74

"Your Highness will lead the Empire in the future. That's why you offered Cecilia a political marriage."

"What do you want to say."

"As for me, I am the one who has placed the prosperity of the empire and the imperial family above all else as a priority."

Raphael looked up and stared at Sian. Even though he knew it was impolite to put his eyes on him, he wanted to say this much.

"With emotion comes responsibility. Your Highness is a man of duty first and never of responsibility."

"Is that about it."

Sian received Raphael's words with his characteristic blank expression.

"You say the same thing to me."

Same thing? Who else said that to Sian? Raphael instinctively remembered one person.

Ren.

The feelings that Ren had for Elena, which Raphael had observed so far, were of a nature that could not be given 'justice' in a single word. He bullied Elena with malice and hostility, but he never crossed the line. It was as if the right and wrong and harassment brought about by malice and hostility were an expression of interest.

Sian had been silent. When he lifted his chin and looked up at the ceiling, he looked back at Elena's portrait for a long time, and finally spoke.

"I have nothing to refute your question. It's pathetic."

***

An art festival was held. The four-day art festival was so grand that it could be called one of the three major festivals of the Academy.

In particular, the Central Library was transformed into an exhibition hall to display the works of current students of the Faculty of Arts, which numbered more than several hundred. Although the reading room was not available for four days, no students expressed their inconvenience since the final exams of the second semester had just ended and it was a typical festival of the academy.

Of the three major festivals, the Arts Festival was the one that attracted the most outsiders. While the Swordsmanship Festival scheduled for later this week was focused on current students, acquaintances, and family members who came to watch the exciting confrontation, the Art Festival was visited with great interest by collectors, connoisseurs, art dealers, investors, and other outsiders related to the field.

It was an invaluable opportunity for the current students of the Faculty of Fine Arts to participate in the festival. Through the festival, they were able to sell their works to collectors who expressed an interest in purchasing them, and they also received high evaluations from appraisers.

It was also possible to meet affluent patrons and investors and receive the support that would enable a stable artistic career after graduation. On the other hand, if approached from the opposite direction, it was an opportunity to discover pearls in the mud not only for current students of the Faculty of Arts, but also for those engaged in the art world.

"How is it?"

"You are stunningly beautiful, my lady."

Anne gave her praise with her eyes shining. Although the exaggeration was mixed, she was sincerely admiring Elena's beauty.

"It's nice to hear empty words."

Elena stroked her messy bangs as she looked in the mirror. A majestic flower sat in the mirror facing her with her hair in a bun.

Since the art festival allowed the wearing of plain clothes instead of uniforms, Elena had bought trinkets to match her dress for today. Elena was impossibly breathtakingly seductive. Even though the dress was elegant and restrained in its exposure, and simple earrings and necklace were all she wore, it was like a single flower that was deadly seductive.

Elena was wise and maintained her grace and dignity, but even her distressing appearance flowed through her deliberately exposed wrists, collarbone, and neckline.

"What do you mean by empty talk? If I were a man, I'd be out of breath the moment I met you."

"May, do you think so, too?"

May, who was putting her back hair in order, nodded.

"Yes, I've never seen a more beautiful lady than you."

"Thank you."

Elena rose from her chair with satisfaction. After changing into shoes specially ordered for today, Anne was ordered to straighten out the creased dress.

Perfectly prepared, Elena walked downstairs and left the dormitory. Hurelbard, who had already arrived and was waiting by the carriage, bowed and greeted her, but he couldn't help but notice Elena's beautiful face. Elena asked as she teased Hurelbard.

"Sir, how am I? Do I look pretty today?"

"… I'm having poor eyesight."

"Oh, no. It's hard to be blind, so try to endure a bit."

Elena smiled beautifully and climbed into the waiting carriage. It wasn't that far from here to the central library, but she decided that it would be better to ride the carriage as much as she dressed up. May and Anne left into the dormitory, and Elena, accompanied by Hurelbard, drove to the library in the carriage.

"Today is the first day of the art festival, and there will be the largest number of people in the art world."

Elena had a good reason to embellish herself with extra strength. It was to draw attention and get attention.

Already, there were widespread rumors in the art world that Princess Veronica had a good eye for the works. Under such circumstances, the question of which works Elena would pay attention to naturally had to be discussed.

"I think it's a big deal by now. It's because a fan work has appeared on the painting framework that has supported it for hundreds of years. All I have to do is go and help."

Raphael's work would have caused a huge stir even without Elena's appearance. It was groundbreaking from a technical standpoint alone, but it also incorporated a mystique that transcended the limits of painting, making it a masterpiece unlike any other work of art to date.

