The Grand Exhibition and the Ghostly Portrait
Ten years had passed.
It was the 582nd year of the Imperial Calendar.
With the long night of chaos having passed and the extreme cold of the long night beginning to blanket the mountain peaks.
At the art museum of the imperial capital Robrok, an exhibition was in full swing.
The pan-continental exhibition hosted by the Imperial Family, inviting famous figures from across the entire continent.
“It’s cold today.”
Lacitea Crase was one of them.
Having come of age, she had embraced a new sense of ease and dignity. She stared quietly at the white breath of the person beside her before handing over the item in her hand.
“Please go inside.”
Sorap, who had received the silk cloth, replied with perfect manners.
He was supporting a rectangular frame wrapped in a curtain with one hand.
After nodding, Lacitea entered with a dignified stride.
“Welcome!”
A bright voice rang out as the high heels of her shoes struck the marble floor.
She was an exhibition guide.
“Oh my, your style is truly wonderful! The natural elegance that comes with a flower-like beauty… Please allow me to ask your name?”
The guide praised her appearance before casually asking her identity.
Though a guide, she was no ordinary maid or attendant. If she was from the Pan-Continental Exhibition, she was likely a lady-in-waiting.
As a noble daughter, her eyes were sharp enough to separate the noble from the common.
Yet Lacitea smiled lightly and introduced herself.
“The Baron of Uristia, Lacitea Crase.”
“Eh… ah!”
The guide, who had hesitated for a moment, showed surprise.
Her expression was sincere.
“The Lord of the Crase family! I saw your name on the invitation list. Then… that thing over there…?”
The guide’s gaze shifted to the silk cloth held by Sorap.
Lacitea nodded in affirmation, and the guide continued with delight.
“I see! I heard it was on loan, but I really wanted to see it once!”
“Is that so? Thank you. May I ask you to guide us?”
Lacitea smiled faintly and subtly urged her forward.
Surprisingly, the guide, who had revealed her ulterior motives, snapped back to her senses.
“Y-yes! Please follow me!”
The luxurious dress fluttered, and the sound of the shoe heels echoed. Maintaining her smile, Lacitea walked gracefully.
……A few months after the Snake God disappeared, the war had begun.
The rivalry for supremacy among the city-states was base and vile. Both sides spared no means or methods.
They had been pushed into a corner and even faced crisis. Yet in every such moment, a woman had served as their guiding light.
A strong and dignified flower that never bent in any weather.
Keeping that image in mind, she had endured.
And now she stood here.
The ultimate victor was Lacitea Crase, and the world remembered only her.
“It seems your aesthetic sense has returned. Isn’t that right, Sorap?”
“I am a complete layman in art.”
On the inner wall, various paintings were on display.
Each one was of superior quality.
The two men and women walking around viewing the paintings drew the attention of the other visitors.
“Who is that? Do you know her?”
“Are they a couple? The man seems a bit too old for that….”
“Such a face has never been seen in the empire.”
They were mostly noblewomen who enjoyed gossip.
They had become paintings simply because the two people were drawing enough attention.
The woman was young and beautiful, while the man carried a rigid and taciturn aura.
“I wish I could meet that gentleman once….”
The noblewomen were almost all showing interest in Sorap, but the couple paid them no mind, and soon the guide announced cheerfully.
“We have arrived at the inner chamber!”
After the door closed, Lacitea looked around with wide eyes.
It was a majestic landscape. Wide and tall, the ultimate nobility could almost be called sacred.
“May I present the item?”
“……Yes.”
The guide who had taken the silk cloth carefully untied the strings.
When it was revealed, the guide’s eyes sparkled.
It was an orrery.
“This is the ‘automatic music player’….”
A noble treasure that had flowed in after a woman.
Lacitea had used it enthusiastically and currently enjoyed quite a reputation.
When the device was activated, the melody flowed out.
“That machine…!”
“It’s a truly beautiful sound….”
The gaze of the visitors who had been viewing the paintings shifted.
The orrery was to be placed in the inner chamber for the distinguished guests.
Because it had been rented to the empire through a contract.
“The period is until the exhibition ends.”
“I know! Since I’ve received the treasure, feel free to look around. If you have any questions, please ask anytime.”
“I will.”
Lacitea hesitated and glanced at the painting beside her.
It was a painting of a man riding in a golden carriage. Strangely, his expression was dejected.
The guide, sensing the question, explained.
“It is the work of Bulise, the Lady of the Grifeon family. The title is ‘The Humble Glutton Riding in a Golden Carriage’.”
The bright voice continued.
“A very high-quality work! The satirical combination of the golden carriage and the glutton. Moreover, the man’s dejected expression… many speculations have been made about the meaning….”
