Chapter 99: Painting (1)

Chapter 99: 99: Painting (1)

"Nova isn’t mute! I think you’re the one with water in your head. What on earth is your problem? Just go back to your own peers," Rika shouted, her patience finally snapping.

"I wasn’t even talking to you. Why are you so worked up?" Piper chuckled dismissively, turning her sharp gaze back to Nova. "Well? Do you dare to take the bet or not?"

"What is the point of betting? The result will still be the same," Nova replied in a cold, indifferent tone, her eyes never lifting from her phone screen.

Piper laughed aloud. "At least you’re smart enough to know you’ll lose miserably. But it doesn’t matter—whether you want to or not, you are taking this bet."

Nova finally lowered her phone. She slowly lifted her head and locked eyes with Piper. The moment Piper met Nova’s chilling, icy-blue gaze, a violent shiver racked her body, and she involuntarily took a step back.

"I wonder why all these wealthy heiresses are so foolish. Perhaps it’s because you think money can do everything," Nova murmured, a dark, unsettling smirk curving her lips. "Since this bet is compulsory, I accept it. But understand this, you aren’t just gambling on a competition. You are wagering your life and your entire family’s existence. Do you dare?"

The air in the room grew suffocatingly dense, heavy with a lethal, predatory pressure.

Rika immediately slipped away, stepping back into the crowd. Seeing Nova’s terrifying smile, her mind flashed back to that harrowing night when Nova had appeared in her home unannounced. "I did my best to keep her out of trouble, this has nothing to do with me," Rika thought hurrying back to her seat.

Piper stared at Nova as though she were gazing into the eyes of a vengeful specter. A cold sweat broke out across her neck. "What kind of insane nonsense are you spewing?" she stammered, trying desperately to mask her mounting terror.

"Are you in this game or not? Actually, never mind—it doesn’t matter. I have accepted your challenge," Nova replied flatly, her gaze absolute and unyielding.

Piper opened her mouth to retort, but the words died in her throat. Swallowing hard, she summoned every last shred of her false bravado and forced out a shaky response. "Don’t... don’t think that because you talk like a psychopath I’ll be scared of you. We’ll see who’s crying at the end of this!"

Nova simply smirked, slipping her phone back into her pocket. She didn’t say another word, but the crushing weight of her silence spoke volumes, sending icy tremors straight down Piper’s spine.

"Alright, everyone, take your seats! The competition begins in fifteen minutes!"

Two instructors briskly entered the studio, closely followed by a panel of four distinguished judges—two men and two women—dressed in sharp professional attire. A single glance made it obvious they were elite masters of their craft. They smiled politely at the students before taking their seats at the elevated judging table at the front of the room.

The students scrambled to their places. The foreign students occupied the left side of the studio, while Nova’s schoolmates filled the right. The atmosphere grew tense and electric.

A moment later, assistants distributed standardized canvases, paint sets, and professional brushes to each station before quietly retreating.

The lead judge opened his mouth and started speaking, his eyes sweeping across the room. "I trust you are all aware of the rules. Zero tolerance for cheating. Anyone caught attempting to plagiarize or use outside assistance will be permanently disqualified and barred from ever competing again."

He paused, letting the warning sink in before announcing the prompt. "For the first round, your theme is nature. The closer your work is to raw, living reality, the higher your score and points. You have exactly one hour. Begin."

The moment the command dropped, the studio plunged into an absolute, breathless silence, broken only by the rhythmic scraping of bristles against canvas.

Nova picked up her brush. Her movements were infuriatingly casual, entirely devoid of stress. With a bored, lazy expression, she swirled the bristles into a mix of vibrant pigments, flicking her wrist with such fluid, effortless precision that it instantly drew the eyes of the panel.

The female judge leaned forward, her eyes widening in professional appreciation. She stare at the instructor at the distance, gesturing for her to come over.

The instructor immediately hurried over, bowing respectfully.

"That young lady over there," the female judge whispered, keeping her voice barely audible. "Which prominent family is she from?"

The instructor glanced toward Nova’s canvas and offered a polite, cautious smile. "She is a new student who joined us recently. As for her background... it’s kept confidential."

"I see," the judge murmured, her gaze fixed entirely on Nova’s hands. "She just arrived, yet look at her brushwork. Even I can’t hold a filbert brush with that kind of terrifying stability". A spark of deep respect lit up her eyes. "You may return to your post."

The instructor nodded and stepped back.

Across the room, Piper bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. She watched the effortless grace of Nova’s movements, a knot of pure panic twisting in her stomach. "No... I can’t lose. If I lose, what happens to me? What happens to my family?" Trembling, she tightened her grip on her brush and furiously applied paint to her own canvas, desperate to shut out the dread.

Time bled away.

Riiiing!

The sharp, piercing shriek of the timer echoed through the studio.

"Time is up!" the second female judge announced, her voice cutting through the heavy air. "Everyone, lay down your brushes and reveal your work."

The students froze instantly, and started presenting their works one by one.

Piper stood up tall and walked forward, placing her landscape painting prominently on the table. The judges paused before it, murmuring appreciatively as they inspected the detailed foliage and shading.

"Not bad at all," the male judge said, awarding her a solid four points.

"Clean lines and good perspective. I’ll give it a four as well," the second judge added.

A triumphant, arrogant smirk spread across Piper’s face. "Four points across the board from the primary judges. I’ve won this round," she thought, bowing smugly before heading back to her seat and sit down.

Rika’s heart hammered against her ribs. Taking a deep breath to steady her shaking hands, she stepped forward and presented her canvas.

The judges leaned in, examining her intricate work. A look of genuine surprise crossed the lead female judge’s face. "You did remarkably well with the textures here," she praised, awarding Rika four points.

Rika felt as though the floor had vanished beneath her feet. "Four points?! I’ve never scored a four in my life!" she thought, dizzy with disbelief.

Piper, watching from nearby, dug her fingernails into her palms. "How did this talentless loser manage to improve so drastically?!" she fumed silently.

"While your technique is commendable," the second female judge continued gently, smiling warmly, "your grip on the brush is still a bit stiff, which limits your depth. I’ll award you three points. Keep working hard."

"Thank you, Ma’am! I will!" Rika beamed, bowing deeply.

The remaining two male judges also awarded her three points. Rika floated back to her seat on cloud nine, completely intoxicated by her unprecedented success.

Nova rolled her eyes at Rika’s dramatic elation. Without a word, she stood up, casually picked up her canvas by the corner, and carried it over to the judges’ table, dropping it down with a soft thud.

The moment the canvas came into view, all three judges simultaneously jerked upright.

They froze. Their eyes widened to impossible limits, their jaws dropped slack, and the breath vanished from their lungs entirely. They stared at the painting as though they were looking through a window into another dimension—paralyzed, spellbound, and utterly terrified by the breathtaking mastery unfolding before their eyes.