The Demon King is unfathomable

Chapter 329 The Color of Fire
After Luo Yan left, the studio returned to peace.

As the night deepened, the girl who worked and studied left and closed the door for Mr. Harvey when she left.

Harvey sat alone in a chair by the window, sketch in hand, gazing at the flames rising from the silver candlesticks.

The candlelight was sometimes bright like golden holy light, sometimes dim like the gloomy sunset, and at the end there was an imperceptible hint of blue hidden in the extinguished green smoke.

He kept thinking about what Luo Yan had said before -

"Yes, that's the magic I'm best at."

“I like the color.”

flame……

What color is it?
Harvey frowned slightly and thought hard for a long time, but he still couldn't come up with a reliable answer.

perhaps--

That reply was not an answer but a puzzle.

Just as he was lost in thought, a polite knock on the door suddenly sounded. A moment later, the door of the studio slowly opened, and Cassidy Hilfen walked in from the porch with a gentle smile.

Seeing Cassidy appear at the door, Harvey quickly stood up and greeted him with a little surprise: "Your Excellency the Earl? Why are you here?"

Cassite waved his hand slightly to indicate that he didn't need to be so polite, and then continued, "I just happened to be at the Imperial Royal Academy, and I passed by here and wanted to take a look... I heard that you and His Highness Colin have met?"

"Yes," Harvey nodded. He was about to call his assistant to pour a glass of water for His Royal Highness, but then he remembered that she had already left work, so he awkwardly stepped forward and took the chair himself. "Please sit down."

Cassidy did not sit down, but walked past Harvey and came to the canvas that was drying faster under the effect of magic.

The candlelight and moonlight overlap on the surface of the canvas, making the characters' faces look both mysterious and vivid.

Admiring the lifelike Colin, Cassidy nodded approvingly, his eyes full of appreciation.

The drying process will probably take a week or two, after which it will need to be "glazed" before it can be formally framed.

However, even without going through this final step, with his understanding and appreciation of art, he could judge without hesitation that the quality of the entire painting was at least at the "excellent" level.

This is the evaluation system established by the Hilfen family for the Imperial Royal Academy of Arts and the entire imperial art world. Paintings of "excellent" quality or above are worth at least 50,000 gold coins.

The artists of the empire are one of the many money printing machines of the empire. However, what he cares about is not the tens of thousands of gold coins, but the fact that the Hilfen family’s treasury has added another heirloom treasure.

Staring at the "kind and majestic Her Highness Roxel Colin", Cassid liked her more and more, and suddenly spoke.

"How do you feel about him?"

Looking at Cassid with his back to him, Harvey hesitated for a moment and spoke carefully.

"His Highness Roxel Colin... is more cultured than I thought. He speaks elegantly and gracefully, and his every move carries the demeanor of a nobleman. I have only seen similar auras in the Duke of Valencia, Marshal Laco... and you."

After hearing this, Cassidy laughed and waved his hand.

"You don't have to flatter me. Even I feel embarrassed to compare me with these two gentlemen."

Harvey smiled shyly and scratched the back of his head.

"This is just my subjective feeling. You certainly have your reasons, but your position in my heart... is not inferior to those two gentlemen."

Cassidy smiled faintly, and did not continue on this topic, but continued to ask.

"So... do you think he looks like a prince?"

Harvey was stunned and asked in confusion.

"……Is not it?"

"Of course, I just asked casually." Cassidy said casually, "Don't worry about it."

In fact, it doesn’t matter whether it is or not.

Who in the entire Holy City doesn't have a bit of the Emperor's blood? Even the Emperor himself probably can't explain this clearly.

The ancient family that was unknown five hundred years ago was not that important from the beginning. All the elders needed was a name of "ancient" to make it easier for them to do what they wanted next.

Just like the Vatican needs a name for "piety".

As for His Majesty the Emperor, he probably doesn't care how pure the descendant's bloodline is. The Royal Knights and Marshal Laco only want to confirm his loyalty.

As long as the territory and the people are real, the Colin family's words count in the Janna continent, and this continent is firmly controlled by the empire.

that's enough.

Looking at the confused Harvey, Cassidy was about to ask something to change the subject, but his eyes suddenly fell on the draft placed aside.

A hint of curiosity appeared on his face, and then he asked with interest.

"Is this your new work? It looks... a little different from your previous style."

Harvey explained softly with a hint of smile in his eyes.

"This is a personal gift to His Royal Highness. It is just a rough draft. I have to thank His Royal Highness for his inspiration for this painting."

"Oh?" Cassiter was surprised, looking at Harvey with interest and said, "A prince from the New World can actually inspire the famous Baron Medea... I'm curious about what he inspired you with?"

"He mentioned an art style called 'abstract art'... In addition to imitating nature, painters can also use elements from nature to express their own spiritual world. You know what? After hearing his statement, I felt like I had opened the door to a new world!"

