New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World
Chapter 202: WOMAN IN THE PAINTING

Chapter 202: WOMAN IN THE PAINTING

It was a portrait of a woman.

In the painting, a woman stood. She was dressed in exquisite clothing and she was beautiful, but her eyes... They were pained and sad.

Her beautiful eyes held so much pain and agony even though her face remained straight. It was heartbreaking that though her face revealed nothing, her eyes revealed so many emotions.

Aristia’s heart clenched tightly in pain and she held back a gasp, refraining at the last second from touching her chest. Why did it hurt so much?

Slowly, her hand touched her chest. A sob made its way up her throat. She was staring piercingly at the painting. She wanted to avert her eyes, but somehow, she couldn’t.

A piercing pain shot up her head. Her eyes closed and images flashed through her head, but she couldn’t grasp any. They were all blurry.

"It’s beautiful, isn’t it?"

A voice startled her and brought her out of whatever trance she was in. She turned around to see an old man with a cane.

"Huh?" She asked.

"The painting," the old man said, pointing to the painting with a finger, both hands still leaning on the walking stick. "Ah, forgive me for my rudeness, your Highness." He bowed.

Aristia nodded wordlessly.

"You’re sweating on a cold place like the north. Are you alright, your highness?" He asked.

Only then did Aristia realize that there were beads of sweat on her forehead. She wiped them off with her handkerchief before nodding at the old man.

"Yes, it’s beautiful." She said. Her eyes were drawn back to the painting but the man’s voice cut through again.

"Your Highness seems to have a liking for art even though you’re very young." The old man said.

Aristia returned her attention to him. "Perhaps, I got it from my great grandmother, Matriarch Hemsworth."

The old man chuckled and nodded his head. "I see."

It became silent between them as the both of them turned to the painting once again.

"The beauty of a person is in the eyes. The eyes are like doors to the inner person. So secretive yet so expressive. They contain so many secrets, yet reveal so many. Her eyes contain a lot of emotions, but pain is most prominent..." The old man began speaking again, but his eyes remained on the painting.

Meanwhile, Aristia was looking up at him.

Finally, his eyes moved from the painting to her face, his deep black eyes meeting hers. "Do you know why she looks so pained, your highness?"

Aristia thought for a moment, looking back at the painting. When she opened her mouth to answer, it was as if she had known the answer all along.

"She... feels the ache of not having the trust of the person she loves. Where she watches as that person chooses another, even though she’s innocent." Her voice was quiet and lonely and she couldn’t tell why. There was a tiny bit of bitterness in her tone that she couldn’t quite place.

Even speaking the words out loud sounded heavy on her tongue.

The old man chuckled with mirth in his eyes, but his tone was a bit sympathetic and melancholic. "That’s quite accurate..." He trailed off. Then he went silent again.

"How do you know that it’s... accurate...?" Aristia turned to look at him but discovered that there was no one there. There was no sign of the old man. She was standing in front of the painting alone.

She was shocked. "What just happened?!" She whispered, looking around.

The other people were still there and moving around, but it was as if the old man had disappeared.

She rubbed her head. [Am I hallucinating or did my brain just generate a whole conversation with a person I’ve never met?]

Both cases she thought of were the same, but that just showed how absurd everything that had just happened was.

"Tia, what are you doing here? I found a very beautiful painting." Lauren ran from somewhere and stood in front of her.

"Huh? Oh, nothing." Aristia shook her head.

Lauren turned towards the painting and the next second, her face wrinkled. "What kind of painting is this? Follow me, I’ll show you the painting I’m talking about."

Aristia stopped looking at the painting, but her gaze still lingered on it. Finally, she dragged her eyes away from the painting and followed Lauren.

The exhibition lasted for the whole day, but Aristia and her family left early. On the opening day of the exhibition, entry was free. But after that day, people would be required to pay.

In the Hemsworth Estate.

Aristia sat in the comfort of her room. The memory of the painting and the old man’s words gnawed at her insides.

The image of the woman’s pained eyes seemed to haunt her, stirring an ache inside her that she still couldn’t place.

[Why did it feel so personal?] She wondered. [Why did I say those words as if I knew them to be true?]

But one thought still lingered in her mind.

[Who was that old man? And why did it feel like he knew a lot? More importantly, how did he vanish?]

