While Ye Yang pondered the possible future adjustments, the crowd in front of the pagoda suddenly became excited, pulling him out of his thoughts. He focused on the paintings again and realized that the last one had been carried inside again.

The painting that currently had the most votes was always displayed prominently. In this case, it was one depicting the streets of the capital city, capturing the daily life of the demons in much detail. It had been up there for most of the time the guards spent counting, beating the previous ones which had still been changing frequently by a long shot.

This wasn’t what had the demons in turmoil though. No, the painting that was currently being carried outside was the landscape painting Ye Yang had voted for. In the past, it would have been obvious that this was the one that would win the competition. But with everything Ye Yang had done so far, the audience couldn’t help but wonder if this unassuming painting could actually push the current favorite off its pedestal.

Ye Yang glanced at the painting but then turned to look at the artist following behind instead. Art didn’t have a high significance in the demon realm. It wasn’t strange. After all, nobody had the ability to genuinely love making art so those who pursued it usually did so out of pride. As a result, their paintings were often bold and eye-catching, as far removed from the word ‘subtlety’ as they could be.

This artwork was an exception to that rule which was part of why he appreciated it so much. It captured something he had feared had been lost due to the curse and he loved being able to see it still live on somewhere. Ye Yang was well aware that he was probably one of the few people who could appreciate this kind of thing so there was no way this painting would even come close to winning. He was personally very interested in the painter behind it though.

Ye Yang didn’t dare to watch too blatantly for fear of what the people around would make of it in case they noticed but he still took a quick glance at least. Based on that, it seemed like the painter was a petite woman. She had multi-colored hair in all shades of blue and green, with a few scattered hints of gold in between. If he hadn’t seen wrong, then a few feathers dotted her hairline so she should be from one of the demon tribes in the southwest of the realm which had the ability to shape-shift into birds, with some even being born in that form.

If he was right about that, then maybe the painting didn’t hold a deeper meaning. The demons of those tribes lived in the mountains or at least very close to them. Painting something that depicted the mountains might be the equivalent of a demon from the capital painting one of its streets. Of course, that didn’t have to be the case. It all depended on her thoughts and he couldn’t know those just by taking a glance.

Next to her, the guard took out the last jade token and put it on the small stack on the table in front of him. “Twenty-one.” He looked at her to make sure that she agreed and then noted down the number in the booklet.

Twenty-one was pitifully low. Everyone in the realm was eligible to vote and while not everyone would come to the city to actually take a look and make their choice known, just the people from the capital city amounted to several thousand. To only have so few votes likely meant that her painting was regarded as one of the worst.

Ye Yang had expected this outcome and from her expression, so had the woman. She silently watched as her painting was carried back inside and the next one was brought out, her facial expression not changing in the slightest.

Ye Yang only took another glance at her but, to be honest, he was intrigued. This was his favorite painting in the competition and even though he feared that she had simply painted what she was used to from where she lived, he still held a little hope that there was more to it. He hesitated for a moment but finally motioned at her to come over.

This time, the woman’s expression turned into surprise. She even glanced to the side as if to make sure that he had meant her before she actually walked over. Stopping two steps away from him, she lowered her head in greeting. “Your Majesty.”

Ye Yang gave a hum and looked around, motioning at a guard. “Get her a chair.”

“Yes.” The guard left at once while the woman looked at Ye Yang with even more confusion.

Ye Yang couldn’t say that he was surprised by that reaction. His personality wasn’t well-known among the demons yet so everything he did was examined closely and taken as a sign of how his future reign would shape up to be. The competition was the first big thing he had started that was known to everyone and now, he wanted to speak to the person whose painting he had personally voted for under the eye of the public. Of course, whether it was the painter herself or the audience watching, they all wondered what this might be about.

Ye Yang wasn’t in a hurry. He waited for the guard to return with a chair and then motioned for her to sit. Only when she did, did he turn toward her and gave her a closer look.

At a closer distance and without having to look away at once, he could see that he had indeed seen right before: There were a few feathers leading into her hair. From up close, he could also see that the skin around her eyes was colored slightly in the same colors as her hair while her lips were especially pale. Sure enough, she should be from one of the tribes in the southwest. But then, since she was there, why not just ask what he wanted to know instead of trying to figure it out on his own?