When talking about his professional field, Harvey's eyes suddenly brightened, his previous restraint was swept away, his thin shoulders were straight like pine and cypress, and his tone was filled with an undisguised enthusiasm.

He spoke vividly, his voice trembling slightly with excitement, as if every word was burning. His expression could not help but remind people of the missionary outside St. Clement's Cathedral. Any audience would be unconsciously ignited by the enthusiasm emanating from him -

Seeing Baron Medea's generous praise, the expression on Cassite's face became more and more wonderful, with a hint of disbelief in his surprise.

"I never thought that His Highness Colin would have such a deep understanding of art... It seems that I still underestimated him. The Colin family's background is indeed extraordinary."

Abstract art.

As the president of the Imperial Royal Academy of Arts and the most influential curator and collector in the entire Holy City, he had never even heard of this word!
If someone else mentioned this concept to him, he would probably sneer and think the other person was talking nonsense, but even Baron Medea gave it a very high evaluation and was even willing to create a painting specifically for this avant-garde artistic concept.

If this painting had not already been owned, he would even want to add it to his own collection!
Hearing Harvey talk about composition, color, and then color to the exploration of the spiritual world, Cassiter suddenly had an idea and asked casually.

"By the way, you asked that prince what color he liked... I'm curious, how did he answer?"

Harvey was stunned for a moment, his eyes drifting out the window. The burning flame that had been flickering in his mind was instantly extinguished by the rational night.

In fact, he could feel that the respected Mr. Cassidy was not interested in his theories.

The Holy Grail is filled with nothing but the most naked desires—

The priests just wanted to use his eyes to observe the gentleman.

"He said...his favorite color is purple." Harvey answered softly, giving the answer that Mr. Cassidy wanted best.

Cassiter looked relaxed, as if his guess had been confirmed. He smiled and nodded, saying, "Purple, a noble color... It seems that noble people always coincide with each other. I also read this color from him."

Here he paused for a moment and continued in a light-hearted tone.

"I will decorate the table with violets at the banquet tomorrow night. I'm sure the prince will feel very welcome. As for Baron Medea, I hope you can finish the gift to His Highness as soon as possible... I heard that he plans to go to the Academy later. I'm afraid he won't stay in the Holy City for too long. Don't let him leave here with regrets."

"Yes, Your Excellency." Harvey nodded respectfully until the studio door closed and the crisp footsteps faded away.

The shadow outside the window withdrew its gaze from him, like a crow flying away from a branch, and rolled back into the shadow with the colors like an overturned paint bucket.

Mr. Cassidy Hilfen did not come here alone, nor did he come here just for the sake of passing by as he said.

As for whether they are from the Inquisition, the Hilfen family, or the Pope...what does it have to do with the inconspicuous Baron Medea?

Never mind them!

A sly glint flashed in his grey-blue eyes, and Harvey strolled back to the rough draft that was only outlined with lines.

His index finger stroked the plain white drawing paper, with a faint curve at the corner of his mouth and fanaticism burning in his eyes.

"I see--"

Fire is not just any one color.

It is the color that transcends the holy light and everything in the world! Abstract art reflects the heart of the painter, not the "heart of the person being portrayed" - I think this is the metaphor in the puzzle that His Highness Colin left for him!

Harvey picked up his paintbrush again and in the empty studio, he focused on his creation that transcended his time.

this moment--

He is completely enlightened!
……

The night is dark.

The tall carriage slowly stopped in front of the main building of the Sage's Court. The entire manor was bathed in the quiet moonlight. Only the faint sound of insects accompanied Luo Yan as he walked into the wide hallway.

Stein waited by the door and watched His Royal Highness bow and salute: "Your Highness, Miss Sarah is waiting for you in the room."

The ambiguous looks from the waiters and maids around them clearly misunderstood the meaning, but their professional ethics prevented them from commenting on the nobles' hobbies in person.

This is actually nothing.

He was just a half-blood with demon blood flowing in his veins. This was only an entry-level hobby in the circle of nobles in the Holy City... There were countless more hobbies than this incredible one.

Every year the front line gets a large number of prisoners of war from hell. Even goblins can be sold as piglets to work on farms, and demons will only be sold at a higher price.

As for the torture and then being thrown to the priest for purification, that was said for the believers outside the door to hear.

Luo Yan nodded.

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Stein... I don't have any other plans tonight, so you can all go and rest. Don't come to my room to disturb me unless it's important."

"Yes, sir." Stein said respectfully, and then retreated with his servants.

Luo Yan came to the second floor alone. Before entering the bedroom, he asked Youyou to sniff around and confirmed that there were no signs of supernatural powers before he walked in.

Although he didn't think Mr. Hilfen was the kind of person who would resort to low-level tactics, he still had to be on guard against him... after all, he came wearing a mask.

When I walked into the bedroom, Sarah was already waiting by the window.

The bright moonlight shone through the gauze curtains and gently sprinkled on her delicate face. When she saw Luo Yan coming in, she immediately jumped down from the windowsill and saluted gracefully.

