Chapter 5 – Luck Brought by Misfortune

Surprisingly, the cousin the Marchioness Bell mentioned was the Duchess of Guienne. The place where the Illemang-bound train stopped was Lorthez, the Guienne Duchy, and the ducal castle was not far away. During the ride to the castle, Sasha, sitting beside the Marchioness, pleased her with witty conversation and charming manners.

That was only for a moment; after arriving at the ducal castle, the situation changed. The lady of the house, the Duchess of Guienne, was one of the highest-ranking ladies not only in Lorthez but in all of Brissen. She willingly provided rooms for the Vinoche family to stay for a few days at her cousin’s request, but she did not go out of her way to entertain them or meet them personally.

Two days later, Mr. Vinoche and Enzo went to the train station to check the next train schedule to Illemang. The Marchioness Bell was absent, comforting her cousin. The Duchess of Guienne was deeply distressed because her husband’s health had recently deteriorated.

Left alone, Sasha struggled with boredom. She wandered around the room like a restless puppy, then peeked her head out the window. The white rose-patterned lace of the castle’s summer curtains tempted and teased Sasha.

<Sasha. If you’re bored, don’t wander off alone. Wait quietly until Father and I return, okay?>

Enzo warned her not to wander outside in an unfamiliar place, as she could get lost. Truly, the gardens of Guienne Castle were almost as vast as the Manolie forest, perhaps even more so. There were several gardeners tending to them.

But the scenery of Lorthez was far too captivating to just sit and wait. Sasha pressed her face close to her favorite curtain. Through the finely woven lace, the breathlessly dazzling midday summer light seeped in. Compared to Lorthez, decorated like the hem of the Queen’s pearl dress, the Manolie forest seemed endlessly rough. Of course, Sasha still loved the Manolie forest most.

“Phew—ha.”

Letting out the hot breath she’d been holding, her face turned red. She wanted to go outside. Sasha could no longer suppress the intense urge that suddenly surged up.

“Sasha? Are you inside?”

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Sasha quickly ran over and opened it.

“Jean!”

It was the servant who had carried her luggage to her room on the first day at the castle.

“The Marchioness sent me because she thought you’d be bored alone. She said you could take a boat ride if you wanted.”

Those words were exactly what Sasha had wished for most in the world. The Marchioness seemed to shine with a halo behind Jean’s back. Sasha, excited, pressed her favorite green hat down and ran out before Jean could stop her.

Jean was the assistant to the castle’s oldest gardener, and he was the same age as Enzo. As they walked to the pond where Sasha could ride a small boat, Jean told her about the Guienne family’s situation.

The Duke of Guienne’s chronic illness had worsened after he fell from a horse years ago. The ducal couple had only one son, who was sixteen this year. That boy was currently attending Sarsaye Military Academy.

“When he finishes graduation, he’ll go to Borona. After two years of service, he’ll inherit the dukedom.”

Jean’s eyes were full of respect as he spoke about the Duke’s son. Sasha found the boat tied to one side of the pond where water lilies floated and sat nearby. To be able to roam freely in such a vast garden! She envied the Duke’s son, whom she had never seen, in a different way.

“The Young Master has never been here. He’s never lived in Lorthez.”

Jean’s words sounded strange to Sasha. How could someone who owned such a beautiful garden have never visited?

“Does the Duke’s son have unusual tastes? Or did the castle only recently move to Lorthez?”

“No, not at all. He was sent to the Duchess’s family right after birth. Madame Guienne wanted it that way. He entered boarding school at seven and graduated early at fourteen. Exceptionally, he passed the Sarsaye Military Academy exam at fifteen, and now, after graduation, he’ll be commissioned as a lieutenant in Borona. So, he’s never lived in Lorthez.”

Jean shrugged awkwardly when Sasha looked at him curiously.

“All noble families do it this way.”

Still not fully understanding, Sasha nodded anyway. Jean lifted her onto the boat and rowed her around the pond. Sasha played, splashing her hands in the water.

* * *

Sasha was once again standing on the platform where the train arrived. The jet-black mass rushed forward just as fast, loud, and huge as when she first saw it, constantly spewing smoke into the clear sky like an angry beast. The station was chaotic with people trying to board the stopped train.

The past five days spent in the quiet, elegant castle of Lorthez felt like a midsummer night’s dream—mysterious and magical. Sasha stood holding her suitcase wrapped in a pink scarf, waiting for Mr. Vinoche to return with the tickets.

The Marchioness did not come with them. The Duke’s condition had worsened, and the Duchess’s sorrow was intense. News of the Duke’s critical state reached the Duke’s son, who had just been commissioned as an officer and was on the train to Borona. Receiving an urgent telegram, he turned back to Lorthez. The Marchioness postponed her plans to comfort her cousin and greet her nephew after a long time.

