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Rieta thought it would be a bit of a waste for the Duke to not have a portrait.

She wished she had a portrait of her youth.

While looking at the unfinished paintings one by one, she found a painting that was placed on the side of the light.

Unlike the other paintings, the painting was carefully swathed in plain cloth.

Given the extraordinary treatment, was there something special about it? Curious, the two pulled slightly on the fabric that covered the painting.

******

“That was the late Duchess, Princess.”

That afternoon, the Duke’s eldest son Darrell Meyer came to Rieta’s room.

It seemed that he had heard of Rieta and Noel’s visit to the detached studio this morning.

“I think so.”

Rieta offered him a seat, but he instead chose to sit on the rather uncomfortable-looking windowsill.

Rieta stood by his side, she recalled the painting she had seen in the morning.

“I saw the Duke… in the painting.”

Although it was just a sketch, the Duke was easy to recognize because of his eyes and atmosphere. It must have been Duke Mayer in his younger years. Next to him was a woman with a smile. In the unfinished painting, their expressions exuded warmth and love.

“And most of all, Noel was sad when he saw it.”

“So our princess was worried about Noel?”

“Just a little bit.”

“That’s really kind.”

Darrell kindly said.

“Well, Darrell.”

“Tell me.”

“The painting is….”

“It has been there all along.”

What he meant by “all along” was probably after the Duchess’ death.

“I’m sorry.”

Rieta carefully apologized. As an outsider, she touched one of the family sores.

“No, it happens more often than I thought.”

“Often?”

“There was no one in the mansion who didn’t like my mother, and everyone misses her. That’s why, princess.”

He patted Rieta’s head slightly, like what he sometimes did to Noel.

“Treat Noel as usual. He’s probably ashamed to have shown you that side of him.”

“Ashamed? Why?”

“Well, why do you think?”

He smiled a playful teenage smile in amusement.

“Darrell, I think you’re making fun of me for some reason.”

“Uh, it’s not like that.”

He rapidly denied Rieta’s pouty answer.

“Just,I depend on the princess a lot.”

“Me?”

“Of course.”

It was unexpected. Darrell didn’t have a reason to rely on Rieta in the first place. He was already sixteen years old this year. Ostensibly, he was a mature boy who was treated as an adult, the successor of the Duke.

Besides, he attended the academy five days a week, so Rieta rarely had a chance to meet them.

“You take good care of Noel even when I’m not home.”

“We’re just bonding.”

“You’ve learned quite the romantic expression.”

He laughed, imitating the phrase, “bonding.”

“Bonding… Is it normally used in a ro-man-tic sense?”

“Romantic.”

He pronounced it again slowly and surely.

“Ro-man-tic. That’s right.”

He patted Rieta’s head again, impressed.

“Anyway, I think it’s pretty romantic, the two of you sharing time together.”

“Darrell’s words are difficult.”

“Vocabulary? Or meaning?”

Rieta looked up at him and laughed.

“Both.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll pay attention… I don’t want you to have difficulty understanding me.”

He hopped off the window frame.

Seeing that a carriage was prepared outside, it was time for him to return to the academy.

“Ah, then.”

He handed her a letter as an afterthought.

“There’s mail for you, Princess. Someone asked me to do it.”

“Me?”

Opening the letter, she saw the sender was a certain “Madam Emily,” the one she ordered the dress from not long ago.

‘Is it an invoice….?’

Due to her life of poverty in the Kingdom of Liz, this was the first thought that came to Rieta’s mind.

Of course, it wasn’t a bill. What was in it was an invitation to the announcement of a new dress design, sent to the fashionistas of the capital.

“I’m not a stylish person.”

“It’s okay. Most of us aren’t. I’m not, either.”

“No way.”

Rieta always thought Darrell was stunning. Even not while in a suit, he knew how to dress with his own flair.

“Darrell is pretty.”

“P-pretty?!”

Darrell asked back, embarrassed.

Of course, he was often told that he was pretty for a man.

However, he was a little embarrassed because it was the first time he heard such a thing from a cute younger girl.