When Pete came in earlier than expected, Cezanne hurried out and took his coat.
“You don’t have to come all the way here to serve me.”
Cezanne shook her head shyly.
“I do it because I want to.”
Pete chuckled at that.
“Have you looked around?”
“No. Not yet...”
“Since you’re here, why don’t you take a walk around a bit? Are you busy?”
“No. The lady didn’t ask me to do anything.”
After a moment of silence, Pete's mouth opened again.
“I came home to tidy up a bit because I have to go to the capital tomorrow.”
Cezanne couldn't understand why he was saying this to her. She answered with a strange sense of anticipation.
"Yes."
Pete hesitated, then continued.
“After you finish cleaning up, do you want to go out together at night?”
Cezanne's eyes widened in disbelief at those words.
“Are you talking to me?”
“Yeah, who else is here besides you?”
Cezanne's heart began to pound madly.
“...Where are you going at night?”
"I went out earlier and saw a bar with a nice atmosphere. I'll buy you some. If you don't want it..."
“I want to go too.”
Pete's ears turned red at the immediate answer.
“Yes, then I’ll go up to my room to take care of some work.”
"For a moment."
Cezanne stopped him as he was climbing the stairs. She asked with an embarrassed smile.
“Can I bring tea into the room?”
Soon, a soft smile appeared on Pete's lips.
"Thank you."
Emily entered the art shop and, as usual, greeted the owner and began to look at the paintings.
Killian, who had no particular interest in painting, wandered around aimlessly, fiddling with his brushes.
“Is this artist still in Sinope?”
Emily said, pointing to a painting of Aurora.
“How did you know that these were paintings by the same artist?”
The flower shop owner asked with a pleased face.
“You recognized him right away, even though his signature changed.”
"The author's unique sense of color and individuality remain intact. It's a shame I still don't know his face."
“Do you like that picture?”
“Yes, but I’ll look around some more first.”
Emily, who was looking at the paintings, called out to Killian. As he approached and stood beside her, she pointed to the painting she had just seen.
"How about hanging this painting in the entrance hall leading to the lobby of the Starr Mansion? The gold and pink wallpaper there seems to complement it well."
“I think it will be okay.”
Even if they brought up some random picture, if it was Emily's choice, Killian would be okay with it.
“Or maybe this is better...”
While they were chatting about this and that, someone entered the art room. Since the counter was hidden from Emily and Killian's view, they couldn't see who had entered.
“You’re here.”
“How have you been?”
Although she couldn't see his face, she could clearly hear the conversation between the flower shop owner and the man.
“I brought the picture today.”
Emily stiffened when she heard the man's voice.
“There happened to be a customer who wanted to buy one of the artist’s paintings.”
“Is that so?”
“Let’s meet up and say hello. It would be great if you could explain the painting yourself.”
The flower shop owner was more excited and brought him to Emily.
"You know that the person who purchased your paintings so far is Miss Sinope, right? She's returned to the estate after a year."
The man stopped walking as soon as he heard the words "Miss Sinope."
“Why are you doing that?”
“I’m busy now, so I’ll come back later.”
“Just a moment!”
The man shook off the owner's arm forcefully and ran away.
“That’s really strange.”
The flower shop owner scratched his head.
Emily asked the flower shop owner, puzzled.
“Isn’t that Louis who just left?”
“Huh? Louis... the youngest son of Baron Roman?”
The owner of the flower shop seemed surprised by those words.
“I really didn’t know because he always wore his hat pulled down low and didn’t make eye contact.”
Emily was a bit of a special case; the commoner flower shop owner didn't have much chance of encountering nobles, so if he had really tried to trick them, they could have easily been fooled.
“I thought it was strange. Lady Sinope had always liked his paintings, and I told him to come and say hello, but he refused.”
“Hmm, why did he hide it? Don’t he want people to catch his drawing?”
Emily said, tapping her chin.
“Well, if Baron Roman knew he had this talent, he would welcome it.”
Meanwhile, Killian's heart was boiling as he listened to the conversation between the two.
The guy named Louis, who had been a topic of conversation a while ago, kept bothering him.
Even though Killian wasn't as interested in art as Emily, he was still able to appreciate it.