Elena was about to add oil to the blazing flames. The work itself was admirable, but the ripple effect of Lady Veronica's attention and addition of a few words should not be underestimated.

While organizing her thoughts, the carriage arrived at the central library. The buzzing outside the carriage has already made her guess how many people gathered here.

Hurelbard knocked politely on the carriage door. It signaled whether the door could be opened.

Elena tapped the carriage door with the back of her hand in the same way.

When the door of the carriage opened, Elena stepped outside. It was a library that she went back and forth to every day, but she was very moved to come here in a carriage dressed up so beautifully.

"I-isn't that Princess Veronica?"

"That's right. Wow, look at her beauty. Is that a person? She's prettier than a doll."

"There's a rumor that she has a good eye for art, so I wonder what kind of work she'll be interested in?"

"Do the works stand out in this situation? I only see a walking angel."

Elena drew their gazes at once as they gathered in the central library. Unlike the time when she had been living soberly wearing only a uniform, she had dressed up and put in a lot of effort, and they couldn't help but be enthralled by her beauty.

"Sir, let's go."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Elena stepped in with a walk that was both haughty and graceful. Hurelbard followed, not relaxing his nerves, as there were only a lot of outsiders here, not including the current students of the academy.

As she entered the central library, she saw that the walls were filled with paintings by the current students of the Faculty of Fine Arts, including a sculptural statue placed in the middle. Elena slowly began to admire the works from the ones she could reach. After that, countless people came to see Elena's beauty, people from the art world who were interested in what she was working on, and even ladies who were interested in the dress and accessories she was wearing.

They weren't coming to appreciate the art in plain words, but to see Elena, so they couldn't miss Elena's gaze or a word she shared with Hurelbard.

Elena was slowly admiring the works of art when her feet stopped in front of one. It was a painting that incorporated water from a flowing river, but the violent flow of the water was expressed in a unique way.

"I can feel the hardships of life in the current."

"The hardships of life?"

Hurelbard was told.

"If you look closely, you can see that the water is rough here, but it gets quieter and quieter. Isn't this what their life is like? They want to go to the sea, crashing as hard as these waves."

"Sea. I've only heard about it. I've never seen it. What do they want to go there for?"

"To relax."

Elena's last word burst into admiration from behind. They were surprised by Elena's knowledge and depth of interpreting the picture of a river flowing by art people as a metaphor for human life.

"The intention of the work is good, but the technique is regrettable. It would have been better if they had made use of the highs and lows of each stream and the contrast of the different depths of the water."

After the viewing, a group of people from the art world, who had followed Elena, gathered in front of the painting. They had taken note of the artist's name on the bottom of the painting, "Flowing River," and intended to meet with them to purchase the work or to sponsor them.

Out of the huge number of works on display, Elena had not yet found even ten that she was interested in and had left feedback on. They were only the best of the works on display, and there was nothing worth seeing for Elena.

'I'm sick of this. Where's senior's work?'

By the time she was tired of substandard works, she saw a crowd gathered in front of something. The expression on their faces was enough to tell what kind of work they were seeing at once.

'There it is.'

Elena hid her joy as she walked toward it, keeping the same gait she had been using. They had been buzzing about the work, but when they saw Elena, they naturally backed away and avoided her. Elena's authority and grace made them admire her even though they did not need to. It was time for Elena to take their retreat for granted and approach the painting.

"…!"

With the painting close by, Elena couldn't move further. It was because there was a man who she didn't even think about standing in front of the portrait.

"… Greetings to Your Highness."

Elena was polite, hiding her embarrassment. Sian, who was staring at the portrait, turned his head.

"…"

Sian's gaze as he faced her head-on was very different from the way he had looked at Lucia in the past. The chillingly cold gaze was the same as the way he looked at Elena in the past. However, it didn't take long for that look to turn into one of confusion.

"You are… Princess Veronica?"

First, the eyes of Sian shook violently.

'What's wrong with him?'

Elena wondered at the appearance of Sian she had never seen before. Unlike the way he had always ignored her pretending to be Veronica, he seemed to be talking to her first, and even the way he looked confused, losing his characteristic expressionlessness, was far from what she remembered from the past.

"Long time no see, Your Highness."

That's really strange. They just met in the studio. Meeting in the image of Veronica, she felt emotions standing on the extension of the past.

"Your voice… No. I think I'm mistaken."

Sian made an unknown noise and swung around. It was an act of openly ignoring Elena, but it didn't feel bad. It had been like that for a long time.

Elena bowed her head and thanked Sian as he moved away. In the past, she would have been filled with regret, but now it was nothing, because she could understand why Sian would exclude the Grand Duke and hate Veronica. Elena, who had been holding her head down, was startled.

In the distance, Sian did not walk, but stared at her.