What could be the matter?
He had not been able to see her at all since their first date last time. It was because the head maid had reproached him, saying he had bought a strange teacup at a high price, while subtly offering some advice.
That contacting the young lady too frequently might place a burden on her.
The head maid’s words seemed to make sense.
It was Ines who always kept her distance from people and spent her time alone even at social events. A belated regret washed over him that he might have pushed Ines too hard that day.
Had he not held onto Ines several times when she said she would return? Remembering Ines’s troubled face each time made Cristan feel a sense of self-reproach to that extent.
However, contrary to the awareness that he needed to restrain himself, he wanted to send letters to Ines several times a day and visit the Greenwood Countship to see her. It felt rather fortunate that he could not even send a letter, let alone visit, due to the blizzard.
It was right at that moment that he received a sudden report that the carriage of the Greenwood Count family had visited, so Cristan could not help but harbor a pleasant expectation. Normally, he was not generous enough to meet an impolite guest who visited without making an appointment, but if it was Ines, the story changed.
At the thought that Ines, who had only pushed him away all this time, had approached him first for the first time, the corners of his mouth kept curving upward.
‘Ines Greenwood.’
Cristan wanted her to like him. If possible, even more than before.
If it were simply for a strategic relationship, he would not have taken her as his fiancée. The biggest reason for deciding on this marriage proposal was none other than his personal feelings toward Ines.
‘Like a fool.’
Unfamiliar with his own appearance excited by love, Cristan let out a hollow laugh.
“I must go out to greet her.”
At the master’s appearance, which was different from usual, the butler also smiled faintly and nodded.
“Please do so.”
“Do not laugh.”
“When did I laugh?”
Together with the butler, who playacted and suddenly feigned ignorance in the blink of an eye, Cristan stepped outside to greet the carriage.
By his side, the butler called the servants to have them prepare to receive the carriage. Though it was sudden, it was the day Lady Greenwood was visiting the Duke’s residence for the first time. There must be no negligence in the greeting.
“Go and call the head maid quickly.”
“Yes, Butler!”
The surroundings were bustling, but Cristan felt as if he could not hear any sound. He only looked straight toward the entrance of the Duke’s residence.
From far away, a carriage was coming in. A dark green carriage drawn by two white horses. Thinking of Ines’s appearance as she would step out from inside it, Cristan’s mouth went dry.
“Butler.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“How do I look right now?”
“Splendid. Except for the fact that you are a little tense.”
At the butler’s words, Cristan took a deep breath. In his mind, various words about what kind of greeting would be good to offer Ines rose to the surface and soon vanished.
However, Cristan had no need to think of a greeting.
The person stepping down from the carriage was someone who completely missed Cristan’s expectations.
A face he was seeing for the first time.
Moreover, it was a man.
‘What is this?’
Cristan’s expression crumpled in an instant.
The man was wearing moderately luxurious clothing, but whether it was unfamiliar to his body, he could not hide his uncomfortable demeanor. In addition, he looked somewhat thin and his face appeared haggard, but he was tall and exuded a peculiar atmosphere.
The intimidated attitude ingrained in his body vividly showed the life of a man whose habit was to always mind other people’s cues. Yet, even so, he did not seem like a servant either.
He was a strange man from whom the unique atmosphere of a servant could not be felt at all.
“Who are you?”
Toward the man who arrived riding the carriage of the Greenwood family, Cristan’s voice possessed a sharp edge. His expectation had crumbled in a single moment, and he had no intention of hiding his unpleasant mood.
To such a Cristan, Adrian quickly bowed his head and greeted him.
“Greetings. I have come to see Duke Angel.”
“Me? On what business have you come looking for me.”
Surprised by the voice heard above his head, Adrian forgot that it was against etiquette and lifted his head.
The brilliant blonde hair paired with blue eyes was beautiful. Unlike himself, who was like a crow, it was an appearance as if nobility had been gathered together and sculpted into shape.
‘That person is Duke Angel….’
He had not thought he would be such a young man. He thought he would be quite old, even if not to the extent of Count Greenwood.
Disliking the panicked Adrian’s reaction, Cristan’s gaze turned cold.
“I asked on what business you came looking for me. To visit riding the carriage of the Greenwood Count family. Are you a servant working in the Greenwood family?”
At Cristan’s question, Adrian hurriedly shook his head.
