“Are you taking your medicine well these days?”

Eida asked Melly during tea time.

“Of course, mother…”

Melly tried to speak calmly, but the guilt that naturally seeped into her voice was unavoidable.

‘I’m planning to stop trying to get pregnant for a while.’

She had intended to say it today, but her courage faltered at Eida’s attitude of kindly checking on her medication.

“Good. Make sure to take it without skipping. That way you’ll get pregnant soon.”

“Yes…”

Fortunately, Eida was not perceptive enough to notice Melly’s fading voice.

The lady continued with a gentle expression.

“Are you having any side effects from the medicine?”

Side effects!

Suddenly, Melly’s mind raced. It might be a natural excuse to stop taking the medicine.

‘What could there be…’

The only side effect was that her once-clear eyes were starting to become hazy gray, but that was said to be a kind of healing crisis that occurs when toxins leave the body, so it shouldn’t matter.

Unable to think of anything suitable, Melly decided to mention general symptoms.

“Actually, maybe because I’ve been taking it for so long, my stomach feels a bit queasy. So I was thinking of taking a break for a while…”

“Oh my, I should ask the physician to prepare some stomach medicine when he comes tomorrow.”

“…”

“If you take it together with the stomach medicine, you’ll be fine, so don’t worry and keep taking the medicine.”

Melly bowed her head deeply and thought.

‘So you really do want a child.’

It was clear, seeing how she insisted on taking the medicine even after saying all this.

Well, all the noble ladies her age already had grandchildren.

When talking with her friends, the topic of grandchildren would naturally come up, and at those times, she would feel just as left out as Melly.

‘I’m sorry, mother. I’ll take the medicine again when the situation stabilizes.’

Melly apologized deeply in her heart.

Returning to her quarters, she set aside her guilt towards Eida for a moment. And she took time to think about what help she could give to Edric.

‘You are quite selfish.’

She didn’t want to be seen as a selfish woman by him anymore. She wanted to take care of him more instead of a child that hadn’t even been conceived.

What should she do for that?

Making tea and helping with his attire was not what he wanted. He wanted her to fulfill her duties as a duchess. The duty of softly illuminating the family like moonlight…

“…!”

Suddenly, something Edric had said once came to Melly’s mind.

‘It would have been nice if our family had produced at least one artist.’

At that time, there was a bitter smile on Edric’s face. As he said, not a single person with artistic talent had been born in the Pelton family.

It was unusual compared to other families who often held concerts and exhibitions by producing descendants with musical and artistic talents. There wasn’t even anyone leading salons or appraisal meetings.

Melly wanted to give Edric what he wanted. To do that, she first needed to learn from someone with artistic knowledge.

She knew one such person.

‘Jeina Andert.’

She was the wife of the Andert Viscount, who was also acquainted with Edric. Or more precisely, she was the Viscount’s widow.

Melly had exchanged greetings with Jeina a few times at social gatherings.

With her imposing demeanor, she would curl her lips as if dismissive whenever Melly spoke.

It hadn’t been a particularly pleasant encounter, but Melly decided to set aside her personal feelings for a greater purpose.

The Andert family had been known for their high appreciation of art since ancient times, and they had several times sponsored promising painters early on, nurturing them into renowned masters.

Moreover, their daughter-in-law, Jeina Andert, was the host of the most famous art appraisal meeting in social circles.

There was no reason to hesitate.

Melly immediately sent a letter through her butler expressing her wish to attend her appraisal meeting.

The reply arrived promptly that afternoon.

[We are at a loss for words that the Pelton Ducal family wishes to attend this inadequate gathering. We will do our best to prepare so that your visit will not be in vain.]

Somehow, an inexplicable sarcasm could be felt in the polite and humble reply.

‘Merchants wearing the mask of a noble family.’

Some tabloid had said such things about the Pelton family.

It was because the Pelton family’s business methods, which pursued practicality and efficiency in everything, were not particularly positively received in the world of nobility.

Melly felt a similar aversion in the Viscountess Andert’s brief reply.

But at least she had allowed the visit.

That was all that mattered to Melly.

According to the reply, they often held a simple tea party cum informal appraisal meeting ahead of the regular meeting, and that was tomorrow.

‘It’s not even a formal meeting anyway.’

Melly attended the tea party the next day with as light a heart as possible. However…

“It’s a work that aptly describes innocent purity. It’s truly wonderful and admirable.”

“It’s particularly interesting how the main subject is expressed in a different composition and material. Shall we say it’s an appropriate harmony between the traditional techniques of classical painters and modern avant-garde concepts?”

