act29side

No need for that.

Like I said, it's nothing major. Just some crazy punks stirring up trouble for us to vent their frustrations.

Right, that lady you fancy... the competition knight, what was her surname?

Can...Candle... Droste!

...A name I've never heard of.

Tell the others to keep the chase while we return to the gallery to make sure Frau Droste hasn't come to any harm.

A noblewoman with the Kaiserin's trust is far more valuable than all the works and secrets in that gallery combined.

Footsteps?

Is there someone up ahead? Isn't the gallery closed off to the public?

So this is the painting.

And the subject is... the Death of the Witch King?

No, this isn't <i>Der Tod des Hexenkönigs</i> at all...

This is... ugh...

Black and disorderly, the lines twist into infinity.

<i>Der Tod des Hexenkönigs</i> sitting at the center isn't the only thing to have those twisted lines painted over it—every other painting on the wall sports the same look.

The black spirals resemble vortices, breaking out of the frames one after another and filling the entire space.

The lines seem to twist and burrow into her eyes, erupting into a series of mournful sobs in the depths of her mind.

Her consciousness is pulled, deformed, fractured, and plunged into chaos.

Shadows sway behind Viviana. She can hardly control her Arts. She wants to preserve herself, to escape.

This terrifying power needs no concrete descriptor, image, or sound to remind anyone of what it is.

Much like its title, it forcefully crams itself directly into its audience's cognition, reflecting its very meaning into their minds—

'The Witch King.'

What a beautiful piece of art.

A calm voice can suddenly be heard in the center of the exhibition hall.

The noise comes to a halt, and the black spirals retreat into the paintings.

This painting...

There's no obvious trace of Originium Arts... so why?

Arts aren't the only thing that can affect the mind.

Something need only be true enough to tug at one's heartstrings, be it a picture or a melody.

But please, don't fear it... feel it.

...It's very intense.

A rich and deep emotion flows in these seemingly messy brushstrokes.

It's... hard to keep looking.

That's because you're looking at a person's soul.

She put both the Witch King in her heart and her very life onto the canvas.

Frau Seemann... What connection did she have with His Majesty?

His death changed her entire life.

As a young woman, she revered the man on the throne. She was in love with a symbol, a god.

And then that god fell right before her eyes.

She was confused, bewildered by his mortality. She lost her love, her purest emotions, and very nearly her ability to create as well.

She was... trapped.

And only when her life was nearing its end did she realize this.

You speak as if you were her.

Her innermost emotions resonated with my melody. I went into the depths of her soul and heard her cry for help.

Cry for help?

It's the same everywhere you go.

Many people are trapped in whatever fateful moment changed the course of their lives, walking along an endless spiral staircase.

Just like...

...Your father. And you as well.