“How will others think about two aristocrats fighting over me? It’s not the pattern I mentioned earlier.”

He fell silent. It seemed he no longer wanted to argue with me.

That was the case for me as well.

‘But if I let it go like this, Hertian will continue to step forward for me.’

Stopping the duel was not the only disadvantageous choice; it was already a significant disadvantage to the Crown Prince.

Naturally, Serdice’s choice was predetermined.

“I accept.”
As he said, with eyes that seemed ready to obstruct anything, I felt the obligation to stop him before things got out of hand.

Because everything happened because of me.

I averted my gaze from him and turned away.

But soon, Hertian’s hand rested on my back from behind.

“It was the wife who first asked if it’s okay to cross the line.”

My body shrank as the breath that came down hotly settled over my head.

“Is it not too much now to ask to maintain boundaries?”

The damp, saturated voice tried to envelop me.

I used all my strength to push him away.

“You need to be completely by my side to ensure my safety.”

And I uttered harsh words.

“We have a contract. You thought it would be inconvenient for you if I died. Of course, not now, but back then, you would have actively helped me only if you thought your participation in the war was a threat to me.”

“Wife.”

“That fact will not change in the future.”

It felt uncomfortable.

It was resented to the point where I would detest my own mouth for uttering such cruel words, knowing that Hertian would be hurt.

But if I don’t distance myself now, it will only get more difficult later.

‘Not Hertian, but me.’

Just a moment ago, I only wanted to lean on his chest.

“You did well, Annette.”

I walked away from the guest room, endlessly, to avoid wanting to go back.

Despite the vastness of the imperial palace, there was not a single place for me to rest comfortably, making me increasingly exhausted.

‘I want to go back to the Marquisate.’

The time when I laughed joyfully in my family’s embrace seemed distant.

Tears welled up.

It wasn’t because I was sad, but because of the tight shoes that were pinching. Nevertheless, I continued walking without taking them off. It was a feeling that the distractions would disappear a bit when the sensation gradually disappeared from the tips of my toes.

“Smells like oil paint.”

The pungent smell of oil pierced my nose.

The artificial and provocative scent was more familiar than unpleasant.

“This must be the imperial palace studio.”

It was the scent that I used to smell from my mother’s embrace since childhood.

Taking care of young painters and sponsoring their work was my mother’s joy.

So, whenever I was embraced in my mother’s arms, beyond the pleasant fragrance, I could always smell this oil paint.

I followed that scent as if possessed and entered.

Compared to the mansion, the imperial palace studio was incomparably vast and colorful.

Masterpieces that filled the walls.

Works that my mother regretted missing at auctions were also visible.

And the high-quality easels and canvases surrounding the objects in the center were all top-notch.

The court painters sitting in front of them were probably talents my mother had missed.

Lost in thought, I suddenly noticed someone.

A small figure about the height of my waist, wearing a beret.

Brown hair and plump cheeks.

“Why is Lucky here?”

I blinked my eyes.

I thought my eyes were strange because the pattern had changed, but that wasn’t the case.

“Miss?”

Turning around to look at me with clear eyes was the little boy, Lucky.

“Lucky!”

The face I missed was there.

Driven by the boiling longing inside me, I hugged his small body tightly.

His smell was filled with the fragrance of bread he had eaten.

“To see you here. Truly fortunate, just like your name.”

“Yes? Yes. But, miss. Can we talk outside?”

Lucky seemed to show more prudence than joy. Even though I teased him with his name as usual, there was no reaction.

“Why? Still, there’s no one else here except you and me.”

Although this was a place where painters gathered, right now, everyone had left, and there were only Lucky and me.

There was no need to be cautious.

“Well, still… because this isn’t a space for conversations.”

Lucky spoke while fidgeting with small hands stained with paint.

“Your words are correct. Since there might be discomfort if someone else sees, let’s go outside.”

I let him down and reached out my hand.

Expecting his small hand, as usual.

“Let’s go out that way.”
Lucky walked past me without taking my hand.

I looked at the back of his head, feeling a lump in my throat, and covered my mouth.

‘He’s in adolescence.’

Now he seems to know embarrassment to some extent.

Still, until those chubby cheeks slim down, he’s the same Lucky from back then.

“Come with me!”

“Hurry up and come.”

Smiling at Lucky pretending to be an adult, I followed him.

He led me to a room filled with art supplies. The smell was so strong from the spilled oil on the floor that it made my nose tingle.

Lucky noticed it and quickly brought a mop to clean the floor.

Seeing Lucky lying face down on the floor, I pulled his arm.

“Why are you cleaning this up? I’ll call the servants, so wait.”

Looking at Lucky, it seemed like he had become a court painter here, and there was no need for a court painter who received special treatment to do such a menial task.

“Just leave it.”

But Lucky pushed me aside and diligently cleaned the floor.

The pungent oil went beyond the cloth, covering his small hands completely and staining his clothes.

Looking down at his small back lying on the floor, I pulled up his hands and grabbed a cleaning cloth, squatting next to him to wipe away the stubborn oil that still clung.

“Oh, miss. Please don’t.”

Lucky protested with a troubled expression.

“If you don’t like it.”

I jokingly said and rubbed the floor again.

“Please! Miss.”

“Yeah? Where’s the miss here? I only see a little painter who seems to have married and left the mansion. Do I need to listen to the stubborn painter?”

“Duchess. Please stop.”

Only then did Lucky change his form of address.

“Do I need to listen to the duchess who doesn’t listen? I’m different from the duchess.”

But Lucky didn’t let go of the mop until the end.

“Lucky, you’ve changed.”

This stubborn Lucky felt strangely unfamiliar.

The Lucky I knew would stuff the bread I gave him into his chubby cheeks and follow me with a plump belly, sometimes tapping his full stomach and laughing hehe.

We were close enough for him to congratulate my marriage and give me a picture he had drawn with great effort!

“We were getting along fine, weren’t we?”

How did his feelings change in an instant?

“Adolescence is scary… ”

I sniffed, pushing my lips forward.

The world is a problem.

It’s a world where children have to draw pictures themselves to earn money, or they’ll starve. Lucky’s adolescence came quickly.

“Get up quickly.”

Lucky pulled my arm with his small hand, and then took away the dirty cloth from his hand.