As he carefully traced the slow movement of the clouds with his eyes, the fear that had been rising from his chest and choking him gradually subsided.

‘When your mind is troubled, don’t think about anything, just follow the clouds.’

It was a method someone had taught him long ago. A method to calm a wandering mind when sad or distressed.

Fix your gaze on the edge of a passing cloud and concentrate on following its movement.

Though he no longer remembered who had taught him this, the method had rarely failed him.

“Phew.”

His hands had stopped trembling. Roberto exhaled softly.

Since childhood, he had always calmed himself by following clouds with the corner of his eye when facing difficulties.

Even on the night when a comrade with whom he had exchanged trivial jokes just hours before returned as a corpse, or on the night he received a letter saying his home territory had been attacked and his sister and her husband had lost their lives.

After enduring by relying on the passing clouds, he returned with the title of “hero.”

“Oh, if it isn’t Sir Roberto.”

“Sir Martin. It’s been a while.”

Someone suddenly addressed Roberto as he gazed endlessly out the window. Roberto returned the greeting politely, pleased to see him.

It was Martin, an old comrade from the knight order.

Having quit his life as a knight after sustaining a leg injury during the war, he still used crutches.

When Roberto lowered his eyebrows at the sight of Martin’s loose trouser hem, Martin seemed to notice and deliberately laughed.

“Don’t make that face. I’m used to this now, so it doesn’t bother me anymore.”

“I see. Judging by your bright face, I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”

“Of course I’m doing well. My wife brings in the money, so I just play with our son and enjoy my hobbies.”

Martin cheerfully added that he had just escorted his young son to the annex. Seeing Martin smiling as if nothing was wrong despite his prosthetic leg and crutches brightened Roberto’s mood as well.

That’s right. The war was over, and people’s wounds were gradually healing.

So it was time for him to move forward too. He wouldn’t be punished for attending leisurely events like balls.

Roberto asked Martin in a much brighter voice:

“Hobbies, that reminds me, you mentioned you paint, didn’t you?”

“Oh, that’s right. I used to enjoy oil painting, but lately I’ve developed a taste for gouache. My wife finds it adorable when our son and I sit side by side holding conte crayons.”

Martin said with a chuckle.

Roberto’s expression softened, drawn in by Martin’s mood. He continued, recalling a painting of Martin’s he had seen long ago.

“I see. I remember the oil painting you showed me before was quite impressive. It was a landscape of a lake, wasn’t it? If I have the chance, I’d like to see your recent works as well.”

“Well, they’re hardly worth calling ‘works,’ but if you’re interested, there’s a good opportunity.”

Martin’s voice sounded somewhat excited as he said this.

“You know the annual newcomer exhibition at the Royal Art Museum?”

“Yes. It’s about time for it to be held, now that you mention it.”

“Actually, despite my modest skills, a couple of my paintings will be exhibited this time. Sir Roberto, would you care to come see them?”

Roberto was genuinely impressed by this.

An exhibition directly hosted by the Royal Art Museum. Even for a newcomer exhibition, only painters with a certain level of skill could submit works. Despite calling it a hobby, Martin’s skills must have improved considerably.

He honestly accepted the invitation.

“That’s impressive. If you’re inviting me, I’d be delighted to attend.”

“Oh, really? Let’s see, the exhibition is at the end of April…… Can you make it on the first day?”

Roberto coordinated schedules with Martin and arranged to meet at the exhibition. While noting the appointment in his notebook, Martin said:

“My son will be quite pleased to hear that Sir Roberto is coming to the exhibition.”

“Your son?”

“Yes. He’s completely fascinated with ‘Roberto Bruno, the Hero of Delmerkan’ these days.”

Martin chuckled again, apparently amused by thoughts of his son.

“He recites the scene of the Battle of Delmerkan and gives entire speeches about it. Imagine that, with his father who participated in the same battle sitting right beside him.”

“I’m honored to receive such praise from the son of Sir Martin, whom I respect.”

“Haha, so you can joke now too. Rather, I’m the one honored to be respected by the hero Roberto. Oh, that reminds me. On the day of the exhibition, please explain to that boy how great a knight his father was. Sir Roberto. No matter how much I tell him the truth, he simply won’t believe me.”

Roberto nodded readily at the humorous request. The cheerful Martin hadn’t changed even after the war ended, despite the significant changes to his surroundings.

