Arthur came to the conclusion that this small room was Lady Myra's study because of the decoration and the items in the room. There were empty canvases and an easel where a painting sat. There were also other painting accoutrements like colour palettes, paints and brushes.

They sat in the dark because even though the sun was shining outside, the thick curtains of the room had blocked the sun out. Arthur believed that was for the sake of the painting equipment because extended exposure to the sun might damage them.

Once Arthur stepped into the room, he could feel there was something different about it. Perhaps this was the place where Lady Morgan said the staff found residual magical energy. If only Arthur could tell for sure... even though he was categorized as a mage by the adventurer's guild, he was not really one. His relationship to the conventional type of magic used in this world could only be described as flimsy.

In any case, the feeling that he gained when he stepped into the room told Arthur that this was the location where he was required to pay closer attention to. The focus of his search should be centred on this studio.

Arthur walked to the windows to pull the heavy curtains back. The sun filtered into the room. Now that Arthur had a clearer look of the place, he started to go through the items in the room.

Nothing really jumped out at him other than the paintings. Since this was Lady Myra's studio, this was the place where the magic was born. She painted her creation here and those she was satisfied with, she sold or traded with other aficionados or she hung them at the gallery.

This meant that most of the canvases in the studio were blank, but on that day, Arthur found three completed paintings. Two of them were stacked alongside the other canvases while the last one sat on top of the easel. The one on the easel appeared to be Lady Myra's latest creation.

Arthur found a chair and placed the three paintings side by side. Arthur had reasons to believe these three paintings seem to be a part of a series due to their similarities.

For one, all three paintings were themed around nature. However, since that was Lady Myra's preferred subject to paint, that was not that exciting. Most of Lady Myra's paintings that Arthur saw in the gallery next door were about nature as well.

For two, all three paintings had the same colour scheme, which was white. The first painting was pinkish-white, the second snow white and the third, which sat on the easel, was yellowish-white. They were all painted in the variation of the colour, white.

Arthur could not tell whether Lady Myra had a special preference for this colour or there was a specific meaning behind it. The paintings caught the ray of the sun and they shimmered. For that split second, Arthur could have sworn he saw the content of the paintings moved.

Arthur rubbed his eyes and decided the paintings deserve a closer look. He was going to study them one by one. He started with the last painting, the one that sat on the easel.

The piece was entitled, 'The Moon'. It was a painting of a plain underneath a glowing moon. The moon was full and gilded in gold. It showered its ray generously on the plain, dying it a golden hue.

The plain had no discerning feature other than the fact that it was burnished gold. Studying the painting, Arthur felt overwhelmed by a sense of loneliness.

The plain stretched as far as the eyes could see and the sole accompaniment was the moon that hung in the sky. There was no trees, no animals, no hills, no anything of interest. The plain was flat and, as gorgeous as it was, it felt quite barren like nothing was able to grow on this piece of flat land.

The most eye-catching element of this painting was definitely the moon. There was just something about it that attracted Arthur's eyes. Even through the painting, Arthur felt like he was bathing in its luxurious glow.

Arthur picked up the painting and studied the moon from various angles. No matter how he turned, the moon seemed to be staring right at him. Arthur put the painting back down but he could not shake the feeling that there was something more to this painted moon than it let on.

Arthur moved onto the second painting. It was entitled simply as, 'Snow'. Like the name suggested, the painting was of a winterscape. In terms of effort that went into the paintings, this seemed to be the least demanding because it was simply a whole canvas painted white. However, even so, Arthur did not feel like it was lacking in terms of presentation and its ability to hold the spectator's attention.

Arthur could feel the depth of the painting and every brush strokes that went into creating this piece. Even though it was just a slate of whiteness, it was not created from slathering the entire canvas with white paint. Arthur caught the attention to the details like every single dot of whiteness was artfully painted on.

Then, there was something about the painting that surprised Arthur. He pulled the painting away from him, at arm's length, and studied it further from that distance. Even though a painting was supposed to be a two-dimensional endeavor, Arthur sensed a difference of depth in the painting.

There was unevenness in the whiteness like a part of it was on a higher elevation than the others. Studying the painting, Arthur felt like he was looking for something white through a flurry of snow. For a moment, the dimension of the painting shifted slightly and Arthur saw a white symbol superimposed on top of a snowy ground. Before he could see clearly what it was, the sensation disappeared and everything returned to normal.