The Versatile Master Artist

They will contemplate, make important decisions, or park coffins under the famous dome mural ”Athena Driving the Lion Chariot” at the monastery.

However, Anna seems quite indifferent to religion.

She cannot be considered a devout believer.

Even though she was baptized as per family tradition at birth, Anna rarely attends services and has only been to church a few times throughout her life.

In this sense, she does not even count as a qualified believer.

The last time she came to Melk Abbey was for her aunt’s funeral.

”Miss Ilina, do you wish to confess, or do you need guidance from God for anything? I would be happy to arrange the sacrament for you personally.”

Dean Melk, dressed in a purple robe, asked with a smile.

These old nobles have always been the church’s most significant patrons.

Even if Anna is not keen on church activities, the dean’s attitude is very pleasant.

”No, I just want to be quiet, please give me a prayer room.”

Anna shook her head.

...

Melk Abbey, Imperial Family’s Prayer Room.

In the grand hall, as the girl requested, there were no attendants or priests.

Anna didn’t pray in front of the statue of Jesus.

She just sat quietly in her wheelchair, gazing at the wise goddess driving the lion chariot on the towering circular dome.

Yesterday,

Anna felt an unprecedented happiness.

The so-called gravitational pull of souls is when two people, even worlds apart, can still resonate with the same breath and heartbeat.

This is both tacit understanding and a miracle.

”Impressionism is nothing more than emotions and pure visual enjoyment; we do not depict gods, we only record sunlight and air. We do not follow doctrines because the beautiful will remain, and pain will eventually pass.”

Detective Cat’s words perfectly align with her understanding of Impressionist art.

The moment those words entered her ears, Anna felt a shivering current coursing through her body.

At that moment,

Anna felt that she had never been so close to the soul of the painter she had never met.

This feeling was wonderful.

From that instant,

She no longer regretted not having a talent for painting.

Because Anna knew she had found the painter who was destined for her.

She pondered quietly under the mural of Athena, contemplating thoughts that had lingered in her mind for a long time.

Perhaps it was the goddess riding the lion chariot, conquering all realms, who gave Anna strength as she quietly made up her mind.

She took out her phone from her pocket and found the number her aunt had left her in her contacts.

”Uncle Osborne, I want to ask you a favor...”

Anna made a phone call.

The Uncle Osborne she mentioned was a long-standing acquaintance of the Ilyena family.

He was a college classmate of her aunt’s, the Ilyena family had helped him rise to prominence, and Anna’s grandfather had arranged for the once-poor Osborne to join the Scholastic Publishing Group.

Scholastic Publishing Group—a dominant publishing house, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, with annual net income exceeding $2 billion.

Looking at the names of authors and artists it has worked with, you can tell the importance of this publisher—Andy Warhol, Stephen King, Sylvia Plath, and J.K. Rowling, author of ”Harry Potter.”

Osborne is now Vice President of the European Region of Scholastic, and one of the most important connections in the art world her aunt left for Anna.

”Anna? Is that you.” A serious man’s voice came from the other end of the line.

”Yes, Uncle Osborne, is it convenient for you to talk?”

Anna heard some noise over the phone.

”You all go out first, we’ll discuss the report in the afternoon board meeting...”

The man instructed, and then his voice softened: ”Anna, what made you think of calling Uncle Osborne, is something the matter?”

”Yes, I indeed have something to ask you.”

Anna did not deny it.

”Is it about Van Doorn? Indeed, you were not mature enough in this matter. In the art world, it’s best not to offend anyone. Offending an artist over an internet video was very unwise.”

The man criticized Anna bluntly.

Anna listened quietly.

”However... ’Oil Painting’ magazine kicking you out is indeed Sir Brown’s fault. No matter what, your surname is Ilyena, and driving the last female heir of the Ilyena family out of the magazine is excessive.”

Osborne’s tone turned stern.

”How about this, since Anna you’ve spoken up. I’ll talk to Sir Brown. I can also handle Derong Fan Doorn, since he’s an illustrator, he won’t refuse me the courtesy. Let’s pretend this never happened... how does that sound?”

Osborne’s tone was full of confidence.

In the large publishing community, Osborne, as a major European Region executive, was analogous to a principal in the chain of interests.

It’s an exaggeration to say he can dictate Derong Fan Doorn’s fate.

However, since Osborne had spoken, Van Doorn wouldn’t linger on the matter with Anna.

”Thank you, but actually, I called you today... not for that reason.” Anna hesitated for a moment, for some reason, she did not immediately agree.

”Hmm... What else is there?”

Osborne’s tone was somewhat curious.

”Could I recommend a painter to illustrate for a book?” Anna asked.

”Heh, small matter, such things are just a word.” Osborne laughed, ”Go ahead, my child, which book is it?”

”The Scholastic Publishing Group is preparing to republish ’The Little Prince,’ correct?” Anna asked softly.

”’The Little Prince’... uh...”

This time it was Osborne’s turn to fall into a brief silence.

Each year, the Scholastic Group publishes thousands of books.

Appointing an illustrator for a book, in theory, is trivial for Osborne.

But ’The Little Prince’ is not like any other book.

’The Little Prince’ is a famous children’s (adult) fairy tale story by the French author Saint-Exupéry, and is among the world’s best-selling books, without question.

In Europe and North America, where book prices are generally exorbitant, ’The Little Prince’ has accumulated sales of over 100 million copies in 50 years and continues to grow at a million copies per year.

In terms of print volume, only the Bible surpasses ’The Little Prince.’ Even the total sales of ’Harry Potter’ are slightly less than ’The Little Prince.’

The original rights to ’The Little Prince’ were with Scholastic Group’s competitor, Thomson Man Publishing Group, and had brought astronomical revenue to the publisher over decades.

This kind of book is a cash cow, yielding astounding returns, and forms a major part of a publisher’s core commercial interests.

Acquiring the rights was practically impossible.

However, half a century later, around the turn of the millennium, ’The Little Prince’s rights expired and it entered the public domain.

This allowed other eager publishers a chance to enter the arena.

Scholastic Group had long been preparing for the reissue of ’The Little Prince,’ not only retranslating it into German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, and seventeen other languages.

For the main sales-driving English version, they invited Mr. Hawke, Chair of English Literature at the University of Oxford, to translate it.

A simple short novel, painstakingly translated and polished over five years, every sentence is a classic, achieving a model of faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance.

Publishers’ internal review meetings that have seen Mr. Hawke’s translated version consider it a future classic that surpasses the past translation by Catherine Woods in terms of linguistic beauty, fluency, and adherence to the original author.

If I’m not mistaken, it might become the most classic translation of ’The Little Prince’ in the forthcoming half-century.

The significance of this work is extraordinary.

Mr. Osborne’s hesitation is understandable.

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