76

Shuaaaa.

It rained continuously until half a month passed. Rainy season. The black clouds and heavy rains that came with the changing of the seasons were not going to stop.

"Today!"

After leaving the dormitory and arriving at the archives, Elena disguised herself as Lucia in a flash. She left the library wearing a raincoat that May told her to bring beforehand. Thanks to the heavy rain, the streets were deserted. Elena entered the west annex and arrived safely at the art room without running into anyone.

"Senior, I'm here!"

Elena's eyes went wide as she opened the wooden door. The smell of dampness had vanished in a puff of air, leaving behind the smell of fresh flowers. The wreaths sent by aristocrats, art dealers, patrons, collectors, etc., blanketed the painting room, leaving no room for foot traffic.

"Miss Lucia?"

It was time for Raphael beyond easel to pretend to not know.

"Wow, senior. What's all this?"

Elena was surprised to find letters piled up on a wooden table on the wall. The high-grade envelopes were full of words and affection and love letters.

'I didn't know senior was so popular.'

Elena was rather perturbed. It wasn't strange that all the nobles approached him with interest. There was no one who didn't already know the influence of the name Raphael in the art world and the value of Belladonna. However, she didn't expect such an explosion of interest and salvation from ladies and the others. And it was not from commoners, but from aristocratic schoolgirls. Most of the letters were sent from aristocratic ladies.

'Some of them were sent by ladies of families I know in the capital. Quite a lot of them, too.'

The surprise was even greater because Elena had memorized all the patterns of most of the families in the empire. The fact that a noblewoman would write such a countersign to a commoner meant that they already had a calculation in their heads.

'He's considered a man who could be given a title. A man who does art is also attractive.'

Just because Raphael doesn't dress up well, but he doesn't look like he's out of nowhere. Even during his time as a court painter, the ladies often took a liking to Raphael and made eyes at him.

"I've read one, but it's so heavy I can't read everything yet."

Raphael scratched his cheek in trouble. Elena smiled and stood next to him.

"What are you painting?"

"It's a new piece. Do you want to see it?"

When Raphael suggested, Elena nodded and stood back. Elena was unable to disguise herself as Lucia because of her fame as the model for the portrait Belladonna. In the meantime, Raphael was so absorbed in painting that the painting was almost complete.

"It feels sacred, and it makes me reverent."

It was a mythical painting about gods and humans. The wise and compassionate goddess was standing in the distance, looking back, followed by three or four humans, desperately reaching for her, but unable to reach her. Elena looked at the work carefully and shared her thoughts.

"Somehow, it seems to contain the hopelessness of human beings who love God…. It is a difficult picture to define in a word. It also seems to express human desire."

"Really?"

"It's my interpretation, so don't mind. It's bigger than that. Do you think the characters are alive? It looks good. What's the name of the work?"

When asked about the question, Raphael replied with a bitter smile.

"Yearning."

It means that you miss something so much and only think about it.

"You drew it from the point of view of a human being looking at the goddess."

"Isn't that what a goddess is to a human being? They can't reach out and hold hands, and they just have to look."

Of the four men chasing the goddess in the painting, Raphael's eyes were on a man who stared at the goddess endlessly. Although he looked different, he was a speaker on which Raphael was projected. The man had a gracious goddess. Raphael had Lucia. No, how nice it would be if her real name was Lucia. At least if he didn't know her real name, he would have tried to be brave. Now that he knew that it was irresponsible to even dare, he could only look at her as if he were the man in a painting. Raphael forced himself to smile, thinking that even such loneliness would be a burden to Elena. Elena, unaware of his feelings, looked at him with a happy smile.

"The more I look at it, the more I fall in love with it. A great masterpiece stops in one scene, but it can produce hundreds or thousands of interpretations depending on who appreciates it, right? Exactly. This picture."

"I've been getting a lot of compliments lately, and Miss Lucia's compliments are the best."

"Really? Then I should be greedy."

Raphael laughed at Elena's vague words.

"Greed? Oh! I'll give it to you."

"What? What?"