The paintings that decorated Emily's room that he had seen last time were definitely paintings by a guy named Louis.
'They said he had a crush on Emily.'
It was natural that she would be drawn to Louis's painting, as it was a painting that he had drawn with Emily in mind.
Now that he knew that he was the son of Baron Roman and his wife, Killian's mind raced with thoughts of how he could deal with Louis Roman secretly.
“Are you going to buy that painting?”
Killian interrupted their conversation and asked in a hard voice.
Emily lifted her hand from the painting with a stinging face. He didn't even know who Louis was yet, so she couldn't understand why he felt so jealous.
“No, I won’t buy it.”
In any case, there was a sense that something terrible would happen if she bought this painting. Emily ultimately decided to give up on it.
“It’s a shame, but I think I have to go now.”
"Yes yes."
The flower shop owner nodded, bewildered, at Emily's words. He couldn't figure out what was going on.
"Goodbye."
“Yes, please come again next time!”
After leaving the art shop, Killian quickly looked around. The man in the same outfit he'd just seen was nowhere to be seen.
“Where else do you want to stop by?”
Killian asked anxiously. He felt like he couldn't escape Louis's shadow unless he left this town.
Killian was upset because it seemed like the townspeople were busy associating Emily with Louis whenever they saw her.
“No, let’s go back now.”
Killian, relieved by Emily's words, quickly called for a carriage.
Meanwhile, Louis, who had run away from the art shop, turned into an alley and took off his hat.
Then a handsome, white face with dark blue hair and deep blue eyes appeared. A sigh escaped his red lips.
He never expected to meet Emily and her husband there. The sight of them looking so affectionate was a relief, but his heart still pounded.
'You are still beautiful, young lady.'
He sat down on the steps of the alley house in a depressed mood.
Back in the day, when every neighborhood kid had a crush on a girl, Louis also had a crush on Emily.
Louis, who cried often and always had a red nose, was nicknamed Little Rudolph, and Emily, who ran around here and there, was nicknamed Rabbit.
The older brothers, who were much older than he, often teased him about his first love, adoring him. When they nudged him toward Emily, he pretended to fall and grabbed her hand.
But from the time he got to an age where he became aware of his own position, he became more cautious about dealing with Emily.
Every time he thought about that fact, he would feel depressed, lock himself in his room, and start drawing.
“Louis, what are you doing?”
Emily, who came to visit the Romans with the Countess, found Louis painting in the garden.
“Do nothing.”
Louis felt embarrassed and quickly hid his drawing.
“Were you drawing?”
“It’s just a doodle.”
“Let’s see.”
“I couldn’t draw very well...”
Seeing the look in Emily's eyes, he couldn't help but show her his drawing. He had no choice but to show it to Emily.
“Wow. You drew it really well!”
Luckily, Emily liked his drawings.
"Really?"
"Yeah! If you practice harder, you'll become a great artist. I'll buy a lot of your paintings."
Just hearing that made him happy. More than saying he would become a great artist, it was the thought that Emily would buy a bunch of his paintings.
After that, Louis started drawing. Initially, it was just a hobby, but now he was trying to create paintings that Emily wouldn't mind paying for.
When Louis started selling his paintings anonymously to art shops to see how much his skills had improved, he was thrilled to hear that his first customer was Emily.
He wanted to tell Emily, "The painting you bought is the one I painted!" So he went straight to the Sinope mansion.
But it was also that day that he learned that Charles had proposed to her.
From then on, Louis began to draw without revealing his identity to Emily.
He tried to hide his identity as much as possible from Emily, who had a fiancée, so that she would not be scandalized, and he focused on drawing his own pictures that she liked.
Then he heard that Count Sinope had gone bankrupt, and Emily's engagement had also been broken.
His brothers urged him to tell their parents and quickly arrange a marriage. They said that since the Count's family had gone bankrupt, his parents wouldn't object.
Who wouldn't want to do that? But he couldn't bring himself to do it.
He couldn't bring himself to propose marriage now, for fear that Emily would find her situation miserable. She'd think her worth had fallen so low that someone like Louis would even propose marriage.
In the end, she ended up marrying a mafia man, but contrary to his worries, Emily seemed stable.
"Ha..."
Louis sighed again.
After she left, he wanted to see her so badly, but when he actually saw her, it was so painful.
