A cosmic-grey colored Bentley Exp 100 GT entered the gates of the Lin Mansion, stopping right under the drive-through portico.
"Welcome to the Lin Mansion, Young Master Demiliore!" A butler and a maid stepped forward to receive him and politely bowed.
"Good Evening!" Keith nodded at them and handed the key of the car to the butler.
"Mistress Celine ordered me to lead you to her study when you arrive, Young Master." The maid informed him.
"Lead the way." He smiled and said.
The maid was flustered when she saw his smile, but soon recovered and apologetically bowed to him before leading him inside the Mansion.
It was quite a nice place to live in, extravagant, yet giving a simplistic impression. And Keith did not shy away from curiously looking around. He already had a set of memories of visiting this house, but in his memories, it was far more extravagant than what it was now. And he could guess why that would be so. In that future timeline, the Mistress of Lin Family, Celine, had passed away, giving control over everything in the house to the second wife of Lin Houtian.
"My Lady, Young Master Demiliore is here." The maid knocked on the door and announced.
There was no answer from inside, and it put the maid in an awkward position, but when she was about to knock again, the door opened, and Celine, wearing a brilliant smile, came out.
"Keith!" She lightly hugged him. "Thank you for accepting the invitation."
"How could I refuse it?" He chuckled and then handed a Gift Bag to Celine. "Thank you for inviting me on dinner, Madam Celine, it is an honor." He did not forget the etiquette that had been carved into his bones since childhood, and going to someone's house on an occasion empty-handed was impolite.
"Romaine-Conti 2000..." Celine accepted the gift bag and smiled happily when she saw which Wine it was. "I never thought a bottle of that year still existed in the world."
"Luckily, there was still one in my family's Wine Cellar." Keith was not humble at all, and Celine giggled at his words.
"Thank you!" She was really happy, and it was because she was born that year that this edition was special for her. "But I won't be letting you taste it on the Dinner table tonight. I am going to keep it for my birthday."
"No worries." He did not care about such a thing. "How are you feeling?"
"Never felt better." She replied with a smile and led him inside the study.
To call it a study was not quite right, since it was more of an art studio than a study.
In one corner was a mini library and the study table, in another was a Piano, in the middle was a lounging area, and the rest of the spacious room was an art studio with the wall adjacent to it displaying dozens of paintings.
"May I?" He politely asked when Celine caught him curiously looking at the paintings.
"Of course!"
Keith was not pretending when he showed interest in the paintings. He always loved appreciating artworks, and even if his natural attainments in Painting and Calligraphy were not high, his aesthetic sense was quite sharp.
"Who would believe that someone as cheerful as you has a natural talent of drowning people into melancholy." He commented and sighed when he saw the first few of the paintings.
Every painting was beautiful, and he could see that Celine was naturally talented in Painting. However, almost everything on this wall was sad. Even the few landscapes that she had painted exuded a sense of desolation.
"I will take that as a compliment!" Celine mischievously smiled, and then looked at her paintings again. "I don't know why, but I have always been drawn to paint sadness onto the canvas."
"So you let out all your sad thoughts on the canvas, freeing yourself of them." Keith smirked. "Must be the reason why you have such a radiant personality."
"Hey!" She did not know if he was complimenting her or taking a jab at her, but she decided to accept it as a compliment and cheerfully smiled.
Soon Keith stepped in front if a portrait, and he could not help but feel enchanted by it. It was the only Painting on this wall that exuded innocence, joy, pure love, with no trace of sadness marring it.
It was a paitning of a baby girl, looking at you with her soulful grey eyes that threatened to melt your heart and subconsciously brought a smile on your face.
Seeing the smile creep on Keith's face, Celine felt proud and happily giggled.
"I hope you are not feeling sad anymore..." She teased. freewebnov(e)l
"How can I be sad after looking at those soulful grey orbs of life." Keith chuckled and turned to look Celine in the eyes. "Qingyue is lucky to have inherited your perfect genes."
Celine knew that his words were pure admiration, but her heart betrayed her by skipping a beat and then spreading warmth on her cheeks. "You are beautiful too, little Keith!" She playfully shot back at him, but failed to make him fluster over her words.
"I know." He simply said with a smile, and then looked back at the painting. "I am quite tempted to take away this painting with me, but I can see how much it means to you, so I must reluctantly give up on it."
He said those words casually, but Celine could decern from them that he felt attracted to her daughter, and the brilliant smile on her face only got brighter if that was possible.
"Why think about the painting when you can just steal away my little Qingyue." She bared her intentions and playfully suggested.
"Nah..." He shook his head immediately. "She's not adorable anymore." He disappointedly said.
"You!" Celine tried to pretend to be mad at him but could not help bursting out laughing at his words.
"Hey! I am serious!" He asserted but Celine only laughed some more.
"Yeah, yeah..." She was about to say something when the door of the study opened and in walked the very person they were talking about. "Qingyue! Come here!" She hurriedly called her over.
Qingyue was quite surprised by her call, but seeing her mother's cheeks flushed and that happy smile on her face, her curiosity was fueled.
"Yes, Mama?"
"Hey, where are your manners?" Celine narrowed her eyes at her. "Are you not going to greet Keith?"
Qingyue rolled her eyes at her words and then happily smiled at Keith.
"Welcome to my house, Keith." She drew her hand forward to greet him.
"It's a pleasure, Miss Lin." Keith took her hand but instead of shaking it, he politely raised it and planted a light kiss on its back, making the girl burn in a furious blush and quickly retract her hand.
Celine saw their interaction and giggled some but after she caught Keith winking at her, she burst out in a full blown laughter, catching onto his meaning.
Qingyue too caught the silent conversation that was taking place between her mother and Keith, but she did not know what they had earlier been talking about, so she had no clue. And now her curiosity was flaring to a whole new level.
"What are you two talking about?" She straightforwardly asked.
"Oh..." Celine caught her bearings and then smiled at her daughter. "Keith just expressed his desire to take your painting away. He thinks you were quite adorable when you were a baby. It makes his mood bright when he looks at it. But sadly, he says that you are no longer as adorable."
Mixed emotions flashed on her face as she heard her mother's words, but when she heard the last sentence, she narrowed her eyes at Keith.
"Oh..."
"You mother suggested to me to steal you away from her." Keith grinned at her.
"Hey! No ones stealing me away from my Mama!" Qingyue quickly shot back at him in a high pitched voice, but the redness on her cheeks was also a clear evidence to how flustered she was. "And you!" She glared at her mother. "Don't talk about such things!"
"Oh, come on! I was just messing with him." Celine rolled her eyes at her daughter and hugged her lightly. "No one can steal my baby girl from me." She poured all her motherly love in her words and planted a kiss on her daughter's head.
"Good." Qingyue was embarrassed that her mother kissed her like that in front of Keith, but she did not push her away, and focused on gathering her bearings. "Dinner's about to be served, and Grandfather sent me to call you over. Let's go."
"Forget what I said earlier. She's still quite adorable." Keith immediately cut in, crashing Qingyue's all efforts to stabilise her emotions, and earned another round of laughter from Celine.
"You!"
Qingyue really wanted to stomp her foot hard on the ground, but she decided to silently turn around and walk out of the door, trying her best to hide her blush from his eyes. However, her heart only grew more flustered when she heard Keith and Celine laughing happily.
"Don't keep Grandfather waiting!" She glared at her mother and reminded her before leaving the study.
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