Yarin's POV:
I wanted to catch up with Eden, but Cynthia stopped .
"You know he's feeling awkward right now, don't add to the chaos," she said. "Right now, he just needs so ti alone and won't appreciate a stranger barging into his world."
I felt a bit misunderstood. "I just wanted to talk to him, and I didn't say anything offensive, did I?"
The vast mansion needed daily cleaning, and a servant was dusting in the reception room. We eventually decided not to sit by the fireplace but turned and went to the library inside the house.
The late forr head of the Charlies Family loved painting, so there were many books on the subject in the library, along with so sketches and copies of famous works.
Among them, I even saw a copy based on Aunt Emma's work. It depicted a goddess admiring lotus flowers under the moonlight, a mythical the that Aunt Emma excelled at.
"It's really beautiful," I exclaid. "It's hard to imagine how painters turn non-existent fantasies into reality on canvas. I even find it difficult to draw a perfect circle."
"Being on stage for a minute requires ten years offstage practice," Cynthia said. "That's true for opera and also for painting. Even with great talent, you must use diligent practice to hone your skills; otherwise, you won't beco a great artist."
Heller giggled, "You sound like a little old lady."
Cynthia rolled her eyes. "Or maybe boys just never grow up."
I stood in front of the painting for a while. Although the goddess in the painting looked nothing like what I had seen, the artist captured her gentleness and kindness perfectly.
Suddenly, it seed as if the goddess in the painting ca to life. She plucked a lotus flower, sniffed it lightly, and turned it into a fish, swimming back into the vast moonlit sea.
"Yarin? Hey, are you listening?"
Soone nudged , and I snapped back to reality. It was Cynthia.
"What?" I asked. "I was lost in thought. What were you guys talking about?"
"A legend," Heller said mysteriously. "When I was a kid, I overheard Mom and Aunt Dorothy chatting, and they ntioned the incident of Azazel's invasion ten years ago. They talked about a painting, which supposedly helped Mom discover the signs of demon intrusion."
"A painting? What painting?"
"I'm not sure, but I rember them saying Aunt Emma did the painting. We even attended her art exhibition back then. But it's been so long, and I don't rember much."
An art exhibition?
I tried to recall every visit we made to art exhibitions in the past. I realized that when we were still little kids, we did attend an art exhibition once. It was Aunt Emma's first art exhibition after she entered the art world. Mom attached great importance to it, so our whole family went.
At that ti, I was just thinking about playing and didn't understand the art at all. So, I didn't see many paintings; the few I rember are in art galleries or private collections. There's even one hanging in Mom's study.
If that strange painting really existed, it couldn't be any of those. Otherwise, besides the exhibition and collections, Mom would have burnt anything remotely related to demons.
"You must be mistaken." Cynthia was skeptical. "You were so young then, how can you rember it clearly now? I think maybe you've mixed up two unrelated things. Sotis mories trick us this way, creating non-existent things we firmly believe in."
After she said that, Heller also began to doubt himself, wondering. "Maybe..actually, I can't rember when I heard those things. Was it right after I woke up? Or when I was playing with toys? Maybe I really rembered it wrong."
A little sparrow landed on the windowsill and chirped at us. I imdiately looked at Heller and asked, "Are you secretly controlling the sparrow? The doctors said you need to rest properly lately!"
Heller made a guilty face and whispered defensively, "It's part of my rehabilitation, you know? Rehabilitation! I'm just doing mild exercises within the allowed range so I don't forget this skill after being idle for too long."
Seeing the disapproval on Cynthia and my faces, he hurriedly added, "Besides, the sparrows are my friends too. They often co to play with . I don't want to lose these friends, so I occasionally help them out."
"Help them? How do you help?"
"By... by controlling them to find more insects or grains for them to have a hearty al. You know, it's not easy for little birds to find food in winter..."
"... So, what does it have to do with you controlling them? As a werewolf, can you find insects better than the little birds?"
Hearing this, Heller suddenly beca proud and showed off. "You just don't get it! I've noticed that when I control a creature, I can actually stimulate its abilities to a certain extent. Because I can more fully tap into their spiritual world, it stimulates their physical functions. That's why the sparrows can see farther, fly faster, and eat more!"
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