“What’s this?”
“Please open it quickly. I worked hard on it, and I hope you like it. You might not even want it…”
“Nonsense.”
As Asha added her last comment in a mumble, the emperor playfully removed the linen covering with his tongue sticking out.
“This is…”
It was a rather flat frame of design that first appeared, a nearly black metal frame with a neat inscription of uncomplicated patterns. And when a portrait of the emperor appeared in it.
The emperor opened his eyes wide in surprise.
The canvas depicted the emperor looking several years younger than he was now, with a vividness as if he were alive. He had a slightly furrowed brow, as if reading a book. The delicate lines on his skin, the fading golden hair, and even the texture of the paper he was holding, could be felt.
The soft, blurred light through the curtains in the study created folds in his shirt, and his arms, wrapped in the shirt, seemed to be turning the next page.
It was truly an astonishing painting. And as the emperor alternated his gaze between the embodiment of this incredible talent and Asha, he narrowed his eyes when he discovered a signature in the lower right corner of the frame.
“Is this…”
The emperor, who was reading each letter of the signature, jumped up from his seat the moment he finished reading the last letter.
“…Is this painting painted by Mura Aylau?”
Asha nodded with a proud look. At the same time, the banquet hall was in ruins.
“A portrait of His Majesty painted by Mura Aylau?”
“Mura’s latest work is this?”
“The princess presented a gift of Mura’s artwork to His Majesty?”
It was like the sound of a basket filled with grains being spilled all at once. Asha flinched and turned around, but the commotion didn’t die down for a moment.
“How did you get a painting by Mura Aylau? She…”
“Meura…Lady Mura is a penpal, and we got along well. When she heard I was struggling to find a birthday present for my grandfather, she offered to paint for me.”
Asha’s innocent words caused a great stir. The emperor looked at the painting and Asha alternately and smiled.
“You do have a talent.”
“I didn’t paint the picture, it was Meu… Lady Mura…”
“No one else was able to persuade that genius painter with such extraordinary talent to pick up a brush again. But you managed to do it.”
Asha wanted to say that she couldn’t take credit for it, but amidst the growing enthusiasm of the nobles and the emperor’s admiration, she lost the chance to speak. And with a triumphant look, the emperor finally turned his attention back to the painting and instructed to place it in one corner of the reception hall.
“You can’t just give something like this. I’ll grant you one wish, so think of what you want.”
Then the emperor, who looked down at the nobles, who were almost likely to riot to see the painting, made them place the painting on one side of the banquet hall.
There was a band there, so people flocked to it, so the performers moved their hands a, little crushed.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Dimitri stood upright, trying to appear composed despite his somewhat gloomy expression. His father, Maxim, smiled and laughed with the people around him, seemingly unconcerned about the gift he had prepared. Dimitri knew that his father had never shown much interest in him, and he had come to accept that. He hadn’t even made a contract with a spirit king, and his father had never been one to have any ambitions.
And Anastasia, the only one left in the palace besides Alexei, among the imperial children…
Dimitri had initially thought that he couldn’t accept anything related to that cousin, but deep down he had started to acknowledge her to some extent.
‘…His Majesty.’
He had crossed paths with the girl the day he left the palace. He had been so angry that he said things he shouldn’t have, but when he returned home, he deeply regretted it. What if the girl had reported it to the emperor? What if the emperor had punished him for it? Dimitri had lost many nights of sleep over such thoughts, which had prevented him from attending the subsequent victory party.
But there was no news from the palace, and the girl seemed to have completely forgotten about it. Until they met again at the tea party held at the Tataricha mansion. And even then, the girl was no different. She teased him, laughed with him, and fed him pastries.
The girl seemed fearless despite being alone in the palace without her parents. She didn’t seem afraid of the emperor or the other imperial children or the gaze of those around her.
Although Dimitri knew people would gossip about them, he couldn’t help but find it fascinating that she wanted to play in the kitchen and bake pastries. He wished she wouldn’t have to experience the scrutiny of others or receive scoldings from the emperor. Wasn’t she alone in the palace without her parents? How could a girl like that even prepare a suitable gift for the emperor’s birthday?
His father had even called several tailors and bought expensive fabric to make his coat. Yet the girl, who stood empty-handed, forced him to give her the brooch he had originally intended to give the emperor.
But the girl didn’t even need his sacrifice. That fact made Dimitri somewhat despondent.
“Your Highness Dimitri.”
“…?”
