Lacius felt some kind of tickling feeling inside as he looked down at Shaye, but it disappeared in a second. Her breathing was steady as she slept. She’d offered him a handkerchief to wipe his lips the moment they got on the carriage as if she’d known he’d hate it, as if she could understand it.

“I need to endure it, no matter how much I hate it... It’s the only way to end this hell,” Lacius whispered to himself.

But the strange thing was he hated it much less than he’d expected.

Where is she from?

During the two days Shaye had slept, Lacius had looked into her background, but he failed to find anything useful. He interrogated the human traffickers and found out they’d caught her in the desert, but there was no way to know where she had been before that. Even finding out that she was an art sorceress from the Edmund Kingdom didn’t give any more answers.

There were two art mages at the imperial palace of Teran, but their kind was exceptionally rare. Those at the imperial palace ended up there because they pleaded to the emperor to be taken as refugees after being hunted down by people intending to use their power. Lacius had thought they had been the last wandering art mages.

It’s strange.

Lacius looked down quietly at Shaye. Unfamiliar feelings were beginning to take place in his heart.

“Theo.”

“Yes, Your Grace.” Theobalt, who must have been close, soon came when summoned.

“What are her favorite fruits?” Lacius asked in a small voice so that Shaye wouldn’t wake up.

“She usually enjoys cherries, apricots, and blueberries.”

“Prepare a box of each, of the highest grade. Make sure she eats to her heart’s content when she wakes up tomorrow,” Lacius ordered.

“I shall.”

“And give her an extra room where she’ll be able to draw and paint with what we bought today.”

Lacius knew Theobalt was capable of taking care of things on his own. Nevertheless, he made sure to check on it himself. Shaye was being paid for what she did for him, but she was genuinely trying her best. Lacius was truly grateful.

“And hang the family portraits in that room.”

House Schubeiden possessed only authentic works of art. As these paintings were works of the best artists of their times, they were each worth billions and were rarely brought out of special storage. Lacius was really interested in paintings, which was another reason why they were being kept in storage. He’d even forgotten about owning them, but thinking of Shaye had naturally made him remember.

It would be better for those paintings to have someone to appreciate them, he thought as he looked at the woman beyond his wine glass.

Theobalt smiled happily at the archduke.

It was the first peaceful night they’d had in a long time.

Archduke Schubeiden’s Official Lover

“Extra, extra!”

“Archduke Schubeiden is engaged!”

Children ran around the streets, offering newspapers. Normally, people shooed them away, but today they didn’t hesitate to buy from them. To those who were weary of life, news about Archduke Schubeiden was something that gave them some energy. They bought it without even thinking, but today’s news was even more intriguing.

Archduke Schubeiden, everyone’s sweetheart, had a fiancée. He had announced he would not marry, even for convenience. So then who was the woman who’d stolen the heart of such a stubborn man? Everyone looked at the photo of the red-haired woman walking arm in arm with Archduke Schubeiden. The picture was taken from the back, but even that was enough to reveal that she was no ordinary woman. It made them become even more curious.

“I’d like to buy one too.” A young man standing in an alley stopped a newspaper boy and offered a silver coin.

Excited, the boy ran into the alley to bring him the newspaper. A silver coin was a high price for just one newspaper. When the boy looked up and saw the man’s face, he flinched and stepped backward.

“I won’t eat you. Just give me the paper.”

The young man raised his eyebrows and showed the coin to the boy again. The boy gave him the paper, snatched the silver coin, and ran away. His face showed fear as if he’d seen something scary. The man looked at the newspaper only after the boy was gone.

“So it is you,” he mumbled.

The picture didn’t show the woman’s face, but he could recognize her back. It was her.

She’s getting married?

He clenched his fists. It didn’t make sense.

He’d narrowly missed her in the desert and followed the human traffickers all the way here, only to find out that she was getting married. He was relieved that nothing worse had happened to her, of course, but it still was too suspicious. He scowled to think that Archduke Schubeiden probably bought her.

