“Step 4. Create distance.”

Meliciel closed the book she was reading and let out a long sigh. She wet her lips with a cup of steaming tea.

It should be all right to move on to step 4 now, right?

Her relationship with Kahar progressed to a certain degree.

That day, even if things grew more awkward after sharing a heated kiss with Kahar in the leopard’s forest……

That day she lay on the grass with the blue sky spread above her like a blanket, lost in pleasure.

How far would they have gone? If not for the sound of Mihael calling out, she couldn’t say how much she would have allowed him.

Perhaps because Kahar awakened her to pleasure in the past, her body reacted sensitively every time he touched her.

But rather than simply being swept away by physical sensation, Meliciel felt she was swayed by his desire for her.

“More. Let me hear more.”

Kahar’s dark eyes stayed vivid in her memory. His reaction was unfamiliar, yet familiar.

It was a desire she faced when she was Lani too, but Kahar seemed somehow more twisted than before.

As he kneaded her skin and drew her lips deep into his, Meliciel found herself reassured without realizing it. If Kahar rejected her from the start, there would be nothing left to hope for.

She arrived at the wretched hope that the day she would meet the child drew one step closer, and the desperate conclusion that she might no longer be treated as invisible by Kahar.

Meliciel opened herself and was ready to let him in.

But that was as far as it went. The moment Mihael’s voice reached them, Kahar frowned and returned to his usual self as though nothing happened.

Left alone on the grass, Meliciel spent a few minutes staring blankly at the sky before she made herself go back.

Still, there was something gained. It was the same as wresting a surrender from him.

“I don’t want him thinking I’m hiding away out of embarrassment over what happened.”

Meliciel muttered to herself. Moving into step 4 meant she now needed to put distance between herself and Kahar.

Through the sitting room window attached to the bedroom, the central garden spread out wide.

The open expanse stretching all the way to the middle iron gate was neatly kept, and looking at it brought a calm to her mind and body.

From here, Meliciel just watched Kahar ride off on horseback along that path and disappear.

Several knights followed behind him, so it seemed like an important engagement.

Would he wonder about me not showing up at the dining hall today at lunch? Or would he be as indifferent as always?

But there was nothing to lose. Meliciel intended to follow the book’s contents to the end, trusting it even if it turned out to be a mistake.

“Well then.”

Meliciel was crunching on a cookie studded with dried cherries and swallowing a sigh.

Knock, knock, knock.

“It is Chayden, my lady.”

A sound came from outside the door, and Meliciel nodded. Rose quickly opened the door.

Head butler Chayden stepped inside, his brown eyes sweeping once over the interior where the soft scent of tea drifted.

“You took lunch in your room today. Are you feeling unwell?”

“I just wanted to eat inside today.”

Chayden gave a light nod. It seemed he only asked to confirm there was nothing wrong.

“My lady, you mentioned before that you wished to learn painting as a cultural pursuit?”

“Yes.”

Daughters of noble houses receive bridal education before marriage. Over the course of roughly six months to a year, they study various cultural arts and household management.

The enthusiasm is considerable, extending to history, foreign languages, mathematics, magic, and even accounting.

But Meliciel skipped all of this, so she would be slowly educated on the skipped portions at the Grand Ducal Castle.

Since there was no head lady’s maid, Meliciel’s studies would be conducted under Chayden’s supervision.

Kahar’s words about living like a ghost weighed on her, but cultivating basic refinement should be acceptable.

Meliciel didn’t mind studying, so she decided for now to follow Chayden’s plan. Knowing more couldn’t hurt.

The cultural classes were structured around the arts, and lessons proceeded according to Meliciel’s choice among flower arranging, vocal music, various instruments, and dance.

But Meliciel had little interest in the set subjects. That was why she chose painting.

It was fortunate, since she could use the lessons as an excuse to practice drawing. As long as she was careful not to raise suspicion about being a divine painter, it would be helpful.

Only a very small number of people could detect divine power, and Meliciel could now conceal the flow of her divine power to some degree.

So there was no worry about being found out.

“The painting teacher is here now.”

Already?

“He is the son of Marquis Yett Shane, a man famous as an imperial artist. He was originally scheduled to visit this evening, but his arrival was moved up.”

“You came to ask if I can see him now?”

“Yes.”

Chayden smiled faintly. He felt sorry for intruding on the young lady’s time without warning, and the sight of his mistress’s eyes lighting up ever so slightly struck him as fresh and endearing.

