, as long as there are requests. The worst part is not having any requests - debts of favor are the hardest to repay, especially those that are so troublesome that it's hard to say how much they're worth.
But when he heard Janice's request, Aiwas's expression became more subtle.
"You're a genius, Aiwass. I believe you'll thrive on the path of dedication... Even though you've only just entered the Extraordinary realm, your advancement will surely be rapid.
"As you can see, my student Isabel is a somewhat fragile girl. I'm not very confident about her advancement ceremony.
"If you've caught up with Isabel during your second or third advancement ceremony... could you wait for her a moment and advance with her? Of course, the Full Moon Ritual will do..."
This requirement is almost equivalent to no requirement.
It is basically a common practice in the supernatural world to bring friends during the full moon ceremony and to stop enemies during the new moon ceremony.
This can only be said to be done casually.
Friends who have the same progress and are on other paths will have a considerable advantage on the path to transcendence... Although Janice said that she only needs to help Isabel once, as long as her advancement speed is not much slower than Aiwass, this is basically the parents personally arranging a fixed team.
After all, the chances of winning when playing together were higher than when playing solo, and having someone you could trust was a huge advantage. Therefore, Aiwass had no reason to refuse.
But when it comes to Aiwass, there is a small problem.
"...Should I find an opportunity to confront Her Royal Highness the Princess first?" he thought to himself.
If she enters the game and finds out that I am her "Mr. Fox"...will it have a bad impact on the girl's psychology?
Aiwass fell into deep thought.
(End of this chapter)
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