The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 90

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 90.
Julien Valmont was an accomplished painter in France with a fairly established reputation.
He had painted countless artworks and exhibited in numerous galleries.
Yet he had always felt something was lacking.
The more recognition he received, the happier he grew; his bank account and prestige swelled—but so did a strange emptiness.
His hidden goal remained constant.
‘I have to surpass Catherine.’
In his younger days, he was endlessly compared to her.
To compare himself—raised with elite education—to a woman from nothing, without credentials, was maddening.
But the real problem was that many said her work was simply better than his.
Their painting styles were similar, which led to constant comparison.
Where she could lay down a single brushstroke with intuitive grace, he required countless deliberations and anguish to achieve something even remotely comparable.
Perhaps that inferiority born in that moment was where everything started.
His thirties and forties, consumed by obsessive effort.
And now, at fifty, he had become established.
Julien was nearly forgetting about Catherine altogether.
She was dead—a figure frozen in time, unable to move forward.
He was the survivor, continuously breaking his own records.
He was beginning to admit to himself that he was naturally superior.
So why had he dredged up the memory of someone he’d buried?
“…….”
Julien stared at Catherine’s work still hanging in Montrebleu as though it were his enemy, turning the thought over.
Ye Ji.
That young girl who appeared out of nowhere from Korea—she was the root of it all.
‘How dare she.’
At the moment when he was moving past Catherine’s name, taking one final step forward.
That girl’s appearance, as if deliberately timed, was simply unpleasant and grating.
Like facing an old curse and jinx made flesh.
‘She doesn’t know her place.’
Wasn’t it enough that she appeared from nowhere and won a prize at Montrebleu?
Everything about her subsequent trajectory felt cheap and hollow.
What was this—that she couldn’t sully a noble name?
Who did she think knew her so well?
It irritated him that she suddenly launched commercial work under a pseudonym.
For all Montrebleu’s prestige as a global gallery, the market and industry were ultimately run by adults.
Naturally, a youth competition drew far less attention than adult competitions or prestigious awards.
Everyone might gawk at the emergence of this newcomer Ye Ji, but how many would obsessively analyze her painting style?
“…….”
Julien absently touched the scar on his cheek with his fingertips.
“Ye Ji…. Goyeo….”
If he weren’t so obsessed with Catherine, it would have been nearly impossible to recognize the connection.
Even with his obsession, perhaps only Chloe or Marc might catch it.
‘Regardless of what I think, I won’t let this stand.’
He had no intention of watching Ye Ji recklessly tear through the industry like that.
In any case, his foul mood was the first reason he’d spread the rumor.
An established artist of his stature could swat away a newcomer like a fly with a single gesture of ill will.
And the second reason was, in certain respects, even clearer.
Wouldn’t it make sense to use her to compensate for what Ye Ji had cost him?
‘It irritates me, sure—but I’ll use what can be used and crush her underfoot.’
Julien, now middle-aged and recognized in the art world, felt it was time to move beyond that.
To step into a larger arena, he was methodically building connections and opportunities.
One of those was precisely this Montrebleu youth competition.
Kobayashi, one of the competition participants.
Her family was both a vast enterprise and a distinguished art house.
He had devised a careful strategy to cultivate ties with them.
But what was the outcome?
That troublesome girl had smashed it all to pieces.
Then at the very least, she owed him compensation in some other form.
‘Besides, I never claimed to be Goyeo myself.’
Julien had never said with his own mouth that he was Goyeo.
He simply had a Korean assistant, and his painting style was similar to Catherine’s….
No, not her—she was gone now.
Similar to Ye Ji’s to a certain degree, which was true.
Those who noticed this and asked him about it received only silence and a knowing smile.
He had never once said yes.
Was he responsible for correcting the misunderstandings of those foolish enough to jump to conclusions?
‘Let the idiots believe what they want.’
What began as a reckless impulse born of irritation proved, once he ran the numbers, to be undeniably advantageous.
His current title as an established artist essentially meant he had become fixed and conventional.
Stable, yes—but no one expected innovation or novelty from him anymore.
But if he were Goyeo, that changed things entirely.
Instead of his staid established name, a pseudonym through which to pursue groundbreaking, daring works?
The industry couldn’t help but take notice.
And as expected, the calculations aligned perfectly.
Pradel—a luxury brand of Céline’s caliber—had reached out to him.
‘They even sent a collaboration proposal with an ambassador offer.’
That small misunderstanding was already laying golden eggs.
In a manner that seemed to mock Céline’s daring approach, they had extended their proposal to Julien, who had become the rumored true identity behind Goyeo.
From how they mentioned his “recent bold endeavors” in the email’s opening, there was clearly a connection.
It was tantamount to mentioning the suspicion that Julien was Goyeo—though always couched in ambiguous language.
There was no need for him to directly ask, “What recent endeavors are you referring to?”
Whether the casting stemmed from a misunderstanding was not his concern.
After all, the actual work would proceed under his own name, Julien—so technically, it wasn’t even impersonation in a legal sense.
“Annoying as it is, she’s always ended up being my opportunity.”
Catherine had been exactly that.
She appeared at a crucial moment and unsettled him—nothing more.
So Ye Ji would be no different.
Use her, make her a stepping stone.
