Chapter 18
When I asked him in return, he repeated the question.
“Why didn’t you marry?”
“You were unmarried too, until you married the Duke.”
“Me?”
I paused to think before awkwardly scratching my head.
“I just…”
“There wasn’t anyone I wanted to marry.”
“So I didn’t.”
“I’m the same.”
“…”
“I could never bring myself to marry just for appearances.”
As he looked at me while saying those words…
I stared back at him.
Then, for some reason…
I burst into laughter.
He looked at me and smiled as well.
Our quiet laughter drifted through the open air.
After some time…
The laughter gradually faded.
And when it had completely died away…
He asked softly,
“Then…”
“What about now?”
His voice had changed.
It was cautious…
Yet carried countless unspoken meanings.
For a moment, my mind went blank.
When I turned toward him…
I found myself meeting an unfamiliar gaze.
“What about now?”
“Do you have any thoughts about marriage…”
“…or falling in love?”
The smile slowly disappeared from my face.
His unfamiliar eyes remained fixed on me.
Everything happened in a single instant.
A feeling that bloomed within the span of a heartbeat.
The moment I met his gaze…
And heard the words that followed—
“…You liked me when you were younger.”
Time suddenly stretched.
One second felt as though it lasted a thousand years.
Against the backdrop of the endless blue sea…
His face slowly etched itself into my heart.
The feeling spread through my entire body…
Until it finally reached my heart.
Thump.
My heart lurched.
I stared at him blankly.
My heartbeat grew louder and louder.
Heat rushed into my cheeks.
Without realizing it…
I took a step backward.
“…There’s a small gallery on the road leading from Lorencia Village into town.”
He looked at me.
It seemed as though he was about to say something.
But I couldn’t bring myself to pay attention.
“…Come visit sometime, if you have the chance.”
The moment I finished speaking…
I turned and hurried away.
There was no hiding the deep blush spreading across my face.
Behind me…
I could still feel his eyes following my retreating figure.
* * *
The moment I returned to the gallery…
The very first thing I did was take out a blank white canvas.
Upon the large, pristine surface…
I instinctively dipped my brush into paint and let my hand move wherever my heart guided it.
It was nothing more than my body’s natural attempt…
To untangle the confusion inside me.
Again and again…
I painted without thinking.
Following only my emotions.
As I did…
A memory I had long buried resurfaced with startling clarity.
It was from long ago.
The very first day Diana invited me to her home.
While walking toward the Allison estate…
I had tripped over a stone and fallen.
“Ah…”
Lifting the hem of my dress…
I looked down at my knee.
The skin had split open.
Blood slowly seeped from the wound.
I frowned at the sharp sting.
Just then…
A white hand reached out toward me.
“Are you alright?”
Slowly…
I looked up.
Standing before me was a young boy.
He resembled Diana…
Yet not entirely.
His features were strikingly handsome.
Perhaps it was simply because the sunlight shone behind him…
But to my younger self…
He had seemed to glow.
“Can you stand?”
“Y-Yes…”
My heart pounded wildly.
Taking his hand…
I stood.
My face burned red.
“You’ve scraped your knee.”
“This is my house.”
“If you’d like, I’ll call one of the maids to treat it.”
That was the day I learned…
That the beautiful boy before me was Diana’s older brother.
And that…
Among the nobility…
He was famous for his exceptional appearance.
He had been several years ahead of me at the Academy.
Girls my age absolutely adored him.
Whether he was reading in the library…
Playing sports with friends…
Or excelling in his studies…
There wasn’t a single young lady who didn’t admire him.
Strangely enough…
Despite all that popularity…
He was never involved in rumors or romances.
I, too…
Had quietly admired him from afar.
Just for a little while.
But there were always young noblewomen around him—
Girls every bit as dazzling as Diana herself.
Whenever he saw me…
He treated me kindly.
Yet…
I was the one who kept my distance.
I gave up before my feelings could grow.
He shone too brightly.
He was someone I could never dare to hope for.
It had been…
A first love that bloomed briefly…
Only to quietly fade away.
It wasn’t until several days of painting had passed…
Until I had poured every emotion inside me onto the canvas…
That I was finally able to stop.
When I finished…
A strange sense of release washed over me.
I gazed at the completed painting—
Alive with vivid colors—
Before hanging it on the gallery wall.
The next day…
After seeing the new painting…
Arwin asked,
“Have you fallen for someone?”
“…”
“The painting feels much brighter.”
“Yellow.”
“Red.”
“Purple…”
“The colors have become far more vibrant.”
Could he secretly be some wandering fortune teller?
Without answering…
I simply took another sip of tea.
By the time I had finished painting…
My heart had already settled down once more.
“It seems something happened while you were away.”
“You’ve undergone quite a remarkable change.”
Walking closer…
He tilted his head slightly.
His silver bangs gently slipped across his forehead.
But rather than his hair…
My attention was drawn to his face.
More specifically…
To the expression he was wearing.
It was…
Strange.
“So…”
“Who is it?”
“The person who managed to shake your heart.”
For some reason…
His expression seemed to say he wasn’t pleased.
I simply looked at him without answering.
Then glanced briefly toward my painting.
Slowly…
I opened my mouth.
“A few days ago…”
“I reunited with someone precious.”
“Someone I’d nearly forgotten.”
“…Is that so?”
“Meeting that person again brought back feelings and memories I’d left behind for a very long time.”
“So I tried expressing them through this painting.”
“Though…”
“It was probably less an expression…”
“And more a way of releasing those emotions.”
“I see.”
I didn’t bother correcting his choice of words.
After all…
My heart, which had remained calm and empty for so long…
Had truly fluttered again for the first time in years.
Just like the joy I had felt after meeting Arwin…
Those emotions were also undeniably real.
Perhaps…
That was why color had finally returned to my paintings.
“As for who that person is…”
“That’s a secret.”
“…I’m under no obligation to tell you, am I?”
“Ah.”
At my answer…
He took a step back before speaking again.
“Of course.”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“…”
“I’m simply…”
“Curiouѕ.”
“About the identity of the man who changed your paintings.”
Something in his gaze shifted.
His strange eyes remained fixed on my face.
It was impossible to tell exactly what emotion lay beneath them.
Just then…
With the faint sound of the door opening…
The gallery entrance slowly swung open.
Both Arwin and I turned toward it.
Someone stepped quietly inside.
It was Mikael.
