Bery looked over the painting on the wall. The moment they left the room, it was something that Aqua got excited to show her. There was the depiction of a village of fairies, and Bery did enjoy gazing at it. However, she had a strange feeling inside of her while staring at it. I think I could paint something even better than this…

"What do you think, Bery? This was done by a painter from Dryadilis who goes by Uriel."

Bery's ears wiggled at the question presented to her. She scanned the landscape even more, looking for details where there were none. She noticed that many of the trees didn't have any signs showing they had a texture to them. She noticed that the shadows could be better. The kitten kept noticing things that she regularly did in her own painting, yet she couldn't bring herself to say that the artist was bad. They had their own way of depicting expressions, and each fairy seemed lively with their small painted faces.

The kitten grinned. "I think this artist has done a very good job…"

Aqua wiggled her eyebrows. "But?"

Valerie smiled and placed a hand on the kitten's shoulder. "I think that my little kitten finally noticed what I've already seen long ago. She is better than this painter."

Bery flinched and rushed to shake her head. "I would not say I am better, but...I have a better understanding of textures. Look at these trees. It's like the artist didn't think the scenery was as important. The faces are all textured and expressive, but these trees are hollow. Maybe this painter was going for this kind of thing?"

Aqua raised an eyebrow and led the kitten to the next painting in the hallway. "What about this one?"

Bery's gaze flickered towards the painting. Again, it was well-crafted. This one had a cityscape with happy smiling elves, but their proportions were off. It was as if the painter didn't know how bodies were constructed. Come to think of it, how did Bery know such a thing?

The kitten thought back to her paintings even from a young age. All of them were trying to mimic reality that surrounded her, while also being their own fabrications, yet Bery had crafted each painting with some kind of understanding of the proportions she drew. She could compare them to real world items, and they were uncanny.

Bery's eyes widened, and she placed a hand on her chin, wondering about this mystery. Was it because she painted things since childhood? Perhaps it was something to do with her being a Kanai'n? Though, she didn't want that possibility to be true. Wouldn't that discredit all of her hard work?

Valerie placed a hand on the kitten's shoulder. "Don't be so bothered by these things. You have gotten this good at painting because of your own hard work. That's why I kept telling you how impressive you are, even if you don't want to see it."

Aqua nodded along with Valerie. "It is no accident that even someone like me came to learn about you. You needn't be down on yourself. The truth is that in this era a lot of kingdoms have forsaken art. It is only natural that the amount of artists who can be called amazing are limited."

The empress gestured further down the hallway to a completely different painting with its own style. "Take a look at this one."

Bery looked it over, and her eyes caught the image of a blizzard. There was a lone brown cabin, and the storm raged with the white paint. Snow fell down onto the landscape, and she could almost hear the crunching of it just by looking at the footprints leading up to the cabin. There was a small wooden fence around it, and a trail of blood led inside, the darkness shrouding the inside of the cabin from the viewer.

Upon seeing it, Bery's reaction was completely different. Not only was the texture of everything so vibrant, but it gave you a feel for what it was really like to be there. The idea of dying in that frozen cabin was a real one, and it gave her goosebumps.

"Who painted this one?"

Aqua grinned. "I have no idea. Someone sold this painting to me, but I am willing to guess that it originated from the vampires. This kind of thing seems like what they are into, and look at the rim of the painting."

Bery looked at the frame, noticing the golden and crimson patterns locking together. She found herself imagining Elanore, and she sighed. That girl would be more likely to try and steal something like this.

"What's the matter?" Aqua asked. "Are you surprised about the quality?"

Bery nodded. "I think I am starting to understand. I could not say that I would be able to paint something like this so easily. Even the snow is given a texture."

Valerie shook her head and pulled out one of Bery's paintings. It was the one that the kitten painted before they reached the Granchin city. The beach extended on the canvas, and one could see the texture of the sand next to the water. They could clearly see the birds that flapped their wings above its surface.

Bery's face reddened, but Valerie would not allow her to hide behind some inadequacy.

"She is more than capable of painting something like that, wouldn't you say?"

Aqua looked over the painting with wide eyes, finding herself mesmerized.

Even the little fairy flapped her wings and stared at the image. "I can't believe that you were able to paint something like this."

Aqua nodded. "Do you have any idea how much this would go for at a royal auction? In fact, if you are able to, I would love if you could sell this directly to me…"

Valerie retracted the painting and put it back in her storage. "Do not think that you can monopolize Bery's paintings. This was merely to illustrate a point."

Aqua sighed. "I know." She looked over to Bery and nodded. "You could definitely paint something like this if you ever went to such a region. I suspect that you have limited understanding of snow, but if you were able to see it, you could do it. This is indeed not something that one learns quickly."

The kitten found herself squirming from all of the honest praise, and her tail waved uncomfortably behind her. She pushed her fingers together nervously, and she looked down at the blue carpet for comfort. "Thank you. It makes me happy that people feel this way, but I have also never…"

Valerie pet the kitten's head. "Emary had known all along. I am sure the merchant's guild did as well. It's natural that I recognized. I couldn't take my eyes off of you."

Bery breathed several deep breaths and exhaled. "I would be happy to paint something for you, but I have no idea what that would be."

Aqua smiled. "Let's take a walk around the city. I am sure that if you see what it has to offer, then you will be inspired."

Valerie crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Don't think I have no idea what you are doing."

"It's just as you said," Aqua said with a wink. "I am unscrupulous."

Bery found herself laughing and grabbed onto Valerie's arms. "Don't you worry, my dragon. Didn't you say that you wanted to see me in different outfits? This is the perfect place! Just look at Aqua's outfit!"

The empress twirled, her elegant, fluffy robes spinning with her movement. She took the fan from her side and waved it around. "Not only can you dress like me, you can also act in the same manner."

Bery looked at the spinning elf girl in front of them with a wry smile. "That might be taking it a little to far."

Valerie's arm wrapped around the kitten's waist. "Maybe you should dance after all. It's only natural for the kitten to learn to dance before she is married."

The dragoness twirled the kitten back towards the throne room, until Bery felt her stomach churning.

"Stop!" The kitten yelped. Only when the world stopped spinning did she turn to glare at her dragoness. "I don't think that is how people are supposed to dance at all!"

Valerie struggled against laughing. She nodded and knelt before Bery, grabbing the kitten's hand. The dragoness pulled it towards her lips, planting a kiss on the back of Bery's palm. "I apologize, my wonderful kitten."

Bery felt her face going red again, especially considering that they were doing this in front of Aqua and the little fairy. "I accept your apology. Can you please get up?"

Aqua grinned and decided to pay the kitten back for her earlier teasing. "Come on, we are all friends here, are we not? What's a little affectionate display against friendship?"

The fairy stuck out her tongue and wrinkled her nose. "I for one think that such displays are unbecoming."

Bery grit her teeth, and her eyes shot towards the silly little fairy. "Is that really true? But you practically worship the most unbecoming lady of them all!"

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