“No, I am not. I am not a servant of the Greenwood Count family, but… I have come to see the Duke upon receiving the recommendation of Lady Ines.”
Not knowing how to explain, his lips twitched, and Adrian barely managed to introduce himself. Shrinking back at the gaze of Cristan looking down at him, his shoulders curved inward even more.
“A letter of recommendation?”
In a strangely softened voice, Cristan asked back. Adrian delivered a single letter to Cristan, which he had been holding preciously in his arms.
“Lady Ines asked me to deliver this to the Duke.”
Just as he said, on the recipient’s spot on the envelope, his name, Cristan Angel, was written. It was a graceful and honest handwriting, much like the person who wrote it.
Cristan pulled the letter out of the envelope. In an instant, the scent of perfume he had smelled from her the other day drifted sharply to the tip of his nose.
“You say it is Miss Ines’s letter of recommendation.”
Unlike until just a moment ago, it was a gentle voice.
“Yes. That is correct.”
“It seems I have kept the guest standing for too long. Let us move to another place and continue talking.”
Holding Ines’s letter preciously, Cristan spoke.
***
The order of the contents of Ines’s letter was as follows.
An introduction that the person who brought this letter now was the artist who made the teacup she had purchased.
And her own impression that his paintings were very wonderful.
A recommendation requesting to support him if, after checking, he was judged to be worth it.
However, even without checking Adrian’s painting, Cristan’s mind was already as good as decided.
“You are the painter who made that teacup?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
The eyes of the head maid, who was pouring tea by their side, turned into triangles. To think the one who made that hideous teacup was precisely that painter. Ever since the Duke purchased that object, the prominent teacups of the family had rarely gained an opportunity to come out of the cupboard.
“It would have been fine even if you had come to me from the beginning. As I happened to like that teacup. Even if you had not gone out of your way to find Miss Ines, I would have given you support as much as desired.”
Cristan gestured to the butler. To the butler who approached closely, he spoke.
“Look into a suitable house and have monthly living expenses supported as well.”
It was a tremendously unconventional offer, but Cristan’s tone was completely calm, just like choosing the wine to drink for dinner tonight.
“Understood.”
And the attitude of the butler who heard that command was also nothing short of serene.
To Adrian, who was blinking his eyes with a dumbfounded expression, Cristan asked lightly.
“Is there anything else you need besides that?”
“Ah, no! No, sir. It is already en, enough.”
“Good. Ah, that is right. I have not yet seen the painting that Miss Ines praised. Could you show it to me?”
Adrian carefully delivered the bundle he had placed beside him to Cristan. Cristan let out a hollow laugh.
A small bundle. It was of a size closer to a small prop rather than an artwork. However, since Ines said she liked it, he would be able to use it moderately as a conversation topic in their next meeting.
Regarding it as nothing of great importance, Cristan opened the bundle. However, such an attitude from Cristan did not last long.
The panoramic view of Lake Verota.
The face of Cristan checking that painting, which Adrian had completed while burning his entire artistic soul, turned more and more serious.
“Butler.”
Cristan called the butler, who was waiting after stepping back to the side, once again and modified his command.
“I changed my mind. Procure a house that is spacious and pleasant. Make sure it is a place where an atelier is attached together.”
“Understood, Your Grace.”
Though somewhat surprised by this command, the butler nodded serenely.
Even the prominent painters of the contemporary era had never received this kind of full-fledged support. It was a kindness that went too far to bestow upon an anonymous painter.
“A, an atelier… Duke, I am…”
Flustered, Adrian stammered his words and waved his hands repeatedly in refusal.
Adrian also knew very well the fact that just receiving the support of the Angel Duke family was a tremendously unconventional offer for a rookie painter who had not even completed a single painting properly.
The poverty that was tedious enough that there was no food to eat right tomorrow. It was to the extent that the poverty, which stuck tightly to his life and would not separate at all, felt like one body before he knew it.
No matter how much he struggled, he could not escape. The man in front of his eyes was stripping away what he had thought of in that manner far too easily.
In front of the flustered Adrian, the conversation between the butler and Cristan continued to carry on.
“How long do you think it will take to procure the house.”
“If we prepare in a hurry, it will be possible this very day.”
“Good. Have it filled with suitable furniture as well.”
“How could there be any objection.”
The butler nodded his head as if it were natural.
