Chapter 79: Gallery

Wind carried the faint scent of charcoal and ink, until they stopped before a structure unlike the others. Its facade was simple but elegant as arched windows framed in dark wood, and panes wide enough to let in generous light. Soft golden light spilled onto the cobblestone outside where above the door hung a modest sign etched in silver as it read: ’The Luminara Gallery’

Lucrezia read it twice. “A gallery?” She asked.

“An art house,” Vespera corrected softly before adding, “Exhibition, studio, sanctuary… depending on the day,”

Lucrezia managed an ’oh’, staring at the sign, recalling Edhira’s words about painting on the day of her arrival. Why did it surprise her that such skill was abhorred in the land of the gods?

Before her thought took another lane, “Let’s go,” Vespera stepped forward, leading them towards the entrance, before pushing the door open.

Warmth greeted them first carrying a dry, comforting heat of a room filled with canvases and lamplight. The scent of oil paint, parchment, and varnished wood mingled in the air. Somehow, the atmosphere coupled with the air in the room, carried an invisible weight off her shoulders.

Lucrezia stepped inside, buzzed with a lively sort of chaos as voices murmured, charcoal scratched across paper, and the occasional burst of laughter that rose and faded again. Her eyes brightened at the sight of such stir displayed around the corner where everyone seemed absorbed in their own craft, taking a moment to drink in the scenery of such… magnificence portrayed simply.

Along one side of the room, models stood or reclined upon raised platforms. Their bodies were bare beneath the glow of tall windows, and the shine of their skin. Men and women alike held steady poses while artists sat before them with boards and charcoal, capturing every curve, shadow, and line.

Lucrezia’s gaze lingered longer than she intended. She found herself fascinated by the elegance of their form, from the slope of a shoulder, the quiet strength in the arch of a spine, and the way light rested against skin like pale silk.

But when her eyes drifted, quite accidentally, toward the men—

Heat rushed to her face.

Oh gods…

She turned away so quickly her hair brushed her shoulder. Clearing her throat under her breath, she focused her attention on the nearest wall of sketches, pretending sudden interest in the charcoal studies pinned there.

Why have they come here?!

“Don’t be shy, Anastasia,” a voice said gently beside her. It was Vespera who looked at her with a gaze that made her wish the ground would open and swallow her. “There is nothing here the human body was not meant to show,”

Lucrezia pretended to be fascinated by a charcoal sketch of a hand. Of anything in the world, this was the last place she’d imagined spending her day in. “That is… very reassuring,” She murmured.

Vespera tilted her head, studying her, before a spark of mischief flickered in her eyes. “What?” She asked with a teasing voice. “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen one before,”

Lucrezia blinked. “Seen… what?”

Vespera lowered her voice conspiratorially and gestured vaguely toward the models. “You know. All of it.”

The words landed like a dropped stone. All of… what? She wondered innocently but the look on Vespera’s face caused hers to warm instantly.

She opened her mouth, closed it again, and looked anywhere but at her. “Well,” She began carefully, “…that is not exactly something one… examines closely in a polite society if you ask me,”

Vespera stared at her for a moment. Confusion, uncertainty, disbelief… and then her brows lifted as realization sank in. “You’re serious,”

Lucrezia cleared her throat softly and folded her hands behind her back, suddenly finding the studio floor deeply fascinating.

“I was raised with certain… expectations of modesty,” Lucrezia added softly. “Things a lady should and shouldn’t do. I find this, deeply scandalous for a lady should a gentleman wish to court her…” She was referring to Vespera whose mischief on her face faded, replaced with something closer to astonishment, and then shock.

“You mean to say,” She said slowly in a straight voice, “…you have never—”

Realizing the direction the topic wandered off, Lucrezia clapped a hand lightly against Vespera’s sleeve. “Oh look,” she said quickly, gesturing toward a large canvas nearby. “… that artist has captured the light on the shoulders beautifully, don’t you think?”

Vespera blinked at the abrupt change of subject.

Lucrezia nodded with exaggerated seriousness, as though the painting had been the most important thing in the room all along.

“Yes,” she added briskly, already walking toward it, “… a very impressive technique.”

Behind her, Vespera let out a quiet laugh. “Oh, this conversation is far from over.”

