Chapter 39
"How I am what?!" Lith yelled, having lost his cool for a second .
Now it was the Count's turn to become red up to his ears . Lith followed Keyla, resisting the urge to demand for her to move faster . All that situation had come completely unexpected, and was heavily weighing on his mind .
Since he had heard of the painting, Solus hadn't stopped laughing, projecting in his head famous statues like the David of Donatello or the Perseus by Antonio Canova, but she replaced the facial features with Lith's and switched Medusa's head with the Byk's one, grinding on his nerves .
"I swear that if that f*cker of the Count had me drawn naked or something, I'll kill him faster and more cruelly than his psycho wife ever could . "
Luckily for the Count, that wasn't the case .
The painting was quite big, one meter (3'3") large and 1 . 5 meters (5') high, and represented the Byk, standing on his feet with glowing red eyes in a dark forest, occupying the center and the left corner .
Lith was drawn while facing the magical beast, offering only the left profile to the viewer . His small body occupied only the bottom right corner, engulfed in a magical aura . His left arm and hand were set ablaze, supposedly because of a fire spell he was casting .
The perspective and darkness-filled background made the Byk seem big and terrifying like a dragon, while Lith appeared as the only element of light, his face filled with courage and determination .
The enormous stuffed body of the Byk was placed a few meters to the right, half hidden in an alcove, to show the visitor the ending of the story depicted in the drawing .
"Well, it's not that bad . " Lith thought . "It's not the tacky horror I had imagined, and I am not even idiotically beautified . That's my actual face . Solus, is it me, or I look kind of handsome?"
"Well, I don't know . " She replied . "It's definitely a version of you that doesn't glare and frown all the time . More importantly, he doesn't look like he is there because he has lost a bet, like you do when you watch yourself in the mirror . "
Lith sighed in relief . At least he wasn't portrayed in his birthday suit or in some kind of arrogant or overbearing pose . That would have been really embarrassing for him .
"What's the problem with the painting?" Lith asked, scratching his head in confusion .
"The problem is that my father showed it to every guest, servant and passerby that was willing to listen to him, recounting how you single-handedly defeated the malevolent beast in an epic battle of magic and wits . " Jadon answered .
"That's quite an accurate recollection of the events, albeit entirely made up" Solus commented . "The Count would make an excellent story teller . "
Lith dismissed Jadon worries with a wave of the hand .
"You are overthinking it . No one actually witnessed the fight, the pelt is almost completely intact, and everyone knows about Count Lark's obsession with magic and sponsoring promising youths .
They would more likely believe that either I lucked out or that the Count gave me some help, and is trying to lie me into a hero . No offence, your Lordship . "
"None taken . " The Count replied . "So, do you like it?"
He was itching of impatience, waiting for Lith's reply .
"What's not to like?" He shrugged . "I'm not an art expert, but it seems well painted . Both me and the Byk are depicted realistically . The only question I have is how could the artist know my…"
Then Lith's eye noticed the painter signature in the bottom left corner . It was a squiggly line, but with a leap of imagination one could actually read the name 'Trequill Lark' .
Lith turned around abruptly just in time to get a glimpse of Count Lark jumping with joy, before regaining his composure .
Having cleared that issue, they silently returned to the Count's private quarters, before resuming their conversation .
Lith pretended to be casting a fake magic spell, while actually casting his Hush spell . It would create a spherical air vortex that would make eavesdropping by conventional means impossible, by distorting the sounds coming out of the room .
"That will prevent anyone from listening . As I was saying, taking everything in account, no one would actually believe such a story . Off course the fact that everyone knows my face complicates things, but a covert operation is still feasible .
For how I see it, we have two options . Option one: I pretend to not live up to what the Count said up until this point and act like a half-baked magician . This will give the enemies inside and outside the house the confidence to carry on with their plans, like I am not even here .
It should make easier to capture whoever tried to poison you, but it also means that the assassin will embolden and attack more often . Consider that such person or persons, could be a small fish, hence even eliminating him/her would do us no good, they would be easily replaceable .
Option two: I play it big and loud, confirming all the rumors about me . That should put your wife on alert, forcing her to reconsider her plans and become more cautious .
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