MPBAGS Chapter 35

'Is it burned?'

For a moment, it was understandable to mistake it—the canvas was filled with such a dull color, as if covered in ash. It was a painting that didn't suit the pristine white and colorful grand temple at all. It was like a drop of ink falling into clear water.

And the moment Henna looked closely at the painting, nausea rose up from her disgust. God's blessing? Sacred? This? This painting? She doubted the aesthetic sense of people who would praise such a pile of filth. She wondered if their eyes weren't functioning properly.

Even if they had painted the most unseemly person's final moments, it would have been more beautiful than this. No, actually, the scene of Donau's suicide from before would have been better.

Against the backdrop of the wooden floor of a collapsed building that looked like a fire had just been extinguished, a cracked lump of charcoal with only a torso—no arms or legs—was screaming. Above its head, a blood-soaked single eye was blinking, and from behind, countless tiny hands that had sprung from hellfire were trying to devour the dead. The reason they looked like wings was because the small fingers were intertwined and tangled, appearing like feathers at first glance.

Do the believers know that Donau's end was suicide? According to the doctrine of the Sun God they so blindly believe in, those who commit suicide can never be embraced by Rahel's arms. Therefore, this was a scene from hell that had come to greet Donau.

"O Rahel."

"Please grant us salvation too."

Henna wanted to cover her ears. Are they really followers of the Sun God? Even Henna, who held a grudge against Donau, felt sorry for the Donau in that painting—how could they look at this and praise it?

"Indeed. It's beautiful."

"Kanna?"

And unfortunately, Kanna also seemed to find the painting beautiful.

"It seems to look different to Miss Kanna. I find that painting quite unpleasant. Miss Henna would feel the same way."

Henna nodded. It was beyond unpleasant—it was nauseating.

So Kanna finds this painting beautiful. Looking around, the people viewing the painting were staring at the canvas in a daze, as if they had taken drugs.

What kind of magic had the artist who painted this used to create such an ambivalent painting?

Henna realized why this painting was still hanging in the temple. The polarized reactions would only make the painting seem more mysterious. No matter how much truth you told to someone who found that painting beautiful, it would only be seen as an attempt to disparage the work.

"What could be the difference?"

"Well, they say it's a difference in faithfulness."

That couldn't be right. Kanna, who found the temple uncomfortable, had called the painting beautiful.

"Captain!"

"Raphaela?"

"Where have you been! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Wait a moment. Could you two wait here for a bit? It seems urgent, so I need to go to my subordinate briefly."

"Yes. We'll wait here."

From a distance, a knight in white uniform was urgently looking for Gabriel. When Gabriel asked for their understanding, Henna nodded. She wanted to quickly escape this place herself, but since Kanna was staring at the painting in a daze, she couldn't leave here alone anyway.

Even after Gabriel disappeared, Kanna had been admiring the painting with a smile for a long time when she suddenly broke the silence and spoke.

"Does that painting look different to you, sister? That pattern looks just like an eye to me."

Kanna turned away from the painting to look at Henna. Due to the exquisite angle, it looked as if wings were spread behind Kanna's back.

Henna stopped breathing. Goosebumps rose along her spine and arms. Her stomach tensed and her knees went weak. Tinnitus rang in her ears and the world spun around.

No way, no way.

An eye? What Kanna said wasn't different from what Henna had seen. Then Kanna...

'Kanna called what I saw beautiful?'

"Kanna, you..."

Henna wanted to confront Kanna. But what could she say to her sister? That she wasn't normal? She couldn't say such hurtful words to a child who had been sick her whole life and could finally smile now.

While Henna was choosing her words, she saw Gabriel approaching after finishing his business, and she quickly whispered urgently, holding her breath.

"Don't tell Sir Gabriel that you see an eye. You just feel that painting is sacred. Understand?"

The temple people also considered the painting sacred, so that wouldn't be a problem. But Kanna's case was different. Unlike others, Kanna recognized the holy painting as an 'eye' while still calling it beautiful.

Normal people don't look at an eyeball torn from a human and call it beautiful.

When Henna urgently pleaded with her, Kanna obediently nodded. Henna finally decided to accept the truth she had long suspected but couldn't believe.

Kanna was broken somewhere.

Whether it was after being kidnapped by Donau or after meeting the young lady, she didn't know. Perhaps it had been there since childhood, hidden by her frailty.

"Thank you for waiting."

"Not at all. I lost track of time looking at the painting."

"That's fortunate then."

What was fortunate was that looking at it this way, you couldn't sense anything particularly strange about Kanna. Besides, wasn't Kanna receiving the young lady's favor? To stay by the young lady's side, it might be better to leave things as they were.

Even as Henna reached this conclusion, she wondered if she was rationalizing everything because she couldn't face her sister.

Of course, the deliberation was brief. Just as in the past, she had ultimately joined hands with the cat-like monster, Henna's choices were always for her sister's sake.

"But why did you call me just now? Is it related to that painting?"

While Henna was composing herself, the two were having a conversation. Gabriel nodded at Kanna's question.

"My subordinate just protected a witness."

"A witness?"

"Yes. Someone who was at the monastery..."

"If it's about the painting, I should be allowed to hear it too, shouldn't I?"

When Gabriel was sparing with his words, Kanna asked. Gabriel seemed to contemplate for a moment, then decided to bring along the two people related to Donau's case.

"I had them escorted to the reception room first, so let's hear the details together."

Since they had seen the painting, there was no more reason to stay in the temple. Henna also wanted to get away from the ominous painting as quickly as possible, so she quickened her pace.