Generously, the Marchioness lent her carriage to the Vinoche family for their departure, allowing Sasha to reach the station comfortably.

‘I wonder if the Duke’s son will finally see the water lily pond this time?’

She was suddenly curious. At that moment, a sharp whistle pierced the air, urging passengers to board. Sasha hurried after Enzo onto the third-class train. The departure signal flashed, and the train left Lorthez station.

The second train safely arrived at Illemang. Mr. Vinoche sent Enzo’s luggage to Yelwae and saw his son off, then returned to Manolie with Sasha. Even after returning to their lemon-colored door house, Sasha remained enchanted by memories of the trip.

“Sasha, what do you want for your birthday this year?”

“Paints! I want to draw the pond I saw at the castle.”

When Mr. Vinoche asked at dinner one evening, Sasha answered without hesitation. His expression froze at her answer. Sasha quietly set down her fork, sensing his mood.

“But it doesn’t have to be paints. Actually, I wanted new gloves more—ones with beads from the shop.”

Sasha quickly changed her request to new gloves with beads. Mr. Vinoche, relieved, readily agreed.

On her birthday morning, a sky-blue box from Deni’s shop was placed by Sasha’s bed. She quickly untied the pink ribbon and found gloves decorated with imitation pearls inside. Feeling as if she could fly from joy, Sasha went downstairs and gave Mr. Vinoche a grateful kiss on the cheek.

* * *

Two days later, Grandma Rollo returned from a trip to Manolie with a basket full of canvas, brushes, and paints. Sasha, who had followed her down the stairs to receive the package, was speechless.

“This is your birthday present for this year.”

Grandma Rollo handed over the basket gruffly. Sasha looked up at the tall grandmother.

“But I already got a birthday present.”

“That was from your father. This is from me.”

Don’t like it? Then forget it. 

Grandma Rollo frowned and tried to take the present back. Sasha, startled, hurriedly snatched the basket. After putting the present in her room, she went back downstairs to thank Grandma Rollo, but she had already gone for a walk with Grandma Elodie by the seaside, leaving the living room empty.

Back in her room, Sasha squeezed paint onto the bookstand Enzo had given her for studying. Smelling paint again, she was reminded of a poor painter addicted to alcohol and morphine.

That man often cursed at Sasha for the dirty studio floor and unclean brushes. To avoid being hit by flying objects or thrown out, she had to stay sharp. That man was Sasha’s father.

The scenery she’d seen on her trip clamored in her mind, begging to be painted first. Sasha finished her first painting and showed it to Grandma Rollo.

“How is it? Do you like it?”

“…It’s amazing.”

After a long silence, Grandma Rollo offered a brief comment. The glasses chain dangling as she lifted the painting made Sasha proud.

“But who is that?”

Sasha followed Grandma Rollo’s finger. In the painting of Lorthez’s beautiful lakeshore, a black-haired boy was sitting.

“It’s the Duke’s son. He’s the child of the Duke who lives in the castle.”

Sasha hoped he would see the water lily pond, at least in her painting.

‘I don’t even know what the Duke’s son looks like, so what should I do?’

Troubled, Sasha suddenly remembered the boy she’d met in the Manolie forest last summer—the one who shared fruit, helped with hard homework, and saved her from the hunting dog.

She didn’t know why, but he came to mind. Maybe because he was the only unfamiliar face she knew. Sasha used him as the model for the Duke’s son sitting by Lorthez’s lakeshore.

Mr. Vinoche, seeing the painting, thought Sasha should enter the Royal Art School in Laurent. He submitted Sasha’s painting to a competition hosted by the Royal Academy, but naturally, it didn’t place.

“I’m fine. I never expected to win anyway.”

Though her admission to the Royal Art School was denied, Sasha wasn’t disappointed. There were plenty of enjoyable things besides painting. More than anything, Sasha loved Manolie and didn’t want to leave.

The painting the Vinoche family had forgotten about became a topic again when a small compensation arrived from the Royal Academy. The letter, stamped with the royal seal, essentially said this: someone who attended the exhibition liked Sasha’s painting and purchased it, so they couldn’t return the artwork but enclosed compensation instead.

Sasha went to Bertland’s shop, the only art supply store in Manolie, and happily bought new paints. She didn’t have enough money for the paints she truly wanted, but she hummed as she rode her bicycle home.

‘Who bought my painting at the Royal Academy exhibition? I didn’t win any prizes, so why did they buy mine?’

Sasha pedaled hard, cutting through the fresh wind. If she ever met that person, she wanted to ask: what about her painting made them want to buy it? Reaching the top of the hill, Sasha lifted her feet from the pedals and glided down the slope.