Chapter 1452: A New Name
Inside the Mystique Realm, Lucas found himself standing in awe, his gaze sweeping over a world that felt both dreamlike and startlingly real.
Every detail seemed touched by a master’s hand. He wandered through the manor’s grand halls, his footsteps echoing softly against the polished wooden floors. With keen curiosity, he examined every corner, taking in the craftsmanship and hidden nuances.
Then, in one room, he came upon a curious piece of furniture. It was a large wooden chair with a small table placed in the middle. Upon the table lay a board game that resembled chess, but it had round pieces and each one bore an unfamiliar letter etched on top, along with symbols he could not read or understand. Nevertheless, it looks very interesting; he might have asked Zhao Li Xin how to play it.
Lucas’s gaze caught a few tall, ancient vases that stood like silent sentinels in the corners, their glazed surfaces whispering of centuries past. The mingling scents of sandalwood incense and aged cedar wrapped around him, warm and familiar, pulling him deeper into the illusion.
For a moment, Lucas felt as though the outside world had fallen away, and he had stepped into a place that existed beyond time, a fragment of memory made flesh.
As he continued on, Lucas stepped into a study steeped in quiet elegance. Dark wooden bookshelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling, heavy with scrolls and silk-bound volumes.
A big black wooden desk gleamed under the lantern light, its surface set with an inkstone, bamboo brushes arranged neatly, and crisp sheets held in place by a jade paperweight that screamed ’expensive’.
Then he smelled a faint curl of sandalwood smoke drifting from a bronze incense burner, mingling with the scent of aged paper and wood. Shadows from the latticed windows stretched across the polished floor, wrapping the room in a stillness that felt both timeless and alive.
But then his gaze was drawn past the desk to the wall behind it. There was a painting hanging behind the massive dark wooden chair, a black and white ink painting that was hauntingly vivid.
The painting showed the back of a woman seated on a garden bench, the vast beauty of a night-cloaked garden stretching endlessly around her.
She wore a gown unlike any Lucas had ever seen, wrapped in a delicate shawl draped loosely over her arms. Her head tilted toward the stars, her posture serene but tinged with a subtle melancholy, an unspoken longing, a solitude that reached out from the canvas.
Though her face was hidden, Lucas knew instantly who she was.