“Mom, look at him!” A little boy pointed at him with a finger.

More and more people were beginning to notice him, so he pulled his hood down further and began to move. Unlike those who went past him, he had tanned brown skin as if he had been born from sunlight, short, black hair, and long narrow eyes. His intense red irises seemed to burn like fire, it was no wonder children were afraid of him.

The Beast. The Mad Dog of the Desert. Those were the names he’d been given so far.

“I’m going to find you.”

He reached a dark corner and kissed the girl in the photo. It was a kiss of longing and sadness.

* * *

“Is this really my room?”

“Yes.”

I thanked God, Buddha, and the sun god. Oh, and my client too, of course.

I had announced the next day that I wanted to paint the moment I woke up. Upon hearing this, Lacius brought me to this amazing room.

“It’s got just the right amount of sunlight, the view’s good, and the ceiling is high enough for me to draw anything!”

Even real art students didn’t get to draw in an atelier like this. Most of them could barely afford to buy supplies. I held my hands together, deeply touched.

“And the paintings on the walls, are they...”

“Works of Fragonard, Tiepolo, and Boucher,” Lacius replied.

I was on the verge of tears.

But my dear client, can I really enjoy this much luxury?

I was almost ready to worship Lacius as I happily looked at the paintings. This world’s art resembled that of the eighteenth-century rococo style, which was quite apt. Luxurious, bright, and exciting, it was perfect for my taste.

“I hope these paintings will help you as you paint.”

“But of course! They’ll inspire me so much!”

Of course, I wasn’t going to paint noblemen and ladies, but it helped to be surrounded by masterpieces.

“I’ve had easels put in the center and near the windows.”

“Perfect.”

“And this container spins, I thought you’d like it.”

The spinning paint container had rows and rows of paints. I nearly forgot how to breathe when I saw it.

I can’t even imagine how much all of these would cost!

I felt a sudden urge to paint like crazy. I wanted to help Lacius get the happy life he deserved.

“I’m going to paint and make some maids,” I said.

Full of energy, I explained this and that to Lacius as he watched from behind. I told him what I was planning on painting.

“Maids? You can conjure living people?” he asked.

“Do you know about familiar spirits? Animals with their own minds. Wizards have them.”

“I know the concept.”

“Well, it’s similar to that. My maids will look like a person, but that’s all. Once I, their conjurer, die, they’ll be gone too.”

I needed maids to do lots of things for me. They were going to serve me, of course, but they were also going to help the butler and protect the manor. I was going to put a lot of effort into drawing them.

I pointed at a gigantic canvas I’d bought at the art supply shop with my pencil. “That one’s for a guard cat. It’ll be able to detect my scent wherever I am.”

“In case you get kidnapped?”

“Exactly.”

I wasn’t foolish enough to think that I’d never be taken again. Perhaps it was a bit pessimistic of me, but I preferred to overdo it when it came to my own safety. I didn’t want to be stabbed in the back without even knowing who was hurting me.

“Then you don’t trust me to protect you,” Lacius objected.

“Huh? No, I do trust you. But what if you aren’t around?”

Lacius frowned, but he soon slowly nodded. He saw that I had a point.

I grinned as I imagined a huge but nimble cat with black fur. One of my friends had a hunting dog named Geumdong, and I’d always envied her every time I saw it. As I knew I couldn’t tame a hunting dog, I’d been forced to give up, but in this world, I could even paint myself an enormous black panther. He’d love and obey me and no one else.

At first, I thought of painting a guard knight, but it would be better not to have a person with me outside.

I couldn’t get a dog because everyone would want to pet it, so I decided to go with a cat. And when I say a cat, I mean a panther.

“It’ll protect this manor, and it’ll be much faster than a horse. I’ll think of training it as I paint it, so it will behave well,” I said with a smile.