"The painting. I'll give it to you as soon as it's finished. I'll give you the Belladonna. I was going to give it to Miss Lucia if I got it back from the academy."

Elena was embarrassed when Raphael, who misunderstood the intentions of the words, said he would give her the work.

"S-senior, that's not what I meant. Why would I get a painting that you worked so hard on?"

"Because it's Miss Lucia."

Raphael made eye contact. Looking at Elena, who was embarrassed, he continued calmly.

"Without Miss Lucia, neither would I nor this painting be there."

"That's not what I'm… but I can't say anything to you."

Elena grinned. Only then did Raphael ask again as if he felt sorry.

"Am I mistaken?"

"No, it's my fault for making it sound misleading. More than that, senior."

Elena looked at Raphael with a warm look. When faced with her smile, Raphael's heart raced like it was broken. He tried to control it constantly, but the more he did, the faster his heart beat.

"Don't you think we look pretty good together?"

"…!"

Raphael's eyes shook like mad. She suits him pretty well. Even if he tried not to listen to it because she was misunderstood, his feelings were not maintained as the interpretation continued to lean toward self-interest.

"W-what are you saying."

Raphael was speechless because of his trembling heart.

"Would you like to join me?"

"J-join you?"

Raphael's heart was pounding until it burst.

"Hands."

Raphael's mind turned white. He didn't know what to make of the story. When Elena realized that Raphael would not be able to make an easy decision, she revealed the grandiose plan she had been keeping in her mind.

"I'm planning to open a salon in the capital city soon. I'd like to invite senior to it. First."

"…. Me in the salon?"

"A salon is a cultural center where we discuss ideas, learning, and art, and present and display new masterpieces."

"Is Miss Lucia making that place?"

"I'm already building it. Much has been advanced."

Raphael lost his words as if he didn't know what to answer. It was shocking to find out that she was Princess Veronica, but it was surprising that she was planning something huge like a salon.

"I think your painting is a signal. Opening a new era."

"A new era?"

"It will be an opportunity to begin to change after realizing that there will be a lot of people as well as the stereotypes and framework of the art world with Belladonna."

To be honest, Raphael didn't understand half of what Elena was saying. How could a single picture change the world? If someone other than Elena had said it, he would have ignored it as preposterous. But since Elena was the one who had said it, he had no choice but to listen.

'Can you look so big with a small body like a lark?'

Raphael felt so small when he saw her like that. At first, he thought that her status as Princess Veronica was the biggest barrier that prevented him from expressing his heart. But it wasn't. She was a giant who he could only look up to.

"I want you to come to my salon. If you're with me, I can promise you unlimited support for the work. And… Huh, I talked too much about myself, right?"

Elena looked around for a moment because she thought she had been aggressive in courtship.

"You don't have to give me an immediate answer. I'm not forcing you, so don't feel pressured. Okay?"

"You know."

"What?"

"You said I was the first one, right? Among the masters invited to the salon."

Elena nodded.

"Yes, you're the first one. And you will be the last artist I invite myself."

"Last?"

"There's a professional art broker in the salon. Oh! Art brokers can be considered as a helper to help artists focus on their work."

The more they talked, the more he got the impression that Elena had prepared for the salon systematically for a long time.

"I'll be there."

"What?"

Elena looked at him in surprise. Raphael smiled, hiding his innermost feelings.

"I wasn't going to go if I was the second one, but you said I was the first one."

"S-senior?"

Elena's eyes grew bigger because she didn't know he would answer so willingly.

"I'll go to Miss Lucia's salon."

"Are you sure you're okay? Aren't you trying to force yourself to make a decision?"

Raphael shook his head and said firmly to Elena's concern.

"You know my character, don't you? It is a conclusion I have come to after much thought. I would like to see a new era, one in which I am the one who opened the door."

"Senior…"

Raphael became bitter at Elena's gaze, which she was so grateful that she could not help it. He didn't want that look. But he forced himself to smile, because he could see that it was greed that wanted more emotion than this.

"Good to see you, muse."