When the carriage arrived at the palace, Asha was dozing, leaning on the cushion from the fatigue of the long journey.
<Asha! Asha! You sleepy peach! Get up.>
If it weren’t for Phoebe’s voice, which suddenly rang in her ear, she would probably have slept all the way until they arrived at the palace. Asha got up rubbing her eyes and almost stumbled forward, but someone quickly caught her.
“Oh… Karnov.”
“Did you think this was a bed?”
“Oh, no.”
Asha replied, smoothing her slightly stiff neck. It seemed that she slept leaning on Karnov. Feeling embarrassed, she retorted and then carefully patted Karnov’s shoulder where she had been leaning just moments ago.
“W…What?”
Karnov leaned back and asked. Asha looked up.
“I thought I might have drooled on your shoulder, Karnov. If I have something on my face…”
“It’s really all right, Princess.”
“Well, could you stop with that ‘all right’ factory?”
Asha grumbled and stretched herself out, yawning.
‘Why did you wake me up?’
<Look out the window. Since it’s a spectacle.>
‘Out the window?’
Asha tilted her head. Then she opened the window of the carriage and ended up screaming.
“Ah!”
At the sound of the commotion, Karnov was the first to quickly hold Asha back, followed by Lise who looked outside.
“Oh, my.”
“D, don’t look!”
Asha shouted, in Karnov’s arms. Karnov, who noticed that it was not a serious matter from Lise and Asha’s reaction, frowned.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Ah! No, don’t look! Karnov, don’t!”
Karnov, who was not one to do as told, turned his head towards the window with Asha wrapped tightly in a blanket.
“…My God, what’s that?”
“Well, Karnov I did tell you not to look, but… that reaction, isn’t it a bit excessive?”
“Are you saying that based on what you saw?”
“…”
Asha eventually turned red to her neck and buried her head in the blanket.
“I should ask Baroness Saratov for one. I’m sure she’ll give it to me, right? His Highness would be so pleased to see it.”
“D, don’t say such ridiculous things. Absolutely not!”
Asha raised her buried head and shook her hand in a hurry.
Outside the window, product advertising posters were posted on each wall on the streets of the city. And among them, there was an exceptionally noticeable poster.
It depicted a girl angel with rosy cheeks and fluffy pink hair lying on a cloud. Above her, white powder fell like snow, and various sweet treats were scattered around her.
At the top of the poster, the phrase “Complete your dream snack in the kitchen” was nicely written. It was an advertising poster for Phoebe Powder, painted by Mariya. And just like the illustration of Phoebe Powder’s box, the face of the angel in the poster was undoubtedly…
<The young painter has short-sighted thinking. It would be more suitable to draw me rather than you, to attract people’s attention.>
‘…Yeah, you’re right.’
If only it had been like that, this situation could have been avoided!
Asha swallowed a groan of frustration. Lise couldn’t take her eyes off the poster outside the window, and Karnov alternated between glancing at the poster and Asha.
“I, I told you not to do it.”
Even with Asha’s whispered words, Karnov covered his mouth with one hand and maintained a serious expression.
“Hmm.”
“Really.”
“For someone who said not to do it, your face is all over city.”
“No, actually… if you look closely, besides the pink hair, it doesn’t really resemble me that much. It’s too idealized… Karnov, are you listening?”
“I’m listening.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I was thinking about the fine I’ll have to pay if I tear down that poster.”
“Wha… what? Karnov, you say that, but do you actually want that poster of mine?”
“…”
Karnov looked at Asha with cold eyes.
“I’m saying this because there’s someone over there taking away posters.”
“What? What?”
At his words, Asha quickly stood up and leaned closer to the window.
Just as Karnov said, someone, with a possessed expression on their face, stared at the wall and then glanced around before forcefully tearing down the poster.
As the attention of the people around was drawn to the sound, the passerbyers watched the poster thief hold the torn poster close to their chest and hurriedly walked away. It all happened in the midst of everyone’s astonishment. And Asha’s too.
“Huh? Huh? Huh? Oh, they’re going! They’re leaving! They’re gone…”
Asha’s trailing words were filled with regret. Karnov couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Karnov, returning to the mansion, took off his coat and handed it over to the butler, looking around. The mansion was as quiet as usual, but he couldn’t see his grandmother’s face.
“Where is Grandmother?”
“She… is in the drawing room, admiring the painting.”
“In the drawing room? Admiring a painting?”
“Yes, the painting given to her…”
Karnov furrowed his brows in unease. Yekaterina had no interest in art. Born into a prominent noble family, she had become a duchess, ruling over the Sedvoyer Estate at a young age. While she had enough discernment to appreciate art like anyone else, she did not particularly enjoy it.
Yekaterina believed that paintings did not solve hunger or keep out the cold; they were merely there to fill empty walls, as she often stated.
That was why her portrait had been painted with a dark, black background, leaving it behind only to be used for her funeral.
So, it was strange for Yekaterina to be alone in the drawing room, continuing to look at the painting after the guest had left. Karnov couldn’t hide his anxious expression as he headed toward the drawing room.
“Oh, Karnov You’re here. How was your trip? Did you see the princess and her family?”
“It was fine. She safely returned to the palace. But… what are you doing, Grandmother?”
“Just now Baroness Saratov came and went. I wanted to show you something.”
