I Want to Paint You a Picture

The reason Iver said "two people" is because Lily is also there.

His request was completely unexpected by his classmates.

—Has Iver become so familiar with the Princess that he can directly invite her to join a completely unfamiliar club?

Xiao Aiden couldn't help but clap his hands, feeling refreshed and clear-headed, as if he had finally figured out a problem that had been troubling him for a long time.

—I knew it! They must have something going on!

But they clearly didn't realize that both Iver and Isabel knew about the "White Shoes Club".

The students were very enthusiastic. They agreed without hesitation, and almost got into an argument over who should be the one to invite them.

Although the inviter is also the guarantor and is responsible if something happens to the invitee, conversely, if they can bring in some important person, the inviter themselves will also gain a lot of prestige.

She was, after all, Avalon's only Princess! Although they had never met her, everyone was already filled with curiosity. They just had neither the opportunity nor the courage to approach her.

But now, everyone present knows that it was actually Iver who brought Princess Isabel to the club. In other words, Iver was in charge of this matter. He just borrowed a spot from them in advance.

Even if I can't talk to Her Highness the Princess, I can at least get closer to Iver —and I can invite that autistic Princess into the club... even if I'm just the one who invites her in name only, that's still something to brag about.

They don't have to take any responsibility and can still get benefits for free.

This is an incredible stroke of luck! Iver simply sat in his wheelchair, quietly smiling and watching this scene with delight.

He was satisfied with what he had done. This was in line with his aesthetic sense and his logic of doing things.

He had previously helped Lily apply for a student spot from the Princess, which was a good thing for the Princess because she was finally starting to use her power; at the same time, it was a good thing for him and for Lily as well.

He just asked Professor Bard to be his mentor and made an appointment to explore the ruins together... This is a good thing for both of them.

Now, he has secured an invitation to a club for the Princess, a gesture that has delighted both of them.

—It's a win-win situation.

There aren't that many zero-sum games where it's a matter of life and death in this world. Many conflicts and disputes arise simply from a lack of efficient communication or from unnecessary greed.

With proper management, many things can actually be mutually beneficial. Iver is the one who excels at connecting people.

After agreeing on the matter, Iver left with Princess Isabel. Hai Na asked Iver where his dormitory was, then also left—she would be taking Iver to find a new classroom that afternoon.

Even at midday in winter, the sunlight is not scorching.

On the way, Iver could clearly see that Isabel was very happy. She walked beside Iver with her hands behind her back, and was even humming a song softly.

Now, Iver finally saw some traces of girlhood in Isabel —the carefree lightness that belonged to her peers.

This is something she was always meant to have.

I'm already very satisfied with just a glimpse of it now.

Isabel suddenly remembered something and turned to say, "Oh right, that painting might not be delivered for a while. It's too precious. Keeping it at home doesn't provide the same preservation environment as a museum... So, the teacher sent a letter to the Theocracy today, intending to invite an old friend to Avalon to help preserve the painting and prevent accidental damage."

"If it's done, it might take until next month... Is that alright? If you don't want to wait, the teacher can also ask that old friend not to come. In that case, the painting will need to be sent to the Moriarty Museum with a note saying 'Donated to Iver Moriarty' —this painting belongs solely to you, not to the Moriarty Family."

This was what her teacher had asked her to convey—this was the "real business" that Isabel had come here for today. At least, that's what she thought.

"Then I'll wait a little longer."

Iver replied with a smile.

In this situation, it would be inappropriate for him to say things like "No need to bother" or "Anything is fine."

"But now that Master Agnes's letter has been sent, I will just wait patiently for that masterpiece to be delivered to my home."

Iver answered briskly.

Then they started talking about campus life.

As they were chatting, Iver suddenly realized... that they were heading in the direction of the cafeteria?

He thought Isabel was inviting him to a big hotel outside the school, or even back to the Silver and Tin Palace for dinner.

But that makes sense, considering she came on a whim. It's normal that she didn't make a reservation.

"Your Highness Isabel... do you usually eat at the school cafeteria?"

"Iver asked with great interest."

"I've been there before."

After leaving those people, Isabel appeared much more relaxed. Even her voice became smoother and lighter.

She walked with Iver under the shade of the trees and said softly, "But I've only been there once. Because they all sit together, chatting and eating. Some are just friends, and some are couples."

"I don't even know where I should sit. I don't want to sit next to other people, but I'm also afraid that a stranger might sit next to me."

... Didn't you ever think about taking up a table for yourself?

Iver was momentarily stunned.

Although he already knew that this Princess did not have the arrogant and spoiled habits of the "Princess" in common sense... wasn't this a little too polite?

