Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 110: This Isn’t a School Uniform
The diamond-patterned gate slid open without a sound, allowing the car to enter.
Everything inside was different. The gravel crunched softly under the tires as they followed a winding driveway flanked by flowering hedges and slender trees.
Blossoming air flushed through the car’s climate control and entered Leon’s lungs as he inhaled.
He pressed his face against the cool window, his breath fogging the glass. "Where are we?" he asked in a low voice.
Darian turned his gaze toward him. "A safe house," he replied, fixing his eyes ahead. "One of the Qing family’s properties."
’One of the Qing family’s properties?! Damn!’ Leon’s eyes widened, drifting from Darian to the environment ahead and back to him.
"Your mother and sister have been here for a while," Darian added the moment he saw Leon enjoying the view.
’My mother? Sister? Are here?’ The shock in him increased, his heart beating with a new rhythm.
The car rolled to a stop before a sprawling, single-story house built of pale stone and dark wood.
Leon fumbled with the door handle with his clumsy hands, then opened it after three tries. He stumbled out, his boots sinking into the soft gravel.
Darian joined him, tapping his back. "Let’s go. They are waiting."
The front door of the house opened before they reached it. Inside, a lady in a simple grey housemaid’s uniform stood there, her hands clasped.
She gave a small nod to Darian, then rolled her curious eyes at Leon.
"Sir," she said, then bowed slightly.
"They’re inside?" Darian asked, his brow wrinkling slightly.
"Yes, sir. They are in the sunroom, sir," the lady responded, not raising her head to meet Darian’s.
Darian placed a heavy hand on Leon’s shoulder. "Go on. I’ll wait here."
Leon smiled at Darian, then walked past the maid. He tried slowing his steps, but they echoed on the polished marble floor like an eagle flapping its wings.
Every corner of the house was filled with soft light, filtering through large windows, and household equipment Leon had only seen in books.
He followed the sound of a faint humming voice he remembered and entered a bright room at the back of the house.
One wall of the room was full of glass, not stone or wood, overlooking a secluded garden with a burbling fountain.
In a pool of sunlight, he saw his mother. Li Mei sat in a wheelchair that glittered like a morning star, a light blanket laying across her lap.
Leon watched her move her fingers slowly, tracing the intricate pattern of the blanket’s weave. Although it had been years since he had seen her, she looked thinner than he remembered.
Beside her, curled on a large floor cushion with a book, was his sister, Lily.
A smile tore onto Leon’s lips, followed by tiny drops of tears that traced down his cheeks and dripped from his chin.
Leon stood frozen in the doorway, a lump forming in his throat so large it hurt his breathing.
Lily stopped reading as her head tilted upward. A strange awareness passed over her, causing her to stand abruptly.
Her eyes—so like their mother’s in shape, but bright and able to see—widened. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Her small hands flew to her mouth. "Leon?" The name escaped her in a whisper.
The humming echoing from their mother stopped. Ayra’s head turned sharply toward the sudden shift in the room. "Lily?" she asked in a tense voice. "What is it? What’s wrong?"
Leon forced himself to move and took one step into the room, then another. "Mom," he said, the words scraping out in a dry tone.
Li Mei’s breath hitched, her hands stilled on the blanket. "Leon?" she said in a voice that sounded louder than Lily’s. "Is that... is it really you?"
Within three steps, Leon stood by her and dropped to his knees on the soft rug beside her wheelchair. "It’s me, Mom," he said in a voice that wouldn’t stop breaking.
He stretched his arms forward and gently took her searching hands in his. He guided the cool, papery skin to his face.
Her fingers traced his skin with desperate precision—his brow, his nose, his cheeks, and the line of his jaw.
"You’re here," she murmured, her thumbs brushing over his closed eyelids. "They said... they said you were in a special school. That you were doing important things."
A single tear escaped from the corner of her blind eye and traced a path down her cheek. "You feel older."
"I am," Leon whispered, pressing his forehead against her hands. The scent of her soap and the herbal smell flooded him with a pain that was sweet and agonizing. "I’m here, Mom. I’m here."
Lily finally broke from her statue-like stance and launched herself at him. She wrapped her thin arms around Leon’s neck from the other side and buried her face in his shoulder.
"You didn’t come back," Lily mumbled into his shirt in a thick voice. "You promised you’d come back. You didn’t."
Guilty heat flushed through Leon’s body as he put one arm around Lily and held her closer. The other hand still clasped his mother’s.
"I know, Lily. I’m sorry."
Li Mei’s hand cupped Leon’s face, her expression turning stern beneath the tears. "Are you hurt?" Her fingers probed his hairline, his neck, as if searching for injury.
"I’m not hurt," he said. "I’m okay. They’ve just been... training me. Harder than I thought."
"Uncle Feng brings food and Mom’s medicine," Lily said, pulling back slightly to look at him. Her eyes scanned his face with strange intensity.
"He said you were becoming strong. To protect us." She said it like a fact, but a question lingered in her tone. Is it true?
"I am trying to be strong," Leon said, lifting his head and meeting her gaze.
Li Mei’s hands slid from his face to his shoulder, gripping the fabric of his black outfit. "This isn’t a school uniform," she stated.
"This..." She paused. Her body began to tremble for a while, then stopped. "Your dad used to have one of these."
