ITIF Chapter 83

Rearrangement

When Lindsey asked if she would go to meet him right away, Giselle Grante nodded and slipped her feet into her fluffy slippers.

Then, without a moment to catch her breath, she immediately stood up and made her way to the reception room where the painter was said to be waiting.

And there she came face to face with a young man who was looking around the interior of the reception room with wide eyes.

‘He seems much younger than I thought…….’

She opened her mouth, somewhat puzzled.

“Thank you for coming all this way.”

Not knowing she had arrived, the young man flinched in surprise and turned toward her.

“Oh……!”

But the moment he confirmed her face, wasn’t he even more surprised?

“……?”

When Giselle Grante looked at him with a puzzled expression, the young man finally bowed his head deeply.

“You must be the daughter of Duke Amaterasu. You are far more beautiful than the rumors say, and I lost myself for a moment.”

“You’re skilled at flattery.”

Giselle Grante smiled faintly and sat down on the sofa by the window.

The young man watched her for a moment, then soon took his position in front of the easel. And he asked.

“Th-then may I begin now?”

When Giselle Grante nodded, the young man began sketching at an incredible speed.

Though she had thought him somewhat dazed, the young man appeared to be intensely concentrated as if there was no one else around him.

Giselle Grante thought as she watched the young man absorbed in drawing her portrait.

‘At this rate, it’ll be difficult to even speak to him.’

The young man now drawing her portrait was the person whose painting style most resembled the portrait of the former Empress she had seen at the Cardia ducal residence.

It had taken quite some time to find him, but fortunately, meeting him hadn’t been too difficult.

When a noble young lady who admired his painting style expressed her wish to have him paint her portrait, he immediately made his way to the imperial capital.

And so they had arrived at this moment.

She had planned to ask about the former Empress’s portrait at an appropriate time, but it was difficult to speak to the young man burning with artistic passion.

Having no choice, Giselle Grante simply watched him burning with artistic passion.

How much time had passed like that?

Just when her neck was beginning to stiffen from maintaining one position for so long, the painter finally opened his mouth.

“The sketch is finished. Please take a look.”

Giselle Grante walked over to the young painter.

“What do you think? My skills are humble, so I don’t think I’ve captured even half of your beauty, my lady…….”

The young man added his explanation, but it didn’t quite register in her ears.

Since it was still just a sketch, she couldn’t be certain.

The young man’s painting seemed similar to the former Empress’s portrait in style, yet somehow different.

“How did you learn the technique of painting?”

“My uncle made painting his profession.”

Giselle Grante nodded slightly.

In fact, the young painter before her was too young to have painted the former Empress’s portrait.

So naturally, she had been thinking he must have been influenced by the painting style of the artist who had painted the former Empress’s portrait.

“In which region did your uncle work as his base?”

“Ah, my uncle had a wandering spirit. So he wasn’t affiliated with any one place and used to travel around here and there. He’s passed away now though.”

“…….”

“Um, but what did you think of the sketch you just saw?”

“I like it very much. I’d like to continue with it as is.”

Saying that, she went and sat back down on the sofa.

“I’m so relieved that you like it. Recently, the brush hasn’t been cooperating with my hand and I’ve been struggling, but your beautiful appearance has inspired me tremendously. I was so worried that you might not be satisfied with my painting and discontinue it…….”

It didn’t seem to be empty words.

With those words, the young man once again burned with artistic passion.

****

While he was painting, it was difficult to speak to the concentrated young man, but during each break time, Giselle Grante asked him questions according to her original purpose.

Fortunately, the young painter answered all her questions without hiding anything.

Thanks to that, she could also hear about his uncle who had a similar painting style. Even about the part where he had received a commission in Rugal and painted someone’s portrait.

‘He said they showed him a newborn baby and requested that he paint a portrait.’

It was very common for noble families to preserve the appearance of newborn babies in portraits, and his uncle had readily accepted the commission.

But there was a somewhat unique request, he added.

[Usually, the baby’s image is placed in the center of the canvas, but that time they requested that the baby be drawn in the lower right section.]

It would certainly be an unusual composition, but he said his uncle had followed the client’s request.

After he had finished drawing the baby completely, there was an additional request to add a woman in the upper left section.

So it was only later that he realized the difficult-to-understand requests he had received earlier were ultimately for the purpose of drawing two people on one canvas.

