Chapter 87
“Ah! Our cute Estelle!”
I don’t even remember the indifferent look she had at first.
Now, my mind was filled only with her lovely expression, looking at me and enjoying my presence.
“Ah… at this rate, will Estelle never become independent from me?”
Of course, that would never actually happen.
I chuckled to myself, indulging in this arrogant thought.
“Sorry, sorry. I just ended up coming here.”
But I didn’t show it on my face.
I composed myself so that my happy imagination wouldn’t be obvious, scratching the back of my head awkwardly.
“Oh, right. I just thought of something.”
At that moment, a brilliant idea flashed through my mind.
I slammed my palm into my fist and continued.
“How about the four of us going around together?”
“The four of us like this?”
Estelle asked, surprised.
“Yeah. The four of us, like this.”
I nodded and gave a small smile toward Cial.
“I was actually curious about Estelle’s friend anyway.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. That’s right. And since Estelle wants to go together too, how about it?”
Cial pointed to himself with a puzzled expression, as if wondering why I was curious about him.
But soon, he nodded, realizing that it’s natural to be curious because we’re like family.
“Sure!”
“I’m fine with it too.”
After getting Estelle and Cial’s agreement, I looked at Claude.
“What about you, Claude?”
“…Huh?”
Oh? I expected him to say he was okay.
Why does he look displeased? Did something bother him…?
“Claude?”
I took a step closer to him, looking up at him since he’s taller, and called his name.
“…Yeah.”
Claude slightly turned his head, avoiding my gaze.
“Let’s do that then.”
He gave a small nod as he answered.
“Hehe. Cute.”
The backs of Estelle and Cial, walking ahead of me, looked incredibly adorable.
How could their hair bounce so as if it had its own will?
Their hair was pink, which was already cute, and the soft, bouncy movement made it even cuter.
“Ah, ahem.”
I cleared my throat, trying to suppress the smile tugging at my lips.
I didn’t want Claude, standing next to me, to notice me giggling like a fool.
“I don’t want to be misunderstood as a weird person.”
Meanwhile…
Cial was truly amazing.
“This is Professor Bob’s printmaking work. The reason for attempting printmaking this time, unlike before, is…”
I already knew he was talented thanks to Estelle, but I hadn’t expected him to have such extensive knowledge of art.
Even for someone like me, who knows nothing about art, it was clear that this was beyond mere interest.
“Truly amazing.”
All I could do was look at the works and think, “Oh, that’s nice,” or “I don’t understand this one.”
“Cial is impressive, but Claude is too. He’s nodding in agreement, understanding everything he’s explaining.”
Moreover, Claude would even provide additional explanations if Cial’s description seemed lacking.
“Estelle too,” I thought.
She might not be as skilled as them, but having read many books, she also wore an expression of understanding.
Looking around, it seemed I was the only one completely clueless here.
…Maybe a little pathetic.
But even I had one good piece of news only I could see.
It was…
Grace: 136 (+4)
Art: 16 (+3)
Sensitivity: 60 (+6)
Stress: 40 (-12)
Estelle’s stress was dropping!
Not only that, but because we were appreciating the exhibition, her Grace, Art, and Sensitivity stats also increased.
Sigh. Honestly, I had worried about how to handle Estelle’s rising stress, but seeing it slowly drop like this was a relief.
“Ah!”
“Be careful.”
Oh, no.
I should have watched where I was going.
I had been walking absentmindedly while only checking the status window and almost tripped.
“That was close.”
I clutched my pounding heart and muttered in a trembling voice.
A large painting hung right in front of me.
And it was a painting with wet paint, not dried yet.
“Th-thank you.”
“No, are you hurt?”
“No, I don’t think so. Probably not.”
I thanked Claude for holding me so I wouldn’t fall onto the painting.
If he hadn’t been there, I would have crashed straight into it and caused a disaster by damaging the artwork…
Stress: 47 (+7)
What? Why did the stress suddenly rise?
“Are you okay, Reina?”
“Uh… yeah. I’m fine.”
Stress: 48 (+1)
Why, why is it going up?
It had been dropping steadily until just now.
Panicked, I blinked repeatedly and freed myself from Claude’s arms.
Then I looked at Estelle beyond the status window.
‘Is this a system error? She looks fine.’
When stressed, her face should have changed color or her expression should have shifted.
But Estelle’s face was perfectly normal, and her expression was as usual. Her eyes were normal too.
‘And from what I saw, nothing special happened.’
Well, except that I almost tripped.
But that’s not something that would stress Estelle out.
It was just my carelessness.
That’s a little strange…?
I kept tilting my head, watching Estelle’s stress fluctuate.
I kept the status window open to monitor her changing parameters while exploring the exhibition.
“Oh… how pretty.”
When I happened to see a particular piece, my gaze was completely captured by it.
Until now, I had been following the kids diligently while occasionally checking the status window.
Was it because I genuinely liked the painting?
I stopped following them and stood right in front of it.
“Reina? What are you looking at?”
Estelle noticed my absence and turned back, scanning the area.
When she found me, she ran over, holding Cial’s hand.
She stood beside me, pointing at the painting.
“Were you looking at this painting?”
“Yeah.”
Hearing my answer, she crossed her arms and hummed thoughtfully.
“Maybe because I’ve seen so many unique works… This one seems rather simple?”
Cial’s face went pale as he exclaimed at Estelle.
“Simple?! This is Professor Bob’s very first painting! Look here—the area is called ‘The Beginning’!”
He pointed to the large letters at the entrance, speaking loudly enough to draw attention.
‘…I thought he was a shy and introverted child…’
I rolled my eyes at Estelle.
Had she known about this side of Cial?
But Estelle also looked surprised, her large eyes blinking.
It seemed this was her first time seeing Cial like this too.
“Ah, oh no… what have I done in the exhibition…!”
Perhaps because everyone was staring at him, Cial blushed, lowered his head, and began fidgeting shyly.
“Anyway, it’s not really a simple work. I know it may seem that way compared to previous works…”
Indeed, the painting that caught my attention had a different feel from the other bold works.
The previous painting had pink flowers. The challenging works used dripping paint, varied canvas textures, and chaotic colors. This one felt different.
I nodded at Cial’s gradually softening voice.
“That’s right. But isn’t it really pretty? Just looking at it makes you feel at ease.”
The painting was made using only three colors.
A pale yellow like warm sunlight, a pale blue seen only in clear skies, and a light pink resembling fluttering emotions.
But as if by magic, the soft colors were comfortable to the eyes, while blending to create a sense of richness.
“How can someone paint a work like this? You can feel so many different emotions just from looking at it.”
“……”
“It’s really amazing.”
