Painter Of The Night: “The fate of shadows and the phoenix”

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhin.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes.

In my essay “Heroes – part 1”, I already presented a possible continuation of the story. I explained that we would have a new version of chapter 41 and 42. Now, it is time to develop more precisely my predictions. Nonetheless, I first need to elaborate how I came up with these ideas.

After analyzing so many chapters and comparing them to others, I realized that not only Byeonduck would utilize scenes from the first season in the second, but also she would repeat the same elements within the same season. Let me give you one example, which will be explained very accurately.

We have two incidents with a door during the first season. In chapter 16, valet Kim opened the door without announcing his arrival. Yet we never saw him directly, we could only hear his footsteps. The manhwalovers only got clues about the identity of the “culprit” in the next chapter, yet there was still some mystery left. As for Jihwa, he heard about the late departure from the lord’s room the next morning through the guardian. However, at some point, I could recreate the incident. Like I had exposed it previously, Deok-Jae was responsible for this incident, which was also confirmed by the author herself (she liked my tweet). He had been spying on the painter’s moves, because he saw the artist as a rival. Nonetheless, the evidence for this theory was truly exposed in chapter 53. Deok-Jae had listened to the way Baek Na-Kyum sounded, when he was aroused. So in chapter 16, out of jealousy, Deok-Jae sent the butler to the lord’s bedchamber telling him that the artist had already left. His true intention was to separate the low-born from Yoon Seungho and his move did succeed. Yet, I doubt that Kim was very happy, as he could have been in trouble. And this incident was repeated in the second half of the first season. Jihwa opened the door of the study in chapter 43. And here is the question? How could he know where Yoon Seungho was? Actually, he should have gone to the master’s bedroom. There’s no doubt that Deok-Jae played a huge role here. He tipped him off again, but this was caught by Kim. Deok-Jae wanted to use the aristocrat in order to bring apart the couple. He knew that the butler would no longer assist him. Yet he failed in the sense that Jihwa didn’t interrupt them. The former was just too shocked. However, in his mind, it was not a complete failure. He had already anticipated Jihwa’s jealousy and fury and its consequences. He already envisioned the painter’s murder. That’s why he knew the identity of the client hiring Nameless. The vicious domestic had used the red-haired noble as a chess pawn. He desired to get rid of Baek Na-Kyum through an assassination. It was already palpable in chapter 51. He urged the joker to kill the low-born in a hurry. That way, he wouldn’t get his hands tainted, and if Jihwa got caught, the second lead would become his scapegoat and feel the lord’s wrath. We have to imagine that the jealous servant had no time and opportunity to tail Jihwa’s moves. Yet, he could control him, each time he entered the mansion. As a conclusion, Deok-Jae had been manipulating the second lead in the shadow too. Jihwa was in reality manipulated by The Joker and the commoner. Yet, there was a witness of the second incident: Kim. Why do I think like that? Note that in the next chapter, Deok-Jae is sent away to the capital. He is the servant following the scholar. Kim made sure that the guardian would be sent away, so that there would be no longer any trouble. He had the same reaction than his master. But he was not doing it as a favor for his lord, far from it. His desire was to avoid any uproar or big incident. Deok-Jae had become a source of danger, a thread to his tranquility. For Kim, if his master often had sex with Baek Na-Kyum, then in his eyes he had achieved his goal. The lord would lead a quiet life, and he could act like the lord of the mansion. First, he could use the lord’s money, as he saw fit and he could give orders to other servants, especially the guardian after his return, although he never got the authorization. Note, the butler is employing the imperative tense. Therefore I come to the following observation: in this scene, he used his power to force Deok-Jae to give up on his “dream”, becoming the master’s favored servant. This explicates why the butler kept asking Deok-Jae to bring the material for painting to the study. His real intention was to make him accept the new situation: Baek Na-Kyum was now the favored servant and not him. No wonder, why Deok-Jae called him a He was not only abusing his position, but also choosing the lord’s partner. This explicates why Kim described the painter as favored servant. This status was just temporary, and it was linked to Kim’s tranquility. As long as he was acting as the lord’s sex toy, everything was fine. And now the manhwaphiles can comprehend, why Kim never revealed the conversation at the library. He didn’t have any reason to. Furthermore, it could lead to another outburst, the lord could seek revenge on the teacher. While hiding his knowledge, the butler could do anything he wanted, leave the mansion without any permission. With this new approach, it becomes obvious that Kim never bought the ink and brushes, because he was kind to the painter or felt concerned for him. the painter had everything he needed. He used him as a justification in order to put the guardian in his right place, to make him give up. This was a new version of chapter 12: Since the painter was a kind and gentle person, Kim mirrored his behavior. However, Deok-Jae was a jealous bully, therefore only authority and power could pressure him to give up. This explicates why Deok-Jae started acting like a bully behind the butler’s back, although I doubt that the valet was not unaware of it. Since the head-maid took care of it and defended the artist, the butler didn’t feel the need to intervene directly. His main goal was to lead a tranquil life. And this scene should be judged as a new version of chapter 45: This time, Kim used his position to scold the servant. Yet he didn’t truly punish him, because he had no authority. He swept the incident under the carpet, because the lord could question his competency. For the butler, the rivalry and jealousy were not his business, it only became one, if he got into trouble. As you could see, each incident is repeated twice in each season, yet there’s an escalation and the painter becomes a victim of these incidents. At the same time, I would like to point out the following deduction. It becomes comprehensible, why the butler keeps feeding his lord the aphrodisiac. When the lord acts like a man obsessed with sex, Kim can have his hands free and enjoy quite a nice life. He leaves the mansion, gives orders and even buys things. That’s why he keeps telling others, that they shouldn’t worry about the permission from Yoon Seungho. The master never paid attention to it.

