They rode in the carriage for a while. Inside were Dafwin, Rose, and Meliciel, and the coachman and Barix, who rode separately on horseback, accompanied them.

Before long, the carriage stopped. It was her first time here, and Meliciel stepped out with a flutter of excitement.

The carriage had stopped about halfway up the hill. A winding path seemed to continue all the way to the summit.

“My lady, from here you will need to walk.”

The coachman gestured toward the mountain path and spoke. The heavily bearded man made no effort to hide the look in his eyes, viewing the young lady who insisted on climbing the hill as a bit foolish.

“I know this path well. Please follow me, both of you.”

Rose, who finished straightening Meliciel’s clothes, said with confidence. In fact, it was Rose who suggested coming here today.

When Dafwin said it would be nice to go outdoors for a lesson somewhere with a sweeping view of the landscape, Rose was the one who brought up this place.

“My lady, please say so anytime you feel tired. I’ll carry you on my back!”

Rose clenched both fists and grinned with confidence, and Dafwin glanced at her and spoke.

“I should be the one to attend to the young lady. If she grows tired, I will help.”

“I’m grateful to you both, but I’ll do my best to walk on my own.”

Meliciel couldn’t help but smile. Even if she were tired, she couldn’t very well be carried on Rose’s back or in Dafwin’s arms up the hill.

She began walking slowly, feeling the forest breeze at the tip of her nose. The slope was gentle, so as long as she didn’t rush, it wasn’t very hard.

Mountain birds were chirping with a small, sweet sound in her ears when Dafwin, who had been walking quietly, opened his mouth.

“What do you think painting is?”

“Hmm. I’ve never thought about it before……”

Meliciel trailed off. She realized she never seriously thought about the definition of painting.

She seemed to have thought of it as simply fate, destiny, a duty.

“I think painting is the act of transferring one’s heart.”

Meliciel looked at Dafwin walking beside her. It was the first time she saw a brilliant vitality in his eyes.

“All you need to do is empty that heart onto the canvas. If that feels difficult, you can pour it out any which way, like tipping over a glass of water.”

“What if that heart is a bad one?”

“There is no good or evil in art. And anyone can paint. It is not something that requires permission.”

Anyone can paint.

The past, when she had to paint with a sense of mission as a chosen genius, seemed to scatter like faint fog.

“It is a hobby for you, but I thought it might be more enjoyable to understand its essence and embrace it in your heart before you begin.”

Dafwin’s words made complete sense a hundred times over. Meliciel nodded.

No one ever spoke to her this seriously about painting.

Shulan, the head of the tribe, only ever spoke of painting as a lifeline, something she had to do.

“Over here, my lady!”

Just then, Rose, who went ahead to scout the path, called out to Meliciel in a loud voice. Rose was waving her arms with delight.

Quick as a squirrel, Rose scrambled up a tree, looked around, then leaped lightly back to the ground.

Meliciel startled, afraid Rose might get hurt, but her worry was needless. Rose’s movements were nimble and agile.

When they finally reached the top of the hill, a wide, green, refreshing view spread out before them.

“Oh……”

Meliciel marveled without thinking. It truly felt like nature seeping into her chest.

The entire Grand Duchy lay visible at a glance. Green foliage and pale green grass, a village beyond summer flowers, and in the far distance, a white snowcapped mountain. It was a scene that seemed to hold all four seasons at once.

It was dazzling, like something out of a dream.

“Not bad.”

Dafwin’s impression was brief, but he too couldn’t take his eyes off the view spread before him.

“It’s truly beautiful.”

Meliciel marveled again and again, drinking in the atmosphere. Rose ran around with a wide smile, bright as a young girl.

A little later, all four of them, including Barix, ate a simple picnic lunch Rose brought, then practiced holding a pencil the way they learned before.

On Dafwin’s suggestion to try a sketch while they were at it, Meliciel forced her uncooperative hand and drew a few lines.

It didn’t move the way she wanted, but thinking of it as writing letters, she managed to draw a few clumsy lines.

“Well done. That is exactly right.”

Dafwin was neither fussy nor critical. He helped Meliciel with her drawing in the same voice and tone as always.

Even so, her stiff hand worried her greatly. How long would it take before she could draw at a decent level?

Her divine power was still unstable. Since the fight with Shal, she couldn’t paint again.

