‘He grew up so fast.’

At most, it took a week. Raoul suffered from severe growing pains while growing at an incredibly fast pace.

Every morning when the door opened, his head that touched the wall got higher and higher.

The teeth that chewed meat became sharper, and the muscles that wrapped around his body became as solid and firm as rocks.

‘At this rate, he might regain his human form in a day or two.’

Gradually, Diana missed Raoul’s original appearance.

Although he was cute for being docile, it was somewhat frustrating not being able to have conversations with him.

Sometimes, she was also perplexed by Raoul acting like a beast.

When he glared at her as if he would devour her, she would get startled even though she knew he had no such intention.

‘Somehow, it feels like I’ll be eaten.’

Diana swallowed hard while wiping Raoul’s snout just now.

Even though she knew his arms were tied, it seemed like he would raise his sharp claws and rip off the restraints at any moment.

‘Come back quickly, Raoul. This can be a memory too, but I want to interact with you as a person.’

Today, Diana allocated her afternoon time for portrait work again.

“Are you tired?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. My face looks so different from the beginning, right? I should have applied some powder.”

“No way. I just thought you might be overworking yourself since you yawn frequently.”

“I woke up early this morning, so that’s probably why. Don’t worry about it…”

Diana answered, keeping her posture as upright as possible to avoid slouching.

Paisar was a perfectionist who couldn’t tolerate even the slightest distortion in posture.

‘If I had known, I should have started with a comfortable posture from the beginning.’

Sitting like a plaster statue and modeling for three to four hours at a time made her shoulders stiff, making it difficult to move her arms freely at night.

Since she couldn’t ask to fix the painting that had already entered the coloring stage, she had no choice but to endure as much as possible.

“Still, it seems like it will be completed in a day or two. It took longer because of my stubbornness. You’ve worked hard.”

“It’s an effort to obtain a good painting. Don’t worry and draw as much as you want.”

Paisar said while glancing at the clear sky.

“Today, I’ll try to speed up and finish quickly. Please endure a little longer.”

“Yes. Keep up the good work.”

If it could be finished a little earlier, it would be a good thing. Raoul greatly disliked Diana returning late from the studio.

He hated the smell of pigments and oils from the studio, and if she went without taking a bath, he wouldn’t even touch the food.

Fortunately, the work ended early, so Diana had some spare time to meet Raoul a bit earlier.

“Ah, by the way. Do you have any next work in mind?”

Before leaving the studio, Diana asked shyly while scratching her cheek. Paisar answered, lowering his gaze as if embarrassed.

“Actually, I’d like to draw a few more pieces with you as the model, but I couldn’t bring it up because I thought it might burden you.”

It was quite a shy attitude for someone who confessed straightforwardly.

‘Did he get discouraged after being pointed out by Raoul before?’ Diana patted Paisar’s shoulder and smiled brightly.

“Please feel free to tell me. It would be an honor for me. But before that, I’d like to request a work. Is it possible?”

“Of course. Absolutely! Perhaps, is there someone else who needs a portrait?”

“Well… Yes… Do you remember my friend you saw last time?”

“Ah, the one who performs the city wall guard duty…!”

“I wanted to have a portrait of that friend drawn.”

Paisar clapped his hands together and nodded vigorously.

“It’s definitely possible. We can start as early as tomorrow. Your portrait is also in the finishing stage.”

“Tomorrow is a bit too soon, but I’ll bring him soon.”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting!”

Diana greeted Paisar and returned to her room, thinking.

‘I should have drawn a few more when he was younger.’ She felt regretful for no reason.

Raoul’s beauty was astonishing even when seen every day, so there was a need to open an art gallery to benefit the eyes of the public and pass it down through generations to instill pride in descendants.

‘It would be nice to have a camera.’

Although she gave up on obsession, she couldn’t give up her affection for her favorite character.

Even if the time came when the years she couldn’t see him exceeded the years she saw him after leaving the continent, it was clear that she would never forget Raoul.

Even as a hunched old lady, she would talk about that handsome man to her grandchildren until her mouth dried up and wore out.

‘Will my husband dislike it if I keep a portrait of my first love?’

Diana blushed, thinking of her non-existent husband from the Eastern Continent.

‘Let’s not drink the kimchi soup first. I went to immigrate with high expectations, but I might not find my match there either. Maybe Raoul will be my first and last love for life. If immigrant life is harder than expected, I should have at least one portrait to hug and cry then.’