So if we summarize all my discoveries, then you’ll observe that during the two door incidents in the first season, we always have three people involved: Kim, Deok-Jae and Jihwa. The valet and the aristocrat were the trespassers, while in both cases Deok-Jae used them. Simultaneously, there are two masterminds for the murder: Deok-Jae and Min. That’s why we have to imagine that there will be a second mastermind behind the second abduction. And since Kim played a huge role in the door incident leading to Jihwa’s jealousy and violence (chapter 43, a silent witness), the manhwalovers should anticipate the butler’s involvement in the second assassination. Furthermore, the two incidents with the door have already occurred in the second season:

• chapter 53: The door was broken due to Min’s action and in the same chapter, Deok-Jae crawled past the Joker. It was, as if he was passing his torch to his successor.
• chapter 64: Kim got caught this time, exactly like Deok-Jae. He couldn’t run away like in the past. And now, all the culprits involved in the incidents with the door were discovered during the second season, which gives us a clue that Min will also be caught in the end.

But let’s go back to my initial thought. After chapter 64, Kim has definitely a reason to get rid of the main lead. He was already annoyed that the artist had failed his job as favored servant in chapter 52. Hence I can imagine that the night in chapter 53/54 and the next morning must have bothered him a lot, the new version of the night at the pavilion. A servant had ran away after getting beaten, because he had hurt the artist. Then a door was broken, and the study was in such a mess. Finally his own master had offended many aristocrats. He had humiliated them by punching one and by evicting all his guests. Yoon Seungho had created a scandal among the aristocracy, a nightmare for the butler. Besides, the next morning, the lord had been ill and he had to fetch the doctor and the medicines. I am quite certain that Kim must have seen Baek Na-Kyum as trouble. Besides, if a noble like Min approaches the butler, I can’t envisage that he will tell this to his lord. His philosophy is and That’s why I have the feeling that Kim was already aware of the kidnapping, but chose to remain silent (repetition of the night 29/30). Yet, he wasn’t sure if the doctor had witnessed him as silent accomplice, hence he needed to verify what the physician had observed. Consequently, I perceive this panel under a different perspective. It could definitely be seen as an evidence that Kim must have seen something, because he didn’t leave the hot water close by the door. Then later it had disappeared. Note the difference between this panel and the following one: That’s why I believe that he was acting like in chapter 29/30: feigning ignorance. But since the painter had returned, he needed to change his plan without revealing too much, hence he used the expression “I believe”, in order to mask his knowledge. Since the physician is copying the butler’s words, I am more and more convinced that Kim was already aware of the abduction. The doctor had to act the same way than Kim. But now after chapter 64, just like Deok-Jae represented a source of danger to his tranquility at the end of the first season, the valet judges the artist now as a cause for uproar. Moreover, he is losing his master’s trust. That’s why in his eyes, the painter needs to leave the mansion. Deok-Jae was sent away and now Kim is attempting to do the same. This explicates why Kim confronted the lord with the truth. He used his misdeeds to make him feel miserable and he reinforced his self-hatred so that the noble would keep his distance from the low-born. He is not just opening Pandora’s box here, he is opening a way for the commoner to depart from the property, hence the door is open here. First, Kim had imagined that Baek Na-Kyum would follow his sister Heena, the moment when he would see his sister. Yet, it didn’t happen like expected, and he got caught usurping his authorities. Therefore he needed to find a new solution to bring the couple apart. He knew how the lord would feel. He is very perceptive and can use the main lead’s weaknesses. This is not surprising that Yoon Seungho fears to reveal his vulnerabilities, as these were turned against him in the end. And Kim was responsible for this. From my point of view, Kim is no longer a silent witness, but he has turned into a true accomplice. Kim and Min have already plotted with each other. It happened during the night of the stopped gangrape. Since Kim worked in the shadow in the first escape (chapter 29-30), the manhwaphiles have to anticipate a repetition of Kim’s behavior during that night (chapter 52-53-54), the shadow acting during the night. Note that he left the mansion with the painter without the lord’s authorization in chapter 57. Furthermore, he has not mentioned the disappearance of Deok-Jae yet. Finally, in chapter 66 Min and Kim were seen together at the door, a strong clue that they are working together in the end. As a conclusion, Kim is trying his best to separate the couple. While he acts kind towards the painter making him believe that he is doing it for his interest, he acts the opposite towards his master. He utilizes the truth in order to hurt the main lead, since he can’t use his position, like he did with Deok-Jae. However, like I said before, this won’t work like Kim has envisioned it. Therefore he will be forced to act directly in the end, revealing his true personality: a coward who never wanted to take any responsibility and let others suffer so that he was never confronted himself with a terrible situation. His tranquility was paid with the suffering of others.