In addition to the etiquette that Luo Yan taught her step by step -

She even changed the way she addressed him to the style that Luo Yan expected.

"Your Highness, the high-profile return of Baron Tichi Kosia has begun to ferment. All day today, the taverns in the port area of ​​the Holy City have been discussing this baron from the New World and the legend that the Janna continent is full of gems and endless wealth. The rumors are getting more and more outrageous!"

Tuff was sleeping soundly on her pillow.

I don’t know if it’s because the weather is getting colder, but this “meat lizard” finally couldn’t resist the genetic code flowing in its blood and started to hibernate.

Luo Yan sat down on the soft armchair, took the hot tea handed to him by Sarah, took a sip with satisfaction, and said lightly.

"It seems that Tiqi did not disappoint me. His personality is just right for this kind of exaggerated performance. The more high-profile his performance is, the easier it will be for the people of the Holy City to believe us."

It won't be long before the master behind Horn will contact Teach. When he gets his land and reputation back, "The Adventures of Cosia" will immediately become a bestseller among the lower and middle classes of the entire Holy City.

And then--

Countless young men with dreams will board the ship to Deadwood Port and set foot on the dreamland where gold is everywhere.

Sarah smiled and nodded, and continued to report:
"In addition, there is good news from Lumière. He has confirmed the genealogy of the Dantes family. Although the story about Edmond Dantes is full of loopholes, fortunately... the story he told was not made up from his generation, which gives us a lot of room for modification. Lumière has compiled the details into a booklet for Your Highness to review."

Sarah said as she picked up a leather booklet from the desk behind her and handed it to Luo Yan with both hands.

Luo Yan opened the booklet, with some admiration in his eyes, and read softly.

"Very good, Lumier is always so thoughtful. I am very satisfied with his meticulousness. Now the last piece of the puzzle is complete, and we can finally start our plan."

Fakes can be divided into "old fakes" and "new fakes".

If you have to choose between the two, of course the vintage fake has more packaging value.

At least Mr. Edmond Dantes, who participated in the performance, believed firmly in what he said and would not give up halfway because of guilty conscience.

If such an unpleasant thing really happened, he could only ask this gentleman to take the secret to the grave and then find a way out from his widow and children.

If you want to take money from the devil, it doesn't come without any cost.

After pondering for a moment, Luo Yan closed the book in his hand, looked at Sarah with a smile and gave the order.

"Inform Lumire that the gifts I prepared for the Dantes family can be delivered. Loyalty Street is not a place for the Colin family. At least they should live in a decent way, lest the citizens of the Holy City think that His Highness Colin is an ungrateful person... We can't let Mr. Cosia take away the protagonist of the story."

Sarah nodded respectfully, with sincere admiration in her eyes:
"Understood, Your Highness... I will personally arrange it tomorrow morning."

Luo Yan threw the booklet into the storage space, leaned back in his chair comfortably and closed his eyes to meditate. His relaxed smile was like a crescent moon leaning against the glass window.

The bedroom was silent, with only the evening breeze outside the window gently shaking the leaves, setting the stage for the storm that was about to sweep across the holy city.

Everything was going according to his preset script.

At the same time, in an unknown corner, the sound of light footsteps and the dim candlelight filled the quiet secret room.

In front of the statue of Kalamos Melusine, a figure in a robe bowed respectfully and placed the candlestick next to the statue.

"—How's his performance?"

A low and hoarse voice floated from the shadows, like a poisonous snake hiding in the dark and spitting out its tongue.

The cloaked believers nodded respectfully.

"He acted perfectly, like a true prince... To be honest, even I couldn't see through his true face."

The statue's shadow chuckled softly, but it was impossible to tell whether the emotion was joy or just amusement.

No god would tell everything to his believers, and the believers hiding in the shadows of the hoods also knew their limits and kept silent, not asking questions they were not supposed to know.

such as--

Who on earth is that Prince Colin that deserves so much concern from Lord Karamos?

Another example--

What kind of role does this prince, who has a close relationship with hell, play that has aroused the interest of so many forces?

Lord Karamos seemed to have laughed enough, and the dark shadow fell silent, with a hint of laziness in his slow voice.

"Okay, I get it, you can leave now."

The believer was slightly stunned and spoke hesitantly.

"Don't you need me to do anything for you?"

It's not easy for them to contact each other once -

Especially under the noses of Saint Sith and the Emperor.

The shadow of the stone statue said slowly.

"Not for now. Just keep an eye on him for me. Remember to watch his every move... I need you to figure out for me what he wants to do."

Even the devil in charge of desire in hell can't see through the desire in that prince's eyes?
The believers were secretly surprised and became even more curious about the mysterious prince.

Who is this person?

pity--

Lord Karamos would not answer his questions, and as a puppet of the former, all he could do was obey.

With his hat brim pulled down to cover his chin, he bowed respectfully, as pious as when he prayed in church during the day.

"As ordered."

The statue's shadow returned to normal.

He blew out the candle and turned away.

(End of this chapter)