“What?”
“I don’t have a carriage because I sent Alyosha first because he seemed to be overdoing it. Where’s Karnov’s carriage?”
“Are you talking about borrowing someone else’s carriage?”
“Of course!”
Asha said shamelessly, raising her chin. Karnov smiled and pressed down on Asha’s forehead.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a carriage, Your Highness.”
“…Huh? What do you mean you don’t?”
“I came alone, so I came lightly. On horseback.”
“…”
As soon as she heard that Karnov had no carriage, Asha turned and tried to run to Lise. It seemed that this side was no longer useful, so they needed to find another carriage. However Karnov, who sighed briefly at the sight, took a big step and blocked Asha’s path.
“It seems that the temper of Your Highness winds up faster than I do time. …You can ride my horse.”
“Then Karnov walks? Will you be okay?”
“That’s impressive logic. Did you even consider the idea of riding together?”
“Lise and I are two? It’s three if we ride with Karnov. It’s a bit… There are other attendants too.”
At Asha’s words, Lise, who had been caring for the two so far, a little away from Asha, rushed to intervene.
“Your Highness, I’m fine.”
“What do you mean you’re fine? We’re still far from the palace, and it’s not easy to walk.”
Karnov breathed a huge sigh at Asha’s insistence.
“Your Highness, I can borrow a horse from the knights who came to protect the paintings. We can ride one together.”
“Oh, is that okay? Then you should have told me that first.”
“It’s my fault again.”
“Yes, it is.”
The knights had to remain in the villa anyway, so the horses to ride on the way home were to be sent slowly.
“But if you can borrow the horse of the knights, I don’t have to ride with Karnov, do I? I can ride with Lise.”
When she heard that, a panicked expression appeared on Lise’s face.
“M,My horseback riding skills are not good enough to ride with someone… yet.”
“Really? Then I’ll just ride alone…”
“That’s nonsense. What if something happens while you’re riding alone?”
“Well, do I have to ride with someone else for the rest of my life?”
“Once again, you come to an incredible conclusion. It’s because you haven’t had any riding lessons until now.”
“That’s…”
Asha recalled riding a horse with Karnov once last time.
“I thought it wouldn’t be hard when I rode it then…”
“Your Highness, can you ride a horse with Lord Karnov just this time? We’ll just go to the city and catch a carriage, at least until then.”
Lise begged in a hurry, afraid that Asha would ride a horse alone.
“Oh, no. I’ll go out and catch a carriage. If not, I can send a message to the palace to send a carriage…”
“Oh, that’s enough. Alyosha probably thought that I would use Karnov’s carriage, so he just went, but he might blame himself again if he knew I asked the palace to send me a carriage.”
Asha said that and grabbed Lise’s arm.
“And besides, we can just borrow a horse and ride. There’s no need for Lise to go back and forth.”
Asha said so, and looked up at Karnov, putting her hand on her waist.
“I’ll look forward to Karnov’s horse riding skills.”
“Wow… it’s an honor, a true honor. An honor like no other in the world.”
“As long as you know.”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
“How long did you say the exhibition would be?”
“The exhibition will last about two weeks. I think it’s hard to make confetti for a long time and it’s a bit burdensome to manage the paintings. It’s a big deal if we lose them.”
“Hmm.”
Karnov wrapped himself around Asha and glanced at the villa, which was moving away slowly.
“What about after this week? Are you going to go home and see the prince?”
“Oh, right?”
Asha nodded, trying to open her limp eyes.
“Once Phoebe powder and the exhibition is complete, I can go home and then return.”
“Hwaaaam.”
“Are you sleepy?”
“A little…”
Perhaps because it was autumn, the air was chilly, but thanks to Karnov’s body temperature behind her, the periodic vibration of the horse walking slowly and the accumulated fatigue seemed to form a quartet of harmony.
“Have you decided how many people to take when you go back?”
“Is that necessary?”
Asha asked back, but Karnov was adamant.
“It is. The princess is going back and forth a long way, so of course it is. What if the Marquis of Shapiroqin has some wild dream? How would we handle it?”
“Uncle won’t do that anymore…”
Valery’s temper tantrum was still there. Asha murmured like that.
“We just need to hire a few knights, so why do you keep saying you don’t like it?”
Karnov asked back in a voice that was difficult to understand.
Asha replied, half leaning her head against Karnov’s arm.
“It’s just my personal matter, but using the knighthood is a little… Yeah. I think I’m going to have an upset stomach.”
Asha was going to talk to Lise because it was really a bit of a shame to go alone. Even more so, Lise was close friends with her mother, Irina.
“Sigh, then I must go.”
“Lise is like the same… What?”
Asha looked up with her eyes wide open in the midst of drowsiness. Karnov was deftly driving his horse, looking straight ahead.
“Ka, Karnov, why?”
Karnov glanced down at Asha’s question.
“Why? You don’t want me to go instead of the knights? I’ve been doing well so far, haven’t I? Even as a kitchen maid.”
“Karnov, when I ask you why, are you asking why I don’t like it? That’s not the right way to ask.”
“Are you making an excuse because you don’t like it?”