***

The day of Valen’s celebration banquet came sooner than expected. The commoners were also celebrating their lord’s birthing of an heir.

The banquet hall was decorated grandly and splendidly.

Guests arrived and filled the place. Many of the northern nobles were invited and many of them attended.

Not only would they not refuse the invitation from a pure noble, but the royal family members would also attend. None of them wanted to miss the opportunity to mingle with them.

The hall was lively, filled with conversation and the occasional peal of laughter. Lords and ladies gathered in groups, some discussing politics and alliances, others gossiping about the latest scandals.

Long tables lined with white cloth were arranged in the hall, filled with platters of different delicacies.

There was a dais at the head of the room, where Ross and Vasily sat with Valen, the center of attention, cradled gently in Vasily’s arms.

Valen was wrapped in a soft green silk blanket embroidered with the Hemsworth crest. He occasionally stirred but remained mostly quiet, as if he was aware of the grandeur of the occasion.

Vasily was dressed in a deep emerald gown. She looked radiant despite the subtle weariness of new motherhood as she gracefully receiving the noblewomen who approached her with words of congratulations.

Nearby, a group of musicians played melodies on lutes and harps.

Aristia sat with her cousins at a table near the corner of the room, surrounded by some other aristocrat children. She watched the scene at the banquet with a detached look.

She turned around just in time to see Liam staring at a particular direction with a straight face and a small frown.

Then she got the feeling of being stared at. She found the culprit across the hall. Her eyes reconnected with familiar turquoise eyes.

When their gazes met, she still looked like she wanted to claw her eyes out, but she even curtsied.

Aristia nodded in return before shifting her eyes.

[At least she remembered etiquette.]

After they had returned from the North the last time they were here, she had forgotten about the girl called Vivian Quentin.

"Tia," Lauren called her name. "What are you thinking of?"

"No," Aristia replied smoothly, placing her cup on the table. "I was just thinking of something." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"About Miss Vivian Quentin?" Lauren guessed correctly and whispered, leaning closer. "She’s been staring at you all night."

Aristia didn’t respond. Her mind drifted back to what Lauren and Liam had told her earlier about the original Aristia’s behavior toward Vivian.

[If what Lauren said is true, which it obviously is, then an apology is long overdue. Either way, maybe I should apologise to her on behalf of the original Aristia. She’s just a wronged kid and I’m an adult. But how should I even approach her?]

She turned to Liam, but she discovered that Liam was still staring at the same place.

When she followed his gaze, she found out it was the same direction Vivian Quentin was standing in.

[He probably caught Vivian staring at me again. And this kid has already learnt to put on a poker face, huh?] She thought.

His glass of juice was still lying untouched in his hand.

"What is it?" she asked, tapping his arm.

"She keeps staring at you." he said in a low annoyed voice, pointing discreetly at Vivian. "I don’t like it."

[So protective.]

Aristia thought, then said with a smirk and a sweep of her hair. "I know, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing. I’m amazing. It’s normal to be stared at." She said cockily.

[Just not that way.]

Liam and Lauren nodded seriously. "Of course you’re amazing."

At that moment, Ross stood and raised his glass. His voice drew the guests’ attention.

"I want to use this opportunity to thank everyone gathered here for honoring this event and for sharing in this joyful moment," he began.

His words were met with nods and smiles from the guests. "And I thank Lord Nerin for making this possible."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the room before lifting his glass high. "To Valen Hemsworth!"

The hall echoed with the clinking of glasses and the murmur of agreement as everyone raised their cups in a toast.

Valen woke up somewhere in the middle of the celebration and Vasily had to leave to tend to him.

Soon, the banquet ended and the guests departed. Vasily returned to see off her guests with Valen’s nanny carrying his sleeping form behind his mother.

Vasily’s face was serene, but her eyes held a bit of exhaustion.

[Of course it’s exhausting to entertain the endless stream of well-wishers. Aristia thought, glancing at Vasily. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Vasily met her gaze and smiled.

Ross held her once the last guest left. "You need to rest, my love."

Vasily nodded. Apart from entertaining guests, it looked like Valen gave her a tough time when he woke up. She looked like she needed a nap of her own.

The families headed inside the mansion, ready to retire for the night.