Chapter 34

At late afternoon, Coen had his intermittent underground training with his father. It was the usual grind and the usual sets of activities.

Afterwards, on their way home, Coen informed his father that he must pass by the public market to fetch his mother.

Muren gave permission as he went ahead home, while Coen went to the market and bought his brother a canvas and painting materials.

He went with his mother and covered the items with the woven fabric cloths to hide it from his father.

He had also told Airen about his discovery about the hidden room in their house underneath and she did not seem too surprised about it.

"I have always suspected your abilities," She explained. "I guess it must have passed on to the En clan. Madam Lumen had her clairvoyance. Your father had the imaginary otherworld. You probably have what they rarely call selective omniscience."

"Omniscience?"

"It is to see things from the real world beyond your perspective. Your father has it too. However, it might be weaker than yours. I have used my own abilities to stop him, so we could hide Toren from him."

Airen stopped walking and so did her son.

She gently cupped his face and intently stared at him. "You shall protect your brother no matter what, alright? You must understand that."

"Yes, mother. I will make sure to keep Toren away from harm."

The following day, while Muren went to labor again, Airen went to the public market.

Coen went down to the underground and brought the painting materials for Toren.

His little brother earnestly thanked him for the effort and showed his utmost appreciation.

Toren immediately marveled the items and excitedly inspected each one of the oil colors.

Coen stretched the canvas onto the floor and laid it out for his brother to paint.

"Shall I teach you how to use those?"

Toren vehemently nodded, clearly delighted.

Coen grabbed the oil colors and the brush, then proceeded to draw at the canvas cloth.

He drew some hills he always saw from afar using the brown and green colors. Each stroke with gentleness, he slowly sketched the landscape of where sunsets looked most wonderful.

The slight smudges of orange and yellow lingered at the borders of milky clouds.

The mixture of white and light blue backdrop added softness to the painting.

It was an innocent and endearing portrait of a world from what seems like a prison. Toren admired his brother more. His heart pounded for the first time, seeing the process of painting a picture.

They say, children will never understand the value of money no matter how much you tell them the amount of each cash and gold and silver. Children will never understand the pain of getting burnt until their skins are kissed by the flame. Children will never understand why people need to hurt them or leave them until they grow up and see the contexts themselves. Children will never know about what was behind oppressions and wars and bloody battles.

They will never understand why grown ups facilitate the world so poorly. However, children know when they experience love.

And they know what death means and understood by their hearts how heavy it truly is.

No one has to teach them because life and death and love have always been there.

That day, when Toren grabbed the brush for himself and drew a beautiful picture of a snake eating an apple which he had seen somewhere in the deep forest back when he was in the orphanage, he knew that he had fallen in love.

When that particular scenario of a snake and apple materialized again in front of him, he could not take his eyes off the canvas that was filled with oil color.

He was dying to see this again and it was only through painting that he could finally quench his satisfaction.

"I want to paint the world," He whispered to himself.