When Aidal raised a hand to strike the staff member beside him, Seraphie’s mind went blank. The rationality she had held onto since waking up in this world suddenly snapped. Thus, she couldn’t quite remember what she had done next. But by the time she regained her senses, the room was already in chaos.
“Aack! Uaagh!”
Aidal was on the floor with the table, groaning in pain. Like Seraphie, he couldn’t fully comprehend what had happened. But one thing was clear: his body had somehow been thrown over the table, and he was now lying on the floor, wracked with pain.
“…”
“…”
The staff member, who had almost been struck, was crying silently, struggling to catch her breath. Indira remained frozen in place, holding the sketch of the unknown artist Seraphie truly wanted to support.
“Aidal Sur.” Trying to calm the boiling emotions, Seraphie took a deep breath. “Right in front of me.”
Crash, the sound of something breaking came from underfoot. It was the sound of Seraphie stepping on a piece of the table while approaching the fallen Aidal.
“Were you trying to hit someone?”
Ironically, it was only after hearing those words that Aidal realized what had happened to him. Seraphie had been the one who knocked him down. Despite her fragile appearance, she had kicked him in the shin with enough force to send him crashing down with the table.
The thought that it was absurd crossed Aidal’s mind. But his shin throbbed so much that he wondered if it might be broken. Just touching it with his hand made it swell up.
“…”
Aidal trembled with a mix of pain-induced anger and fear at the absurdity of the situation.
“This crazy bastard…” Seraphie spat out a curse in a trembling voice.
To be fair, that staff had done something terribly wrong to Aidal—enough that she might deserve a slap. But Seraphie had moved without thinking. It wasn’t out of pity for the staff member or dislike for Aidal.
The moment she saw violence about to unfold before her eyes, someone overlapped with Aidal in Seraphie’s mind. She saw the former Count Vallidus, who had tormented her and her mother.
It was then that Seraphie realized how sensitive she was to violence, having narrowly escaped death herself not too long ago. To her, violence was the ultimate barbarity, more horrific than death itself.
That’s why I did it.
Seraphie clenched and unclenched her fists repeatedly, struggling to regain control of her emotions. Only when the pain from her nails digging into her palms became sharp enough did she finally manage to calm down. She then spoke in a more composed voice.
“Aidal, you think everything is that woman’s fault, don’t you?”
“Of course!” Aidal shouted, his eyes bloodshot with anger.
“That’s right.” Seraphie agreed on that point. “It’s true that you’ve been wronged—quite a lot, in fact.”
“S-So, does this mean I won’t be able to get sponsored—”
“But.” Seraphie firmly cut off Aidal’s words of grievance. Her cold blue eyes, fixed on Aidal as he lay on the floor, were as frigid as a winter sky. “Regardless of that, you almost didn’t get sponsored.”
His arrogant and rude behavior, not to mention the way he insulted and maligned Seraphie as soon as he learned the artist he thought she would be sponsored had been replaced, left no room for excuse.
“You can’t defend that.”
Aidal kept his mouth shut. However, as if feeling wronged, his tightly closed lips began to twist.
“But because of that, I lost my sponsorship.”
“Quite the opposite.”
“Doesn’t Countess dislike me!”
Aidal, feeling unjustly treated, responded as if he had done nothing wrong. It made Seraphie dumbfounded.
“That too, is likely the same reason you almost didn’t get sponsored.”
Even though Aidal was aware of his mistakes, he seemed unwilling to acknowledge them.
Seraphie tilted her chin up slightly, making her gaze even more menacing as she looked down at Aidal.
“Nobles.”
Aidal involuntarily shuddered.
“Value rank and authority above all, and they despise those who don’t know their place.”
“…”
“Even I, who met you briefly, considered sponsoring you. If I, who didn’t care much about such things, found your attitude intolerable, how would those who took such matters seriously view you? Do you now understand why every potential sponsorship you’ve had has been canceled?” Seraphie asked in a suddenly kind voice.
“I-I just!” Aidal shouted, feeling deeply wronged. “I was just confident!”
Aidal took pride in his skills, believing he was good enough to compete with other works hanging in the gallery. But Seraphie thought differently. A frog in a well.
His mediocre skills were recognized only for their potential, but not enough to ensure his success. A true artist should have faith in their skills and what they pursue.
At first, all the paintings seemed similar to Seraphie. Still, after hearing Indira’s explanations, their unique characteristics and individuality became clear. However, Aidal was different.
