Goodbye, Mr. Regret novel Chapter 16

She fixed her gaze on the spot where Ines was standing.

At that moment, Timothy stepped forward, bringing Sheila and Henry with him.

He wanted to see for himself what exactly this "talent and spark" Ines claimed to see in someone's eyes looked like.

Sheila had been into animation since grade school. All these years at Aetherion, she'd even worked on a major project with the renowned director Mr. Smith—so how could she possibly lack talent or spark?

Ines cast a long, searching look at the covered frame, then turned to face the crowd.

She spoke slowly, her voice calm and clear. "I hadn't originally planned to exhibit this piece. But honestly, I couldn't find a single flaw in it. Today marks the first stop on my national tour, and this is one of the country's landmark animation conventions. After a lot of thought, I decided to bring it out for everyone to appreciate and learn from."

With that, Ines stepped aside and pulled the deep red cloth away from the large frame.

For a moment, it was as if someone had pressed mute on the entire gallery.

The silence was so profound, you could have heard a pin drop.

It was a painting of The Grand Canal, Venice.

But instead of the usual somber palette, the scene burst with vivid, luminous colors.

The people and scenery retained their classic forms, yet everything had been reimagined with the stylized flair of animation.

Every line seemed to leap from the canvas, as if sculpted in relief.

Although the image was perfectly still, it felt astonishingly alive—each figure seemed ready to move at any moment.

It was like watching an animation frozen in time.

For thirty long seconds, nobody moved or spoke.

Timothy finally understood what Ines meant by "talent and spark."

Stillness that hinted at motion, motion that felt impossibly still.

Yet, something about the piece felt oddly familiar…

Of course—paper cutwork.