Diana wrapped up her absurd thoughts and headed to her room. First, she had to get rid of the paint smell.

As she climbed the stairs leading to her room, she heard maids chattering in the hallway.

“Is it true that the young lady is in that kind of relationship with the slave?”

As one woman brought up the topic, several others clung to it like hyenas that found prey.

“She’s been excessively close to him for a long time. These days, she even personally takes care of his meals like a master, right?”

“Don’t tell me she’s doing that because she dislikes the maid’s sloppy behavior? Because she’s afraid of losing his affection?”

“Come to think of it, although he’s of a lowly slave status, his face is honestly, ahem, quite good-looking. It’s not strange for a young maid who treats him well at that age to quickly develop into a romantic relationship. Above all, he must look pretty compared to the gloomy young lady he usually sees.”

“Moreover, Lien is one of the most outstanding maids in terms of appearance. It’s understandable for the young lady to be jealous.”

“Why are you all like this… I have no feelings for him.”

‘…Excuse me. I don’t even know who Lien is?’

Diana’s expression crumpled. If she appeared with this look now, everyone might kneel down at her grim impression.

‘Should I breathe fire? Should I show them the taste of power?’

But she soon let it go.

‘It’s all pointless. If I say a word here now, rumors will spread that I’m really jealous, and it will only become more tiring. It’s not just one or two people badmouthing me, so even if I try to catch them all, I’ll be up all night… They’re not even a swarm of mosquitoes…’

Diana laughed hollowly and went up the stairs.

As she appeared, the maids were startled and stammered. But Diana didn’t care.

“Ah, young lady…!”

“Continue the conversation you were having. Thanks to you, I’ll live long… Haha.”

There was nothing more to say, and these two sentences were all.

Diana thought she had been quite generous, but the maids dropped the laundry they were holding and trembled.

“Telling us to continue the conversation… It means you heard everything…”

“Why, why are you laughing? Saying you’ll live long thanks to us…? What does that mean? Is there black magic that consumes other people’s lifespans?”

“Li-Lien, your face is pale…”

“You’ll definitely remember my name… What should I do…”

Diana couldn’t hear the crying sounds coming from behind her.

She just wanted to praise her own broad-mindedness and jump into the bath water as soon as possible.

‘But Raoul is already popular?’

Diana recalled the earlier conversation while receiving Angela’s bath assistance. There was a subtle expectation in the maids’ conversation.

Although he was of a ‘lowly slave status,’ his face was ‘quite good-looking.’ There was a contradiction in their words, but in the end, it meant he was handsome enough to admit even while hurting their pride.

‘It’s indeed a praiseworthy appearance, right? I shouldn’t stand next to him.’

Before she could sink into self-deprecation, Angela poured water over her head.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Young lady… My hand slipped…”

“…It’s okay. I suddenly came to my senses.”

She almost looked down on herself.

‘This is a world where discrimination is rampant. I shouldn’t succumb to the beauty standards set by this world!’

She had already succumbed, but she slapped her cheeks hard as if she hadn’t.

Slap! Slap!

‘I can live happily too if I just get out of here…! Let’s not be discouraged!’

The Diana in her imagination was already wearing a hanbok and smelling the scent of glue-coated paper in a bookstore.

‘I’ll only think happy thoughts now. If I just break Raoul’s curse, I’ll sell the paintings, pack up, and leave this damn land right away. I just need to endure for 3 years.’

The person who said not to drink kimchi soup had gone somewhere, and she soon imagined exchanging love letters with a young master she met by chance at a bookstore.

The man with the same black hair as her, wearing a dark-colored dopo and a gat, became interested in a woman who came from a foreign land with many secrets.

‘Just thinking about it makes me happy. I’m full…’

Diana blew bubbles with her mouth and smiled so much that her eyes curved. ‘Yeah, I’ll abandon this world where discrimination is rampant first. That’s it!’

With that brief change of mood, she was about to head back to Raoul.

‘Benjamin?’

Benjamin, who appeared abruptly, knocked on the door in front of Raoul’s bedroom.

‘Why is Benjamin here?’

“Hey, are you in there?”

A cold sweat flowed down Diana’s back. She had endured well so far, but why did it have to be Benjamin of all people!