Chapter 96
Mabel, separated from Jace, spotted a bench in the corner of the plaza.
Since it wasn’t used for teatime, there weren’t any children around either.
She set the canvas she was holding down beside the bench and took a seat.
Jace followed and walked over to the bench as well.
The members who had shown interest in Jace backed off when he threatened them not to follow.
“…Hey.”
Jace smoothed his furrowed brow with his fingers, trying to hide his annoyed expression.
Since he couldn’t explain his relationship with Wilhelmina, he had no excuse to strike up a conversation.
“She told me I can’t even say I’m trying to help.”
It was a troublesome favor in many ways.
But there was no way he could just back off now.
“At least I managed to make a crack. Next, I need to find out what happened.”
Once Jace started something, he couldn’t let it go unfinished.
As he was racking his brain on how to start a conversation, his gaze landed on the large canvas beside Mabel.
“Hey, aren’t you going to display that?”
“…”
Mabel, on the other hand, had no intention of getting close to Jace.
She did want to make friends, but she had no desire to befriend someone as intimidating as him.
“I don’t want to explain this…”
Avoiding his eyes, Mabel turned her head slightly, but Jace strode over and picked up the canvas.
It was covered in cloth, so he couldn’t tell what kind of painting it was.
“The exhibition’s almost over, isn’t it? Didn’t you bring it to show off?”
“…Leave it. I have someone else I want to show it to.”
For a brief moment, Mabel’s eyes shifted toward Cornel’s group.
“That’s it.”
Seeing this, Jace immediately sensed that this canvas might be the key to solving the whole situation.
“What kind of painting is it? What, some great masterpiece or something?”
“…Give it back.”
Uncomfortable with Jace’s odd familiarity, Mabel tried to snatch the canvas from his hands.
But Jace refused to let go.
He even forced a smile, as if determined to confirm what was inside.
“Come on, I just want to see what it—ah.”
At that moment, as Mabel pulled at the edge, her hand got caught on the knot of the cloth.
The cover slipped off, falling to the ground—revealing the canvas to Jace.
But what he saw was nothing like what he expected.
“What is this? Math problem? Geometry drawing? No… this isn’t just a painting…”
Suddenly, Wilhelmina’s words resurfaced in his mind.
She had warned him about the art exhibition planned for the next Western Sun gathering, predicting what would happen.
‘I’m sure there’ll be plagiarized works. Maybe half of them will actually be original…’
Aristocratic children with prestigious backgrounds, no teachers to check their work, an exhibition just for showing off…
Her insight had hit the nail on the head.
She had even sighed, as though she had experienced this all before.
The only thing she’d gotten wrong was that Jace had an eye sharp enough to discern art without needing any training.
She had laughed and added:
‘The more prestigious the family, and the more central the group, the more likely they’ll plagiarize famous works. Keep an eye on that.’
And indeed, Zephyro had submitted a plagiarized work.
But Mabel’s canvas was…
Jace frowned and looked at Mabel.
“Hey, this is…”
“Don’t call me ‘hey.’ I’m Mabel Metokan.”
“Ah, right. I’m Jace Milo. So… are you saying this is a blueprint?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“You made it yourself?”
“Of course. This is my invention.”
“But… you drew it terribly. Why are all the lines crooked? That circle looks like a trapezoid.”
“…It’s my first time drawing a blueprint on canvas, okay?”
Mabel’s voice started strong with pride but gradually faded.
Her terrible drawing skills aside, the care put into the blueprint made Jace sigh softly.
“So that’s why she brought this…”
With this much evidence, even someone as straightforward as Jace could piece things together easily.
A troublesome inventor bringing a blueprint instead of a painting to an exhibition filled with plagiarism.
Wanting to show it to just one person.
A work that couldn’t possibly be considered a painting.
Her attendance at Cornel’s birthday party.
And Wilhelmina’s emphasis on forgery and imitation.
“You… were you plagiarized at the last gathering or something?”
“…”
Mabel stayed silent, but Jace was sure.
“Don’t tell me… this is all part of the Grand Lady’s plan too?”
Right when the president’s group was bragging with plagiarized works, Mabel had shown up with a blueprint.
Wilhelmina’s unreadable expression came to mind.
If he asked her, she would no doubt deny it as coincidence—but the timing and preparation were too perfect to dismiss.
“That woman… does she have some kind of foresight?”
At any rate, this would make resolving the conflict much easier.
Suppressing the chill he felt at the thought of Wilhelmina, Jace leaned toward Mabel and whispered:
“Well, I’m not saying this for your sake, but… your sponsor, by any chance…”
“What on earth is happening?!”
