As the chick popped out and the candles began to burn quickly, Alexei, who had paused for a moment, let out a small cough.
“…Fafnir?”
Alexei laughed and tapped the candlestick when Asha barely nodded. The movement quickly filled Fafnir’s voice with moisture.
<Alexeii! Alexei, these creatures are harassing me, looking down on me, and they don’t take my existence seriously…!>
<Where is this nonsense coming from?>
Asha briefly touched her forehead and made a decision. Unless this brave chick took a nap, the battle of words might never end.
‘Phoebe! Don’t bother Fafnir too much. He is still young.’
<Haha.>
<No, this small peach… How dare you say I’m young in front of this dragon…>
<What did you just say to my kid when you couldn’t even control the fire?>
<That was just my desperate desire to say a few words to my child! You could talk to your contractor from the beginning, so you don’t understand my feelings!>
<This little creature, who is relying on a mere candlestick to blabber, do you think I would ridicule you if it were a burning flame? Do you know how hard I tried to choose my child here…>
Phoebe, who had been talking so far, suddenly closed her beak. It seemed as if she could see a cold sweat on the chick’s forehead. While Asha opened her eyes wide in surprise, Fafnir also tilted his head.
<What’s going on?>
<…>
<Did you choose your contractor yourself? That’s impossible…>
<Peep… Peep peep! Peep peep!>
Asha quickly rolled her eyes at Phoebe’s urgent voice and quickly said to herself.
‘Fafnir, let’s discuss this talk about Alyosha when we get back. Got it?’
<What? What’s all this sudden talk? I know you won’t talk about it later. This wicked, unripe peach-like creature…!>
‘A little later!’
With that, Asha quickly blew out the candle. Asha whispered as she watched Phoebe abruptly enter the button, suddenly becoming quiet.
‘Phoebe?’
<…>
‘If it’s a secret that you like me so much that you’ve done something amazing, I won’t ask. I’ll keep it a secret from Fafnir, too.’
<Wh–who do you think you are! Ahh! Saying that I like someone as soft as a ripe peach!>
‘Then you don’t like me?’
<No, it’s not that… Why… Why are you saying such things!>
‘If you don’t like me, you don’t like me.’
<No, it’s not about disliking. It’s just that, you’re still so… short. And your hands are so small, like a soft grape. You have some shortcomings to receive the favor of the Great Spirit.>
‘Aha. Is Phoebe’s affection conditional? You only like those who look good?’
<There’s no one else but you…!>
Phoebe, who was shouting, clenched her mouth. Phoebe shouted as Asha laughed.
<Dammit, peep peep peep!>
‘You’re just peeping when you want to avoid talking, right?’
“Your spirit and Fafnir must have been at it once again.”
Asha held back her laughter and grabbed Alexei’s waiting hand with a cough.
“That… Ah! Fafnir. Fafnir said that. He said Alyosha is having a hard time today. He said you pushed yourself to come.”
“…That’s not exactly true. Fafnir must have misunderstood something.”
“Even as a Spirit King, he seems to not know much. Maybe because he’s not human. Right?”
Asha narrowed her eyes and asked with a questioning tone, causing Alexei to cough in response.
“You said you weren’t overdoing it. Alyosha is a liar.”
Alexei quickly turned his words around as if he thought he could not beat Asha with this topic.
“So, who did you invite as guests?”
Asha glanced at Alexei, trying not to hold any resentment, and smoothly redirected the conversation.
“Well, Alyosha and…”
She almost mentioned Karnov next but held back. For some reason, she felt a little embarrassed.
“Alyosha and Marchioness Tataricha. With Natalya. Then Viscount Ceilistria, Baroness Saratov… The Marquis of Oleg is still in the capital, so I invited him. And Lady Meura as well…”
Asha hesitated a bit, thinking of Mariya, and trailed off. What would happen if Mariya and Alexei were to meet?
“Karnov?”
Not knowing what Asha was thinking, Alexei asked with a somewhat mischievous expression. Asha flinched, but answered confidently.
“Of course I invited Karnov, too. Because he lent me a painting. Ah! I invited Uncle Maxim and Uncle Valery, too.”
At Asha’s last words, Alexei’s expression became subtle.
“Uncle Maxim helped decorate the interior of the villa, so I suppose that makes sense… And what about Marquis Shapiroqin?”
“Yes, I invited him too. It’s a good opportunity after all.”
Asha tilted her head as she spoke.