“…”
Karnov sensed the impending foreboding but pretended not to notice, even though he knew it was inevitable.
“Look at this. I asked someone to bring it for me. It’s not impolite to tear down a poster ad if you want it, right?”
“Grandmother…”
Karnov barely managed to call Yekaterina with his tight voice. The poster she was looking at in the drawing room was the advertisement poster of Phoebe powder that was posted around the city.
“…What is this?”
“Didn’t you see it on your way back to the city? This poster was put up on every street today.”
“I’m asking why you wanted Baroness Saratov to bring you this poster.”
“Doesn’t the angel in this poster look like someone we know? Regardless of who painted it, they have true talent.”
“Why would someone who has no interest in art suddenly show interest in a poster?”
Yekaterina, who was looking down at the unfolded poster, looked up and smiled as she looked back at Karnov.
“Right, that’s true. What function does a painting have anyway? Isn’t it just ridiculously expensive as wallpaper? And furthermore, the notion that the value of a painting is determined by those who claim to have artistic sensibilities is meaningless.”
When it came to paintings, Yekaterina often said, “If there’s a painting that can shock the enemy, I would pay a fortune to have it.”
“Isn’t it the same for an advertisement poster? Does it make any sense to buy something just because a convincingly drawn picture is on it?”
“Yes, I thought so too. So, what on earth is this?”
“I can see why they use advertising posters. I was so curious about what that angel was wearing, so I bought it too.”
“So, are you saying that Grandmother bought the powder used to inflate the snacks?”
The general who commanded the military in the north was now buying the powder used to bake snacks…
“I find it fascinating. I’ve never seen it in the kitchen in all my life. Isn’t it mysterious?”
“Well, just buy the powder then. Why did you get this poster?”
“I wanted to carefully examine how certain aspects of this picture stimulate people’s thoughts and make them want to buy things.”
Karnov rubbed his forehead. If the girl found out there were several of these posters in the Neustadter mansion, she would probably tease him for three days and nights.
“So, did you figure it out?”
“I think the model has to be beautiful.”
“…”
Karnov bit his lip. The small angel in the poster had flowing pink hair and white feather wings. The jewel-like emerald eyes were fluttering with white flecks that looked like snow, making it a captivating sight that anyone would pause and gaze at. It couldn’t be denied that it was beautiful. But if he admitted that…
“Do you want one too?”
“No, thank you.”
General Yekaterina ignored Karnov’s words as if she hadn’t heard them.
“I have more than I expected. It would be a shame if I were the only one to have it, so you can have one too.”
Karnov stared at General Yekaterina with a bewildered expression, but she examined the poster from various angles, took one and left the parlor with a smile, leaving Karnov alone.
He heaved a deep sigh and continued to gaze at the poster for a long time.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Asha, who returned to the palace and unpacked, immersed herself in warm water. When she woke up from a nap, it was already midnight. Stretching with sleepy eyes, she noticed Lise quietly entering the room and blinked.
“Lise? Didn’t you sleep?”
“Oh, Your Highness, are you awake?”
“Yeah, I slept so well that now I’m wide awake. What should I do? Maybe I’ll go running.”
Lise smiled quietly and glanced at the door. She seemed to be thinking about something.
“Lise? What’s wrong?”
“Well, you see… His Majesty came to visit a couple of times. If you’re awake, how about going to greet His Majesty? He just visited.”
Asha tilted her head while rubbing her warm cheek and asked.
“I purposely didn’t go because my grandfather was busy during the day… What if Grandpa sulks again?”
“Keuh.”
Lise coughed low at Asha’s words.
“His Majesty just visited and left? Is Grandfather still awake?”
“I guess so.”
“Sigh. I haven’t seen Alyosha yet… I guess it can’t be helped.”
As Asha stood up in resignation, Lise handed her a coat. As they reached the front of the emperor’s office, they saw the prime minister entering quietly. He was surprised to see Asha, but quickly composed himself and greeted her with a bright smile.
Asha had never seen the prime minister greet her with such a welcoming expression since coming to the palace.
“Your Highness! Have you arrived? We heard you were asleep…”
“I just woke up. I wanted to greet Grandfather and tell him that I’m back.”
“He’s been waiting for you, even without you having to announce your arrival.”
The prime minister promptly knocked on the office door without waiting for a response, then opened it, allowing Asha to enter. As Asha passed through the doorway, she felt the warm breeze brushing against her cheek.
‘Shamal?’
<Aren’t we fortunate that the sleepy peach has finally arrived?>
‘Is Grandpa really upset?’
<I had to listen to the old man’s grumbling, and it almost became a real storm.>
<Why did it almost become a real storm? You couldn’t wait for my child to rest and instead had to keep calling her?>
Phoebe, sitting on Asha’s shoulder, peeped and shot back at Shamal. Asha gently patted Phoebe on the top of her head and stepped inside.
“Grandfather!”
“…You’re here?”
The emperor responded without lifting his eyes from the documents he was reading. It seemed as if he neither anticipated nor welcomed her presence. Asha glanced at the rustling breeze.
‘He’s incredibly angry, isn’t he?’
The breeze that tickled Asha’s cheek laughed softly and moved away. And rightly so, because atop the emperor’s desk, particles of bright pink light began to shimmer, as if popping up from the gloomy hue.
