As Britia returned home, someone was waiting for her at the front door before the butler.
“What happened?”
Although she seemed less tired, perhaps due to a good night’s sleep, Kyra’s face was still pale.
“After seeing my painting, His Highness…”
Kyra, who was searching for the whereabouts of the painting with her eyes, froze when she realized that Britia was not holding anything in her hands. What reason could there be for her not to bring the painting back? There was only one thing she could think of.
“His Highness didn’t like my painting, did he?”
It wasn’t just a matter of not liking it. He must have been furious, saying something like, ‘Did you bring me a poorly painted picture like this?’
Kyra bit her lower lip, recalling the image of Rutherford stepping on the canvas and his chilling laughter. It was agonizingly echoing in her ears, reminding her of her lack of talent. She managed to finish it on time, but it was never meant to succeed in the first place.
“Kyra, it’s not like that.”
“You don’t have to comfort me. I’m satisfied with what I’ve completed. Truly.”
Kyra nodded repeatedly in a daze. She was fine. She had to be fine.
But negative thoughts kept creeping up. She shouldn’t have even mentioned introducing her work. It was her punishment to have received unusual attention from the prince as if hoping for some reward.
“I’ve never properly thanked you for your kindness. Thank you for all your efforts up until now,”
Kyra said, hiding her bitter feelings and putting on a face that seemed relieved. Upon seeing this, Britia glared at her with a stern expression.
“Now you know that when it comes to my painting, I tend to easily get hurt and try to avoid it. But still, I want to hear everything about you as a person.”
‘What good would it do to listen? Other than realizing the harsh reality, I lack talent.’
“I’ll do my best to say everything that comes to mind, based on what His Highness said.”
Kyra thought that Britia, who was trying to expose her to the harsh reality, was truly cruel.
“I can see that there are still immature and rough parts in your painting. However, I can also see your growth through the process of creating that painting.”
But she said something that Kyra hadn’t even thought of. It was confusing to receive both criticism and praise at the same time.
It doesn’t sound like a bad thing. No, maybe it was because the criticism was too harsh that she added a word of comfort.
“His Highness also enjoys collecting paintings, not only the finished ones but also those that show the process of being completed.”
Britia recalled the face of the man who silently smiled at her, with a smile hidden, while saying “request” until she understood.
“His Highness expressed interest.”
She never had the option to refuse. Of course, it wasn’t taken away for free. He paid the proper value for the painting.
But still, even so. After all the hardships and struggles of completing the painting in just a week, it was frustrating to have it taken away like that. Britia was slightly annoyed.
“What did you say?”
Kyra’s surprised voice faltered.
“You sold the painting?” Britia realized for the first time that Kyra could widen her eyes to such an extent.
“Do you know what that means?” Kyra’s high-pitched tone sounded like she was blaming Britia for selling the painting so carelessly.
“I couldn’t possibly refuse.”
Britia extended her hand with a guilty expression as if making an excuse.
“My painting was sold!”
Kyra exclaimed, grabbing Britia’s hand tightly as she flinched in surprise.
“For how much? No, the amount doesn’t really matter. Was he truly interested in my painting? To the point where he’d buy it?”
She became so excited that she shouted and then suddenly took a deep breath.
“If this is a lie, I will torment you by your side until you suffer and curse you even in death.”
“No, it’s not like that.”
“Then he must have seen potential in me. As an artist! Did I understand correctly?”
“So, that’s what he meant.”
Upon hearing that, Kyra couldn’t believe it and couldn’t close her mouth, taking a deep breath.
“You wouldn’t understand. It was my lifelong dream. But suddenly, like this, coming true, it shouldn’t come true, so why did it?”
Getting carried away and rambling in excitement, Britia lightly tapped Kyra’s back, telling her to calm down.
“Please calm down. You’ll pass out if you keep going like this.”
“…I feel like kissing you.”
Kyra took a deep breath, her trembling breath, and looked at Britia intently.
“It seems like you’re still not completely calm. Take a few more deep breaths. Where did the usual calm self of yours go?”
Thinking that she was about to rush in and try to kiss Britia, Kyra chuckled lightly at the sight of her flinching.
“I’m actually a coward, different from what I look like.”
Since she wouldn’t kiss her, she told Britia to listen as she excitedly shared her story with a passionate expression.
Unmarried children, even if they are adults, cannot possess property or have independence and get married without the permission of their parents or grandparents.
Kyra called it the shitty Imperial Law Article 23.
While most parents allowed their unmarried children to possess personal property, Duke Scandars was different.
He only allowed his eldest son, Rutherford, to possess a certain amount of property. He didn’t even allow his other children, including Kyra, to have a single gold coin in their name.
Rutherford received not only money from the Duke but also his expectations, interests, and status. Thanks to that, he carried his father’s favor on his shoulders and used his larger build to intimidate his siblings whenever he had the chance.
