The soul was no longer twisted as it had been a short while ago, aside from the entire figure being shrouded in a faint halo, everything seemed normal. The once crumpled appearance had smoothed out, and the mad expression had returned to one of gentleness and indifference. It looked just like the older scholars one would often see in the City of Knowledge, who spent their days immersed in libraries and laboratories, exhibiting not a trace of aggressiveness, but rather exuding a faint sense of kinship. Only then did the girls recall having seen this face before, in the Western-style building they called home, on the wall of the second-floor corridor hung his portrait. Lina had even teased Catherine in front of the portrait, saying that their family members, regardless of gender, all seemed to look exactly alike. However, at that time, the girls could never have imagined that they would one day meet the subject of the portrait in person.