“I can’t just exclude him for no reason.”
Although she wasn’t sure if Valery would actually come even if she invited him, she felt that she should extend the invitation. And if he did come, she could also check on how the Prasti is doing. Asha smiled and made her remark, while Alexei could only smile back.
The six paintings hanging in the small hall of the beautifully decorated villa each seemed to emit their own radiance.
Before the grand opening, Asha and Alexei quietly admired the paintings together.
Some of them depicted vivid figures and landscapes that seemed to come alive. There were also paintings that displayed flowers and birds against an ashen backdrop.
“It’s been years since Mura stopped painting. There has been a lot of talk about it being a big loss for the art world… To be able to gather her paintings like this.”
Alexei murmured.
“Still, I didn’t expect it to cause such a stir.”
Asha replied, appreciating each of Mura’s paintings. It seemed that the memory of Mura’s strong remorse and uncertainty after their first meeting was still vivid in her mind.
“That’s why I said I would give my birthday gift first. No matter what is placed behind Mura’s paintings, it will shine.”
Alexei chuckled, closing his eyes. He knew that the gift Asha had prepared was Mura’s artwork, as she had shown him the paintings beforehand.
As the two of them finished their quiet admiration, the sound of carriages arriving outside could be heard. After that, Asha’s busy time began. She greeted her invited guests and shared the prepared confetti.
In the small social circle, where everyone knew each other, the atmosphere of the exhibition was warm. However, as soon as Mura Aylau appeared with a red-haired girl named Mariya by her side, the entire hall tensed up. Everyone was thinking about how to approach Mura when Asha warmly greeted her with a friendly smile.
“Lady Meura, Mariya. Come on in. It must have been tiring to get here, right? Here, have one of these.”
“My God, Your Highness. I couldn’t sleep at night thinking about this chocolate confetti.”
After sending Mura and Mariya a sample of the chocolate confetti, Mura sent Asha a long letter expressing how impressed she was after tasting it. It seemed that Mura was more interested in Asha’s chocolate confetti than the exhibition of her own paintings.
“Your Highness, thank you for inviting me.”
Mariya, who was standing beside her, trembled as she received the small confetti offered by Asha and spoke with a trembling voice. Asha clapped her hands and glanced sideways. Alexei, even with Mura in front of him, maintained a calm expression without showing any signs of nervousness. It was the same when he looked at Mariya.
“Alyosha, this is Lady Meura, the painter. And this is… she’s working with Baroness Saratov. She’s an artist named Mariya.”
“It is a great pleasure to meet you, Lady Mura. I’ve never seen Mariya before, and I’m delighted to make your acquaintance.”
Asha looked nervously at Mariya and Alexei’s greetings, but there was no particular spark between them.
Mariya was a little nervous to meet the crown prince suddenly, but she did not shake much and greeted him calmly. In fact, she seemed more unsure of how to react when she received the chocolate confetti from Asha. She then looked at Alexei with a face that seemed to say that Mura was more fascinating than herself.
“Your Highness, you may not remember, but we’ve actually met once before when I was passing by.”
“…Is that so?”
“So, it’s been a long time since we met again… You’ve changed a lot.”
Mura said as she stroked her chin.
“Your expression has become much more relaxed.”
“In that case, it must be thanks to Asha.”
Alexei gently put his hand on Asha’s shoulder. Mura silently observed Asha and Alexei, as if capturing their interactions in her eyes.
But before Mura could say anything, the impatient guests couldn’t wait any longer and enthusiastically approached Mura, leaving no room for conversation. When the surrounding area quieted down a bit, Asha grabbed Alexei’s sleeve.
“Alyosha, let’s go inside now. You need to rest if you’re tired.”
“We’ll go together after it’s over.”
“Cyril!”
Asha called Cyril, Alexei’s escort, without pretending to hear him. Cyril, who was standing at the door, approached quietly.
“Alyosha wants to go home, but I’m busy, so I think Cyril should take him home. Is that okay?”
“Yes?”
“Sir Schnine, it’s nothing, so go back to your seat.”
Alexei said, Cyril was just standing there looking around. Asha put her hand on her waist and looked at Alexei.
“Alyosha.”
“It’s quite intimidating to have a little pea glaring at me.”
“No, this is not the time to call me that! I was just about to talk about the qualities of an emperor.”
Alexei chuckled. Asha sighed and held Alexei’s hands. His hands were bigger, so hers were just resting on top, but Alexei didn’t pull away.