Lacius looked as if he couldn’t comprehend how a cat could protect our home, but I wasn’t planning on explaining further.

“Sounds like it would take a lot of time.”

“That’s right, I’ll have to pay attention to every detail. Every strand of fur, every claw, even its gaze... so that it would be with me for life.”

That’s what my art teacher used to say when I was back in high school. If you wanted to make a painting that would last for life, you had to pay attention to the details, especially when painting animals or humans. You must think like the subject itself and pay attention to the little things. For example, if you were to paint a tiger, you would need to think about whether it likes to hunt, how big its front paws are, how it prefers to fight, everything. Whether it’s a male or a female, how old it is, all of that would change the shape of its muscles and thus its figure.

I stared at the empty canvas and imagined everything.

“Both paintings will keep me busy for a while. I will go to your balls and parties once they’re finished. Until then, return all the invitations, saying that I’m not feeling well,” I said.

“Understood.”

“Well then, I need to start sketching. Please don’t come in.”

“I’ll leave you alone until mealtime.”

Lacius left Shaye alone. Before he went out the door, he looked back once. He saw her profile as she was thinking hard while biting the tip of her pencil. Her silver eyes were focusing as she thought of something. She was already in a world he couldn’t enter.

Lacius moved quietly not to disturb her.

All he needed to do was to protect her against any potential attacks to come.

* * *

“But Your Highness, aren’t you going to do anything about it?”

“This article... It doesn’t make sense!”

Lacius’ fan club was assembled by a pond in one of the palace gardens. The palace had been rebuilt by the emperor for his beloved daughter and it was grand to the point of overwhelming anyone who stepped foot inside. In that palace was a garden full of thousands of flowers. That was where the fan club was meeting.

“We don’t even know who she is!”

“And she’s about to become Archduchess Schubeiden? There’s no way we can just accept it!”

“It would be bad for the empire too! No one knows a thing about her.”

“What if she turns out to be bad for our Lacius?”

Wide-eyed ladies peeped and twittered about angrily. The biggest problem was that the extravagant woman could be aiming for Lacius’ money. If she had been one of them, it would have been no matter, for they were all ladies of honorable houses. They also had unstoppable love for Archduke Schubeiden.

But! Suddenly! A girl had just shown up. The ladies were united in their rage. If Archduke Schubeiden insisted on marrying her, then they had no choice. They’d bring her to the palace and find out everything there was to know about her!

“Well, I certainly cannot stand by and watch. I know well how you all are feeling,” said one of the ladies. She was calmly drinking tea in front of the blazing fire. She had long black hair and gem-like eyes that only the imperial house possessed. Her eyes resembled lapis lazuli, and they twinkled with intelligence. She was Princess Dioles Teran, whom people said might become the future empress.

She’d been able to gain so much power because she was not only much smarter than her brothers but because she had also won over the ladies’ hearts. As Archduke Schubeiden was her cousin, she’d met him often since her early years. It hadn’t taken her long to realize extremely strange things tended to happen around him. Women followed him around, and men also wanted to be with him. The man’s problem was that he was far too loved by everyone. As a child, the princess labeled him as the best toy in the world.

I want to mess with him.

She wanted to see his cold face crumble. Would he cry like other men when she harassed him? Would he surrender when pushed to his limits? Her curiosity grew with each passing year, only to burst a few years ago when Archduke Schubeiden was victorious in war.

I want that spectacular man to kneel in front of me. To do that, I’ll have to isolate him first.

For this purpose, the princess gathered noble ladies and made a fan club. As she was a princess, she couldn’t be its president herself, so she let another lady, the daughter of a duke, take that position.

“I shall have a tea party,” the princess said, looking around eagerly at the ladies. “Of course, I will invite...”

She would find out for herself whether that woman had really stolen Archduke Schubeiden’s heart or if she was just faking it.

She finished her sentence with an evil smile.

“...members of this fan club only.”