So Kim’s first plan fails. Initially, Baek Na-Kyum refuses to follow Heena and argues with her points. Secondly, like my follower @LolitaJina observed it correctly, the door the main lead goes through at the end gives us a clue for the next event: This is the same door, the main character went through during that famous night, when he was walking under the influence of his unconscious: Back then, he went through the courtyard to the painter’s room and I believe, Yoon Seungho is following the same way. However, this time, it is a conscious choice. He feels the need to keep his distance from the commoner. He has definitely heard that he was considered as a bad omen for Baek Na-Kyum. The chapter 68 is definitely a new version of chapter 53, yet this time Yoon Seungho didn’t intervene. In other words, he is retreating and he will remain in his room in my opinion. Yet unlike the chapter 52, he won’t organize any orgy, he will remain hidden thinking that Baek Na-Kyum must have decided to leave him. He has no other reason to think otherwise, since he was portrayed in such a negative way by two people: Heena and Kim. In other words, I am expecting a new version of chapter 52, the lord is in his bedroom alone, hiding his wound and even skipping his meals.

But while noticing that each incident always happens twice in each season, I realized something important: There’s one element that hasn’t occurred a second time yet. . So far, it was just mentioned in chapter 68 . Yet, it was already changed. From “if you paint for me, then… ” it became “if you stay here…”. This is important in my opinion, as the painting seems to have lost its purpose.

Then suddenly I connected these words “ to my theory: Yoon Seungho has been a painter in the past. What if Baek Na-Kyum discovers this? We have to imagine that Baek Na-Kyum starts getting worried for the lord and chooses to visit his chamber. Yet, this time, he is not bringing any picture , because he knows that the lord has feelings for him. However, he is keeping his distance from him, a similar situation than in episode 41-42. Furthermore, the manhwaworms should remember that the night in chapter 41-42 was a new version of the episode 20-21: the first Wedding night. In during both nights, the artist cried. In the chapter 41 and 42, his tears were the symbol of his agony. His heart started getting frozen. As a conclusion, the following episodes will contain elements from chapters 20-21 and 41-42. But let’s focus on the following elements contained in episodes 41-42:

• Baek Na-Kyum’s huge pain after hearing about his destiny. Now, the position are switched, it is the lord who feels that he is fated to bring misery to people.
• The painter tried to paint a lot in order to ease his heartbreak and had an outburst telling him that he was following his wishes: he was now painting for him.
• Yoon Seungho makes a huge discovery: he saw a painting of the scholar, a different kind of picture making him feel jealous
• Both leads tried to push each other away. Baek Na-Kyum was trying to hide his sorrow, and Yoon Seungho wanted to help, but had no idea how. They argued. Yoon Seungho refused the painter’s advances, which he felt half-hearted and not genuine.
• The aristocrat attempted to find the cause for the artist’s agony, but he was not able to.
• The painter’s tears: the chapters 41-42

In other words, this scene showed that there existed a mini-discussion between the two protagonists. The lord failed to discover the cause of the painter’s tears for two reasons. First, Baek Na-Kyum had no idea that he was longing for warmth and love, and as such he confused love with sex. Furthermore, the lord was not even aware of his own true wishes: being loved. The other reason is that now, the painter knows about the lord’s feelings and he felt his sincerity. Furthermore, he is now intrigued by Yoon Seungho, he might resent him for his misdeeds, yet he can’t truly reject him. Therefore I am expecting a new version of this chapter, full of sadness, while the painter tries to discover the reason for his distance and isolation.