“You don’t have to come all the way here to serve me.”
Cezanne shook her head shyly.
“I do it because I want to.”
Pete chuckled at that.
“Have you looked around?”
“No. Not yet...”
“Since you’re here, why don’t you take a walk around a bit? Are you busy?”
“No. The lady didn’t ask me to do anything.”
After a moment of silence, Pete's mouth opened again.
“I came home to tidy up a bit because I have to go to the capital tomorrow.”
Cezanne couldn't understand why he was saying this to her. She answered with a strange sense of anticipation.
"Yes."
Pete hesitated, then continued.
“After you finish cleaning up, do you want to go out together at night?”
Cezanne's eyes widened in disbelief at those words.
“Are you talking to me?”
“Yeah, who else is here besides you?”
Cezanne's heart began to pound madly.
“...Where are you going at night?”
"I went out earlier and saw a bar with a nice atmosphere. I'll buy you some. If you don't want it..."
“I want to go too.”
Pete's ears turned red at the immediate answer.
“Yes, then I’ll go up to my room to take care of some work.”
"For a moment."
Cezanne stopped him as he was climbing the stairs. She asked with an embarrassed smile.
“Can I bring tea into the room?”
Soon, a soft smile appeared on Pete's lips.
"Thank you."
***
Emily entered the art shop and, as usual, greeted the owner and began to look at the paintings.
Killian, who had no particular interest in painting, wandered around aimlessly, fiddling with his brushes.
“Is this artist still in Sinope?”
Emily said, pointing to a painting of Aurora.
“How did you know that these were paintings by the same artist?”
The flower shop owner asked with a pleased face.
“You recognized him right away, even though his signature changed.”
"The author's unique sense of color and individuality remain intact. It's a shame I still don't know his face."
“Do you like that picture?”
“Yes, but I’ll look around some more first.”
Emily, who was looking at the paintings, called out to Killian. As he approached and stood beside her, she pointed to the painting she had just seen.
"How about hanging this painting in the entrance hall leading to the lobby of the Starr Mansion? The gold and pink wallpaper there seems to complement it well."
“I think it will be okay.”
Even if they brought up some random picture, if it was Emily's choice, Killian would be okay with it.
“Or maybe this is better...”
While they were chatting about this and that, someone entered the art room. Since the counter was hidden from Emily and Killian's view, they couldn't see who had entered.
“You’re here.”
“How have you been?”
Although she couldn't see his face, she could clearly hear the conversation between the flower shop owner and the man.
“I brought the picture today.”
Emily stiffened when she heard the man's voice.
“There happened to be a customer who wanted to buy one of the artist’s paintings.”
“Is that so?”
“Let’s meet up and say hello. It would be great if you could explain the painting yourself.”
The flower shop owner was more excited and brought him to Emily.
"You know that the person who purchased your paintings so far is Miss Sinope, right? She's returned to the estate after a year."
The man stopped walking as soon as he heard the words "Miss Sinope."
“Why are you doing that?”
“I’m busy now, so I’ll come back later.”
“Just a moment!”
The man shook off the owner's arm forcefully and ran away.
“That’s really strange.”
The flower shop owner scratched his head.
Emily asked the flower shop owner, puzzled.
“Isn’t that Louis who just left?”
“Huh? Louis... the youngest son of Baron Roman?”
The owner of the flower shop seemed surprised by those words.
“I really didn’t know because he always wore his hat pulled down low and didn’t make eye contact.”
Emily was a bit of a special case; the commoner flower shop owner didn't have much chance of encountering nobles, so if he had really tried to trick them, they could have easily been fooled.
“I thought it was strange. Lady Sinope had always liked his paintings, and I told him to come and say hello, but he refused.”
“Hmm, why did he hide it? Don’t he want people to catch his drawing?”
Emily said, tapping her chin.
“Well, if Baron Roman knew he had this talent, he would welcome it.”
Meanwhile, Killian's heart was boiling as he listened to the conversation between the two.
The guy named Louis, who had been a topic of conversation a while ago, kept bothering him.
Even though Killian wasn't as interested in art as Emily, he was still able to appreciate it.
The paintings that decorated Emily's room that he had seen last time were definitely paintings by a guy named Louis.
