Iris's eyes fell on the portrait, and after just a moment, she nodded vigorously, her voice affirmative: "Yes, Father! It's him! But..."
A look of recollection appeared in her eyes, and she added: "His appearance is far better than what is drawn in this portrait..."
"More perfect, more striking. It's hard for me to describe that feeling in words."
"Father, how do you have his portrait?"
Receiving his daughter's exact confirmation, the fog and anger on Iris's father's face instantly vanished, followed by incredible ecstasy and excitement.
He slapped his thigh and burst into loud laughter: "Hahaha! Excellent! Excellent! My good daughter!"
He paced excitedly back and forth: "His surname is El, and his full name is Karl El! The Grand Duke of Terra! One of the most suitable marriage candidates we carefully selected for you!"
"I didn't expect... I didn't expect you to already know each other. This is truly a blessing from the goddess!"
Beyond his ecstasy, a doubt also arose in his heart.
How could such a high-ranking Grand Duke come to the von Everec Estate so humbly? Without even a small entourage?
Logically, when a noble of that status makes an official visit, he would inevitably be accompanied by a large number of knights, making it impossible to keep quiet.
Just as he was about to ask in detail how Iris had met the Grand Duke,
a servant hurried into the living room and bowed respectfully, interrupting his thoughts.
"My lord, just now... a young gentleman came to the door, saying the young lady had invited him to be a model for painting." The servant lowered his head and cautiously reported.
"But... as you have instructed, we... we didn't dare to let him in without permission and have already politely asked him to leave."
As he reported, the servant's eyes darted anxiously towards Iris, afraid of provoking her displeasure.
Iris's father, still immersed in joy, heard the first half of the servant's words.
The Grand Duke of Terra had personally come to his door; his face instantly lit up with radiance.
However, the second half of the servant's words was like a basin of ice water poured over his head.
"What?! You... you idiots!!"
The ecstasy on his face instantly turned to intense anger and panic, his voice suddenly rose, and his fingers trembled as he pointed at the servant.
"You... you actually drove him away?! Do you know who he is?! He is the Grand Duke!"
He was so angry he almost turned his back, suddenly kicked a nearby chair, and roared: "Why are you still standing there?! Fool!"
"Quick! Quickly have all the guards immediately go out and search for me!"
"By any means necessary, please bring His Excellency the Grand Duke back! Quickly!!"
After shouting at the servants, he no longer cared about maintaining the dignified image of the head of the family, hastily straightening his somewhat disheveled clothes.
Burning with anxiety as if his buttocks were on fire, he stepped forward and ran towards the manor gates.
He kept muttering: "Prepare the horses! Get my horse ready! I'm going too! I must personally apologize to His Excellency the Grand Duke!"
The serving maid who had reported, and Iris's mother, were also stunned by this sudden change and his violent reaction.
After a moment of stupefaction, they realized the seriousness of the situation, hurriedly quickened their pace, and rushed out in panic.
In an instant, the originally argument-filled, magnificent living room and the adjacent garden fell silent.
Only Iris and the easel beside her remained.
Iris stood in a daze, not yet fully recovered from this dramatic turn of events.
She muttered to herself, her voice as light as a sigh: "El... Karl El... everything... is it really just a coincidence?"
She recalled every detail of her encounter with Karl, his unique character, and the unprecedented panic and respect her parents had just shown...
At that moment, a soft voice suddenly sounded beside her.
"Beautiful lady, are you thinking of me?"
Iris suddenly snapped out of it and turned her head in surprise to see that Karl was quietly standing beside her.
The other person was looking at her with a light, encouraging smile on his face.
"You... how did you get in? Those guards didn't..." Iris subconsciously covered her mouth and quickly looked around.
Mid-sentence, she suddenly stopped, a slightly confused and complex expression on her face.
She slowly lowered her head and whispered: "Oh, by the way... you are the Grand Duke..."
"Even your father's attitude towards you... they practically grovel." There was an indescribable loss and understanding in her words.
She understood the enormous gap created by Karl's identity and the root cause of her parents' instant change in attitude.
High above, Karl had heard the entire argument between Iris and her parents, knowing her inner pain and extreme aversion to her parents' controlling desires.
He deliberately avoided this topic to embarrass her further and looked past Iris.
Then, landing his gaze on the empty easel behind her, a smile reappeared on his face, and he said: "Didn't you invite me to be your model yesterday? Now, I have arrived as promised."
Hearing Karl mention painting, the initial complexity and melancholy in Iris's eyes suddenly faded significantly, revealing the focus and talent of an artist.
Her slender fingers flexibly twirled the paintbrush in her hand, a bright smile spreading across her face.
"Of course! I've been looking forward to it." She happily replied.
But then she frowned slightly, surveyed the neatly trimmed but somewhat stereotypical garden around, and a note of regret sounded in her voice.
"It's just... if I only paint portraits, it always seems a bit monotonous, lacking a suitable backdrop to resonate with it. Well..."
She shook her head, clearly dissatisfied with the view of her own garden.
Karl looked at her slightly dejected gaze, smiled slightly, remained silent, and gently raised his right hand, making a casual gesture towards the garden.
The next moment, in the garden, petals that had scattered on the ground, and those about to wither and flutter in the wind,
seemed to be given life, easily rising from the ground and detaching from the flowers without wind.
Colorful petals of different shapes—red roses, white lilies, purple violets, yellow daisies...
As if summoned by some force, they converged into a bright, slowly flowing river of flowers, flying across the sky, swirling upwards.
Immediately after, these flying petals began to assemble and adhere in an orderly manner, piece by piece.
They were visible to the naked eye, outlining lines in the air and filling them with color.
In the end, it all condensed into the image of a beautiful girl with a graceful and lively figure.