Chapter 20

Adelaide chuckled. “Lady Rosalind, did you not hear clearly? The monogram on the painting is wrong. Shall I send for the orchid painting I have to verify yours?”

Rosalind remained serious. “My family also possesses two of Mr. Spencer’s orchid paintings. He painted them personally in our backyard, with my grandfather present. Each painting depicts a different orchid, and the monograms on them—one small, the other large—were both used by Mr. Spencer. In fact, he used more than just these two monogram styles.”

She revealed the monogram on the torn orchid painting. “This monogram is identical to the one on my family’s painting. My grandfather is here today, right outside the main hall. If anyone has any doubts, he can verify it.”

Adelaide was taken aback, but she shook her head. “That’s impossible! It’s well known that all of Mr. Spencer’s sold paintings have a small monogram.”

“That’s correct. Hence, one of my family’s paintings was purchased, and the other was a gift from Mr. Spencer. The gifted one is marked with the larger monogram,” Rosalind retorted.

Adelaide found herself in an awkward position, unaware of these details.

Jessica sneered. “Doesn’t that make sense? Carissa’s painting could only have been bought. How could Kyle have gifted her a painting? Since it wasn’t a gift, the fact that it has a larger monogram must mean it’s a fake!”

The audience murmured in agreement. How could Kyle have gifted Carissa such a painting? Even if given to her father or family, it would be a treasured heirloom. Why would she give it away so easily to Eleanor?

Helen looked at Carissa with a mixture of disappointment and anger. She had just begun to develop a slight fondness for Carissa, which now vanished. Bringing a counterfeit to deceive others—how could she expect her son to marry such a person and not become a laughingstock?

Carissa smiled lightly. “I know my senior’s paintings are hard to come by. Today, I thought it fitting to present one for Grand Princess Eleanor’s birthday. It’s a pity that my senior’s painstaking effort was torn.”

Everyone gasped. Senior? Kyle was her senior?!

“Are you saying that Kyle is your senior? That you both apprenticed under the same guild?!” Adelaide exclaimed.

“Yes, I am an apprentice of the Pathfinders Guild, where Kyle is a senior apprentice, therefore my senior. Didn’t you all know?” Carissa replied calmly.

A collective gasp spread through the crowd as they looked at the orchid painting in Rosalind’s hands.

Someone cried, “So this painting is real? It’s such a pity it was destroyed!”

However, Eleanor remained skeptical. How could Carissa present her with such a valuable painting? She loudly proclaimed, “Guard, call for the royal chancellor!”

Bonus

Trevor was in the outer courtyard with the male guests. Eleanor’s husband, Henry Kingsley, was entertaining them. Rafael had also arrived earlier. The ladies were conversing in the inner courtyard, and it was improper for the men to enter. So, he sat idly, hoping the banquet would end smoothly.

If Carissa was harassed, she would likely fight back. Still, he came to keep an eye on things, just in case.

When someone from the inner courtyard came out to invite Trevor to authenticate Kyle’s painting, it startled the civil officials present. They admired Kyle greatly, and even the opportunity to appreciate his work was considered a high honor.

Thus, everyone stood up, eager to join the appraisal, including the renowned physician, Sebastian.

Due to the need to segregate men and women, Eleanor ordered partition screens to be set up. After the space had been divided, she invited Trevor, the princes, and officials inside.

Rafael naturally followed, but with the partition screens in place, he couldn’t see Carissa.

When the torn painting was handed to Trevor by Eleanor’s steward, Trevor gasped. “It’s torn?”

The officials gathered around to see, all drawing sharp breaths. Some, who had long admired Kyle, felt as if a piece of their hearts had been cut out. Ignoring Eleanor’s presence, they lamented, “If this is a genuine piece, what a pity it is!”

Trevor’s face turned ashen with anger. “What do you mean, ‘If this is a genuine piece’? This is a genuine piece! How could it have been torn? Who did this?!”

Changes Made:

• Improved sentence structure and flow: Many sentences were restructured for better readability.
• Corrected punctuation: Commas, dashes, and quotation marks were reviewed and corrected for accuracy.
• Removed unnecessary words: Redundant phrases were eliminated.
• Consistent tense: The tense was maintained consistently throughout the passage.
• Paragraph breaks: Paragraph breaks were adjusted for better readability.
• Clarified ambiguous phrasing: Some sentences were clarified to remove ambiguity.
• Removed "止": The seemingly extraneous symbol was removed.

The revised passage is more concise, grammatically correct, and easier to read.