Lucrezia pretended not to hear, sincerely looking at the walls this time. Deciding to take a small stroll herself since Vespera left to meet a small group at one corner, Lucrezia observed the paintings lined on the walls in deliberate spacing.

Landscapes of Blackvale’s forests in autumn flame. Portraits of townsfolk captured mid-laughter. Studies of horses mid-gallop, with their muscles rendered with astonishing precision. One wall held charcoal sketches pinned in careful arrangement like unfinished thoughts frozen in graphite while another… another held a striking painting of a naked man.

Lucrezia’s face heated and she swallowed, clearing her throat softly. Dragging the shawl higher over her shoulder, she looked away, her gaze wandering across the studio instead.

Voices and laughter danced in the room with precision as everyone engaged in one thing or the other. It felt almost sacred as each person was absorbed in their own small world of creation.

And yet… Lucrezia felt the pull again and her eyes drifted back to the painting. For a moment she resisted, and then, quite against her better judgment, she let the intrusive thought win and stepped a little closer, drawn by a curiosity she could not quite silence.

The man in the painting sat upon the edge of a bed draped in soft linen, one arm resting lazily against the mattress behind him. The sheets gathered loosely around his hips, not quite concealing him, as though they had been disturbed only moments before.

Light from an unseen window poured across the scene in warm, golden strokes, bathing his skin in a soft glow. Above all, the highlight of the painting was that he was smiling.

It was ethereal.

Lucrezia gaped at the art in awe, and at the smile that wasn’t proud or formal of a noble portrait, but something gentler… something… intimate.

It was the sort of smile meant only for the person standing behind the painter’s easel. A pang of jealousy hit her chest for a fleeting moment.

Trailing down, Lucrezia noticed his dark hair fell loosely about his shoulders in a slightly tousled manner, as the artist had captured every careless strand with patient attention. His chest was broad but not exaggerated, the lines of muscle defined by the quiet play of shadow and light. The rise of his collarbones, the subtle curve of his ribs, the relaxed strength in his shoulders… it all felt remarkably alive.

The brushwork softened along his stomach, where the light traced faint lines across his form before descending lower. There, the artist had not been shy with detail, which Lucrezia found herself heated in utter embarrassment.

She should look away… a lady such as herself shouldn’t look… but her eyes wandered further before her brain could comprehend.

The lines of his… thing… were suggested with deliberate care, and shaded with the same patience given to the rest of him. It was simply present, as natural as any other part of the human body.

And amongst all, it was… huge. How can such a thing be so… Lucrezia stared, and her ears burned.

Lucrezia had never seen a man unclothed in her entire life. Truthfully, her understanding of the male form was embarrassingly limited beyond the simple knowledge that they did not possess… breasts.

And at that moment she realized with sudden horror, that the smile on his painted face somehow made the whole thing worse. It felt as though he were aware of her staring.

For one treacherous moment, one utterly unforgivable moment, Lucrezia imagined him in that painting. Seated just so, smiling at the unseen artist with that same quiet warmth. Only for the fact that he never smiles.

You haven’t given him a reason to.

Lucrezia’s eyes widened slightly at the unannounced thought, and horror bloomed in her chest.

Gods above.

“Oh gods,” She whispered under her breath, turning away so quickly her hair swung against her back. What are you doing?!

Lucrezia tugged her shawl tighter around her shoulders as if modesty could be restored by pretense alone. How on earth could she think of such a thing?!

Her embarrassment spiraled faster than she could gather her composure, and heat rushed to her face. She pressed her lips together, turning sharply away from the canvas.

Surely this place, this room filled with unapologetic displays of the human form, was to blame, she thought out loud. It unsettled her senses, muddled her thoughts, and led her mind wandering where it had no business going.

***

A/N: Hello readers!

I’m deeply sorry for the delay which left the book on hiatus. Unfortunately, my exams took an unexpected turn, and thankfully, it was rounded up this month, leaving me unburdened to update and write more Chapters before resuming studies once again. I know the consequences of my action have let a lot of people down, but I do hope to make it up to y’all soon:)

It feels so good to be back on the journey of our dear Lucrezia and Vaeron, and I just wanted to remind y’all that this book wouldn’t have been made possible without every single one of you.

Lots of love,

Ace_zza.

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