“Ellen. I need to talk with His Highness a bit more. I’d love for you to join us, but I’m concerned that you look tired. Would you mind resting alone for a while?”
Though she phrased it as if it were for Ellen’s benefit, it ultimately meant “I have things to discuss with the Crown Prince, so go play by yourself.” But to the current Ellen, there could be no more welcome instruction.
“Yes, Larisa. Thank you for your consideration.”
Ellen answered quickly. As she was about to see the two off, Larisa added one more thing before leaving.
“Oh, Ellen. Please don’t go to the annex with the blue roof.”
“What? Ah, understood.”
“Good. Then let’s meet back here in about an hour.”
Ellen stared intently at the trailing hem of Larisa’s dress as she walked away. The annex with the blue roof. Somehow, she had a strange hunch.
‘A place Larisa specifically told me not to go……’
Ellen tilted her head in thought, then stopped a passing butler to ask a question.
“I’ve heard that the annex with the blue roof is a special place. What kind of place is it?”
The butler answered with a gentle smile.
“Yes, my lady. It’s indeed a special place. It’s for young guests who haven’t yet had their debutante.”
A sharp light flashed in Ellen’s eyes upon hearing the answer. Young guests who haven’t had their debutante. That meant it was a place where young nobles under 18, who had come with their parents or siblings, gathered to play.
‘Aha, I have a hunch.’
The muse she had seen only twice appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. And if she was known to Larisa, who was a young duke, she must be either a noble or a member of a very famous commoner family.
And now Larisa had told her “don’t go” to the very place where that muse was likely to be. Wasn’t that suspicious?
Ellen grinned and walked toward the annex.
That didn’t mean she was disobeying Larisa’s instructions. She wasn’t going to enter the annex, after all. She was merely exploring the path leading to the annex to find the best place for a stroll or rest.
Ellen soon discovered a fork in the path where a large tree stood and stopped walking.
‘I should just loiter around here. Oh, there’s a big tree right there. Perfect.’
While pretending to take a stroll under the tree’s shade, she noticed young nobles walking toward the annex one or two at a time. Most children were accompanied by maids or servants, though some were with their parents.
After waiting a while, a group of seven or eight children approached, chatting among themselves.
‘There she is! My muse!’
Ellen’s mind filled with joy as she spotted the figure she’d been longing for among the children.
Her muse, whom she was seeing for just the third time, possessed the same beauty and loveliness that seemed to illuminate the entire world.
Ellen clenched her fist and pressed it against her chest.
‘Oh my goodness, she’s so pretty! So cute! So pretty! So cute! So pretty! So cute!’
Golden hair with perfect saturation, brightness, and luster. Blue eyes that looked as if water droplets would burst forth if touched.
Perhaps because of the ball, the girl wore a dress and had her hair beautifully decorated with braids and twists in places, looking as if she could be a princess from any kingdom.
‘Wait, but with so many children, how am I going to approach her?’
After internally fidgeting with excitement for a moment, this thought suddenly occurred to Ellen. Her original plan had been based on the assumption that her muse would be alone or accompanied by only one or two others.
She had planned to pretend to bump into her, then say, “Oh, you’re that young lady from before! I’m so sorry about that time, I sincerely apologize. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
If the girl accepted, Ellen would suggest, “Perhaps a cup of tea sometime as an apology?” This polite approach would hopefully create an opportunity to exchange names and establish an acquaintance.
But with so many companions, it seemed difficult to even approach her, let alone pretend it was a chance encounter. With her plan suddenly derailed, Ellen grew anxious and racked her brain.
‘What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?’
Just then, as the distance between her and the muse’s group narrowed, their conversation gradually became audible. Ellen quickly hid herself deeper in the tree’s shadow.
A girl with dark brown hair spoke in a pretentious tone:
“My, isn’t that the same for you too, Miss Bruno?”
The one who reacted was Ellen’s muse. She looked at the brown-haired girl with round eyes.
‘Bruno, so my sacred muse’s surname is Bruno.’
Ellen listened more intently to the conversation, feeling a slight twinge of guilt. Miss Bruno soon responded with an angelic smile and a calm voice.
“Well, Miss Morel, even if I wanted to compete for a title, I don’t have any siblings.”
