Legend has it that Nebuchadnezzar II, the king of the Babylonian kingdom, built a hanging garden for his wife in the city of Babylon. It is speculated that the Hanging Garden is a stepped pyramid-like building, and each of its steps is filled with a variety of plants.

Now, in front of Charles and the others is a garden that resembles a hanging garden.

The hill, which was originally more than 30 meters high, has been cut into nine layers, each with its own unique planting. There are plants for cherry blossom viewing, as well as plants for foliage viewing. Although it's autumn and not the season for cherry blossom viewing, some of the small two-meter-tall trees are covered with fruits of various colors, and they don't look like they have a good taste.

At the foot of the hill, a small lake several meters wide surrounds the hill. On the hill, water flows down the canal and into the small lake.

The carriage stopped in front of a wooden bridge, and Charles and Artoria walked across the wooden bridge under the butler's guidance and walked up the stone steps to the top of the hill.

At the top of the mountain, it's a different story.

A large, all-white house was built in the middle of the hilltop, and in the open space outside the house was a small garden built around a crooked pond. On the edge of the pond there is a pavilion covered with vines on both sides of the water, and in the middle of the pond you can see the spring that is bubbling out.

It's a pity that due to the season, many plants have begun to lose their leaves.

The housekeeper walked into the house with two guests, and a huge oil painting hung on the porch. As soon as he entered the door, Charles was attracted by this oil painting.

Unlike the world's usual paintings of religion and heroes, the painting depicts a middle-aged couple and their children on an outing on the shores of a lake.

On the left side of the picture, a middle-aged couple sits under a tree and whispers on a blanket filled with fruit, snacks and wine. In the middle of the picture, a little farther away, a young man is playing with his hound, another young man is sitting on a stone by the lake and playing the lyre, and a beautiful girl in a long skirt has taken off her shoes and thrown them on the grass by the lake, and is now holding the hem of her skirt and playing in the lake. On the right side of the picture, there is a lake reflecting the trees and the blue sky in the distance, and the microwave surface of the lake is dotted with two butterflies flying over the lake and a fish jumping out of the water.

Through rich and harmonious colors and elegant tones, the whole oil painting presents a picture full of warmth and joy of family.

Charles stared at someone in the painting for a long time. And the butler stood quietly aside, not disturbing him to admire his master's work.

After Charles withdrew his gaze, the butler introduced: "This is the master's early work, which records the scene of the master's family outing at that time. ”

Charles pointed to one of the people in the painting and asked, "Does this person come back to visit his mother every year?"

The butler smiled and nodded, then led them into the living room.

It is a circular living room decorated like a pavilion. There were many windows in the walls of the living room, and the footings were pale green, and then gradually faded upwards, and by the time they reached the semicircular dome, they were already pure white. The bronze decoration on the walls is composed of vines, trees, flowers and other motifs, and is also decorated with bees and butterflies. The motif above the dome is of flying birds, and none of the species and postures of the many birds are repeated. Sitting in the living room is like being in a spring field.

After the maid served the tea, the butler told Charles to wait a moment, and he went to inform the master of the arrival of the guests.

Artoria admired with interest the unusual style of the living room, which was usually decorated with geometric figures, supplemented by irregular patterns and lines. It was the first time she had seen a living room with such a spring-like wilderness-themed décor.

Charles introduced her: "Madame Willey is a master of art who has the courage to break the mold, and her works are based on the theme of everyday life, advocating the use of art to show the light-hearted side of everyday life. In terms of painting techniques, she has further deepened the use of perspective in the near large, far small, near real and far virtual, and she is also an advocate of direct coloring. ”

At this moment, a rush and broken footsteps came from outside the door. A short time later, a tall thin old woman in a beige home dress hurried into the living room.

Charles and Artoria got up from the couch and were about to salute her, who wanted Mrs. Verry to come directly to Charles and raise him high.

"Little Charles, you haven't been hurt in any way, have you?" Mrs. Verry was relieved after checking that Charles's arms and legs were complete.

"Thank you for your concern, Lady Verry. Charles thanked him after re-seating.

"Don't be so polite, call me mother-in-law. Lady Verry touched Charles's head and said, "Your mother was one of my best students, and you were still in Winnie's belly the last time I came to your house. This spring, your mother brought me a big box of maple syrup. I didn't expect it, alas......"

"That's right!" said Mrs. Verry, who suddenly remembered something, and asked the butler to fetch something.

After a while, the butler took out an oil painting from the room next to the living room. The background of the painting is a garden, and the main characters are a little girl standing by a chair in a small dress, and a little boy less than two years old sitting in a chair.

Mrs. Verry pointed to the portrait and said to Charles, "Look, this is a portrait of you and Mila painted by Winnie, which she sent six years ago. ”

Recalling the experience of being a model in the garden with his sister and posing more than a dozen times by his mother, Charles couldn't help but sigh.

After reminiscing about the past, Mrs. Verry asked, "Charles, what can I do to help you this time?"

Charles replied, "Now I have taken the elven princess Elizabeth as my teacher, and I am also serving in the 'Big Tree and Wheel' caravan. It's just that I was separated from the caravan for a few days not long ago, and now I'm going to wait here for the caravan's arrival. ”

Although they are acquaintances, the number of etiquette that should be there is still no less. Charles gestured, and Artoria handed a flat gift box to Mrs. Verry.

When the nobles traveled and traded, they sometimes had to stay in the homes of other nobles. At this time, accommodation and food expenses are naturally unavoidable, but it hurts a little for everyone to talk about money directly, so there is a practice of replacing room and board expenses with gifts.

The host will arrange the standard of accommodation for the guests according to the gifts of the guests, generally based on the value of the gifts, and the hospitable and warm hosts will sometimes raise some standards.

If someone offers a standard that is much lower than the value of the gift, then the family is waiting to be notorious. Seriously, you won't be able to find a helper in a fight in the future, and you will even be called by the lord to reprimand you.

However, Mrs. Verry politely declined Charles's gift, and said to Charles, "Don't be so polite to me, you come here like you're home." I have a small request, though. ”

"Mother-in-law, please tell me that I will do my best if I can. Charles replied.

Mrs. Verry looked at Artoria for a moment, then said to Charles, "I'm too old to hold a brush, so I've been preparing the last painting of my life for the last two years. ”

Then she sighed, "I wanted to use the theme of the Knight King as the end of my painting career, but I couldn't grasp the essence of the Knight King's temperament, so my painting was not completed for a long time." ”

In the end, she said: "And this knight of yours looks very similar to the knight king, and his temperament is also eighty or ninety percent similar. So, can you get her to model me for the next few days?"

Charles replied with a smile: "If she agrees, I have no objection." ”

Artoria was stunned, she didn't expect that the first thing she would encounter after returning to human society was to let her play herself.

After seeing Lady Verry's gray hair and wrinkled face, and the expectant look in her eyes, she finally agreed.