Chapter 12 - Spring blooms in winter's pavilion (11)

Yum yum yum yum.

"The Emperor, although not an enemy, has unquestionably become the monarch of the empire. Now we must completely overwhelm those rebels."

Yum yum. Yum.

*Slurping*

"It's obvious that Marquis Alpeir's forces are seeking to replace the current crown, so it's a grave rebellion."

"The Presbyterian Church has been investigating this before. I'm so glad your Highness is back."

"The Presbyterian Church is in the same position. Those who threaten the security of the empire deserve to be uprooted immediately."

What a shame.

Nam Nam Yum…

"…"

"…"

…

I stopped eating for a while when I saw everyone's eyes on me.

Everyone is having a meeting in a very serious and solemn atmosphere, and I was the only one eating dessert excitedly.

But it was inevitable.

Strawberry macarons were sweet, cherry pie with whipped cream on the outside was sweet, and donuts coated with cream melted gently in my mouth.

How did they think about sprinkling strawberry slices and syrup with whipped cream on top of the chocolate drink?

Thanks to them, I couldn't get my act together and now Henriette is looking at me.

"… yum."

So I pretended to eat a little less excitedly and started to eat slowly.

Soon Henriette took his eyes off me and silently spat words to the people looking at me.

"… From now on, I will punish anyone who avoids the subject of this meeting and obscures his purpose."

People immediately took their eyes off me and began to get back into the meeting. Henriette no longer looked at me either. It was much easier to eat because people didn't look at me.

By the time I ate up all the dessert, today's meeting was over.

People left their seats one by one. They said they would stay in the castle for a while to further discuss the issues of rebellion, while some seemed to return to the Capital early.

I also got permission to go back to my room now.

So when I tried to get down the chair, an old gentleman who had been staring at me intently despite Henriette's order, smiled and talked to me.

"You are very clever. You have such a good memory. Huh."

"Yes, I was very surprised too. Even if you have a good memory, where is there such a child who can explain it in a smart manner in front of so many adults?"

Then others began to speak up and praise me.

My face turned a little red and I sat back on the chair with my hands tied neatly together.

"And you're also brilliant. Perhaps because she is the daughter of Duke Wensgrey, she is exceptional!"

"Of course."

Henriette didn't give me any attention, but he answered dryly, handing over the documents he had arranged to his aide.

"If it's born from the Duke of Wensgrey, of course, it's exceptional."

Was that a compliment?

Feeling depressed for no reason, I jumped under the chair without caring about the crowd.

Oops, thanks to people leaving in unison, I was able to not bump into anyone, when something fell from the side of my leg.

'Huh? What's that?'

One of the nobles standing nearby picked it up before I could give it all my attention.

Paper folded in half. I saw it and I hardened.

"Oh, this… painting?"

"T- th- that..!"

I tried to reach out in a hurry, but… as a seven-year-old kid, I was too short for adults.

Eventually, the paper unfolded and everyone saw the contents. Even Henriette, who just got up next to me!

The aide, who was looking at the picture together, asked me with a surprised face.

"Miss, did you draw the Master?"

"Oh, no!"

My face was getting hot.

I can't believe so many people are looking at my painting. Besides, it is Henriette.

"But the color is perfect. It's the same for his eyes and hair, and it's the uniform he usually wears. And the contrast between shadow and color, it's very delicate."

"Oh, is this really the work of a seven-year-old?"

"Oh, my gosh! I didn't know there's an artist coming out of the Duke of Wensgrey in the future."

All the people admired me and praised me.

I realized at this point that I had overlooked the average drawing skills of seven-year-olds in this empire.

Meanwhile, the maids looked at me from afar and smiled with proud faces. They're like, 'Look at that!', especially Peina.

With my shoulders trembling with indescribable shame and fear, the aide handed my painting over to someone else.

It was Henriette, who I cursed.

"Hmm."

He looked at my painting for a long time.

Standing still in front of him, my blush crept up to my ears and I'm sweating. Henriette suddenly stuck out the piece of paper to my face and pointed at something with his long fingers.

… It was, indeed, the protruding horn painted on his head.

"What's this? I don't have this in my head."

'Don't ask me that seriously!'

I was not confident in saying that, so I had to desperately think.

"This, this…"

A gulp of dry saliva.

I rummaged my brain with the power of the dessert I had earlier, and finally found the answer.

"C- crown."

"Crown?"

"Yes, the crown… Then I painted it…"

"Why did you draw a crown?"

Why do you ask me that? I wanted our roles to be reversed and ask him that.

I couldn't bring myself to find an answer.

"Ah… ahm…"

So I decided to gloss over it with a smile. I smiled as beautifully as I could.

Henriette muttered something in a low voice and took the paper away. At a glance, doubts arose above the indifferent and heartless face.

"Maybe that's in the sense that you're the best. In her eyes, you would have looked like a wonderful father, as if you were wearing a crown."

"That's right. Don't children think parents are the best?"

I nodded my head eagerly as the other people added. I shouldn't miss this golden opportunity.

Then Henriette looks at it again, this time more brightly than just now.

You can't help but smile, right?

"… a waste of time."

Unless you're a villain.

He uttered calmly, and handed over the painting he was holding to the assistant saying, 'keep it properly'.

… Wait, why don't you give it back to me? It's my painting.

"The picture."

"What?"

I was glaring at Henriette when he suddenly looked at me and I hurriedly changed my expression. The smiling lips trembled slightly.

"Why did you draw it?"

Why are you asking me that?

Your question here is, why does a 7-year-old draw a person they're in a blood relationship with?

There's only one. It's to express emotions. Though I can't say it's a picture drawn to vent my anger while cursing you, so I have to tell a lie.

"The Du-… The Duke is so cool."