But he quickly cleared the expression and waited calmly for Meliciel’s answer.

“You may answer freely.”

“I can see him now.”

“Then once you are ready, I will escort you to where the teacher is waiting.”

Chayden bowed deeply.

***

The oil painter Dafwin was the third son of Marquis Shane, an artist who enjoyed the emperor’s abundant favor.

He was not a divine painter blessed with the divine power the world marveled at, but he was recognized as an artist at the remarkable age of eight.

A genius among geniuses. The genius of the century. Twenty years since he claimed those extraordinary titles.

Marquis Shane, a man of deep artistic sensibility, favored his third son Dafwin most of all and made no effort to hide it.

Dafwin, raised on boundless love, grew into a person who was somehow a little crooked, or rather thick-walled, lacking in social grace.

Had it not been for the order of the Imperial Arts Director, he would never have made the trip to a place this far himself.

The one person he couldn’t refuse was his teacher, the Imperial Arts Director.

The prospective Grand Duchess wishes to learn painting, so hurry over and make yourself agreeable to her. In a sense, it was an assignment sent with political gain in mind.

So Dafwin was fated to keep at this until the esteemed Grand Duchess grew tired of painting. He would be going back and forth between the capital, of course, but it was a bother and a nuisance.

“Cold.”

Dafwin muttered through red lips. The teardrop mole beneath his eye looked faintly irritable.

Knock, knock, knock.

“The young lady has arrived.”

Chayden’s voice reached him, and Dafwin’s silver hair, fixed toward the window, turned at an unhurried pace.

Dafwin’s red eyes, directed at the door, went wide in an instant.

Lady Meliciel Chloe. The moment she appeared, he felt the strange illusion that the world simply stopped. The illusion that all time froze and only she moved.

Pink petal waves rippled, and eyes the color of deep green foliage drew near. Smooth skin and tempting lips, a woman’s figure slightly lean but not merely thin.

He, who never bothered to form opinions on a person’s appearance, let a subjective impression slip out before he knew it and startled himself.

But knowing it was ungentlemanly, he still couldn’t take his eyes off Meliciel.

His heart pounded so loudly it seemed it would shatter his ribs, and the closer she came, the more it felt like his blood was flowing backward.

His head burned and his hands and feet went numb. His stomach pulled tight and he even felt an embarrassing urge to relieve himself.

What is this?

Unable to hide his confusion, Dafwin stood staring at her until his face flushed a deep red.

It was Meliciel who spoke first. She tucked a strand of hair that slipped loose behind her ear and greeted him with a hint of shyness.

“Thank you for making the trip. I’m Meliciel Chloe.”

“……I am Dafwin. Dafwin Shane.”

He answered awkwardly, and Meliciel glanced toward the window. It was where he sat until just a moment ago.

“It smells like blue tangerine tea. Did it suit your taste?”

“Yes, yes.”

He answered like a fool and rubbed the back of his neck. He still couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“When I first came here, I was so surprised by this tea. It was so fragrant and refreshing, a scent and taste I never encountered before.”

Seeing Meliciel smile faintly, he felt his heart plummet somewhere far below.

Her voice was clear too. It was like dipping a hand into a clean spring no one knew existed.

An impulse rose to seize that pure thing in his grip. And so he wanted to……

“Teacher Dafwin?”

“……Pardon?”

He answered like a fool again.

“I look forward to working with you. I heard you came from far away, and it’s all because of me……”

“No, not at all!”

Dafwin raised his voice and then exhaled in short, rapid breaths. The corners of his pretty eyes were moist, on the verge of tears.

Meliciel noticed, and her brows drew slightly downward.

“Are you all right? Are you feeling ill?”

He stepped back from Meliciel as she approached with a worried look, conscious of her outstretched hand.

“W, we should go buy painting supplies first.”

“I believe supplies have already been prepared.”

“That may be so, but choosing tools that fit your hand by seeing them in person is the foundation of painting.”

“Ah.”

Meliciel gave a small nod, looking perfectly trusting. Dafwin, having recovered a little of his senses by then, said:

“Let us go right now.”

“It’s a little sudden, but all right.”

“I will show you the way.”

Dafwin extended his hand, fulfilling the duty of a gentleman. Dealing with ladies was normally his poison, but he went out of his way to do something he never did, trying to make a good impression on Meliciel.

Meliciel tilted her head slightly, then looked toward the head butler.

Head butler Chayden gave a small nod, and only then did Meliciel step forward a little awkwardly and extend her hand.