“Karnov!”
Karnov shrugged his shoulders at the sound of his name, but opened his mouth gently. Asha noticed that Karnov’s emotions were popping lightly at that moment.
“Your father, Prince Yuriev, is the one whom His Majesty considered to be his successor until the end.”
“What?”
But for a heavy reason that was completely different from what was expected, Asha looked back at Karnov with a blank expression. Karnov continued, tapping Asha’s cheek with the back of his hand holding the reins.
“Alexei needs to check what His Highness Yuriev thinks. I’m Alexei’s friend, so I’m doing it for him.”
“What?”
Asha, frankly, had recently completely forgotten the sensitive relationship, which she was very engrossed in immediately after coming to the palace.
But wasn’t that topic long ago driven away by the ‘affection and trust’ she had built with Alexei, the emperor, and Karnov?
Asha glanced at Karnov, trying not to despise him. On a solid rock, even precariousness can become a dance.
“Hmmm. Karnov, you’re really saying that’s why?”
Karnov shrugged at Asha’s look.
“Are you afraid I’m following you because I like you?”
“Well, I thought it might be partly because of that. I thought you liked me too much and were worried, so you wanted to go with me.”
“…”
“Not anymore, forget it. Well, if you really must confirm whether Dad has personal feelings, then let Karnov come to our house. All right.”
“…Wait, ah…”
Just in time, they arrived before the palace, and Lise, who had gotten off the horse first, came toward the horse on which Asha and Karnov rode. Asha put on a prim expression and stretched out her arm toward Lise.
Seeing Asha’s expression become extremely haughty in a moment, Lise glanced at Karnov, but Karnov was unable to give her an answer.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
The exhibition was a huge success. First of all, it was rare to have the opportunity to see a collection of six paintings by Mura Aylau, and they had never been shown to the public without special conditions and with only a low admission fee.
People from all walks of life flocked to the exhibition, from those who had money but no social status to aspiring artists. As people gathered, the confetti that Asha prepared quickly ran out.
Fortunately, Sophia made the additional confetti she needed. Preparations for the sale of Phoebe powder, which was being conducted with Baroness Saratov, were also smooth.
Research to further enhance marketability and preservation was also nearing the end. The package of the goods was prepared too soon, but Baroness Saratov said it was a good thing. She planned to quietly spread word of mouth by sprinkling the samples around.
“Is this box a complete package?”
“That’s right. Do you like it?”
“Even just seeing the design was amazing, but now that I see it made into a box, it’s really impressive. It’s so beautiful…”
Asha turned the box around with glistening eyes. The edges of the box were wrapped in a band with printed patterns, and in the center was a picture of a baby angel with fluffy pink hair, holding a starry wand and sprinkling stardust on a beautifully drawn cake.
“Well, but I kept… I was just thinking…”
“Yes?”
“I hope you don’t laugh at me too much. This baby angel… It’s kind of… A little… A little…”
Asha couldn’t bring herself to end and blurred out the end. Baroness Saratov smiled softly and continued what Asha couldn’t bear.
“She looks a bit like you, doesn’t she?”
“…!”
With fluffy pink hair and emerald green eyes, it was strangely reminiscent of the expression or atmosphere of Asha’s. Asha blushed to her ears and let out a deep sigh. Baroness Saratov burst into laughter.
“In fact, when I mentioned that, Mariya was also very surprised. As she kept drawing in the most adorable way possible, it unintentionally ended up like that.”
In other words, that’s the definition of loveliness in Mariya’s head. It looked like a girl with pink hair and light green eyes.
“…”
“However, even objectively, the colors are very harmonious, and the cake looks very delicious. Isn’t it nice? It’s the best in my eyes. Should I still make changes?”
“I’m so embarrassed…”
“Hahaha! Then let’s proceed as planned.”
“Oh gosh! I’m really embarrassed!”
“But Your Highness.”
Baroness Saratov smiled with one eye closed.
“Mariya originally planned to work at an inn this time.”
“Huh?”
“One of the first tasks they assigned her when she came here was to design our patisserie’s signboard.”
“Ah…”
“After that, it was said that there was no work in painting until we gave the proposal.”
“She’s so good at drawing though.”
“Yes, even though she draws this well. Since she needed to make a living right now, she had no choice but to do anything…”
At that moment, Asha joined hands with Baroness Saratov and thought of selling Phoebe powder, attracting the artist who drew the signboard.
“Thanks to that, Mariya has been able to continue drawing, hasn’t she? How do you think Mariya sees you through those eyes?”
“If that’s the case, Mariya’s angel is an angel of abundance. Since Olga commissioned the signboard to Mariya, so I…”
“It was pure coincidence. I thought it would be fitting to have at least one signboard on the opening day morning. But then, Mariya happened to be passing by while looking for work at a nearby inn.”
“Yes, Olga. That’s what I meant. At that time, Olga and Mariya had that coincidence…”
“Your Highness.”
Baroness Saratov smiled softly. The air of nonchalance she had shown so far was nowhere to be seen. Asha saw a calm smile on her face that she had never seen before.
