Chapter 567

The person I drew… is it you? Lifting his head and gazing into Phelia’s emerald eyes, Prince Andre felt an incredibly complex emotion welling up within him. He couldn’t help but fall silent for a moment before responding with a look of surprise:

“Phelia? Why are you asking this? Who else could the person I drew be besides you?”

“Andre-nii…”

The jade-eyed maiden bit her lips lightly and didn’t respond to Prince Andre’s counter-question. Instead, she turned her gaze away and softly said, “I’ve noticed that whenever you want to avoid a question, your favorite method is answering with another question.”

“…”

“Actually, during these days when I was captured by that pervert, my mind seemed to have become ‘clearer.’ I’ve understood many things that I couldn’t comprehend before.”

Lowering her head and staring intently at her sleeve, Phelia said with a complex expression: “With your drawing skills, it’s impossible for you not to be able to draw even the simplest portrait. The only reason I can think of is that the person you wanted to paint wasn’t me.”

“…”

After hearing the words from the jade-eyed maiden, Prince Andre fell silent again for a moment before continuing to paint while responding:

“No, the person I painted is you.”

“But since you couldn’t finish painting the me in front of you and kept painting the me inside your heart instead, isn’t it because deep down, you’ve never truly accepted me as your younger sister, right?”

“…”

The jade-eyed maiden said with a somewhat lonely gaze:

“Although I lack some memories, I possess most of Phelia’s soul and a body almost identical to hers. Yet, you’ve never been able to convince yourself to treat me as your younger sister, right?”

“…”

“You’ve been indulging my little whims after helping me regain my body. You’re even willing to accompany me in doing absurd things that only children would do… Are you really just humoring me, or are you trying to let me ‘replicate’ the former Phelia?”

“…”

Looking at the silent Prince Andre who was constantly buried in painting, the jade-eyed maiden couldn’t help but bite her lower lip and asked one last question.

“Andre-nii, if it had been the real Phelia who got kidnapped, would you still have ordered the artillery fire that day?”

“Scribble… snap…”

Hearing this question, Andre hesitated slightly while sketching, and the tip of the charcoal pencil in his hand broke.

That should be… no.

Without any hesitation, this rather cruel answer surfaced in Prince Andre’s mind.

To him, the real Phelia had long passed away, leaving behind only the mechanical intelligence core made using Phelia’s brain and soul.

Even though he helped her “reshape” her physical form, treated her like the real Phelia, and insisted on calling her Phelia instead of Apheta 01, this fact remained unchanged.

The real Phelia has already died!…

“Haven’t we agreed not to talk about that incident anymore?”

After replacing the charcoal pencil, Prince Andre continued painting on the canvas while soothingly saying:

“Phelia, stop being difficult. This time is different. I will soon be able to paint you.”

“What happens after you paint me?”

“It will happen.”

Prince Andre replied without looking up: “Once I confirm that I can paint your ‘soul,’ I’ll start working on ‘The Royal Palace Night Banquet.’ Then we can stay together in that painting.”

“To stay in that painting or be confined in it?”

“?!?”

Seeing Prince Andre stop painting and look up in surprise, the jade-eyed maiden couldn’t help but grit her teeth and said: “Though I don’t understand soul encoding technology, I do know something about soul research in Zone 1. The body is the escort ship of the soul, and the soul is the most reliable carrier of will and wisdom.

And that ‘Royal Palace Night Banquet’ painting, although created by you, contains people who aren’t false. Except for their inability to realize they’re in a painting and the need to follow certain rules, they are completely indistinguishable from real people. All of them have souls.”

“…”

“Andre-nii, earlier, when I looked at the Phelia being held by Mother in ‘The Royal Palace Night Banquet,’ she was the only one who was motionless in the entire painting.

What you’re preparing to do now is to put my soul inside that painting, using the soul and existence of this fake younger sister to bring the true younger sister you painted back to life. Am I right?”

“Phelia, you’re overthinking this…”

Not missing a beat, Prince Andre closed his eyes briefly, then put down the charcoal pencil and started painting while shaking his head calmly: “There’s no such thing as a true younger sister and a fake one. She is the real Phelia, and so are you. She is you, and you are her; it’s just that both of you are incomplete right now.

Once I paint you in, she will truly awaken in that world, and you can lie carefree in Mother’s arms like her… Isn’t that good?”

“That’s not good!”

The jade-eyed maiden bit her lower lip, full of disappointment:

“Even if I’m not the real Phelia, I still have a soul and body identical to hers, whereas she is just a false painting! You merely want to kill me and use my soul to bring back the Phelia you imagined!”

“She isn’t imagined; she truly exists.”

Continuing to paint on the canvas without raising his head, Prince Andre explained patiently with a calm expression:

“Although the space where they can move is smaller, it’s indeed a real world, no different from the one we’re currently in. The people inside also have bodies and souls. They are real, just existing differently from the people in this world.

Moreover, what I’m doing isn’t killing you; I’m just letting this world’s version of you rest and awakening you in that world… Have you forgotten? I planned to paint myself in too. Would I kill myself?”

“Andre, you’re truly mad!”

Realizing that no matter how she tried, she couldn’t sway the stubborn Prince Andre, the jade-eyed maiden angrily shouted in complete despair: “That pervert was right! You’re just a clown! Someone unable to face their own mistakes, seeking self-consolation in a fabricated world… You… mmm! mmm!”

Raising his hand and drawing a line in the air, directly sealing Phelia’s mouth, veins popping on his forehead, Prince Andre couldn’t help but take several hurried breaths to calm his agitated emotions. Then he said expressionlessly: “The real Phelia wouldn’t say such things. It seems you were influenced negatively during those days when you were abducted by that person.

But don’t worry. With his current abilities, he will never escape ‘The Royal Palace Night Banquet.’ After I finish painting you, I’ll immediately deal with him and won’t give him the chance to continue tainting you. You’ll have plenty of time to correct yourself.

Phelia, even if you might think I’m crazy right now, once you wake up with your true identity in that world alongside me, you’ll immediately understand… I am…”

“Snip…”

“?!??!”

Hearing the sound of fabric tearing from behind, Prince Andre’s emerald pupils involuntarily contracted instantly. Clutching the brush tightly, he turned around abruptly to find a silver blade tip protruding from ‘The Royal Palace Night Banquet’ floating behind him!

(End of Chapter)