What I am now expecting is that Baek Na-Kyum will question the noble and the latter will try to push him away. Yet, the artist won’t move and will keep asking. At some point, the low-born will wonder if his bad condition is related to his sickness from his youth, which will surprise the main lead. And that’s how I believe that the topic of painting will resurface again. Yoon Seungho will finally reveal that he used to paint, which would infuriate father Yoon. And this will lead the painter to request from the lord to paint for him, a new version of: However, Baek Na-Kyum will propose the following deal:

“If you paint for me, then I’ll stay here”

Remember my previous observation, the painter had already changed the deal. It was no longer to paint for the noble, but to stay at the mansion. So the lord decides to use his own tools, which were always present in the room: , the red box which corresponds to the painter’s item: And that’s how Yoon Seungho is invited to paint for the painter, so that we have a new version of chapter 36. And he paints a plant again This time, the lord is the one struggling, because he hasn’t done it for a long time. However, the moment when the artist sees the lord’s work, the low-born can’t help himself smiling, surprised by the main lead’s talent. The painter will compliment the noble for his picture, a new version of this panel: The redness will be replaced with a smile. And that’s how Yoon Seungho starts crying. For the first time, he made someone smile again, a source of joy for him. And now you can imagine what I am expecting. This time, the lord is saying something similar to this: For the first time, Baek Na-Kyum sees the lord’s tears and can’t help himself holding the lord and even kissing his eyes. Just like in chapter 42, Yoon Seungho can’t stop weeping. Finally, it is important to recall that in chapter 20-21, the lord gave a false apology . Since he experienced a genuine apology in chapter 63, the noble will know how to ask for the painter’s forgiveness. From my point of view, the rejection of the kiss in chapter 65 will be replaced by a gentle and tender kiss. There’s no doubt for me that Kim only succeeded to separate the couple temporarily. Kim never expected that Baek Na-Kyum would remain by Yoon Seungho’s side despite the harsh treatment.

And if this truly happens like predicted, this night will mark the rebirth of the phoenix. Yoon Seungho will have the artist as his teacher and guide, simultaneously the low-born will see that the noble is not truly obsessed with sex. They will be able to talk about other subjects, yet painting will give the lord the occasion to become active again. The lord will be able to outlive his passion, hence he will be able to start living again. His pictures will make the painter smile, making the noble happy. That’s why Kim will be forced to become truly active in the second abduction. He won’t be able to act in the shadow or be a silent accomplice like in the past, which will lead to his demise. The painting will bring them together and we will have two painters of the night. As a conclusion, I am expecting the chapters 69-70 containing elements from the following episodes:

• chapter 20-21
• chapter 36
• chapter 41-42
• chapter 52

In other words, the chapters 69-70 will stand in opposition to the episode 58. The love session won’t be any longer a dream, an illusion, this wonderful night will symbolize reality. The lord’s painting will be a proof that Yoon Seungho didn’t dream, he will see with his eyes and hands that the painter’s concern and love were genuine and real. The lord won’t associate his love confession to a defeat like in the past , but to a victory. Furthermore, the painting will force the aristocrat to rely on his own senses, so that he won’t any longer rely on the butler’s words. From that moment, Kim won’t be able to distort reality and make the lord doubt his judgement. He saw and felt the painter’s admiration through his painting. However, this doesn’t mean that the lord’s transformation is completed. He might be reborn during the next episodes, yet he has still a long way to go before truly shining. He needs to change people’s perception about him and it will start with the staff. From my point of view, the head-maid will approve the changes and can only encourage the artist to remain by Yoon Seungho’s side. Little by little, Kim will lose his privileged position among the domestics. And Min will become more and more impatient. His desires for the artist will make him go crazy, overlooking the presence of another shadow: the second Joker, Nameless, the one who ruined Deok-Jae and Min’s original plan. There’s no ambiguity that the buffoon will also be responsible for the failure of the second abduction.

These are my predictions… I hope, you liked these. Maybe I am too romantic, however I feel that the chapter 58 will serve as a mirror for the future episodes.

Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My tumblr-twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and the support.