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The soap almost became half while rubbing it to erase the name on my forehead but the ink stayed the same. Looks like the soap and water are afraid of the Boss, why won't they, after all they belong to his empire.
I wiped myself dry and wore Manik's sleeveless vest and trousers from his three piece suit set. I carefully examined my forehead to find alternatives, the first thing I did was to hide it with my hair but I looked like a ghost with inversed hairstyle. It would also be a trouble as my hair would block my eyes. After multiple tries I found my solution.
I pulled out the black ties from Manik's collection and tied it around my forehead perfectly hiding it under the fabric. Perfect! I think I am setting the trends with my fashion. Messy bun, suit tie around forehead, sleeveless vest, and baggy trousers folded till my claves. Only if the competition is about fashion instead of painting.
If this tiny ink is troubling me, I wonder what's happening to Manik, as I have literally smeared the paint all over his chest. Have fun, Monster.
After having my breakfast I observed all the participants are seated in their comfortable positions and were leisurely painting. I still did not start my task as I was waiting for Alya. Luckily, I stumbled into her as soon as I stepped into the garden.
"Lady Boss, I need more paints."
"More? You haven't even started the painting. Your canvas is empty!" She said looking up and down at me. It looks like I mesmerized her with my fashion.
"I've used the paints for another purpose..." I trailed off.
"I've allotted 12 colors for you, and how did you manage to finish all of them, Player 2?" She was still looking for an answer and I did the best I could to her question.
"I've used all the paints to dye my hair."
Really? That's the best I could come up with in this short span.
"But your hair is still black!"
I took a moment to think and answered with a bright smile. "Oh, Alya! You are too innocent. I have mixed all the colors and it created Black color. It's common sense."
Please, Alya, do not ask me more questions. This is the highest my brain can work after breakfast. As if she heard me, she did not question me more.
"I should have guessed your answer looking at your costume. Anyways, just borrow from other players, I am pretty sure there would be a surplus amount of paint with them." She said rubbing her forehead.
What does she meant by costume? It's an outfit!
She pulled me closer by arm and continued, "You must win this round, Got it? I heard the princess are well trained in artworld. The best wins here, so do your best."
As a lady boss she chose to train in martial arts, but as a princess we were trained with fine arts and crafts. The only problem is I don't remember doing any artwork at home. It was always Navya and I used to run around carrying her supplies, but at the end she put my name on the painting. This would give impression that I have done those beautiful paintings.
I walked between the participants to see who got more paints to share with me. My feet stopped on it's own seeing Navya's painting. It was a rough sketch of Harshad's portrait. Holy Moly! It looked exactly like Harshad and anyone would believe it as a photograph instead of painting. It was that good. It looks like Navya is totally in love with Harshad!
Player 3 brought me out of thoughts and greeted me with a huge grin. "Nandini 2, what are you planning to paint?" I had a blank expression on my face. Seeing that she continued, "I am painting The Boss. He is so handsome, and perfect for a painting. I think The Boss was sculpted by a greatest artist before he was sent to the earth."
Well, she is not wrong. Manik had the perfect features! The privileges' he is enjoying are never ending list.
Player 4 interrupted our chat. "Good luck with that because I am painting my future Mother in law, Niyonika, The Queen. This way she might choose me for one of her son's."
Soon other participants joined and boasted about their paintings, and the reason behind them choosing it. After speaking with them I have prepared my idea, I will paint all of them into one frame. There would be Malhotra's, Murthy's, houses, roads, trees, cattle and of course VEGETABLES. I will need a lot of paint to complete my idea so I decided to be as friendly as possible with my co participants.
Luckily, there was no harsh deadlines for this task. We are supposed to submit the paintings by the end of this day and it's quite reasonable. Everyone started their task as soon as they got their paints but I am starting it during the Lukfast period. I should have started along with them instead of playing colors with Manik. It would save me a lot of time.
Navya was the first person to deposit her canvas even before the deadline. I must say it was perfect. It took so much energy to look away from her painting, it was that stunning. She surely mastered her art in painting.
