The Supermarket System

Chapter 77: 77. Paintings

After hearing the story from the young man they had just rescued, Kai spoke with Nathan and Jeny, while the others kept the young man company.

"Do you know anything about Viscount Knightley? Is his estate somewhere around here?" Kai asked.

Jeny nodded. "I know Viscountess Knightley, young master. As you know, I’m also from a noble family, and that woman used to be my friend. However, she’s very rude, full of ambition, and won’t tolerate anyone being better than her. Her mother is just as bad as she is. Neither of them likes men. But I only just found out there’s a son in that family. She was made Viscountess Knightley because there were no male heirs in the family. There’s no way that young man is just pretending—he looks exactly like the late Viscount," said Jeny.

Kai nodded in understanding, as Jeny’s explanation perfectly matched the young man’s story—even though he hadn’t even mentioned his name yet.

"As far as I know, the Viscount Knightley’s estate is about four or five kilometers from here, young master," replied Nathan.

"So we’ll be passing through that area, right? That’s good..." said Kai.

"So, are you going to bring that young man along with us?" asked Nathan.

Kai smiled broadly and nodded, "Yep! I see that young man has great potential as a knight or a wizard; he might be a big help on our journey."

Neither Nathan nor Jeny understood what Kai had just said. How could a dazed young man who’d been locked away in a tower his whole life have the potential to become a knight or a wizard?

Even so, for now, it was indeed better for the young man to stay with them until they reached Viscount Knightley’s territory.

After all, that young man was supposed to be Viscount Knightley—not his older sister.

If the current Viscountess Knightley claimed that the young man was merely the son of a concubine, they could simply take both of them to the kingdom.

In the Kingdom of Nagreize, there is a magical device that stores the DNA of nearly all the nobles under the Kingdom of Nagreize.

Besides, if the young man were the son of a concubine, the woman who is now Viscountess Knightley wouldn’t have hidden him or abandoned him in the middle of the forest.

After finishing his conversation with Nathan and Jeny, Kai returned to the young man who was sitting in front of the campfire, staring at the flames with a blank expression.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Kai asked.

"I thought you were already asleep, young master," the young man replied.

Kai chuckled at the young man calling him "young master."

"You don’t have to call me ’young master’—just call me Kai. My name is Kaileon."

Hearing that, the young man realized he hadn’t introduced himself yet.

"My name is Ricky. I’m sorry to bother you, but could I just be your servant? I can learn to do anything for you—you can think of this as my way of thanking you for your help, because I heard that healing magic is very expensive, so—"

"I could accept you as my servant, but don’t you want to go back home and claim what rightfully belongs to you?" asked Kai.

Ricky fell silent; it was clear he didn’t understand what Kaileon meant.

"Look, Ricky, after your father died, you were supposed to become the Viscount in his place, right? Are you actually the son of a concubine or—"

"I’m his biological son! I mean... My father didn’t have any concubines or mistresses; I was born to the same mother as my older sister, but my family never loved me. Only my father used to visit, bringing me books, delicious food, and apologizing for having to lock me up in that place. He said I had a disease that forced me to stay up in the tower. I’ve wanted to leave that house for so long. I don’t feel sick—I’m perfectly healthy, and I’m certain of it!" Ricky said passionately.

Kai fell silent, trying to understand why Ricky’s father couldn’t do anything while his mother and older sister kept him locked up in the tower.

But after looking more closely, Kai finally understood why they had isolated Ricky.

Ricky had different-colored eyes—one amber, the other blue. Heterochromia.

Kai wasn’t surprised that such a condition was considered a deadly disease, even though it wasn’t dangerous at all—especially if the difference in eye color had been present since birth.

"I’m sure what they’re referring to is your different eye colors. That’s heterochromia; if you’ve been that way since birth, then it’s not dangerous at all."

Ricky fell silent upon hearing Kaileon’s words. He knew Kai was right, because the only thing unusual about him since birth was his eye. But Ricky felt that was all just an excuse. He knew his mother hated his father intensely, and Ricky happened to look just like his father. The fact that Ricky was also a male, just like his father, only intensified his mother’s hatred.

