Chapter 697: Patience Is Wearing Thin

In this situation, trying anything possible is also a way to go.

Cecilia Vaughn and Adrian Law are striking figures in any crowd; even in a foreign land where people may not fully grasp Aethel’s aesthetic, they still attract attention with their unique aura.

An interested foreign man began to chat up Cecilia, captivated by her swift movements on the sketch paper.

"Hello, young lady, are you over eighteen years old?"

"..."

Cecilia gave the stranger a puzzled glance.

Then she quickly continued her sketching on the paper in her hand.

The foreigner misunderstood, thinking Cecilia didn’t understand French, so he swiftly switched languages, first English, then tried saying hello in simple Korean and Japanese.

...

Adrian, who had gone to buy drinks for Cecilia, returned to find a tall foreign man babbling beside her; his already stern eyes instantly filled with icy coldness.

"Sir, what do you mean by disturbing my wife while she’s painting?"

"Wife?"

The blond man looked at Adrian in shock, then glanced at Cecilia.

"Do you Aethel people marry so young? This girl looks only sixteen or seventeen!"

"..."

If not for foreigners often being face-blind, Cecilia might have taken this as a compliment.

She did admire Bridget Forrest’s films; in her life summary, there’s a piece about her shopping in Euronia and Vesperia at forty, mistaken for a girl barely twenty.

...

Though Bridget, being a celebrity, maintained her looks well, Cecilia felt that Euronia and Vesperia folks aged faster and struggled to discern Aethel’s true age.

"Adrian, don’t mind him. Do you think anyone can recognize this sketch?"

Cecilia was anxious, as she was sketching Wendy Sutton at around thirty.

There were bound to be differences from now.

Especially fearing her mother hadn’t maintained herself well, the gap could be even wider over the years.

...

If her mother were still alive, why had she not contacted Cecilia and Evan these years?

No matter how desperate or cold she felt towards Gregory Vaughn, she couldn’t have abandoned her two children whom she deeply loved?

...

Cecilia knew she was caught in an obsession.

Finding her mother seemed a faint hope, but she was unwilling to give up.

"Cecilia, your sketch is very lifelike already."

Adrian had never met Wendy Sutton but had seen a photo of her with Cecilia and Evan after marrying Cecilia.

Wendy was captured in her thirties, a beauty earning the title of Stellerton’s top socialite back then.

"Cecilia, do you remember the person on that boat, who looked like your mother, did her hair color change? Or the length?"

Detailed facial features and clothing were difficult to recall, and Cecilia couldn’t picture them clearly in such a short time.

But Adrian thought Cecilia could pinpoint that person from a silhouette resemblance to her mother.

There must be something about the shape or angle that stood out.

...

"Hair color?"

Cecilia hesitated.

"If I’m not mistaken, it was still long black hair, not dyed or permed, as Mother never liked altering her hair, yet it was always healthy. A shampoo company once wanted her for advertising, but she refused."

Cecilia’s lip twitched, showing hesitance.

"I recognized her similarity to my mother mainly because the woman in the wheelchair had long, loose hair, something like Mother’s."

Wendy used to soak her hair in herbal remedies, keeping it healthier than Cecilia’s fine, yellow-streaked strands.

Cecilia never dyed or permed her hair either, but it often dried out and split.

Her mother would likely nag Cecilia about taking care, encouraging her to live healthily for better complexion.

...

"Like this?"

Adrian eyed Cecilia’s sketched woman; it was just a portrait, showing no full body, nor explaining how her mother’s hair reached her waist.

"Was the woman slender? Different from your mother?"

"Not really...seemed okay. Mother was always thin; she earned the nickname ’Stellerton’s Jade Forrest.’

Now thinking back, it was quite prophetic, as Mother was tender and talented yet prone to deep emotional involvement.

Jade Forrest didn’t have a happy ending in the books.

But Cecilia wished for Wendy a loving, caring companion.

Gregory Vaughn was no match for Jasper Garrett.

...

"Alright, Cecilia, here’s the plan: quickly sketch another full-body image depicting your mother’s usual attire and figure without too much detail, but generally similar enough to evoke a delicate, tender impression."

"..."

"Am I supposed to be a miracle worker?"

Cecilia rolled her eyes at Adrian.

"If a full-body sketch were so easy, I’d have started there instead of drawing just a head."

"Let me try."

Adrian pondered briefly, then took Cecilia’s pen and spread another sheet, drawing an abstract sketch of a woman.

With a few strokes, Adrian perfectly captured flowing hair and a graceful figure.

...

"Adrian... you’re incredible! If it weren’t for knowing your profession, I’d suspect you were an art graduate."

Cecilia marveled, admiring the sketch with a sigh.

"Is this enough?"

"We do our best and let fate decide."

Without a concrete image of Wendy, achieving this so swiftly was remarkable.

...

The two took the drawings, earnestly asking passersby for help.

But after approaching dozens, they gained nothing.

Just as Cecilia’s patience dwindled, a homeless man suddenly stopped before them.