She seemed uninterested.
Lacitea listened casually and took a step forward. She swept her eyes across the walls and stopped at a point.
“……”
She took a momentary breath.
A larger-than-usual frame positioned in the center to announce its status.
The title was visible first.
“The Landscape of the Falling Snow.”
A sentimental title.
It did not spark much thought.
The problem appeared when she looked up.
“This is….”
A broken carriage.
A woman surrounded by humans in black clothing.
Beautiful brushwork stood out, but the single element that pulled her in was this.
The woman with blue-white hair… was extremely familiar.
The guide interpreted her expression differently.
“It is magnificent! It is the work of the Crown Prince Artan Prickus, His Highness!”
Passing that statement through her ears, Lacitea stared blankly at the painting.
It was clearly her.
Even after ten years, it had not faded.
Truly perplexing.
On that day, when the Black Disaster was slain, she had left.
She had said she was going east. Curious, but the outbreak of the full-scale war had swallowed everything, and there had been no time to investigate.
The interest and concern resurfaced when she entered a period of stability several years later.
“The broken carriage means trials! The central woman is said to represent the Winter Goddess or Snow Spirits, and I don’t know exactly, but the cold and dignified figure, and the way she posed even in crisis….”
She questioned everyone.
She traveled everywhere, collecting rumors and information, and even met with the hosts.
Yet there was no gain.
After days, weeks, and even years, Quillere had simply disappeared as if evaporated.
It was incomprehensible.
From Lacitea’s perspective, she was not the kind of person who could vanish like that.
She was like a star.
A person who shone wherever she was and showed her position.
“The black group is interpreted as some sort of profane concept, and linking it with the popular absolute….”
In the past ten years, there had been no confirmed traces of Quillere. What then was this painting?
Lacitea’s eyes narrowed as she analyzed it.
The beauty that transcended species, the unique white sobok, and the wide-brimmed fedora hat on her head.
Only those who had seen her could paint it like that.
Crown Prince Artan Prickus.
She was certain he had witnessed her. It might be necessary to meet him.
“Considering the title, the interpretation that it is a reflection of a youthful you dominates. His Highness the Crown Prince is indeed brilliant, but even he had a youth….”
“A beautiful work. Indeed, it is His Highness the Crown Prince.”
She praised it simply and gestured to Sorap.
He lifted the curtain of the frame he was holding and handed it to the guide.
“You will take my painting as well?”
Lacitea smiled.
The guide scanned the frame she had received and let out a sigh of admiration.
“Wow… A painting with delicate brushwork and grand scale! This must be expressing an event from ancient Uristia?”
“I am glad you recognize it.”
The background of the painting was majestic.
The rampage of the great black snake, the chaotic streets, the lone woman facing it, and the snowstorm soaking her above.
“What is the title?”
Looking again, the scene from that day and Quillere resurfaced. Where was she now?
Lacitea had newly built a hypothesis — something more than human, a higher being. Where was she?
Considering the meaning, Lacitea answered brightly.
“The Fallen God.”
The frigid Snowfield.
A gray snowstorm had dimmed the world as never before. The snowy castle in the heart of the Snowfield was shrouded in gray.
Yet the ruins of the abandoned god were slightly different.
Instead of gray, black energy swirled.
Krooooh—!
With a roar that shook the heavens, a massive being descended.
A life form like a single art piece of mixed white and silver.
When Mishura landed, the black energy wriggled and gathered in one place.
It reshaped itself by kneading and twisting its body into a new form.
[……]
It was a ‘large lizard’ showing sharp claws.
The Dragon King had accepted it as meaning mockery.
─────!
The battle began.
White breath sprayed, but the mass of black thoughts dodged skillfully and attempted infiltration.
[The impure…!]
Mishura also responded with skillful movements.
She narrowed her brows.
An enemy that no one could defeat, not even the Dragon King’s defense.
But it was fine. It was only a small portion.
‘Just like always’ — she frowned.
Saaaa—!
More energy flowed in from the ground through the dragon’s size.
Mishura was drenched in doubt.
[Again… Is it not boring?]
She knew its identity.
The Black Disaster. She did not know its true name, but it was called that way in the world — an enemy with no one unaware.
For a long history, it had sown countless disasters.
But recently its movements had been mysterious.
Under some reason, it was rampaging again.
In the past ten years, the creature had shown its presence on the continent.
[No matter how many times, it will not go as you wish!]
The Snowfield was one of them.
The disaster had lingered in the Snowfield right after Quillere returned.
At first it was only extremely weak, unable to touch the Dragon King’s power.
But every time it came, it had grown stronger. As if the sealed power was loosening.
When asked what its purpose was, two guesses were possible.
One was the god’s ruins.