Then his older sister seized the opportunity to take Ricky’s place as the heir to their father’s title.

Ricky had once appeared in public with one eye covered. That was at his father’s request, because his father was convinced they didn’t need to hide Ricky’s existence.

But then his older sister—who had now become a Viscountess, succeeding their father—suddenly pulled the eye patch aside, revealing his eye.

People were in an uproar and began to look at Ricky as if he were a monster. From that moment on, his father agreed to lock Ricky away in the tower.

Every day, the man came to visit Ricky and apologized to him.

"Perhaps you’re the only one who knows about this, Kaileon... because the others don’t know about it. They think I’m a monster. That’s why I’ve been working hard to learn magic—who knows, maybe there’s a spell that can change the color of my eyes—but I haven’t found it yet," Ricky said softly.

Kai could hear the pain in Ricky’s voice as he spoke.

***

Kai and his group resumed their journey just before sunrise.

Kai wanted to watch the sunrise against a beautiful backdrop.

Namely, a large lake, mountains with waterfalls, and a forest teeming with exotic animals and monsters.

Especially that morning, as dozens of beautiful, colorful peacocks were circling the lake.

Kai didn’t want to miss the opportunity, so he took plenty of photos and videos to capture the moment.

While Kai was engrossed with his high-tech camera, the others were also busy watching the peacocks.

One of Kai’s favorite photos was the one where the peacocks were playing around Angeline. It was a truly beautiful sight.

"This is so beautiful; I want to paint it," Ricky blurted out suddenly.

"That’s right, young master. Can we stay a little while to paint this scene?" Jo replied.

Kai, who was confused, eventually bought them both canvases, watercolors, and other painting supplies.

Kai thought they weren’t serious, but it turned out they were very serious about painting.

Just like professional painters.

Kai, who was recording them on video, couldn’t stop marveling.

Kai had no idea Jo was good at drawing.

While Jo’s painting looked more bold, Ricky’s appeared softer. Both created masterpieces that were equally beautiful.

"Usually, nobles don’t paint," Jessica remarked, admiring Ricky’s painting.

"Of course, it’s different for me, since I was locked up in a tower. Besides reading books, my favorite thing is drawing or painting. It’s not uncommon for my father to take my paintings away, though I don’t know where any of them are," said Ricky.

Hearing this, Jeny replied.

"I know your older sister, and inside the Knightley family castle there’s a sort of art exhibition featuring paintings whose creators are unknown. Some of them have been offered at high prices, but Viscount Knightley has never been willing to sell them. However, your older sister—"

"She must have sold them, right?"

Jeny fell silent after hearing Ricky’s words, because his guess was correct.

That woman ended up making a lot of money by selling the paintings in her castle. Even the Crown Prince of Nagreize was very fond of collecting those paintings. Unfortunately, there were many people who wanted to buy them. Whoever offered the highest price would get the painting.

"I have a lot of beautiful pictures, Ricky. Would you paint them for me?" Kai asked suddenly.

"What are you going to do with those paintings, Kaileon?" Jessica asked.

Kai smiled—or rather, grinned. Then he replied, "I’ll collect them and make a lot of money, hahahaha—just kidding, I have something specific in mind for all those paintings."

"I’ll paint anything you want, young master!" chimed in Ricky, looking very enthusiastic.

At that moment, Kaileon didn’t realize that someone else was feeling sad about what had happened. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Ricky getting praised... but Jo also wanted praise from his young master.

Jo thought no one knew he was feeling sad, but Angeline approached him.

"Jo... your painting is beautiful too. I really love the way you paint the sky—it’s so beautiful and almost looks real," said Angeline.

Jo just gave a faint smile, which made Angeline feel sad as well.

Angeline then glanced at Kaileon, who was busy with Ricky’s painting.

"I’m fine, princess. You don’t need to worry about me," said Jo, still with that bitter smile.

"But..."

"May I include you in my painting?"

Angeline was momentarily confused, but then she simply nodded. She then sat down in front of Jo so that Jo could paint her better.

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