In the past, Aries approached the forbidden mansion that no one could enter within the palace grounds out of plain curiosity. Her relationship with Abel at that time was still unstable. But from what she knew, or what she was told, it was the crown prince's dwelling.
But now she learned Abel's child, the crown prince was nothing but a part of the history for Abel to take the throne as a bastard child of his bastard tyrant of a father. The father and the child were Abel. Still, she was curious. For some reason, she felt like that place held more value and sentiments aside from the fact it was this nonexistent crown prince's dwelling.
And this assumption simply grew solid when Abel invited her to that place. She couldn't point it out exactly, but that was what she felt. Hence, she agreed.
Abel carried her in his arms, but he didn't let his wings out to fly to the forbidden mansion. Instead, Abel simply skipped from roof to roof until they reached the off-limits area. The mansion was the same from the outside when she first snuck in here -- even worse, to be honest.
It still looked haunted with vines crawling on the walls, withered leaves cracking under their feet at every step, and untrimmed grasses that were almost at tall as her. Yet, the pathway was clear, making it smooth for them to reach the mansion's entrance.
Abel opened the door, and its echoing creak pierced the silent air mildly. Aries cautiously followed him inside, and much to her surprise, unlike the haunted appearance it had from the outside, the inside of the mansion was immaculately clean.
She looked around, treading carefully inside. Her mouth fell open at the antique furniture that still looked brand new as if they were preserved to keep its value. The interior looked a bit simple, yet sophisticated, making her think whoever lived here was no doubt an aristocrat.
However, before she could dwell in the mansion's elegance, she caught some paintings hanging on the wall. They were blank canvasses framed delicately, making her brows creased in puzzlement.
"What are those?" she blurted out under her breath, shifting her eyes at Abel, who stood motionless near the shut entrance of the mansion. The latter snapped his eyes at the framed blank canvass hung on the wall.
"A blank canvass." His tone was plain, giving her a knowing look.
"I mean, why are they mounded on the wall if they were blank?"
"I know, right?" he shrugged, setting his eyes at the painting on the side. "Why even display something that isn't seen by others?"
Aries cocked her head to the side, fixing her eyes on Abel's side profile. When he took steps towards the nearest blank painting, Aries instinctively followed. Standing beside him, Aries raised her brows while he was staring at it intently.
"Right..." he whispered. "Because no one ever visits this place. Hence, why bother putting up decorations that those who live here won't enjoy?"
"I... don't understand..." she muttered awkwardly.
Abel pressed his lips into a thin line and cast her a cursory look. "Darling, have you ever gone far away from home to breathe and forget?" he asked, making her brows furrowed.
"Had you ever wandered far from home because you can't stand living in it? But as you go farther, you keep thinking 'I want to go home,' and then, you go home, nothing changes." He set his eyes back on the blank painting in front of them. "The emptiness was still there, and the yearning for a place that doesn't seem to exist continuously grows."
"This place... I can't go back to that mansion. That's why I recreated it here, thinking I can somehow delude myself I'm home. But alas, I was never completely home... anywhere, never," he added, and that... Aries felt that.
She felt his longing, his emptiness, and his heart. Aries pursed her lips as her eyes softened, watching him stare at the blank canvass with mixed emotions in his eyes. Without thinking, she reached her hand out and caressed his cheek with her fingertips.
When Abel turned his head and met her eyes, his lips curled. "Until you came." He walked to the same spot, facing her squarely.
Abel cupped her face and smiled subtly. His eyes scanned her beautiful face, gently brushing her cheek with his thumb. He was never home until Aries came into his life.
"Who would have thought?" he continued, using her previous words. "That my assumption that the place I thought doesn't exist is wrong? And I had been asking myself the wrong questions all this time? It wasn't what place, but who?"
Aries pursed her lips and smiled, holding his hand that was cupping her face. When he lowered his hand, she slipped her fingers in between the gaps of his fingers. They looked at each other and smiled before facing the blank canvass once more.
"So you keep blank canvasses back there?" she inquired, squeezing his hand mildly.
"These are blanks, but back home, they weren't. At least, they weren't blank in the eyes of those who carried our blood," he explained, making her tilt her head to the side.
"So it's like some sort of illusion?"
"Not an illusion, but more like... well, I don't exactly know why that father of mine does that." He shrugged, and this time, Aries looked at him squarely. Seeing that her eyes were filled with intrigue but she was holding back to ask more, Abel chuckled.
"I told you, darling. I came from a family of artists... or rather, a family of weirdos," he continued in a lighter tone. "My father paints, but his works can only be appreciated by those who carried this cursed blood. I never asked him and he never said anything regarding it. He just painted to his heart's content and hung them everywhere, but we're too indifferent to even bother."
The side of his lips curled up slightly. "However, although I could replicate almost everything in this place, I don't think anyone could copy his works. He was the best painter I knew in my life."
Aries could not help but smile as she observed him talking about his father. Abel rarely mentioned his family, and whenever they do, it was mostly about his sisters. But now that he was talking about his father, Aries could detect the slight respect in his voice.
'Why does he always say he doesn't like his family when he looks happy whenever he talks about them?' she wondered, keeping her thoughts to herself. 'Even when he talked about Marsella, he sounded solemn with a tinge of excitement.'
Aries took a deep breath, listening to Abel's voice. 'He makes me question his opinions about his sisters. I don't think they were that bad.'
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