2. The Problematic Illustration 

 [Duke Tevant’s Scandal with the Lambert Kingdom’s Princess! Revealing the Truth!

Amid rampant rumors that our Duke excels not only in looks but also down below while abroad, having captivated all women, our newspaper conducted a close investigation of people around the Duke……] 

 “Oh my goodness.”

Nelie made an expression like she might faint upon seeing the newspaper printed in huge letters.

“Why is this here?”

Below the embarrassing and obscene articles that were uncomfortable just to look at, there was an explicit illustration of the bare-bodied Duke riding an elephant, printed as large as a gate. The image was drawn to create an optical illusion making it appear not as if he was riding the elephant, but rather as if the elephant was attached to his lower body.

The biggest problem was that while Nelie had drawn it, it was also an illustration she had never drawn. Nelie muttered with a pale face.

“I never drew the elephant……”

“Nelie?”

“How… did this… end up like……”

The previous day, Nelie hadn’t participated in the newspaper layout. She had been busy drawing other illustrations with deadlines right around the corner. If she had known her sketch would end up being used like this, she would have tried to prevent it somehow, but it was already too late.

“Nelie. Are you alright?”

Even when Jerome, who had approached without her noticing, spoke to her, Nelie couldn’t answer. Jerome glanced at the newspaper she was holding and nodded.

“Ah, that.”

Jerome lowered his voice significantly and whispered to Nelie.

“……I drew the elephant. Why did it end up like this?”

“What? You did?”

“Yes. The boss asked me to draw it.”

“……”

“I had no idea he wanted it for something like this though.”

Jerome also looked somewhat troubled. Nelie looked into his eyes and whispered anxiously.

“The thing is… I drew the Duke.”

“I thought so. I can see your skill.”

“I never imagined it would be patched together like this.”

Nelie’s hands began to tremble. In the rural village where she had lived, insulting the lord was a serious crime. Come to think of it, wasn’t the Duke also the highest lord of this city?

“What if they drag me away and cut off my hands?”

“Nelie?”

“What if I get thrown in prison for insulting a superior……”

“Annelie. Don’t worry too much.”

“……”

“Though it’s a bit excessive… the Duke’s house won’t impose severe punishment for this much.”

“But……”

Jerome kept trying to reassure Nelie. However, Jerome’s consolation that some freedom of expression was allowed in Tevant and that the Duke’s house would at most issue a warning didn’t help Nelie much. Meanwhile, the boss was grinning from ear to ear.

“Haha! Today’s sales are amazing!”

“Boss. Is there a chance the Duke’s side might file a lawsuit……”

“Hey. Do you think this is the first n*de illustration or sculpture of the Duke? If this is problematic, all of those should be too!”

When another employee asked, the boss nodded confidently like Jerome, saying this much was fine. Claiming that with how long he’d been running this gossip paper, he could avoid trouble at this level.

But when it came from the boss who always took advantage of Nelie, it made her trust drop even more. Nelie finally gathered her courage and asked the boss to take down her illustration.

“This is your drawing? No wonder it was lying around the newspaper office.”

“Yes. That……”

“Then there’s even less of a problem. Since our employee drew it.”

“But I never agreed to submit something like……”

“Look here, Miss. You don’t seem to understand employment contracts.”

But what came back was the boss’s threat. He even ordered her to draw more seductive illustrations of the Duke and erotic drawings pairing him with princesses from other kingdoms. Nelie’s ears grew increasingly hot as she listened to the descriptions of illustrations she had to draw.

“But I didn’t come here to draw such……”

“Why? You drew everything else I asked for just fine until now.”

“That was… because it was work.”

“This is exactly the same kind of work. What, did you come up here thinking you’d become some great master? Huh?”

“Boss.”

“Do you have anywhere else to go? With illustrations that will anyway soon be replaced by photographs.”

The real reason this gossip paper didn’t use photographs was that cameras were still expensive and subjects had to remain still for long periods, making them inefficient. It was closer to being unable to use them rather than choosing not to. Yet the boss pressured Nelie as if bestowing a favor.

“Look. Think about it carefully.”

“About what……”

“With the trend of big newspapers using photographs pushing us out, do you think our paper would sell if we don’t draw illustrations this explicitly? I’m doing this all to pay you.”

“Boss. Still, this is–”

“No money for the printing guild, no money for art school. Just barely enough to feed yourself.”

A cold voice dropped immediately.

“Who do you think is giving you that money?”

“……”

“If we can’t make money, the newspaper goes bankrupt. That means the end of that storage room you’re using too.”

When the conversation reached that point, Nelie’s energy drained away. Though she had never dreamed of or aspired to become a great master, having the other party point out her circumstances so directly made even her eyes burn.

“……I understand.”

Her usually bright response didn’t come out. In the end, Nelie was the one in immediate need. She forced herself to answer and fled the place. Though she thought she had barely endured everything that had happened since coming to the city, having things go wrong to this extent made her feel as if she was cursed by God, draining her strength.

“Nelie, are you okay? You look really pale.”

Though Jerome followed and tried to comfort her, it wasn’t much help. Jerome fidgeted anxiously before whispering.

“Really. Don’t worry. You won’t go to prison for something like this.”

“……Thank you for saying that.”

“The boss says so too. You definitely won’t receive harsh punishment.”

Nelie got through her morning shift with a drained expression. In the afternoon, the boss left claiming he had an appointment with a client. Jerome too rushed back to the Academy as soon as his shift ended, saying he was late for class.

“Hey, want to join us?”

Thanks to today’s newspaper bringing in decent profits, the boss gave the employees some pocket money to go drink together. Though other employees casually invited her to join as they left work, Nelie wasn’t in the mood at all.

“I’ll work on the illustrations for the next issue.”

“Ah, alright.”

Left alone in the newspaper office’s storage room, Nelie worked on illustrations with bleary eyes late into the night. She ate small pieces of bread as snacks, washed up at the nearby well that only had cold water, changed into her nightclothes, and continued working on illustrations.

The illustrations the boss had demanded from her with tight deadlines. They were somewhat explicit and erotic illustrations of the Duke, though he was clothed. 

 “No money for the printing guild, no money for art school.”

“Just barely enough to feed yourself, who do you think is giving you that money?” 

 The words she had heard earlier suddenly came back, making her feel upset……

‘At least.’

It was somewhat comforting to think that nothing worse might happen from here. After all, she had hit rock bottom now, so there was nowhere to go but up. That was something her father used to say often too. Even when he fell ill, even after being scammed and losing the printing house. 

 “I’m sorry, Nelie.”

“It’s alright, Father.”

“Still, now that we’ve hit bottom, we can only think about going up from here.” 

 She knew well that was his way of comforting both himself and Nelie. Even if reality was never bright.

‘I should send Father a letter when morning comes.’

She suddenly realized it had been quite a while since she had sent news to her father. She felt she should send a letter now. That though many things had happened, she was still hanging in there. That she was doing very well here. Not to worry.

‘Yes. I’ll write and send that.’

It felt like that might give her a little strength. Nelie continued adding to the illustrations while focusing on her increasingly blurry vision. As the night deepened, her head began to nod off. 

 * * *

 When she opened her tired eyes, sparkling gold dust was floating in the air. An unreal white space spread out before her eyes. Nelie instinctively sensed it.

‘This is a dream.’

Meanwhile, something like gold dust continued to flutter before her eyes.

‘What’s this?’

It was somehow familiar gold dust. The moment she unconsciously reached out to grab the gold dust–

‘Duke!’

‘Aah!’

When she turned her head at the moan erupting from somewhere, there was Duke Tevant whom she had seen from afar.