“There are countless unknown painters who can draw at your level.”
Seraphie spoke the truth. It made Aida’s expression about to crumble.
The works of the unknown artists were densely packed in a rough wooden chest.
“Not a single one of them was subpar.”
Seraphie had checked each one of them. They all looked the same because they were overly bound by formality, and none of them suited Seraphie’s taste. However, some were of a quality that could be displayed in the gallery right away. It was even possible that one of them had been painted by Aidal. In other words, there were plenty of artists who could replace Aidal.
“People naturally want the best they can get for their money. A person who is arrogant and rude, relying solely on their skills, versus someone with similar skills who is also polite. Which one do you think is more appealing?”
In the middle of speaking, Seraphie suddenly felt absurd. It was exhausting to have to teach such basic principles to a grown adult with examples.
“Reflect on yourself.”
“…”
“Have you ever shown me any respect?”
Aidal finally averted their eyes.
“You’re not the artist I was looking for.” And Seraphie spoke the truth. “But I will sponsor you.”
“Countess!” Indira interrupted in surprise. “That’s impossible! He…!” Indira, who was trying to stop Seraphie, hesitated. “Co-Could it be…”
“…”
“You already know?”
Before visiting the gallery, Seraphie had already contacted someone to prepare two sponsorship contracts.
Indira couldn’t hide his surprise. “Countess, no matter what, this person has committed an unforgivable rudeness to you.”
“I know.”
“And yet, you still plan to sponsor him?”
“Yes.”
“But this person…”
The staff’s mistake was one thing, but the rudeness Aidal had shown to Seraphie was extremely serious. In the worst case, Aidal could be completely ostracized from this industry. However, Seraphie didn’t seem to have any intention of reconsidering her decision.
“…Why?” Aidal, who had barely regained composure, asked. If it hadn’t been for this situation, he would have gladly accepted Seraphie’s sponsorship decision. But right now, he couldn’t easily accept that sponsorship. “Didn’t you just curse at me just a moment ago?”
“You’ve never really been cursed at, have you?” Seraphie laughed as if it was amusing. If Aidal had heard the curses from the former Count Vallidus, he might have fainted.
There was no other reason.
“Because you were a victim too.”
Despite not liking Aidal, in the end, he is also a victim who has been caught up in this without knowing anything. If he truly hadn’t been involved in this scam, Seraphie was willing to sponsor him. After all, sponsoring one more artist wouldn’t cause her any problems.
“Besides…” Seraphie paused for a moment and glanced at the staff. “If I didn’t sponsor you, what would happen to that person?”
Aidal’s eyes widened. He wasn’t the only one. Indira, as well as the staff who had been silent like a mouse, were greatly taken aback by Seraphie’s unexpected reason for sponsorship.
“Now you have no reason to hit that person, right?”
“…”
“So don’t do it. Don’t resort to violence.”
Seraphie knew how foolishly merciful she was being. But if she withdrew the sponsorship now, there was no telling what that enraged artist might do to the staff who had acted on her behalf. Seraphie couldn’t pretend not to know this.
“But you.”
However, this foolish mercy was only possible because Aidal was the victim. Seraphie’s blue eyes, looking down at the staff, were chillingly calm.
“Co-Countess…!”
The staff hurriedly knelt at Seraphie’s feet.
“I-I’m sorry. I’m really sorry…!”
Though the staff belatedly begged for forgiveness, it didn’t particularly resonate with Seraphie.
“Such a late apology.”
The excuse of doing it for Aidal came first, and the apology to her only came after the staff faced the threat of losing her job.
“You were arrogant,” Seraphie whispered in the staff member’s ear. “You deceived those who trusted you, disregarded your love, and shattered your own credibility. And this was the result.”
* * *
In the end, the staff was immediately fired. It was inevitable. She had deceived a customer, and because of that, the gallery’s reputation could have plummeted. But Indira wasn’t satisfied with that. He sternly warned that if the gallery suffered any damage from this incident, she would be held fully accountable.
“Ju-Just once! Please forgive me just this once!”
The staff begged for forgiveness until the very end, hands clasped together.
“Haven’t I already forgiven you?”
But Seraphie had already shown all the kindness she could.
“I’m going to sponsor Aidal, just as you wanted. And thanks to that, you were able to escape from Aidal’s violence.”
Seraphie’s kindness extended only to preventing Aidal’s violence from reaching the staff. However, ensuring she didn’t get fired was beyond Seraphie’s capabilities.
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