Ko-fi shop has been renewed, you can find the link at the end of the chapter.
***
Sketch
Diana, without realizing it, stepped into the water and buried her face in the man’s chest, hoping he would embrace her as he had that day. This time, Diana’s wish didn’t go unanswered.
“His Highness said… aside from Chef Harper and Butler Emel, there are other watchful eyes.”
Her throat was hoarse from crying so pathetically. Felix flicked away the tiny droplets of water rising from Diana’s body with his fingers and replied monotonously.
“That’s to be expected. Aizen is persistent.”
“If… if it’s discovered that I betrayed His Highness….”
If I become yours, will you protect me?
Until this morning, she had intended to ask that. Now… now she realized there could be no more foolish question. Diana’s lips moved as if to speak but then pressed tightly shut.
A bad man. A heartless man, even harder to understand than Nephrine. She shouldn’t expect anything. She shouldn’t hope….
“When it comes to what I have claimed as mine—”
But the crown prince effortlessly shattered Diana’s resistance once again. He removed her from his embrace and traced her lips with his thick forefinger.
“No one can touch it.”
“No one…?”
“No one but me, Diana.”
Felix’s finger ran along her teeth, which had been biting her inner cheek, easing the tension. His voice was languid but carried an unyielding firmness.
“So just look at me, and only respond to me. Remember this again. You exist solely for me.”
The turbulent emotions that had shaken her like a storm-tossed dinghy gradually calmed. A strange sense of lethargy enveloped her, pulling her downward. Diana bit his finger and nodded, her heavy head drooping.
The bathroom was filled with steam, especially dense around the spot where Diana stood.
It wasn’t a conducive setting for sketching. If he intended to draw her later, he had to scrutinize and commit every detail to memory now. Felix continued to touch her flawless, smooth cheek with his wet hand.
“There’s no need to clean anymore. The new ones will handle those tasks.”
“But I’m a maid….”
“You’re just a maid who can be replaced anytime. Especially for such trivial chores.”
Trivial chores. When Diana silently bowed her head, Felix raised his voice.
“You there, bring a towel.”
Diana flinched in surprise and shrank back. The bathroom door was open, and someone else was outside. She hadn’t noticed at all. Though she was wearing a slip, it was essentially an undergarment. Worse, it was soaked and clung to her body as if she were wearing nothing at all.
“I’ve brought it, Your Highness.”
The person who approached, fortunately, was a woman. Relieved, Diana lifted her bowed head, causing her hair to slide, revealing the side of her face. The maid handing the towel to the crown prince was startled when she saw Diana’s appearance.
A stunningly beautiful woman was nestled in the prince’s arms. Her wet hair clung in strands to her cheeks and back, but such things didn’t detract from her beauty. She looked like a completely different person compared to when she had appeared like a blood-soaked ghost.
The crown prince, too, wore an enigmatic expression as he gazed at her.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but the droplets running down her cheek seemed to fall in slow motion. It was as if time itself had slowed around her.
A fairy? No. Such a being….
But at that moment, a large hand covered the woman’s face, blocking her from the maid’s view.
Without moving his eyes, Felix glanced at the maid and issued a command in an indifferent tone.
“Leave.”
“Y-yes, Your Highness.”
Startled by his sharp gaze, the maid retreated out of the bathroom.
Diana belatedly realized that she was practically curled up in the man’s arms. A thick, large towel was draped over her back. Soon after, the man effortlessly lifted her out of the tub.
“It would be troublesome if you caught a cold again. We’ve already lost three days.”
This isn’t good.
It was warmth like thorns. His hands, which were drying her body, moved as if handling an object, yet the heat they transmitted was undeniable. Diana felt a fear more intense than when she had been doused with paint.
If she grew accustomed to this carelessly, in the end, she would only end up hurt. Fighting the urge to push away the warmth spreading through her, she tightly closed her eyes.
***
Most of the new servants stationed in the separate palace lived underground. However, the new chef, Joseph, and the head maid, Katrin, were granted personal rooms on the first floor. Diana frequently encountered Katrin.
Not a maid but a lady-in-waiting. This was a position that was as necessary in the palace as that of a Butler, with a clear distinction in status from someone like Diana, who was a mere maid.
Katrin Louisiana was the second daughter of the Count of Louisiana. The Louisiana family was said to be related by marriage to the Duke of Kristen. A sharp cinnamon scent wafted from her.
“Diana, isn’t it? And your last name is Escalif, correct? As far as I know, the fallen House of Escalif had no daughters.”
“I was adopted into the House of Escalif. When I was young.”
This was the fabricated background of Diana, orchestrated by Prince Aizen’s faction. With her head bowed low, Diana anxiously awaited the head maid’s next words.
“Well, fine. Anyway, His Grace will uncover everything once he investigates.”
‘His Grace’ referred to the Duke of Kristen, who had visited the separate palace with the servants a while ago. Diana vividly recalled the name from the lessons she memorized while under Prince Aizen’s control. He was the younger brother of the deceased empress and the maternal uncle of the crown prince. A member of one of the oldest and most prestigious noble families in the empire, he was also the leader of the aristocratic faction supporting the crown prince.
From snippets of conversation she overheard, he appeared to have a close relationship with the crown prince. Though Diana initially thought the crown prince was isolated here, it clearly wasn’t the case. She felt ashamed of herself for having momentarily pitied him.
Yet, no matter how trustworthy the head maid might seem, Diana couldn’t let her guard down easily. After all, there was already a history with Emel and Harper. Besides, Katrin hardly seemed like someone devoted to serving the crown prince. The woman spent all day monitoring Diana’s every move.
Is she someone Prince Aizen planted?
If so, that meant she could cut Diana down at any moment. Diana had to remain on edge, worrying that Katrin might overhear her conversations with the crown prince.
It was only natural that this place became increasingly terrifying for her. The only relatively safe spot here was beside the crown prince.
But even there, Diana could not completely relax. Though the reasons were slightly different….
“Come here and sit, Diana.”
Every day at noon, Felix would summon Diana to his quarters as soon as he returned from the hunting grounds.
He would have her stand in the middle of the living room, assuming various poses. He would adjust her head, shoulders, and limbs, place objects in her hands only to take them away again, have her sit, stand, and even lie on the floor.
However, nothing seemed to satisfy him. The man, engrossed in studying Diana, lost his patience by the very next day.
“You’re terrible as a model.”
His unreserved critique cut like a knife. Felix openly scorned her as though she were pitiful.
“You’re stiff as a board. And what’s with your expression? You’re like lifeless marble. No, if you were a sculpture, it would at least be easier to draw you.”
“I…!”
Diana felt wronged. She had never once been a model for a painting in her entire life.
How could a pose artificially imposed on her appear natural? And how could her expressions seem varied and vivid?
Moreover, it had been a long time since she’d paid attention to her own expressions, let alone anyone else’s. It was only natural that she struggled to mimic his instructions or judge whether she was doing it correctly.
From the beginning, the crown prince’s orders were vague. ‘Recreate the expression you had when I first saw you,’ or ‘Repeat the movement and expression from the day you picked up the fallen brush under the table.’ He seemed to want her to reenact moments he found memorable. Yet Diana barely remembered what her own demeanor had been like on those occasions.
***
The portrait of Pride has opened a ko-fi shop with 5 advanced chapters. Ko-fi shop will be updated with each update in website. Here is the: LINK
***
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed what you have read, do consider tipping me a little through: click here. An advanced chapter will be posted as a thank you once I receive 6$. Don’t forget to mention the series that you’re supporting!