But soon, Iver guessed what was going on. "Could it be that someone tried to chat you up? Or did His Highness overhear some gossip?"

"...Why?"

Isabel paused for a moment.

She stopped in her tracks, staring at Iver in disbelief.

Lily then parked her wheelchair under the shade of a tree and stood quietly behind Iver with her hands folded.

"I guessed."

Iver explained with a smile.

"... That's indeed the case."

Isabel nodded admiringly and sighed softly, "Am I being a bit dramatic? I just told you yesterday that I wanted friends... but actually, someone tried to chat me up before. But at that time, I felt a little uncomfortable... so I ran away."

"Wanting friends doesn't mean you have to accept people you don't like as your friends."

Under the midday shade of the trees, Iver's voice rang out clearly. "Even if you don't have friends for the time being, it doesn't mean you have to lower your standards for friendship. 'Friends' are ultimately something you should have but not something bad. Friends you have to force yourself to twist your personality to get are never your true friends, and you won't get any happiness from them."

"Master Agnes won't give you a definite answer to this, but I can—you did the right thing, Your Highness. This is my answer."

"If you really don't want to go to a crowded place like the cafeteria, you don't have to. Let's go back to the villa Your Highness gave me... Lily's cooking is quite good too."

"Or we could go out and find a restaurant nearby, and I'll treat you. Consider it a return favor for your hospitality last night. Anyway, our afternoon classes don't start until 3 p. m., so we have plenty of time if we don't take a nap."

"... Ah, that's not necessary."

Isabel was silent for a moment, then suddenly broke into a bright smile, "Because I now have friends with whom I can eat and chat. So please don't call me 'Your Highness' anymore, Iver."

"Then can I just call you Isabel?"

Without offering any pretense of refusal, Iver asked directly.

"... Actually, you can also call me Senior Isabel."

Isabel whispered.

When she heard Iver call Hai Na" senpai," she felt as if some title had been stolen from her. Even though she was also a second-year student, she was practically Iver's senior...

"That doesn't seem to be any different from 'Your Highness'."

Iver smiled and declined Isabel's suggestion, "I'll just call you Isabel."

"... Then, may I call you 'Teacher Iver '?"

She smiled mischievously, seemingly becoming a little more cheerful. "I just heard your classmates calling you that. Is that your nickname?"

As she spoke, Isabel continued walking towards the cafeteria, and Lily followed in her footsteps.

"Probably. But they wouldn't call me a 'teacher'; they were just teasing me."

Iver explained helplessly, "Because I'm quite interested in history, I've taught myself some things. But actually, I don't know much, it's just a bit of a niche subject. It's because Professor Bard wants to hire me as a teaching assistant that they're making such a fuss."

He told a half-lie very naturally, slightly reversing the cause and effect of the second half, which made it seem more natural and less obvious in his aura.

"A teaching assistant? That's amazing!"

Isabel exclaimed sincerely, "Many third- and fourth-year students don't even have the opportunity to be teaching assistants."

"It's just because Professor Bard isn't good at lecturing; he's a respectable scholar," Iver said.

"Pity..."

The blonde, blue-eyed girl sighed softly, somewhat regretfully. "I was thinking that since you haven't been to school for a few months, you might be falling behind. In that case, I could help you catch up on some of the overlapping general education courses."

"You're amazing! No wonder you're Iver..."

Isabel's vision of Iver vaguely overlapped with that of "Mr. Fox," and the premonition that "the two people might be the same person" grew stronger.

A thought suddenly popped into her mind.

Isabel rarely had such willful thoughts. But ever since she met Iver, these "rule-breaking" ideas have gradually become more frequent.

It's like a statue starting to move, a painting revealing a smile. Things that were thought to never change suddenly break the routine. It's like the daily routine running like a mechanical clock, where one day the gears suddenly turn back, changing everything along with daily life, introducing new and inspiring variables.

Isabel suddenly gained a slightly deeper, albeit vague, understanding of the [Magic Painting].

That was a feeling that Yanis had taught many times, but she could never quite grasp—a strong confidence to "break with tradition," an arrogant creative desire to "rewrite the world with her own will"...

A sense of "ordinary paper cannot constrain me" and "static images cannot confine my imagination" is the desire to fully project the "flowing beauty" etched in one's mind onto paper.

Without Iver, Isabel doesn't know when she would have had such inspiration...

At that moment, she had a clear premonition.

—If she could see the scene of Iver giving a lecture, perhaps she could draw her first magic painting.

Thinking of this, following her instincts and intuition, she tentatively asked, "Iver, when is your next lecture?"

"Around this time next week, what's up?"

"May I sit in on the class?"

"Isabel pleaded."

... Isabel's aggressive tendencies are so strong when she's with someone she knows?

