Chapter 567: Painting (Part 2)
Chapter 567: Painting (Part 2)
The person I'm painting... is it you?
Looking up into Felicia's emerald eyes, sensing the incredibly complex emotions within, Prince Andre couldn't help but fall silent for a moment. Then, with a look of surprise, he asked, "Felicia? Why are you asking this? Who else could I be painting but you?"
"Brother Andre..."
The Emerald-Eyed Maiden pursed her lips, not responding to Prince Andre's question. Instead, she averted her gaze and said softly, "I've noticed that when you encounter a question you want to avoid, your favorite tactic is to answer with another question."
"..."
"Actually, after being captured by that pervert these past days, my mind seems to have become 'clearer' in some ways. I've figured out many things that I couldn't understand before."
Felicia looked down, staring intently at her sleeves, her expression complex as she said, "Brother Andre, with your painting skills, it's impossible for you to do poorly at a simple portrait. The only reason I can think of is that the person you're painting isn't me."
"..."
After listening to the Emerald-Eyed Maiden's words, Prince Andre fell silent again for a moment. Then, as he lowered his head to continue painting, he replied, "No, the person I'm painting is you."
"But you're not painting the me in front of you; you're painting the me in your heart, which is why you can't seem to get it right, isn't that so?"
"..."
The Emerald-Eyed Maiden's eyes held a hint of loneliness as she said, "Aside from the missing memories, I have most of Felicia's soul and a nearly identical body. But you still can't convince yourself to treat me as your sister, right?"
"..."
"After helping me regain my body, you've been indulging my little whims, even willing to do silly things with me that only children would do... Are you truly trying to comfort me, or are you making me 'recreate' the Felicia of the past?"
"..."
Looking at Prince Andre, who was silent and focused on his painting, the Emerald-Eyed Maiden couldn't help but bite her lower lip, asking her final question.
"Brother Andre, can you tell me, if it had been the real Felicia who was captured, would you have still ordered the attack that day?"
"Scratch... Crack..."
As Prince Andre was sketching, he paused slightly, and the tip of his charcoal pencil snapped in response.
That should be... impossible.
Without any hesitation, this rather cold and cruel answer emerged from Prince Andre's heart.
For him, the real Felicia was already gone, leaving behind only the AI core created from Felicia's brain and soul.
Even if he had helped her "recreate" her body, treated her like the real Felicia, and insisted on calling her Felicia instead of Atifi 01, this fact remained unchanged.
The real Felicia was already dead!
...
"Didn't we just agree not to talk about that matter?"
After replacing his charcoal pencil with a new one, Prince Andre continued painting on the canvas while speaking in a gentle, soothing tone:
"Felicia, don't be like this. This time is different. I'll be able to paint you soon."
"What will be different once you've painted me?"
The Emerald-Eyed Maiden spoke softly, "What will change after you've painted me?"
"There will be a difference."
Prince Andre replied without looking up, "Once I'm certain I can paint your 'soul,' I'll start working on the 'Royal Banquet' painting, and I'll include you in it. Then, we can stay together within that painting."
"Stay in the painting or be trapped in the painting?"
"What?!"
Seeing Prince Andre pause his painting again and look up in surprise, the Emerald-Eyed Maiden couldn't help but bite her lip and ask, "I don't understand soul encoding technology, but I know a little about Zone 1's soul research. The body is the vessel that protects the soul, and the soul is the most reliable carrier of will and wisdom."
And although the painting Palace Banquet was created by you, the people within it are not false. Aside from being unable to realize that they are within a painting and having to follow certain rules, they are no different from real people, and they all have souls."
"..."
"Prince Andre, just now when I was looking at Palace Banquet, I noticed that the Felicia being held by Mother was the only one who was still. In the entire painting, only she was motionless."
"What you're about to do is prepare to paint my soul into it as well. You're going to use the soul and existence of this false sister to bring the true sister you painted to life. Am I right?"
"Felicia, you're overthinking it..."
Upon hearing this, Prince Andre closed his eyes for a moment, then put down his charcoal pencil and began to paint, calmly shaking his head as he worked.
"There's no such thing as a true or false sister. She is the real Felicia, and you are also the real Felicia. She is you, and you are her. It's just that you both aren't complete right now.
After I paint you into that world, she will truly awaken there, and you can lie in Mother's arms without a care in the world, just like her... Isn't that good?"
"This isn't good!"
The emerald-eyed maiden bit her lower lip, her eyes filled with disappointment as she spoke:
"Even if I'm not the real Felicia, I have the same soul and body as her, while she is just a false painting! You just want to kill me and use my soul to bring back a Felicia of your imagination!"
"She's not a figment of my imagination; she truly exists."
Andre continued to paint on the canvas without looking up, his expression calm as he patiently explained:
"Although the space to move around is a bit small, it is indeed a real world, perhaps even the same as the one we're in now. The people there also have bodies and souls; they're real, just existing in a different way from the people in this world.
And I'm not trying to kill you; I'm just putting you to sleep in this world and then waking you up in that one... Don't you remember? I'm going to paint myself into it too. Would I kill myself?"
"Andre, you've truly gone mad!"
Seeing that no matter what she said, she couldn't change the stubborn Prince Andre's mind, the emerald-eyed maiden, now thoroughly disappointed, couldn't help but raise her voice in anger:
"That pervert was right! You're just a clown, unable to face your own mistakes, and you can only seek self-comfort in the false world you created! You... Ugh!"
Andre raised his hand and drew in the air, sealing Felicia's mouth shut. His temples throbbed, and he took a few rapid breaths to calm his agitated emotions. Then, with an expressionless face, he said:
"The real Felicia would never say such things. During the days you were held captive by that person, you must have been influenced badly.
But it's fine. With his current abilities, he'll never escape Palace Banquet. After I finish painting you, I'll deal with him immediately. I won't give him a chance to corrupt you further. You'll have plenty of time to correct yourself.
Felicia, although you may think I've gone mad now, once you join me and awaken in that world with your true identity, you'll immediately understand that I'm the one who..."
"Tsk..."
"?!?!"
Hearing the sound of tearing fabric from behind him, Prince Andre's emerald pupils contracted instantly. He turned around, still clutching his paintbrush, and saw a silver-bright blade tip protruding from the floating Palace Banquet behind him!
(End of Chapter)
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