Chapter 5609 Crushing Expectations

Chapter 5609 Crushing Expectations

Artists needed to develop thick skin in order to survive in their line of work.

They earned their livelihoods by presenting their works to the public.

A crowd contained all kinds of random people and personalities. Each of them could supply very different feedback from uncritical praise to a torrent of horrible insults.

Of course, the Impresario Prince's identity vastly limited the amount of flaming he received, but he must otherwise suffer the same tribulations as any other artist.

Given the fact that the man had stuck by his career for so long, Prince Casevir must have been able to develop his own way of coping with harsh criticism. Such an artist should no longer be easily swayed by any feedback, no matter whether it was positive or negative.

They had found their own vision, and unflinchingly pursued it with the sincere belief that there was a place for their work in the society they were a part of. Each and every creation contributed to a body of work that could serve as a monument that could inspire the public for many years to come.

Perhaps the Impresario Prince used to be on his way of building a legacy that could withstand the test of time and avoid the fate of becoming one of the many thousands of princes whose names would be forgotten after their passing.

Yet the most recent turn of events painted a much more ominous picture. The Great Severing changed many people's futures. The only question was whether it was for the better or for the worse.

So far, Ves did not believe that gaining access to cultivation was doing Prince Casevir any good.

Ves did not hide his judgmental attitude. Since the Impresario Prince had put up a wall, it was time to exert more pressure!Excavate this intelligence, retracing it to n0v*lbin★

At this time, Ves did not really pay attention to Casevir's identity as a prince. As far as he was concerned, the Impresario Prince was a desperate artist. Vulcan had guided many of them over the course of performing duties in the Creation Association.

Ves moved closer and leaned forward until he tapped his finger onto the physical projection of one of the more recent scrap metal artworks.

Although he was only able to touch an illusionary representation of Casevir's work, it was realistic enough to portray its essence.

"Your work is beautiful, but only on the surface." Ves critiqued. "Let me be honest, Your Highness. It is painful for me to see how you have put decades worth of skill and technique to use in this fashion. Any other artist in your shoes would have been able to fashion these pieces of metal together in a work that can serve the public in different ways. Yet out of all of the possible reasons for you to make your latest works, you have solely fixated on satisfying your own shallow ego. Your earlier work has earned my respect, but ever since you have practiced whatever cultivation method that you have acquired, you have completely misunderstood what your profession is all about. The fact that you are incapable of recognizing your fault is a sign that you are not able to control the negative repercussions of your cultivation."

Qualified artists generally possessed the ability to deflect harsh critique, but everyone had their limits!

Ves was a creator himself, so he understood much better than ordinary people how to identify and exploit the weak points of an artist like Prince Casevir!

This became evident when the Impresario Prince's impeccable training and education could no longer restrain his rising anger and indignation!

The Rubarthan prince wanted to deny the faults right away, but it was difficult for him to counter legitimate criticism.

That was a difficult question. Ves had no idea how much the Star Emperor cared about each individual child.

He made a guess. "Thrice?"

"No. Once. He attended my birth in passing. He only glanced at my infant body a single time before expressing his hope and expectation that I can live up to the bloodline of emperors. Then he left without even bothering to hold me in his arms."

Wow. There were fathers, and there was the Seventh Star Emperor.

It was no wonder that Prince Casevir was so hung up over himself!

If Ves grew up with a 'wonderful' father like the current Star Emperor, he would also become desperate to earn his daddy's approval!

"Our great father is a busy statesman." The Impresario Prince continued to spill his story. "Thousands of children are competing for his attention. In this regard, he has set a simple rule. Only the most impressive and successful princes are qualified to earn his personal attention. He does not play favorites in this regard because he must show that even his own lineage must abide by meritocratic principles."

"I see..."

"My great father determined the course of my life before I was conceived." Casevir said. "When he took a liking to one of the distinguished court artists more than a hundred years ago, the geneticists and other specialists worked to combine the original genes of my great father and my highly accomplished mother to produce a child that should theoretically combine the best of both worlds."

"Genetics do not work that way." Ves frowned. "People are products of both nature and nurture. The former only sets the upper and lower boundaries of what individuals can reach over the course of their lives. It is how they are raised and how they navigate their lives that ultimately determine their ultimate place. As far as I am concerned, bloodline alone is no guarantee for critical success."

"Do you think I am not aware of that?!" The prince barked at Ves! "The Rubarthan Imperial Household is very much aware of the high variability between the princes. This is why an overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters have never managed to catch our great father's attention after they were born."

"Isn't it unfair to expect younger offspring such as yourself to compete against the first hundred or so princes?"

Prince Casevir shook his head. "Our great father is not unfair in this regard. I am not expected to become an equal to the oldest of my siblings. The only requirement that I have to meet in order to earn the right to make His Majesty remember my name is to realize the potential set by my bloodlines and my augmentations. My mother is a court painter. When she is truly serious, she can produce masterwork paintings at a frequency of 27 percent. She has painted so many masterworks over the course of her long career that they can decorate an entire throne room! As for my humble self, look around you. The works here are the best that I can produce in my current state. Do you understand my position now? My record is so paltry that I do not have the face to return to the capital!"

Wow.

This was really harsh.

The life of a Rubarthan prince was so much worse than Ves had ever imagined. It was rather funny because a lot of people envied the members of the Rubarthan Imperial Household for enjoying the greatest luxuries from the moment of their birth.

Ves tried to figure out what he should do with this revelation. How the hell could he pull a prince with daddy issues out of his distorted mindset?

Given how Prince Casevir obsessed about his absent father all his life, it was difficult to shake him out of this incredibly unhealthy fixation!