Yufina Anet, the young lady from an inventor’s family who had recommended Mabel to the Western gathering, bit her lip and cursed today’s misfortune.
Not only did she hate that the theme this time was “original works,” but the new member had stirred up trouble too.
She had planned to use the favor built up from Cornel’s birthday party to grow closer to him—but Jace had ruined everything.
“I needed a chance to be alone with Lord Cornel!”
For all his stern airs, Cornel’s heart was no different from other boys his age.
Put a toy he liked in front of him, and he would forget his composure and show interest.
Thanks to Mabel’s surprise box, he and Cornel had quickly become close.
It was the perfect chance for Yufina, whose father had ordered her to befriend Cornel’s family, the Marons.
And then Jace had interfered.
“What was that? Some painter named Chaquil or whatever? Why would I care about someone like that? Sure, he’s handsome, but he’s so rude!”
Zephyro being exposed for plagiarism had been annoying, but Jace spoiling Cornel’s appreciation annoyed her even more.
She wanted to scold him for butting in out of turn—but considering the Milo family’s standing, she couldn’t risk speaking up first.
Unlike the isolated Metokan family, who rarely showed their faces in society despite their wealth, the Milo family was a rising power in the West.
“Still, Lord Cornel could’ve stood up to him…”
But Cornel, cowed by Jace’s sharp yet logical criticism, hadn’t said a word in his own defense.
With his family’s standing, he could’ve dismissed Jace outright and kicked him out. But in moments like this, Cornel was far too indecisive.
So Yufina had focused on comforting him instead.
But in doing so, she realized too late that the atmosphere of the gathering had shifted.
“Idiots. Who do you think you’re flocking to?”
The previously sidelined members were now moving toward Jace.
Their motives were obvious.
Finally, someone had shown up to voice the frustrations they had always swallowed down.
Yufina was irritated by their timid opportunism.
“…Pathetic weaklings.”
They never dared open their mouths when standing in front of Cornel, but now they were sneaking chances behind his back.
She wanted to scold them too, but Cornel came first.
“It’s all right, Lord Cornel. How could we be expected to know some no-name painter?”
“R-Really?”
At least Jace hadn’t noticed her own work.
Because Yufina’s piece was also plagiarized, and if he had spotted it, she would have been utterly humiliated.
“Better to just wrap this up quickly.”
Not wanting her piece to come under scrutiny, Yufina gently suggested to Cornel:
“Lord Cornel, how about a tea break? Everyone seems a bit tired…”
“Yes, Lord Cornel. We can admire the works while seated, after all.”
“But…”
Cornel hesitated, glancing at the many works still left unviewed.
“Always pretending to be a proper president at times like this.”
But she wasn’t the only one thinking it.
Plagiarists also preferred to cut things short, so they urged Cornel to agree.
In the end, he was swept along and headed to the table.
Sensing his cue, the vice president began gathering the members.
“Now then, let’s begin teatime. Everyone, please take a seat…”
Though forced, no one opposed the idea.
Jace remained a concern, but he simply sat quietly in a corner, observing.
And beside him was—
“Mabel?”
Yufina blinked. She had thought they had chased Mabel out, yet here she was, seated again.
“Back for revenge, is she?”
Knowing Mabel’s personality, Yufina smirked to herself.
Mabel never hesitated to try again after failing.
But Yufina was already prepared.
“I told the others beforehand.”
Now, whatever Mabel said, no one would believe her.
After Mabel had run off, Yufina had staged an official apology in front of the members, pretending to be the victim.
She had begged forgiveness for her cousin’s rudeness, even shedding false tears.
Moved, her friends had comforted her, saying it wasn’t her fault.
She had even offered a convincing explanation: that Mabel must have mistaken one of her childhood inventions as her own.
With all that groundwork, no one would take Mabel’s side now.
And since Mabel was poor with words, the best way to beat her was with silence and scorn. Yufina knew it well.
“If I drag her up front, she won’t even be able to speak properly.”
Yufina remembered Mabel’s flustered performance at the last meeting.
It had been a thrilling moment.
When she had cried fake tears, she’d nearly burst into laughter.
“A genius? Don’t make me laugh.”
For Yufina, it was the long-awaited payback for all her feelings of inferiority and for her parents being belittled.
Her sour mood from Jace’s interference began to lift.
Now that she had another chance to humiliate Mabel, she felt giddy with anticipation.
“You still think I’m a fool, don’t you? That’s why you came back with that confident face.”
But Yufina had been preparing all along to destroy Mabel completely.
When she saw Mabel take the canvas out near the end of the exhibition, she had shivered with delight.
“…Idiot.”
Once again, the foolish genius had returned to be ignored and ridiculed.