“Defying me, the successor to our father is no different from defying our father himself.”
He genuinely believed that his violence was justified.
“Rutherford locked me in the closet for three hours.”
One day, Kyra went directly to her father, who tolerated Rutherford’s actions and spoke up. In response, he made an extremely annoyed face and called for his eldest son with a single word.
“Don’t teach your younger siblings to come to me.”
That statement was equivalent to entrusting the education of his siblings to Rutherford. It gave Rutherford even more power.
“Since Kyra dared to raise her voice at me again, she’ll go hungry today.”
When he said that, the servants did not bring her any food. They locked her in her room until he gave the order to release her.
Young Kyra despised her oppressive older brother and resented her father for allowing such power.
“I heard Kyra call you a big idiot with a big body in front of Harty.”
“I heard it too, bro!”
The younger siblings also suffered under the dominance of their older brother, but they chose to align themselves with Rutherford to survive. Kyra hated every member of her family.
In the house, there was no one to share her grievances with or play with, except her cousin Harty, who was her only playmate for Kyra.
“Look at this, Kyra. Father bought me a model ship this time. Isn’t it cool?”
But as the illegitimate son of Count Slanford, he received plenty of love unlike Kyra and had no reservations about showing off that fact.
“Ah! Why did you hit me all of a sudden?”
Blinded by jealousy, she often unintentionally lashed out at him. Harty was an easy target for Kyra, as he was smaller and weaker than her. Foolishly, she found comfort in the fact that she had someone she could overpower.
“Harty! That’s mine!”
But Harty wasn’t one to just sit still. He would steal her snacks and even purposely vomit on her shoes when he felt nauseous, seeking his own form of revenge.
The two of them would constantly fight whenever they met. As a result, they became more focused on tormenting each other, and the competition between them grew intense.
One day, the count and his wife took Harty and Kyra on a picnic. Bored of sitting quietly and listening to the adults’ conversations, the two of them went off in search of something fun. That’s when they stumbled upon two old boats by the riverbank.
Harty showed interest in the boats and approached them. The Countess, concerned about her frail son, usually kept him away from such things, but this was their chance to secretly explore.
Kyra had one idea in mind, a perfect way to torment him.
“Let’s have a race to see who can row the boat faster. Your arms are too thin, so you won’t be able to row, and I’ll obviously win.”
Kyra herself doubted if she could row that far. However, she taunted him, saying she would win because it was obvious even without trying.
“I haven’t even tried, how do you know?”
Harty stubbornly climbed onto the boat, determined not to lose. He put all his strength into rowing, reaching the middle of the river, and looked back, confident in his victory, as he gasped for breath.
“Kyra…?”
But to his surprise, he couldn’t see Kyra’s boat at all. In reality, Kyra had only pretended to get on the boat and quickly got off, watching him row with all his might from the riverbank.
“Haha! You fell for it!”
Kyra laughed mockingly at Harty’s futile efforts. But something about his appearance seemed off.
“Harty!”
Harty, who had been staggering, suddenly collapsed on the boat. It was then that Kyra realized the seriousness of the situation.
“Aunt! Uncle!”
Desperately, Kyra called out, but her urgent cries didn’t reach them. The adults were too far away to be seen. She realized that she had put Harty in danger, knowing this fact.
‘Should I run to Aunt and tell her?’
But in her confusion, Kyra couldn’t remember which path she had taken to get here, so her feet wouldn’t move.
“Help me!”
Out of fear that something might go wrong because of her, her voice trembled with a sob. But no one came to help. Trembling hands, Kyra grabbed the oars to try and rescue him.
‘Can I save him if she goes? Aren’t I just going to die with him?’
Paralyzed by fear, as she hesitated, someone snatched the oars from her. It was a boy with black hair, who was as big and intimidating as Rutherford.
Kyra froze in her spot, unable to do anything as he took the oars and got on the boat. He forcefully rowed towards the floating boat in the middle of the river, cutting through the current to rescue Harty.
“Don’t recklessly get on a boat alone.”
The boy spoke to Harty, whose eyes unfocused and his mouth wide open, looking up at him. Then, he turned sharply to face Kyra, who was still frozen. Their eyes met, and Kyra was startled, letting out a gasp.
It felt like he knew that Kyra had done wrong.
It seemed like he knew that he had done wrong, as he looked at her with those eyes. It also felt like he knew that she had cowardly failed to quickly come and save him.
Kyra’s jaw trembled, as she felt like he was about to strike her, just like Rutherford, for her mistake. Fortunately, he only glanced at Kyra briefly before turning away, intending to continue on his way.
“Wait!”
Harty urgently called out to him, wiping off the dirt from his lips.
“Just, um, where are you going?”
In response, the tall boy turned halfway, wearing a puzzled expression on his face.
“At least tell me your name!”
Upon Harty’s plea, he slowly blinked his eyes and pursed his lips.
“Sig.”