There was no peer around him who talked to him because he was always busy, and a strange servant spoke quietly to Dimitri, who was standing around because he didn’t feel like eating anything.
“His Majesty wants to see you for a moment. Come here.”
The servant guided him to a separate space inside the banquet hall. He followed the servant, glancing around as they made their way to a separate area in the reception hall.
When the curtain was pulled, the emperor, dressed in casual clothes and leaning against the chair, was sitting there. On the table, there was a warm drink and a velvet box.
Dimitri glimpsed the velvet box that looked similar to the one he had given the girl and quickly bowed to greet the emperor.
“Greetings, Your… Your Majesty.”
“Dimitri, is the party fun?”
“Yes, yes!”
Dimitri replied with a high voice. The emperor put his hand on the velvet box with a blank face.
“I guess it can’t be that fun. Your father likes to talk, don’t you think so?”
“Oh, no. It’s fun.”
“Really?”
The emperor nodded to Dimitri’s answer and drew up his real business.
“Asha told me just now. You gave her this?”
‘Asha…’
His cousin’s name was Anastasia, but it seemed the emperor called her Asha. Dimitri tried his best to hide his gloomy expression.
“Well… I did give it to her, but…”
He couldn’t even imagine what the girl said to the emperor, so he couldn’t answer.
“So, you thought Asha couldn’t prepare a proper gift for me, and you worried about her, right?”
“…!”
Surprised and frustrated, Dimitri felt a sense of resentment. But the emperor smiled faintly as he examined the brooch inside the velvet box.
“Did you see me as such a cruel grandfather?”
“No, no! That’s not… It’s just…”
Dimitri almost blurted out that he gave it to her because there was no need for it. He quickly closed his mouth. The emperor looked at Dimitri with a face that clearly showed he could see through his thoughts, and continued speaking.
“Asha told me you were trying to help her.”
“Ah…”
“Her cousin sacrificing his own gift for her sake. It’s truly commendable. You can ask for anything you want as a reward.”
Dimitri’s eyes lit up at those words.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
‘Oh my goodness.’
Why did things turn out like this?
Asha looked at the secluded corner behind the curtains of the reception hall. Maxim, who was gazing at the Kerum game table with a strangely delighted expression, Yekaterina, who was laughing with a kind expression as she received the cue stick from the butler, and Dimitri, who had a disgusted expression.
She sighed and glanced at Karnov, who was also sighing and standing by Alexei with a gentle expression.
“I begged them to prepare the Kerum game for me, was it rude to the princess?”
“Oh, no! I’m not saying that…”
Seeing Yekaterina talking pitifully with a wrinkled face, Karnov narrowed his eyes and approached Asha.
“Your Highness, you don’t have to be so accommodating to my grandmother.”
“Please forgive my grandson’s impertinent words, Your Highness.”
The burden is doubled when the two talk one after another. Maxim, who had accidentally found an opportunity to join the gathering, had an expression that conveyed how interesting it was.
And Dimitri, who returned after a while, had a face that seemed to be completely changed after contemplating it for a while, but his expression crumpled when he saw the Kerum game table and Asha.
“I… I’ll pass.”
“What’s wrong with you, son? Didn’t you like Kerum?”
“I… I decided long ago not to play Kerum with her.”
Dimitri whispered with a disgusted expression and vigorously shook his head. While Maxim, with a bewildered face, was about to ask a question, the emperor appeared in a casual shirt.
“It hasn’t started yet, right?”
“Your Majesty, you’ve finally arrived.”
Yekaterina greeted the emperor with a tongue-in-cheek manner. The emperor looked at her with an unhappy expression and then turned his gaze towards Alexei.
“What about you? What will I do if you’re here? You should go outside and mingle with the people.”
“Today is the birthday celebration of Grandfather, and you should go out and hang out.”
Alexei smiled docilely but confronted without losing. The emperor frowned.
“It’s my birthday and I can’t even rest?”
“The guests are here to celebrate Grandfather’s birthday. Aren’t you being disrespectful by refusing to join them?”
As Asha watched the two clash, she handed them both cue sticks side by side.
“Then the loser can go and greet the guests.”
“What?”
“In that case, the one who loses can go and greet the guests. It’ll be the winner’s responsibility to write a handwritten letter tomorrow.”
Asha pushed forward forcefully to reduce the number of people at the Kerum game table. Dimitri, who was glancing at her with an annoyed gaze, seemed slightly impressed.
In the end, when the emperor and Alexei bet on who would entertain the guests, the Kerum game began. Karnov approached Asha by her side.
