Outside the Hayes castle, the air felt calm and refreshing against the skin. It carried the clean, salty scent of the sea, and the distant crash of waves rolled in like a soft rhythm.

The land under the Hayes clan’s control stretched across the southern part of Auranel.

The continent itself was huge, bigger than the other two floating ones and packed with rich resources.

Most of this southern area was covered by three smaller seas, nothing like the vast oceans back on Earth.

For Julius, who had grown up on a round planet, the whole setup still felt strange.

This world was like two flat disks stacked together, with three floating continents above and four stationary ones below.

It worked somehow, even if it looked impossible. ’Flat-Earth believers would probably feel pretty smug here,’ he thought with a quiet smirk.

Julius stood in the open ground, one hand gently holding little Rosel’s tiny fingers.

In his other hand he carried a painting palette covered in bright dabs of color. Beside him, a canvas stand held fresh paper pinned tight.

In front of the canvas, Rosalina stood focused, moving her brush in smooth left-to-right strokes.

A few soft smudges of paint dotted her cheeks, and she held the brush upright like a pro, eyes locked on her models.

"Is this how I’m supposed to hold her?" Nathaniel asked, his face already strained.

He kept Elizabeth in an awkward, dramatic pose, like the big romantic scene in those fantasy stories where the hero catches the heroine when they crash into each other.

His arms and waist clearly hated it. Beads of sweat rolled down his face. "Is it done yet? My waist is killing me!"

Elizabeth, wrapped in a long, luxurious red dress with her hair neatly braided on the sides, was having the time of her life.

She leaned into the pose like a true leading lady, clearly enjoying every second.

But the moment Nathaniel complained, her sweet smile froze. She shot him a sharp look. "Just stand there quietly!" she scolded.

Nathaniel’s mouth snapped shut instantly. He knew better than to say another word once that first warning came out. Smart man.

Rosalina kept painting with calm, steady strokes.

It had been a while since she drew anyone besides Julius, but Nathaniel and Elizabeth looked so much like him that it felt easy. A few more clear brushes here, a soft touch there...

"Done!" she said at last, stepping back with a satisfied smile.

Once Rosalina said "Done!", Julius and Rosel immediately leaned in close, both wearing the exact same wide-eyed expression.

"Whao!" they said at the same time, staring hard at the painting.

It was spot-on. The same dramatic pose, the same luxurious red dress, every little detail captured perfectly.

But there were two funny changes. Nathaniel’s tired, sweaty, haggard face had come out looking calm and noble, like some cool hero.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s gentle smile had turned into a slightly arrogant smirk, as if she ruled the whole world.

Mama, it’s great!" Rosel beamed, jumping up and down with pure excitement.

"How did you even learn this? Can you teach me how to draw too?"

Rosalina let out a soft "Fufu..." chuckle.

A few drops of sweat had formed on her face from all the focus. Julius reached over right away and gently wiped them away with his thumb while she spoke.

"Of course, sweetie," Rosalina said, her voice warm and proud. "Your mama is great at everything."

She wasn’t even bragging. She really was. Master of weapons, able to figure out endless complicated theories better than almost anyone else, and now a master painter too.

Everything she tried, she nailed. Julius couldn’t help the small proud grin that tugged at his lips. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Of course his wife made even a simple family portrait look like a flex. Typical Rosalina, making the rest of them look average without even trying.

"I love you, Mama!" Rosel’s face lit up like the sun.

She jumped straight into Rosalina’s arms. Rosalina caught her softly and stepped back a little, holding Rosel close with a warm smile.

Elizabeth and Nathaniel walked over and stopped right in front of the painting. Their eyebrows lifted in surprise and clear admiration.

’Beauty with everything!’ Nathaniel thought, staring at the canvas.

A smug little smile crept onto his face. ’It’s fortunate my boy inherited the charm to seduce competent women.’

’I would have felt envious of her talent if she didn’t like my son.’ His gaze slid over to Elizabeth.

She was also good at everything. Back in the day they had been rivals, and even now he still found her a bit insufferable.

Thinking about those old days made him shudder. But somehow he had ended up with her... and they had a son he was really proud of.

"It’s really great," Elizabeth said, turning toward Rosalina. Since Rosalina was a bit taller, Elizabeth had to look up.

"No wonder my once-in-a-billion handsome son fell for you! I always knew you would make a wonderful wife for him. I wanted to pair you two up from the start, but that son of a bitch...." She cursed under her breath, her face twisting at the memory of Rosalina’s father. Still, she looked truly grateful that Rosalina had chosen Julius in the end.

Julius stood there the whole time, staring at them with a continuous smirk.

It was honestly impressive how shameless his whole family was, including himself.

Just a few months ago his mom had thrown a huge fit about him falling for Rosalina, and now look at her.

’They really inherited my qualities,’ he thought, conveniently ignoring the fact that he came from them, not the other way around.

"Anyways, Mom," Julius said, shifting the topic to something important, "did you prepare the two inheritances I asked for?"

As Julius spoke, his voice pulled Elizabeth out of her thoughts. She turned to him with a deep, dramatic smile.

The look on her face tried hard to show every single hardship she had gone through just to get those inheritances.

"It was really difficult, you know?" she said, throwing a soft little tantrum. She clearly hoped her son would feel sorry for her and praise her effort.

But Julius answered with the shameless merchant smile of a man trying to sell rotten tomatoes as a 500 year spirit vain restoring heavenly ginseng.

Elizabeth refused to give up. Seeing that grin, she kept going and explained everything.

"I went to the treasure vault myself and searched for over three hours. When I finally finished, the First Elder showed up with the whole elders’ union."

"They demanded to know what I was doing and started asking about the Valentina girl." She snorted coldly at the memory. "I just ignored them and walked away. So annoying."

Then her expression softened. "But I have secured the two inheritances," she said. "Whenever you two feel ready, come take them from me."

Julius’s smirk only grew. Of course his mom would turn a simple errand into a full heroic saga. Typical.