Chapter 16

                                    

                                          
“Wonderful……”
It depicted a scene of war.
The blood-red sky and the many bleeding bodies of soldiers on the ground represented the tragedy of war, but the eyes of the war god-like man standing above were filled with the will to end it all.
The liveliness of the horses as they stampeded their feet and bellowed long and hard, the will to win and the grave sense of responsibility on the face of the male god leading the soldiers,
the various expressions on the faces of the soldiers who trusted and followed him, and the gnashing of teeth on the faces of the people who wanted to help them even with their farming tools……
Looking at such a magnificent piece of art, I am simply speechless.
But then someone spoke to me. “Your attitude of appreciating works of art is really…… unconventional.”
“Huh?”
Before I knew it, Jungkook was approaching.
“What…… are you doing here?”
“What’s so weird about me coming to appreciate the art in my house?”
“Oh, that’s right.”
“Well, the Riegelhoffs aren’t much into art, so it’s a wonder you’re here at all.”
He’s being snarky.
It’s not like a taunt, “You don’t have this in your house, do you?”
If I weren’t in the position of needing Jungkook to save my life, I’d have yelled at him for his arrogance.
In other words, I’m not in that position right now.
“You’re right, and you even rotate the displays once a month. That’s quite a collection.”
I smiled in amazement, but Jungkook's expression didn’t improve.
“How do you feel about the artwork?” Jungkook asked instead, looking up at the large artwork.
“I feel overwhelmed. There are so many emotions of so many people in this piece, it’s hard to believe it could have been imagined by a single artist.”
I get a little more courage seeing Jungkook nod his head despite his furrowed brow.
“War is a tragedy, but I see in that man in the painting a noble will to end it. Everyone is looking up to him, and he…… doesn’t look like he’s reveling in the praise of others. I get the feeling that he’s not going to be happy even if he wins, because war is nothing to be happy about, even in victory.”
“War is a tragedy no matter how you slice it, and the hero who wins it is the one who knows that best.”
I nodded at his words.
Jungkook glanced in my direction, then added an afterthought, “It was painted to commemorate my grandfather’s victory in the war against the Kingdom of Yanok. He is the model for the male god leading the soldiers.”
“Oh……!”
“I bet you didn’t know that at all.”
“Yeah, I didn’t know.”
Jungkook's brows furrowed further at my blatant answer.
“I never heard that you enjoy art, so why are you here?”
“Well, as you get older, your tastes change. I wasn’t much into it before, but I’ve been getting more and more interested in it since before we got married, and to have a place like this here, well, can I just pass it up?” I shrugged it off and stood up.