And this was supposed to be a light tea gathering…

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Melly was so bewildered that she couldn’t even tell if the tea was going into her nose or mouth.

After briefly introducing themselves, the noble ladies continued to appreciate paintings and evaluate professional techniques and styles under the lead of Lady Andert.

The conversations they shared were all of a high level, and the words they used were difficult.

‘If I had known it would be like this, I should have studied a bit before coming.’

Regret washed over her like a tide, but it was already too late.

“What do you think this painting expresses, Duchess Pelton?”

Jeina asked her with a bright smile.

Melly lowered her gaze to look at the painting placed on the easel next to her.

A painting of blue droplets scattered in a vague mist.

Surely this too must express some concept. Just like the abstruse paintings shown before.

‘Purity? Awe? Mystery? Transcendental being?’

Melly thought of plausible themes one by one. If she said one of these, even if it wasn’t the correct answer, she wouldn’t be embarrassed.

“I think…”

But the moment she opened her mouth, she changed her mind.

She realized that to improve, she needed to start by knowing her position accurately. She shouldn’t package herself with unnecessary pretense.

“It looks like… the sky seen through clouds.”

She honestly said what she saw. As expected, giggles erupted here and there.

The theme of the painting was said to be ‘self’.

The self hidden in ambiguous identity, the self that disappears unless you stare at it with wide open eyes.

Eventually, Lady Heizel, who had stopped laughing, admired the painting.

“It’s really a beautiful painting. How can such a profound theme be expressed so simply and clearly?”

“That’s right. Lady Andert really has a good eye. Where did you discover such a hidden treasure?”

Lady Andert just responded with a smile to the noble ladies’ questions.

She didn’t seem particularly eager to reveal the identity of the talented new painter.

But Jeina didn’t mind stirring up the curiosity of the noble ladies.

“Now, this next painting. This is a bit different, so it might be hard to understand.”

She teased before revealing the last painting. The noble ladies’ eyes sparkled, their enthusiasm seeming to surge at the mention of difficulty.

“Then look forward to it.”

“Wait.”

Someone raised their hand, cutting off Jeina’s words.

“It would be boring to just guess, why don’t we bet on something?”

Everyone seemed to agree.

Lady Andert looked around and asked.

“That seems like a good idea, what does everyone think? If it’s okay, what should we bet?”

While everyone was pondering, Lady Andert looked at Melly.

“What would you like to bet, Duchess Pelton?”

Her tone suggested she was certain that no matter what was bet, Melly wouldn’t be the one to win it.

Melly had no intention of letting her pride get the better of her.

“Well, I can’t think of anything suitable. If possible, I’d like to sit out this bet.”

“That wouldn’t be fair. Bet even the smallest thing. For example…”

Jeina looked Melly over with an elegant gaze and said.

“A lock of that beautiful brown hair of yours.”

My hair. The smallest thing. Melly felt discomfort at the clear mockery. But before she could retort, the flow of conversation had already moved on to the bets offered by the other ladies.

“I’ll bet a season’s use of my summer villa.”

“I’ll bet my new dark brown Andalusian horse.”

“I’ll bet my emerald necklace.”

Listening to their words, Melly’s face turned aghast.

It was because each of the items they bet was of enormous value.

But unlike Melly who couldn’t hide her shock, Jeina Andert calmly listened to the end as if this was an everyday occurrence, then said.

“Then I’ll bet this painting. As you all know, it’s an ambitious work by an up-and-coming artist, so it should be valuable enough whether as a collector’s item or commercially.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Jeina gestured to the maid.

The maid removed the veil covering the painting.

“What do you think this painting means?”

It was a painting made solely of lines. On a sea-colored background, white, light purple, and yellow lines ran parallel or intersected in a grid pattern along the border.

Despite being such connoisseurs of art, not one of the noble ladies ventured an answer.

After being lost in thought for a while, the ladies broke the silence one by one.

“Umm… fabric?”

“No.”

“A road?”

“Not that either.”

“Love? Separation? Emotion? Repeated daily life?”

Each suggested at least one concept that came to mind, but Jeina’s answer was consistent.

“All wrong.”

Jeina’s smile deepened as she looked around.

She seemed certain that she had won.

“If there are no more answers, I’ll…”

“Secret.”

Just as the lady was about to speak, Melly opened her mouth.

With all eyes focused on her, Melly slowly and distinctly spoke again.

“Could it be… a secret?”

The confident smile that had been on Jeina’s face slowly faded. Her eyes twitched slightly.

“How… did you know?”

“Just, intuition.”

That was all Melly could say. She couldn’t very well say that it was the cover of her diary that had evaporated long ago.

Melly had a feeling she knew who the artist was.