It seemed like her original divine power and Meliciel’s body were in friction with each other……

To properly control the divine power that was stronger than before, she had to keep letting it flow. Since painting wasn’t possible, it was better to release it little by little in an open place like this.

But there was no telling when things would improve at this rate.

Meliciel was clenching and opening her hand in thought when Rose came over and asked:

“My lady, you haven’t forgotten about the portrait with the Grand Duke this afternoon, have you?”

“No.”

Before the wedding, she and Kahar needed to sit side by side and have a portrait made.

By tradition, the portrait work was to be done together with a painter belonging to the Grand Ducal household.

What would a portrait painted by Dafwin look like?

“May I see what you’re drawing, Teacher?”

Dafwin, who was drawing something, looked up at her words.

“It is nothing special.”

“I’m curious. I’ve never seen any of your work before……”

“Is that so?”

He hesitated briefly, then held out the paper.

“……”

For a moment, Meliciel’s eyes stirred.

As Lani, she mostly painted in a highly detailed, harrowing style.

Those in high positions said dark paintings that revealed the sorrows of life held value. So she churned out paintings as Shulan directed.

But Dafwin’s painting was intensely avant-garde and powerful. Even though it was nothing more than pencil lines, she could feel the firm core within it.

She couldn’t look away. Thump, thump. Her heart beat. Like recovering something important she forgot…… her body trembled.

Only after a long while did Meliciel open her mouth.

“It’s truly…… beautiful.”

Dafwin’s ears went red.

“It is just a sketch.”

Perhaps because he received such praise countless times. His reaction was lukewarm at best.

But Meliciel was thoroughly moved.

“Really, truly. How did you express the sun like this?”

Meliciel asked with pure wonder. She was almost in awe of how he could create a sensation of heat with nothing but simple lines.

“I have a little pigment. Shall I add some color?”

“Pigment?”

Just a moment, Dafwin said, and rose and went into the forest. Shortly after, he returned with berries and leaves.

She couldn’t take her eyes off his nimble fingers as he crushed the materials on a rock and drew out their color.

Soon, Dafwin’s sky was colored in and Dafwin’s world took on warmth, and Meliciel acknowledged him as a true master.

“Really, it’s incredible. So this is what it means to transfer one’s heart……”

“I am still lacking. It is embarrassing.”

I want to paint like you.

Meliciel kept the words she couldn’t say on her lips, unable to contain the excitement she felt for the first time, when:

Tap, tap.

“Oh?”

Rose looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were rolling in without warning.

***

Heavy rain beat painfully against the arched windows that reached to the ceiling, tap tap tap.

Kahar looked at the window taking up one wall with an expressionless gaze, brought his teacup to his lips, and set it back down.

“It seems they will be late. What shall we do?”

Chayden, who had been standing at a distance, came closer and asked. They received word a little while ago that the young lady’s group would be delayed.

“She said they would shelter in the cabin until the rain lets up, so she may not arrive until tomorrow morning.”

Chayden’s fretful voice grated on him more than usual today, and Kahar’s brow furrowed slightly.

The young lady’s group, who went up Enton Hill, had not yet returned to the Grand Ducal Castle. The weather turned suddenly.

Unpredictable weather in the territory was common, so there was nothing strange about it.

But today was the day Kahar and Meliciel were to have their portrait painted.

With such an important schedule, the outing should have been postponed.

Kahar poured another full cup of hot tea, trying to suppress the displeasure rising like heat inside him.

“Your Highness, I apologize for the imposition, but would you consider beginning first?”

The one who spoke carefully was the painter waiting to one side. The white-haired painter did his best not to offend the Grand Duke as he spoke.

“There is no problem with painting even if the two of you are not present together.”

The painter’s skill would be enough to compensate, was that it?

“Please leave it to me.”

“You have no concerns about the quality of the finished work?”

Kahar asked without inflection, and the painter answered promptly.

“No, Your Highness.”

Right. There was no particular reason to wait for Meliciel. Kahar already waited an hour.

Wasting time was enough of that.

“Are you perhaps worried about the young lady?”

Chayden watched Kahar from beneath his blue-tinged forelock and spoke.

“Your Highness, the young lady is with Lord Dafwin and Sir Barix, so she will be safe.”

Chayden tried to reassure him, as though Kahar were worried about the young lady’s wellbeing.

All at once, Kahar found all of it tiresome.

Waiting for Meliciel, taking into account her situation of being stranded by sudden rain.