“Alyosha, your hands are cold. It’s all because of your lack of sleep.”
Alexei tried to explain, but Asha shook her head as if she didn’t want to hear it. Seeing her reaction, Alexei let out a wry smile, but Asha spoke firmly.
“Alyosha, go inside first and have some ginger milk, take a nap. You need to take care of your body as a prince. And treating the bodyguards like that, making them unable to do anything, that’s being a tyrant. A bad tyrant.”
“Did I bother Cyril too much?”
“Cyril is worried about Alyosha, so he wants to escort you back. But if Alyosha tells him to stand here, he can’t do anything alone.”
Cyril, who was quietly watching the conversation between the two, leaned down.
“Please forgive me for not speaking up, Your Highness.”
Asha looked at Alexei with a look on her face. Alexei sighed.
“I don’t know when you two became so close. I concede, Schnine. Lift your head… Asha, can you go back safely by yourself?”
She wouldn’t call it alone because there were a few people who would accompany her, but Asha nodded quickly without any hesitation.
“Of course!”
“Yes, there’s Lise, too.”
Asha nodded vigorously and urged him to leave. As Alexei left first and the remaining people, including the guests, came one by one, Asha realized that Valery hadn’t arrived yet.
‘It’s the general opening in thirty minutes. Karnov is not here yet either?’
The hall became quiet as the invitees, who had been enjoying the paintings for a long time, took turns. It was when Asha heard that the queue outside was gradually forming and thought of starting the exhibition earlier.
“Your Highness.”
Lise, who had followed Asha’s words and looked around once, bowed quietly and whispered. It was news that Valery’s carriage had finally arrived in front of the villa.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Valery, who was not confident of participating in the emperor’s birthday party, had sent his son. However, deep down, he had a hidden sense of anticipation.
Maxim lacked a plausible artistic sense, and Alexei was overly dedicated. How well could they take care of the emperor’s birthday present?
But he believed it was different for him. He was captivated by the desire to possess the ornamental sword hilt he had prepared for the emperor’s birthday celebration. It was clear that this beautiful and magnificent sword would surely impress the emperor.
But it seemed like things were different…
‘… I can’t believe it’s a picture from Mura.’
Valery, who was leaning against the couch exhausted from thinking about the upcoming events, almost fell off the sofa when he heard the news that Mura’s painting of the emperor was unveiled at the birthday celebration. Until now, there hadn’t been any news from Mura, and yet she had painted a portrait of the emperor?
And when he heard that Princess Anastasia had obtained the portrait and presented it to the emperor, Valery wanted to faint because of the emotion that was swirling inside him.
Not Maxim, not Alexei, but Yuriev’s little daughter had a chance to get a gift from the emperor!
However, more important things happened one after another. Mura Aylau’s new portrait this time was not one, but two, one of the emperor’s portrait and the other of Princess Anastasia’s portrait.
Valery spent the entire night plagued by illness after that day. It was the painting by Mura that he had praised and pleaded for but couldn’t obtain. How did his incompetent and young niece manage to obtain it?
There was no way to deal with it now. He tried to console himself with the pathetic hope that since Mura had decided to paint again, maybe there was a chance to commission a portrait.
Until she sent him a letter about the exhibition along with the chocolate confetti that she made herself! Valery was on the verge of madness and frustration. He realized that when a person reached the pinnacle of irritation and anger, their hair stood on end.
That small and audacious thing was undoubtedly intending to belittle him. Everyone knew how desperately he wanted Mura’s portrait, and yet she went ahead and held an exhibition, inviting him as if she were mocking him!
Truly… Valery was truly, sincerely filled with anger and fury.
“Uncle Valery! You’ve arrived? Ilya, you’ve arrived too?”
“…”
Valery tried to maintain a composed expression while looking down at the little girl in front of him. Of course, he had no intention of coming. Who would think he was crazy enough to willingly go to a place where that little brat wanted to mock him?
But out of the six paintings exhibited, two were freshly painted by Mura, which Valery had never seen before. And the painting that Marchioness Tataricha possessed was now impossible to see due to their strained relationship.
Moreover, refusing his niece’s invitation might make him seem even more pitiful. Valery decided that he would “just go and see the paintings,” and that was why he ended up here, even if he was late in making the decision.
“This is a commemorative gift. It’s a way of saying thank you for visiting. Have you tried it before? It’s the chocolate confection that I sent earlier.”