It was obvious that the Obelisk was one of the disaster’s top priorities.
Having come in this state, the possibility was high.
No.
The eastern ruins belonged to the ‘master.’ She had been ordered to protect the Snowfield.
Still, it was better than the second guess.
Because the second guess was…
[—Disappear immediately!]
Even if it could not be killed, the disaster had been asleep for a hundred years.
Its activity had resumed ten years ago.
It coincided with the time Quillere left the continent.
Was this truly coincidence?
─────!
The agile lizard swung its claws.
It was an infiltrating blade. Mishura endured the damage and charged.
[I will kill you again and again!]
If her guess was correct, it was even more impossible.
There was no fixed form for a god. Even Mishura had not seen the master’s true appearance.
But now it was manifesting on the ground in human form.
She could not ask directly, but something might be wrong with its body.
Because of that injury, she had returned…
Gwiguk- Kwaik!
[……!]
She bit and shattered the wobbling lizard.
The black thoughts vanished, and black streams scattered. Feeling the numb cheek from infiltration, Mishura muttered.
[……I will not be able to touch it at all.]
She had fought the disaster many times.
She had not told Quillere this fact. She would have known naturally.
Recognizing a threat to herself, Quillere had responded calmly without mentioning it.
Mishura had taken that as an expression of trust.
[The Snowfield and… protecting that person is this servant’s fate…]
Her mission that she had performed since ancient times.
No one or nothing could interfere. It had been so until now.
But the disaster was growing stronger and stronger.
Different from herself, whose growth had already ended. How long could she hold it back? She wondered.
[……That is not the case.]
She shook off the suspicious suspicion.
Forcing her eyes wide, she glared at the opposite side.
Gray eyes pounded the Dragon King’s entire body.
In the center of the Snowfield, the Snow Castle.
I was in my room on the top floor.
“Uhm….”
The room was as before — bed, drawers, desk, clothes in the closet, guitar, and so on. It was spectacular.
I had not slept, and the clothes were in the dressing room. It was all useless talk.
Yet there was one reason: boredom.
That was it.
Surprisingly, humans could do meaningless things under the pretext of killing time.
“……Hah.”
I propped my chin and stared blankly out the window.
Due to the hazy eyes, it was misty like muddy water.
“It would be nice if the weather were better.”
Damp weather also disrupts a person’s mood.
Of course, it was not for such sentimental reasons. A much more constructive reason.
……I had to go out soon.
At that moment, the door burst open.
-Quilly!
“Knock.”
I reflexively shot out.
Prike, as if understanding, came back out, knocked, and entered.
-Quilly!
“……What is it?”
I swallowed a sigh and tried to become cold.
It had been the same scene many times. No matter how much Prike was, he would not understand unspoken words.
He was learning, but every time a different one came.
-Everyone is making snowmen! Exciting! The snow is the color of a wolf!
“That is silver, and the snow falling now is gray.”
Eventually a sigh escaped.
The Prikes who could transform into silver wolves.
To those who had not seen other creatures, wolves would be silver.
Because they had not been to the Snowfield. And they could not go out either.
Prike continued energetically.
-The Yetis are having a snowball fight! I participated too, but I only got hit!
“Ah, I see?”
-Yeah! And… Sasquatch built a castle in the castle, but when I went in, it collapsed! I put a lot of effort into making it!
That made sense.
Since the creature could not fit into a small scale to enter.
Anyway, that was not the important part.
“Let’s get to the point.”
-And also… huh?
“What is the thing you want to say?”
I had expected it, but I asked out of courtesy.
The words that returned with a smile were exactly as expected.
-Let’s play together too, Quilly!
“Get out.”
-Uwaaa…!
I pushed it out with breath.
To Prike, who had immunity to cold, it was just a strong wind.
“How many times do I have to say it?”
It was not that I hadn’t said it, but today I had heard it countless times.
Normally I might have ignored it, but today it was quite unsettling.
-Hiiing……
“Close the door and go.”
-Uhm.
He listened to words well.
Was this the feeling of a parent raising twins?
In my case, I was not at the twin level, but.
“Hah….”
Sighs kept coming. They said sighing made you old.
Well… I had been like this for ten years, so it did not matter.
I closed the window and headed to the desk.
I had come to the castle out of fear of the world’s changes, but I had not stayed only there in the meantime.
To learn something, information collection was essential.
Occasionally I visited villages near the Ice Mountains, places where I could escape at any time.
I had obtained this ‘uncomfortable information’ at that time.
With strong doubt and a trace of irritation, I unfolded the extra paper on the desk.
I had seen the content dozens of times, but it still bothered me.
Special News! The Rampage of the Red Disaster!
What kind of talk is this…?