"How dare that witch paint it more beautiful than mine?" I did not say that, I looked at my right and realized it was Player 3. "Player 2, you must help me." She requested me and I nodded my head in approval. "I am the real Nandini Murthy, Player 1 is fake, but I think she will win this round with her painting. I am afraid the wrong person will become the winner."
I blew out air trying to cool myself. It is boiling my blood hearing everyone still referring to themselves as the Nandini Murthy. I continued painting not giving any attention to her but someone from the back sneaked and painted Harshad's white teeth into black. Now Navya's painting is spoiled with a portrait of Harshad with crooked teeth.
Instead of scolding her, everyone appreciated her for destroying Navya's art. I hugged my canvas close to protect it from them, now that I am sure they have the power to destroy other's hard work. As the sun began setting Alya walked back into the garden to inform us about the time and reminded us to deposit the canvas.
My painting was done by the time the sky got darker and I admired my art. There was no white space at all as it was filled with people, animals, vegetables, tables, houses etc. It was colorful and full of emotions. This is my first painting and I am extremely proud of it. I actually don't want to submit it for competition and hide it from everyone in my room. But I am helpless right now, because rules are rules.
As I began tiding up the space the player who destroyed Navya's art started splashing paints on other player canvas to disfigure them. She would slowly attack from behind by pouring the black paint in her hand. There was a chaos behind me and Alya along with the guards tried their best to calm down.
She came to me and tried to pull the canvas away from my body to harm my painting, but I did not let it go and tried my best to protect my hard work. She was stronger than me so she succeeded in separating my canvas from me. I closed my eyes not wanting to see her destroying my paint but instantly opened them with her words. "It doesn't need further destruction, it is already destroyed."
What the hell? It was my hard work and she dared to comment on my work. I will fight with her later and I am happy that she did not touch my painting. Her comment can go to hell as far as I care. I finally deposited my painting just in time and we are asked to relax for sometime as the judge would declare the winners.
We used this time to quarrel with each other and Navya was living in a dreamland these days. She is always lost in thoughts these days with a stupid smile playing on her face. Is she alright? My thoughts came back with Alya's voice asking us to assemble for results.
"Some people have tried to destroy other's paintings and we are disqualifying those entries." This sentence caused an uproar among the women.
"How can you disqualify the entries? We are victims, you have to disqualify who tried to harm it." Some of the participants yelled.
"Well, there was no rule about not messing up others canvas, you were free to do anything in this round. It was your mistake for not protecting your belongings," she shrugged casually. "The remaining paintings are judged and are given scores."
Everyone's scores were announced except for the disqualified persons score. Navya got 50/100 and she is losing her wits. And the winner was finally announced it was Player 4 who painted Niyonika. It was expected since the judge was Niyonika.
"I thought it was your painting, I expected you to paint my portrait instead of Harshad." Niyonika whispered to Navya as they walked away from the ground.
"Uh... I did not get a score." I raised my hand and Alya looked around the bin.
"Except the disqualified entries everyone got their scores."
"But I protected my painting, nobody touched it except me. Please check again." I requested and Alya looked along with me. I finally spotted my canvas lying in the disqualified entries. I picked it up and showed it to her with a bright smile. "This is my entry."
She closely looked at it and sighed. "Yeah. Someone pored black paint on it, so it's disqualified."
"No. It was part of the painting. It was night time in this scene that's why I painted black." I explained.
"Then why do I see the entire painting except this area?" She questioned.
"Because only this are did not have lights. That day the bulb was broken and nobody came to fix it. The poor ducks were alone in the dark." I explained further.
"Woah! There were ducks in the dark?" I nodded and she took deep breath. "Listen, it's better if it stays in the disqualified section instead of giving you a score. At least, you could save your face."
Her words hurt me. It was my hard work. It's okay, she did not understand my creativity. "Can I at least take my painting with me?" I asked her.
"Of course, it's not like we will send these masterpieces to museum. They are ending up in the bin either way." She shrugged and walked away leaving me alone in the garden.
...
Precap
What are your thoughts on todays update?
How is Nandu's fashion?
How is Nandu's painting?
What's happening with Navya?