[Wouldn’t it have been fine to request from the beginning that he paint the image of a woman holding a newborn baby?]

[That’s right. It would have been a bit easier that way. While it was an uncommon request, it wasn’t extremely rare either, so my uncle said he agreed to the request.]

And the young painter added.

[My uncle said there must have been some circumstances for doing it that way. For instance, it’s not uncommon for someone to die after childbirth due to their body weakening.]

After hearing that much, it made sense.

Even the reason why the painting of the former Empress’s portrait that Kavelaseth had possessed looked subtly awkward.

If they had shown both the newborn baby and the former Empress together and requested a portrait, naturally the painter would have perceived the former Empress as the baby’s mother.

But if they first showed the newborn baby and had him paint it, then had him paint the former Empress’s appearance based only on verbal description, naturally the painter would easily assume that the woman in the painting had passed away shortly after giving birth to this child.

‘He must have been cautious even about leaving the images of two people on one canvas.’

Moreover, after the former Empress died and the current Empress became the mistress of the imperial palace, she had all portraits of the former Empress removed not only from the palace but throughout the empire.

So the young painter’s uncle, who had no reason to enter the palace, would have had no occasion to see the former Empress’s portrait either.

Even if he had seen it, since he hadn’t met the former Empress directly, he would have just thought he had painted a woman who resembled her.

“Miss, the bath water seems to have cooled a bit. Shall I add more hot water?”

Olla’s gentle voice broke Giselle Grante’s reverie.

Lindsey was organizing the used bath items, and the water in the tub had also cooled to lukewarm.

“It’s fine.”

Giselle Grante shook her head and rose from the tub.

Olla, who had been watching, quickly spread out a white robe.

As Giselle Grante left the toilet room wearing only a robe over her freshly bathed body, her cheeks flushed slightly at a memory that suddenly came to mind.

It was because she remembered Kavelaseth’s naked body that she had seen during the day.

‘Am I… crazy?’

It was when she was criticizing her own immodest state of mind.

Lindsey, who had been hurriedly looking around, soon fanned her face with the dry towel she was holding and asked.

“Miss, are you hot? Your cheeks are flushed.”

Olla, who had been listening to that conversation from the side, quickly ran into the bedroom, pulled back the drawn curtains, and opened the window wide.

“The night air is quite cool today.”

Lindsey also kept fanning her with the dry towel, trying to cool her flushed cheeks, which had reddened from thinking about Kavelaseth.

“……Indeed. Thank you, both of you.”

Giselle Grante offered her thanks awkwardly and walked into the bedroom.

But even while Lindsey and Olla dried her wet hair until it was fluffy, and even when she was left alone in the darkened bedroom, it was difficult to shake off thoughts of Kavelaseth that had coiled in her mind.

Of course, throughout the bedtime preparations, she hadn’t been thinking only of Kavelaseth’s naked body.

Besides that, her thoughts continued about the things she had newly learned regarding her birth and what she had deduced from them.

And the destination of all these thoughts flowed to the mark on Kavelaseth’s chest.

****

Before her questions about the mark on Kavelaseth’s body could fade, the day to visit the Cardia ducal residence arrived.

Instead of the gorgeous dress made of the soft fabric that nobles commonly wore, today Giselle Grante wore a plain and simple dress made of linen.

Although the Radcliffe Trading Company was said to be popular among nobles recently, she couldn’t wear an expensive dress while disguised as someone working for the trading company.

The linen dress she wore was something Lindsey and Olla had bought for her on the day they went shopping in the shopping district.

They had wandered around the shopping district for quite a while to find a dress that would especially suit Giselle Grante.

So Giselle Grante had generously added a bonus on top of their regular wages.

As they had said, the quality was certainly not lacking.

Of course, to noble eyes, it would merely appear as a commoner dressed up a bit.

When the Radcliffe Trading Company’s carriage stopped in front of the grandly magnificent Cardia ducal residence, Giselle Grante got out of the carriage and familiarly made her way into the mansion.

At the entrance to the mansion, the butler of the Cardia ducal family was waiting for her.

“Welcome. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Giselle Grante responded to the butler who warmly welcomed her with a faint smile and made her way inside the mansion where Kavelaseth was.

“The master of the house is waiting for you in the drawing room.”

It was just as the butler said.

Though Kavelaseth was always busy, today he was waiting for her in the drawing room first.

Giselle Grante approached where he was, feeling somewhat puzzled.