'They said he had a crush on Emily.'
It was natural that she would be drawn to Louis's painting, as it was a painting that he had drawn with Emily in mind.
Now that he knew that he was the son of Baron Roman and his wife, Killian's mind raced with thoughts of how he could deal with Louis Roman secretly.
“Are you going to buy that painting?”
Killian interrupted their conversation and asked in a hard voice.
Emily lifted her hand from the painting with a stinging face. He didn't even know who Louis was yet, so she couldn't understand why he felt so jealous.
“No, I won’t buy it.”
In any case, there was a sense that something terrible would happen if she bought this painting. Emily ultimately decided to give up on it.
“It’s a shame, but I think I have to go now.”
"Yes yes."
The flower shop owner nodded, bewildered, at Emily's words. He couldn't figure out what was going on.
"Goodbye."
“Yes, please come again next time!”
After leaving the art shop, Killian quickly looked around. The man in the same outfit he'd just seen was nowhere to be seen.
“Where else do you want to stop by?”
Killian asked anxiously. He felt like he couldn't escape Louis's shadow unless he left this town.
Killian was upset because it seemed like the townspeople were busy associating Emily with Louis whenever they saw her.
“No, let’s go back now.”
Killian, relieved by Emily's words, quickly called for a carriage.
***
Meanwhile, Louis, who had run away from the art shop, turned into an alley and took off his hat.
Then a handsome, white face with dark blue hair and deep blue eyes appeared. A sigh escaped his red lips.
He never expected to meet Emily and her husband there. The sight of them looking so affectionate was a relief, but his heart still pounded.
'You are still beautiful, young lady.'
He sat down on the steps of the alley house in a depressed mood.
Back in the day, when every neighborhood kid had a crush on a girl, Louis also had a crush on Emily.
Louis, who cried often and always had a red nose, was nicknamed Little Rudolph, and Emily, who ran around here and there, was nicknamed Rabbit.
The older brothers, who were much older than he, often teased him about his first love, adoring him. When they nudged him toward Emily, he pretended to fall and grabbed her hand.
But from the time he got to an age where he became aware of his own position, he became more cautious about dealing with Emily.
Every time he thought about that fact, he would feel depressed, lock himself in his room, and start drawing.
“Louis, what are you doing?”
Emily, who came to visit the Romans with the Countess, found Louis painting in the garden.
“Do nothing.”
Louis felt embarrassed and quickly hid his drawing.
“Were you drawing?”
“It’s just a doodle.”
“Let’s see.”
“I couldn’t draw very well...”
Seeing the look in Emily's eyes, he couldn't help but show her his drawing. He had no choice but to show it to Emily.
“Wow. You drew it really well!”
Luckily, Emily liked his drawings.
"Really?"
"Yeah! If you practice harder, you'll become a great artist. I'll buy a lot of your paintings."
Just hearing that made him happy. More than saying he would become a great artist, it was the thought that Emily would buy a bunch of his paintings.
After that, Louis started drawing. Initially, it was just a hobby, but now he was trying to create paintings that Emily wouldn't mind paying for.
When Louis started selling his paintings anonymously to art shops to see how much his skills had improved, he was thrilled to hear that his first customer was Emily.
He wanted to tell Emily, "The painting you bought is the one I painted!" So he went straight to the Sinope mansion.
But it was also that day that he learned that Charles had proposed to her.
From then on, Louis began to draw without revealing his identity to Emily.
He tried to hide his identity as much as possible from Emily, who had a fiancée, so that she would not be scandalized, and he focused on drawing his own pictures that she liked.
Then he heard that Count Sinope had gone bankrupt, and Emily's engagement had also been broken.
His brothers urged him to tell their parents and quickly arrange a marriage. They said that since the Count's family had gone bankrupt, his parents wouldn't object.
Who wouldn't want to do that? But he couldn't bring himself to do it.
He couldn't bring himself to propose marriage now, for fear that Emily would find her situation miserable. She'd think her worth had fallen so low that someone like Louis would even propose marriage.
In the end, she ended up marrying a mafia man, but contrary to his worries, Emily seemed stable.
"Ha..."
Louis sighed again.
After she left, he wanted to see her so badly, but when he actually saw her, it was so painful.
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