“Ah.”
Valery looked uncomfortable, glancing at the two small, cute packages. His son, oblivious to his father’s complicated emotions, happily held the snack in his hand and smiled.
“Did it taste good? Was it all right?”
“…It was edible.”
Valery replied with a sullen expression. He had initially intended to immediately dismiss the little chocolate snacks that the girl had sent along with the exhibition news. He had planned to open the packaging halfway just to see what was inside and then throw it away.
“Oh…”
But when he peered inside, he saw small black balls rolling around, emitting a sweet and nutty chocolate aroma. The taste of the baked snacks that his niece had been sending him crossed his mind, and he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away.
Valery honestly divided it in half and shared it with Ilya. It was also because Ilya had a bright smile on his face as he held the girl’s gift. He was familiar with the taste.
“You are truly skilled in the kitchen. The emperor will surely be pleased.”
“Ahaha, really? That’s why Grandfather built a kitchen for me. Oh, here’s the painting!”
Valery couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or if she genuinely couldn’t understand. But now, he found himself engulfed in a sense of self-disgust for acting so petty towards his ten-year-old niece.
That’s when the girl suddenly grabbed his hand. Even though Valery, horrified, shook her hand off, the girl tilted her head once, laughed, and grabbed it again.
“It’s this way. Ilya, let’s go, too.”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Asha grabbed Valery’s hand first. It was impolite, but wasn’t she just his ten-year-old niece? There was no point in doing something wrong and getting scolded for it.
<Hmm. I guess he ate all the snacks you sent him.>
The new pattern on Asha’s sleeve button said.
“What do you think about the Prasti inside Uncle Valery, huh?”
<He’s much better than before. It will still take some time, but if he continues like this, there shouldn’t be any major problems.>
ls that right?
Asha smiled. Right now, he was pretending to be sharp and sarcastic, but in reality, he had eaten all the snacks she had sent. Asha suppressed the slightly triumphant feeling and led Valery into the wide hallway.
Most of the invited guests had already left. The only ones remaining inside were Marchioness Tataricha, who intended to discuss the chocolate confections with Asha, Mura, and their companions Natalya and Mariya.
And neither Marchioness Tataricha nor Mura hid their awkward expressions as soon as they saw Valery.
“Hmm.”
“Hmm.”
At the moment of awkward air between the three adults, it was Marchioness Tataricha who greeted him first.
“I greet the Marquis of Shapiroqin. There are beautiful paintings here. I hope you have a pleasant time.”
“…”
Considering the fierce rivalry between them underwater, it was a very fine greeting. Valery only twitched his head slightly, but he didn’t ignore the marchioness’s greeting.
However, Asha hadn’t realized it until now, but the marchioness had a rather impatient temperament.
“Your Highness, this confetti. It’s so delicious that I want to buy many boxes. This chocolate is used in Baroness Saratov’s shop, right? The ingredients you used to make that cake.”
“Oh… Oh, yeah… That’s right. It’s the same thing.”
“…”
While Valery’s complexion fluctuated, the marchioness grinned.
“Phew, that cake is really good. It’s been a while since I bought it. Oh! Today was the day off at the store. That’s too bad. I should go tomorrow. And Lady Mura, I always praise you for your wonderful paintings.”
After finishing her greetings to Asha, Mura, and Valery, the marchioness left with Natalya. Just before leaving, Natalya hugged Asha and they parted ways.
‘Asha, see you next time.’
Asha also patted her cheek.
‘Natalya, see you again.’
Mura, who had been watching the girls part ways, smiled warmly.
“I’m just glad that you opened this exhibition with my paintings, Your Highness. Not to mention the taste of this confetti.”
“Oh, r,really?”
“It was truly a moving taste. I feel embarrassed to repeat what I already mentioned in my letter, so I won’t say it again. But speaking of which, would it be all right for me to draw one more painting?”
“Huh? I already received an incredible painting, how can I ask for more?”
“If you can make just one box of confections for me, I would be really happy.”
“Then I’ll make two boxes.”
Mura smiled brightly and kissed the back of Asha’s hand before leaving with Mariya. Finally, in the empty hallway, Asha quickly grabbed Valery’s arm.
“Uncle!”
Asha was worried that Valery would cry, but Valery looked unexpectedly fine.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Ah…”
However, the emotional current behind Valery seemed like a gigantic hedgehog.