“Well then, I’ll send you an invitation.”

After chatting a bit more, Martin left, promising to send an exhibition invitation.

Afterward, several nobles whom Roberto knew only by name approached him. They indirectly asked what he had discussed with Sir Martin. Though they wore masks of casualness, their eyes clearly held unpleasant curiosity.

Roberto briefly mentioned only that he had been invited to an exhibition before quickly leaving the area.

⁕⁕⁕

Three days after the ball. Around midnight, Ellen staggered awake.

“Ah…… I fell asleep like this again. Larisa will scold me if she finds out.”

Ellen pushed herself up from the paint-stained floor. She examined the painting she had created before falling asleep once more.

A scene of her muse and what appeared to be her friend enjoying a picnic on a wide lawn. It was a painting she had started immediately after returning home, inspired by seeing her muse at the ball.

For something she had begun impulsively, it was a pleasing painting. With her mind cleared by sufficient sleep, she could see areas that needed minor adjustments, but those could wait.

Ellen decided to first put some nutrients into her completely depleted body.

‘Then I’ll wash up, change clothes, and finish the painting for next week’s exhibition. Yaaawn.’

Thud.

‘Huh?’

As Ellen yawned and was about to leave the atelier, her foot caught on something. Looking at the cover, she realized it was the nobility yearbook she had searched through to discover her muse’s name.

Ellen smiled as she picked up the nobility yearbook.

After learning her surname, discovering her first name wasn’t difficult. There was only one child of that age in the Bruno family.

Natasha Bruno, even that name, Natasha Bruno. How could even her name be so pretty? Ellen rolled the name around in her mouth a few times before grinning broadly.

‘Yes. I should learn more about our angelic Natasha. I can’t stop at just finding out her name.’

While she was thinking about it, Ellen opened the Bruno family’s page once more. The page contained the names of family members, along with a brief history of the family, and the notable achievements of successive counts.

The largest portion was, of course, dedicated to the current Count Bruno.

‘Hero’ Roberto Bruno. Currently the most famous knight in the kingdom, he had achieved tremendous merit when the Empire invaded several years ago.

The battle where he defended the Delmerkan River with just one battalion was particularly well-known.

When Ellen first met Natasha and asked if her parents had saved a country in a past life, that was roughly true. The difference was that it wasn’t her birth parents but her adoptive father, and not in a past life but in this one.

‘……Huh? Roberto Bruno?’

Ellen tilted her head as she read the current Count Bruno’s name again. The name felt strangely familiar.

She frowned and repeated Count Bruno’s name several times.

‘Roberto Bruno, Roberto Bruno.’

Ellen’s expression became peculiar. It was a name that oddly rolled off the tongue well. The more she repeated it, the more it felt like a name she had heard many times somewhere.

‘Count Bruno is one of the kingdom’s most famous people right now. So it’s not strange that his name sounds familiar, but……’

That was true. But Ellen somehow felt there was another reason. It was as if someone in a corner of her brain was shouting, “There’s another reason!”

However, besides his fame, she couldn’t recall any other reason why the name “Roberto Bruno” would sound familiar.

‘Where did I hear it…… Ah, I don’t know. I’m hungry. I need to eat something first.’

After struggling for a while, Ellen soon gave up and went downstairs. Her brain, which had been using only milk and yogurt as nutrient sources for three days, was beginning to go on strike.

She decided to think after putting a proper meal in her mouth first. And as soon as Ellen entered the dining room, she gasped at what she saw on the table.

“Oh, that’s……”

A neatly folded cream-colored paper, Larisa’s personal stationery. It meant that Larisa or one of her servants had visited Ellen’s house while she was preoccupied.

It also meant that Larisa had discovered Ellen had once again spent days painting without properly eating or sleeping.

‘If you live so chaotically one more time, I’ll assign someone to monitor you 24 hours a day!’

Ellen picked up the letter with trembling fingertips, cold sweat trickling down her back.

She had received that warning—that Larisa would assign a monitor if Ellen didn’t properly maintain her sleep and meals—just a few days ago. With an expression as if offering a prayer, she unfolded the letter.

“Oh, please.”

Ellen muttered a prayer with her eyes closed, then squinted to read the contents. Soon, she let out a sigh of relief.

“……Phew. Thank goodness. She must not have seen the atelier.”