“You may not have any now, but the Count is still young, isn’t he? You might have a new family member someday.”
The atmosphere instantly chilled at Miss Morel’s words. One of the children glared at Miss Morel, while two others snickered as if finding something amusing. The remaining children awkwardly glanced between Miss Morel and the muse.
The complex and awkward atmosphere was broken by the muse’s voice.
“Ahaha, that would be wonderful indeed. I’ve always envied Miss Joel for having a younger sibling.”
Miss Bruno’s gently laughing response seemed as divine as if she had emerged from a cathedral ceiling fresco.
Ellen unconsciously covered her mouth with her hand. Though she was merely overhearing the conversation of noble children walking by, she felt as if she were secretly glimpsing a scene that should only exist in the realm of gods.
Ellen trembled briefly, then turned around to look up at the sky, not wanting to be treated as a suspicious person. She clasped her hands tightly together and offered a testimony to the evening sunset.
‘Oh, God! My God! Oh my God! Today I have beheld your visage.’
No amount of deep breathing could calm her excitement. She wanted to pour this emotion and image onto canvas as soon as possible.
‘Sob, she’s amazing. My muse. Ah, I want to go home and paint right away.’
Unfortunately, today she was attending the ball with Larisa. If she were to leave alone now, an angry Larisa might actually assign her a 24-hour monitor.
Ellen pressed her tear ducts firmly, barely suppressing the overwhelming emotion threatening to spill over.
She continued to listen to the conversation between her muse and the noble girl.
“Hmm, but would that really be good for you, Miss Bruno? If you get a younger sibling, many things might become disadvantageous for you.”
“I wonder? I think I would be very happy. A younger sibling…… They would surely be so lovable. I’m confident I would cherish them very much.”
Oh my goodness. With the muse no longer in sight, the beauty of her voice became even more pronounced.
Was this what they called an angel’s singing voice? Even the famous neighboring kingdom’s royal choir of boys would surely pale in comparison to the muse’s voice.
“Hmm, well, I suppose we’ll have to see.”
“Yes, perhaps so. Anyway, thank you, Miss Morel. For giving me such a pleasant thought.”
“……Hmph.”
With the brown-haired girl’s snort, the topic seemed to change, and the atmosphere softened somewhat.
Ellen waited until their voices faded away before turning around, supporting herself against the tree.
Once the children had completely disappeared from view, she couldn’t hold herself up any longer and sank to the ground. Even though she had only caught another brief glimpse of her muse, she was so moved that she couldn’t regain her composure.
“Huff. Huff. Amazing. Perfect. Genius. God exists. I’ve seen it.”
Ellen muttered while catching her breath. People passing by gave her strange looks, as if they were looking at an odd person.
But such glances didn’t matter to Ellen at all right now. Because she had encountered it. What she needed to paint. The most sublime image in the world that her brush yearned to create.
Nothing was more important in Ellen’s life than that.
⁕⁕⁕
At the same time Ellen was trying to calm her excitement under the tree.
The Vice Commander of the Royal First Knight Order, Roberto Bruno, was attending the ball as a regular guest rather than as an escort for the first time in a long while.
Until now, Roberto hadn’t felt inclined to attend events like balls. It felt like betraying those who had died on the battlefield to enjoy such peaceful and leisurely times. Today’s ball was the first he had attended after finally shaking off that feeling after several years.
‘Time flows so peacefully now. I still can’t believe it.’
The war had ended four years ago. It was both a long and short time. Roberto, who had been dragged to the battlefield at twenty and witnessed the end of the war at twenty-two, was now in his mid-twenties.
However, the time he spent on the battlefield still cast a shadow over his life. Even while going about his daily life normally, he would suddenly feel a chill in his chest as the anxiety and fear from that time resurfaced.
The ominous imagination that if war broke out again, everyone in this place would die inglorious deaths would often dominate his thoughts.
‘……Useless imagination. Unrealistic.’
Despite telling himself this, he couldn’t stop his hands from trembling. To shake off the sticky anxiety in his chest, Roberto lifted his head and looked out the window.
Outside, magnificent and splendid clouds were beginning to turn red, spreading across the sky as if embracing it.