Iver took a rare deep breath, tapping his right index, middle, and Nameless rapidly on the wheelchair armrest to calm his slightly agitated mind. "It's... no problem. But 'Modern History'... you probably don't need to study it, right?"

"Actually, it was the Final Exam for the sketching class."

Isabel answered affirmatively, because it wasn't a lie, and she wasn't good at lying. "Our teacher wants us to draw a portrait. Can I have you as my model? I'll pay you."

"There's no need to pay," Iver said gently. "If possible, could you give me the painting after the teacher has graded it? After all, no one has ever painted my portrait before; this is the first one."

"No?"

Isabel let out a soft "Huh?"

In her mind, portrait painting was a perfectly normal thing. Before her teacher came, she would leave behind several paintings every year. But after her teacher came, she painted almost one painting every month.

From the age of seven until nineteen, her own busts, full-length portraits, and even group portraits of her and her family are housed in four entire rooms of the Silver and Tin Palace.

But even if they're not royalty... the Moriarty Family must be quite wealthy, right?

"Didn't Professor Moriarty commission an artist to paint a picture of you?" Isabel, somewhat puzzled.

"No, there isn't."

Iver replied affirmatively, "Not only me. Yulia, my brother Edward, and even my father himself never had their portraits painted. I haven't even seen any portraits of our ancestors in my own home. I think this might be some kind of tradition in the Moriarty Family."

"I see..."

But soon, Isabel suddenly noticed the word "first picture".

She immediately became serious, and for a fleeting moment, a jade-like gleam flashed in her pupils.

This was the first time Iver had seen Isabel with a serious expression.

He was a little unaccustomed to it for a while.

"The first portrait painting..."

Isabel nodded, and a jade-green light flickered in her eyes once more, like a heartbeat.

"I understand, I will prepare well, Iver."

This time, Iver saw it clearly— Isabel herself didn't even realize that she had just experienced a momentary resonance with the Path of Beauty.

... With a pure "obsession with beauty" in her heart, will the Princess start leveling up rapidly now? If she really manages to create a magic painting with only Second Level "All-rounder", she will probably advance to the next level by the middle of next month at the latest!

Although Iver was advancing in both paths at the same time, in his mind... he could advance faster than them just by "Dedication Path", so he had to wait for the other two.

... Now, is it possible that I might not be able to keep up with her? Iver also became a little more serious.

Then I need to start leveling up; I can't let Mr. Fox be looked down upon.

He made only a tiny change to the plot he was familiar with. It had almost no impact on the world, the era, or the political situation... but this tiny change, when projected onto Isabel, almost completely altered her life.

Upon realizing this, Iver fell silent for a moment.

He also vaguely gained a new understanding of the path of "dedication," and a golden-red light flashed in his eyes.

Similarly, Iver himself was unaware of this. But Isabel noticed a fleeting, somewhat familiar glint in his eyes.

It was only for a moment, and she couldn't see clearly. So she was only slightly taken aback, but didn't make a sound.

... In short, let's wait a week and see.

Once she's officially ready to paint Iver, she'll open her magic eye. Then she'll be able to see clearly.

Will his "color" be a reddish-golden radiance? More like fire than light, yet neither scorching nor burning. Like the setting sun, or the rising Rising Sun.

If Iver really is Mr. Fox...

She felt a mix of emotions, a flurry of feelings rising and falling in an instant. But soon, those chaotic thoughts returned to their pure state.

—That would be wonderful.

She thought to herself.

First 10,000 subscriptions! Hooray! Cat's first time surpassing 10,000 subscriptions! (Running lap) Thank you everyone for your support! Thank you to Beichuan Nanhai and Baps Theorem for the generous donations! And! A huge thank you to Tian Ze Lu for the golden cuteness donation—

Thank you so much, Tianze! I'm bowing my head in gratitude! My completely depleted cat food supply is visibly replenished again! I'm so happy I survived! Today's update is over 8,000 words, so consider it an extra chapter! Yesterday, when it went on sale, I only had 2,000 words saved up. I started writing furiously as soon as I woke up, and at midnight I was so tired I took a nap. After getting up, I continued writing until 11:30 AM, finally finishing 12,000 words. Fourteen hours of frantic writing, my hands are numb, and I've only just managed to complete the 14,000-word update for sale...

I wrote these 8,000 words until 11 o'clock today, and when I looked up, I saw that it had already reached 10,000 subscriptions!

Waaah, I'm so tired I could faint! But I'm still so happy! Years of hard work have finally paid off! Thank you everyone! I'll keep updating diligently, waaaah, trying my best to keep updates consistent and cram in as many words as possible!! Time to sleep—(peacefully)