"…"

"Handsome…"

Somehow this moment felt like a very important moment in my life.

Instinctively, I think it was. Maybe it's because Henriette didn't blink and kept looking at me.

I felt like a rabbit bitten in the neck by a carnivorous animal.

There's only one thing a rabbit can do when the predator does that.

Open your eyes wide and beg.

Help me! Help me!

"That's why I wanted to draw it, can't I?"

I looked up at him as pathetic as I could, tilted my cheek, and forced out a pitiful voice.

The people around said I drew it well. And that I did make him look handsome.

Nevertheless, Henriette only stared at me stiffly.

Without batting an eyelid, even the surroundings went silent.

The maids were watching me and Henriette nervously.

It's been a long time since he finally spoke.

"… did you say it was a crown on my head?"

"Yes."

"I work for the imperial family. I'm sure you know that."

"Yes…"

"As one of the most powerful pillars to the establishment of the new imperial power and support of the current emperor, we must rule out any possibility, factors, etc. that might doubt the cause of overthrowing the regime."

I think I know what you were talking about.

Until a while ago, the topic of the meeting was 'Hidden Ambition of the Enemy Forces'.

Because there were so many enemies to destroy, Henriette pretended to be dead for a while in prison, and he was hiding from everyone except his close aides.

The picture of the crown drawn by his daughter can also attract people negatively. I looked at him, nodding slowly.

But Henriette continued, without a hint of anger, just dry.

"Don't draw things like this next time. I'll take care of this painting."

At the end of the conversation, he walked outside and the aide holding my painting hurriedly followed Henriette.

There was a buzz among the nobles. In the meantime, Peina and other maids approached and hurriedly hugged me.

"Are you all right, miss?"

"Peina… I…"

Peina thought I was surprised, so she held me closer and patted me on the back.

To be honest, I was surprised, but maybe because I was stressed, my whole body was drained.

In addition,

"… my stomach hurts."

I think I have an upset stomach, I only felt it now. My head also hurts because of stress.

While the other servants took the nobles to their respective guest rooms or prepared to see them off, Peina and the maids rushed to take me to the resident doctor in the castle.

***

"How do you intend to dispose of the painting?"

Returning to his office, Henriette looked at the image of the young man in the hands of his aide.

Rather than answering the question, a piece of thought popped out of his mind.

"It's not a good picture to look at again."

No famous painter in the world could think of putting him on a canvas.

Because no one wanted to bear the consequences if ever the Duke didn't like the outcome.

So there's only been one or two portraits. And you can only see him in a family portrait.

Moreover, he had no memory of receiving such an incomplete painting.

Henriette's eyes again scattered in the image painted on the paper.

"Why do you think she painted me?"

At his question, the aide sweated for a moment.

Even a loyal servant who stands by his side knows it wasn't easy to serve him.

'I heard that you slept for a long time today, but it is really fortunate that your usual appearance of being sensitive has faded a lot'

"I dare say, as the others have mentioned, she painted it purely out of affection for her father."

"Purely."

Henriette brooded over it like it's a sore thumb.

He took his eyes off the paper and raised his head.

The slowly fading scenery of the day swept over him like air breezing in high mountains.

"A person born with the blood of the Wensgrey family knows how to carry 'pure' intentions. Huh."

Every action has an intention, and it is usually far from being pure.

Only calculated rationality was the reason why he was alive so far.

If you're a blood relative of the Wensgrey family, it's probably so.

"That's my child too, it couldn't have been made with pure intentions."

The aide looked down sadly at the paper in his hands. The precious first painting drawn by his Master's daughter, that was in front of him, weighed heavily on his shoulders.

"Yes, I'll throw it away immediately."

"If it gets into the hands of people who enjoy talking nonsense, I'm sure it'll come back as a threat. I'd rather keep it for a while."

A different answer than the aide had expected came out, but he was relieved stupidly.

"Okay. I'll keep it for you if you think so."

"It's not that I don't trust it in your hands, but I'll keep it as close as I can. I'm sure a lot of people will be sharpening their knives after what I've done lately."

"Then, well… where you can't see it."

"If you put it out of sight, you'll never know when it's gone."

At this point, the aide felt something strange.

"T- then, I'll leave it at this."

Henriette was quite the hardheaded one, so the aide didn't bother asking a lot of questions, even if it confuses him. He'll just do what he wants without explaining. However, his superior is acting suspicious today.

The aide was trying to put the painting in the corner of the nearest shelf for now, but Henriette, who had just sat at the table in the office, said without even looking over there.

"I can't see it well."

"… how about this?"

The aide was also a little nervous. This time, he placed the painting in a more visible spot in the corner of the shelf.

But Henriette glanced over and only crumpled his eyebrows.

He said nothing but it was understood, so the aide placed the painting in the center of the shelf right across Henriette's table, right next to the door.

As the aide looked at him that seems to ask if it's wrong again this time, Henriette looked stiff and then answered, lowering his eyes.

"It's better now."

"······."

"I don't know what her intentions are yet, but I've warned her, so she won't draw a crown from now on."

Saying so, he opened the document.

'As long as she doesn't draw a crown, she can draw you…'

That was what he seemed to say. Is it just the illusion of the aide?

But Henriette stopped opening the documents that summarized today's meeting and made a face again and looked at the picture on the front shelf.

'Don't tell me to change the place again.' So the aide was determined to move the painting onto his table this time.

But what Henriette brought up was even more unexpected.

"… I need to get a frame."

"What?"

"If you leave such a shabby painting alone, it harms the landscape of my office."

"···"

"It should be decorative."

The aide had nothing to say, but immediately asked the servants, who were waiting, to get a frame suitable for the size of the painting.

Then, looking at Henriette, who began to do business calmly again, the aide thought.

'Something seems to be changing.'