This time too, she was merely an obstacle and a foundation stone to lift him higher.
The thought lifted his darkening mood slightly.
“I just need to pull this off.”
The Pradel collaboration.
If he managed that well, whatever name—Goyeo or otherwise—would become irrelevant; he’d reach a position of unparalleled dominance.
Transcending the mere title of an established painter in France.
Rising far beyond that!
“….”
Julien cast one more withering look at Catherine’s work before turning away.
The fact that she remained fixed there was, to him, oddly comforting.
***
“So, this Julien Valmont… he’s impersonating you…. Is that right?”
“That’s the gist of it. I’m not sure how far the rumor’s spread, but—”
Given that it reached Korea, it must be fairly widespread.
Ye Ji turned Young’s words over in her mind for a moment.
‘But why on earth would he?’
Yet she quickly understood.
If he hadn’t developed at all since his thirties, if he remained at that level—
The reasoning behind his actions was depressingly easy to predict.
Having grasped his intent, Ye Ji let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha… haha….”
At first, it was laughter born of sheer disbelief.
But the more she laughed, the more genuinely absurd it seemed.
Her strained laughter suddenly broke into genuine amusement.
“Ahahaha.”
As her laughter grew, even tears began to well up—leaving Young genuinely flustered.
“I didn’t tell you this so you’d lose your mind.”
Even Young, hardly a stranger to eccentricity, looked uncomfortable.
Ye Ji waved a reassuring hand and finally caught her breath.
“Ahahah, no… it’s just, isn’t it absolutely ridiculous?”
Turning it over once more—
Ye Ji was about to burst into laughter again when Young cut her off.
“I don’t think this is something to just laugh off.”
Some lunatic was using your name for his schemes.
Young laid it out bluntly, and Ye Ji nodded.
“The issue is that this lunatic actually has some standing in the industry, doesn’t he?”
“Well….”
It was true.
Julien had a fairly good reputation within the field.
Of course, that didn’t mean he was morally impeccable.
But at least he wasn’t known as someone fundamentally corrupt.
Rather, he had a reputation as someone flexible and smart enough to bend rules a little—a decent enough person.
In an art world run by eccentrics, someone who was personable and produced good work was remarkably rare.
‘I’ve heard he’s the type who can be reasoned with, someone conveniently diplomatic.’
Though Young had no direct connection to him, he’d heard things.
So if he’d heard the rumor that Goyeo might be Julien first, he probably would have nodded along.
He might even have believed Julien had deliberately hidden his style under a pseudonym.
There was something vaguely similar about them, after all.
True, Julien’s cautious brushwork differed from Goyeo’s dynamic, flowing strokes.
But if you thought an accomplished artist was simply trying a tougher style, it wasn’t entirely implausible.
Watching Young struggle for words, Ye Ji let out another small giggle.
“Seriously, it’s hilarious. Why on earth would someone like that covet my name?”
At Ye Ji’s words, Young’s expression grew serious.
“That’s exactly what I couldn’t figure out, which is why I came to you directly.”
At Young’s response, Ye Ji finally stopped laughing and tilted her head thoughtfully.
“That does make sense. But what did you mean asking me why I use a pseudonym?”
Didn’t that determine how he’d handle the situation?
At Ye Ji’s question, Young’s expression grew uncomfortable, one eye narrowing slightly.
“If you were doing it for money, I wasn’t going to bother telling you.”
At Young’s reply, disappointment flashed across Ye Ji’s eyes.
So that’s the kind of person you are.
Young flinched at her pointed gaze.
“What the…. I—”
Stammering in English as if to ask what misunderstanding she’d landed on, Young finally continued.
“It’s not like that. As you said, he’s more famous than you right now. The rumors would actually help bring in work.”
If Ye Ji genuinely needed money and had adopted the pseudonym to pose as an adult—
Then perhaps it was better she remain ignorant, continue the misunderstanding, and earn what she could.
Knowing the truth would only trouble her.
“Ah, so that’s why you mentioned it….”
Ye Ji nodded at Young’s clarification.
Certainly, Julien’s impersonation seemed purely advantageous when viewed from the outside.
But Ye Ji knew Julien’s true nature.
All of it—even the pettiness he hid from others. She knew it all.
The fact that nothing about him had changed, that he’d shown no growth, made him seem contemptible and laughable.
Was some instinctive intuition at work?
Even the way he needlessly obstructed her path remained unchanged—and that made her laugh.
How could he know to do these things?
Perhaps hatred was a more remarkable emotion than she’d imagined.
The shared quality between Catherine and herself that even those who cherished them sensed only hazily.
Yet her rival—her competitor—had recognized it clearly.
“…….”
Still, Young couldn’t fathom what Ye Ji found so amusing.
If her reason for using the pseudonym was intensely personal, then his impersonation was simply an offensive intrusion.
“What will you do?”
At Young’s question, Ye Ji’s smile faded.
Of course, it was funny—but funny was funny.
“I’ll need to think about it.”
As always.
Ye Ji wasn’t the type to simply take blows without responding.
Goyeo was a name she’d only recently begun using, yet it had become a symbol of her commitment to live alongside others, a personal challenge.
It was never merely a money-making endeavor.
“Will you help me out, too, teacher?”
She had no intention of doing nothing.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————