Crossing Griffin Bridge, Sherlock glanced at Lily, the maid pushing the wheelchair behind Iver, before speaking in a low voice:
"To be honest, I didn't expect Master Yanis to give you that painting."
"I didn't expect it either."
Iver answered honestly.
"Although Master Yanis seems very approachable, she's actually quite arrogant. Unless you earn her approval, Master Yanis will only stare at you in silence with an inscrutable smile, looking at you as though you were a fool."
Sherlock quietly reminded him, "The Master clearly thinks very highly of you... Does she want you to walk the Path of Beauty?"
"Yes."
Iver nodded and joked, "She wants me to become Her Highness the Princess's junior fellow disciple."
"I'm guessing you turned her down." Sherlock said it without hesitation.
"I did. How did you know?" Iver asked.
"Because I can't see any passion for art in you."
Sherlock smiled. "Actually, I quite like playing the violin. I think I'm pretty good at it... I just never had the chance to walk the Path of Beauty."
Iver blinked. "It's not too late even now, Mr. Sherlock."
"No, it's already too late. Or rather, I shouldn't have walked the Path of Authority from the beginning. Equilibrium, Wisdom, and Beauty... Any of them would suit me better."
Sherlock looked at Iver and said sincerely, "I don't want you to realize only after walking a certain Path for a long time that you have no passion for it. A Path's compatibility is based on talent, but not preference... Yet I believe preference is more important than talent. Talent determines how high you can climb, while interest determines how well you can adapt to that Path.
"If you have no interest in a certain Path at all, but the pull from its heights drives you mad