Sienna, who was looking at Leah’s brush stroke, asked Hain.
“But are you sure that’s how you brush? What Leah’s doing seems to be swinging a sword, not a brush.”
“It does. I wonder what on earth is the princess drawing…”
The two, who had been watching the children from a distance, stood up from their seats, unable to overcome their curiosity. As they approached, they could see the artist sweating heavily.
This painter was a skinny man with a face naturally tanned in the sun, and he has recently come under the spotlight. Being one of the artists sponsored by Sienna, he has been praised for his vivid portrayal of landscape paintings featuring seasonal changes.
He gave two ladies courtesy as they approached. Sienna nodded, received his greetings, and approached Leah’s side.
“This is better than I thought! I drew it, but I think it’s really cool.”
Leah was quite impressed with her work. But the two people who saw her painting had no choice but to keep quiet.
It was hard to consider Leah’s work as a painting. The canvas was dynamically splashed with various colors of paint, as she stroke a brush full of paints. In some parts, there were marks that seemed to have been completely crushed with a brush.
It occurred to Sienna that Leah didn’t intend to paint from the beginning, but wanted to fight the canvas. Like the scars of battle, Leah’s face was covered with various colors of paint.
She was not the only victim. The clothes and hair of Sharillo and Anna sitting in the distance were also splashed with paint. The two children, who were used to Leah’s eccentricity, did not care much and focused on the painting.
Sienna said with a deep sigh.
“Leah. I told you to draw, not fight the canvas.”
At Sienna’s words, Leah said, with her eyes glistening.
“Isn’t that wonderful? It’s much more alive than a boring picture hanging over there. What do you think, teacher?”
Leah asked the painter with a look of anticipating a compliment. The painter could not bear to tell the truth when he saw Leah’s expression of desire for praise. Not only that, but the girl who was questioning him was a princess. It was a very embarrassing situation to answer without any hesitation.
“That’s… …that’s really great. I’ve never seen such a dynamic style of painting. I can’t believe you can use a brush this way… that’s great.”
Sienna did not reproach him for being dishonest. It wasn’t about making Leah a painter anyway, nor did Sienna want her to show genius talent. As long as it’s fun for her daughter to draw, that was enough.
Moreover, there was less damage done than other classes. Of course, all around here, including the floor, Sharillo and Anna’s clothes and hair were covered with paint, but at least they didn’t get hurt or things were broken.
“Yes, good job.”
Praised by her mother, Leah again confirmed her canvas with a proud face. Sienna thought to herself, ‘Yes, you can be satisfied.’ Sienna’s expectations for Leah’s artistic abilities had already been lowered considerably.
After that, Sienna looked at the paintings of Sharillo. He showed quite a good talent in most areas, but he seemed to have no talent for painting. He held the brush gently, but the result was not much different from Leah.
Sharillo painted and applied paint on the canvas with a bored face. She couldn’t tell what he was trying to draw, but it certainly didn’t work out as he thought. Sienna nevertheless encouraged Sharillo.
Then she looked at Anna’s canvas, which was brushing as quietly as Sharillo.
“Wow! That is just amazing.”
Sienna was struck with admiration. Anna’s canvas, unlike those of Sharillo and Leah, was clearly showing what she was trying to draw.
The painting wasn’t even close to completion, but the flowers she drew with all her strength seemed to smell like flowers, not pigment, if Sienna was to put her nose close. Even though she was not drawing an object in front of her eyes, she expressed it as if she had seen the flower in person.
“Wow! Anna, you’re great. I think you can be a painter right now.”
“Good drawing! Good girl.”
Sharillo and Leah came around at Sienna’s exclamation and saw Anna’s painting, and they complimented her. The three children have been very close since childhood. Sienna, who was pleased to see it, asked Anna.
“Anna, what are you drawing?”
“Flowers and baskets. Yesterday, um… My father brought it. I gave it to my mom. It was pretty.”
Six-year-old Anna was a poor speaker for her age but Hain or Pavenik didn’t worry about it. They thought she’d get better soon because the mother and father were pretty good at talking.
Sienna and Hain praised Anna and returned to their seats. The class was not over, so they thought they shouldn’t interrupt anymore.
“Anna must get that from you, Hain. You have a talent for painting. She might become a genius painter later!”
“Ay, she didn’t get it from me. I’ve never held a brush before. Hm, my husband doesn’t have a thing for painting either… it’s strange.”
Hain said so, but Sienna thought it was definitely a resemblance of her talent. The paintings that Hain draws with thread, not brush, were as vivid as Anna’s. She didn’t seem to know how talented she was.
“The flowers are so pretty. Does the Chancellor usually bring flowers?”
At Sienna’s words, Hain put on a pondering look and said, “Hm…not really. He brought it yesterday for our anniversary.”
“Anniversary? Well…Hain’s birthday…is midwinter, so it wasn’t for that. What anniversary was it?”
“Not my birthday, but yesterday was Perremo’s anniversary.”
“Perremo? Same name as Anna’s flower! What kind of anniversary is that?”
When asked by Sienna, Hain burst into laughter and said, “It’s just an anniversary that he and I have made up. It’s a day to celebrate Perremo’s beautiful bloom.”
Sienna asked Hain with a curious look.
“When did those anniversaries start?”
Hain was embarrassed, blushing her cheeks.
“That’s… …since yesterday.”
When Sienna didn’t understand, Hain added, “If we give each other gifts without any reason, we get too embarrassed. We start making excuses for anniversaries. You know. When I see pretty flowers, I buy them because I want to see them with him, or when I find out about delicious food, I learn how to cook it so I can cook at home. I used to call those days anniversaries for fun, and now it seems like every day has become like that.”
Sienna knew Pavenik was taking good care of Hain. Although he was such a stingy man who never bought a drink for his colleagues and using the excuse that he was busy, he eagerly spent time with his wife.
Sienna knew that the necklace, ring, and bracelet worn by Hain, who said that jewelry was too expensive for her even after receiving the title, were all gifts from Pavenik. But he didn’t know Hain was always getting him gifts too.
“Hain, do you give gifts to the Chancellor?”
“Of course. I’m happy to get a present, but I’m actually happier to see him smile when I give him a present. What about you, Your Majesty?”
At Hain’s words, Sienna pondered. The way Carl was happy when she gave him a present? No matter how deep she thought about it, she couldn’t remember anything.
“You know what… I don’t remember giving a present to Carl.”
She had received many gifts from Carl, but she had no memory of doing anything special for him. Her husband was the master of the Leipsden Empire. She didn’t give a gift to a man who owns the whole empire because she thought he lacked nothing.
All Sienna could barely remember was the handkerchief she handed him in the distant past, during the knight contest.
Was Carl happy to receive it? She couldn’t remember. Rather than the way he was pleased, she only had the memory of herself blushing with shame at the mess of embroidery that was hard to tell whether it was a dragon or a snake.
She’s never given a gift since that day. Having no dexterity with her hands, she felt burdened by petty acts such as embroidering, cooking, or weaving flowers. Recognizing it now, she was somewhat embarrassed.
“Why don’t you take this opportunity?”
As Sienna hesitated, Hain talked about how happy it was to give a present to a loved one—that seeing her husband happy makes her feel like she won the whole world.
Sienna was curious about Hain’s words. She couldn’t believe Carl would be happy to receive the gift she gave him. Just imagining it made her feel good, and a smile formed around her mouth. But that was only for a short time.
“What can I give him? I can’t make things myself…he has pretty much anything he needs.”
When Sienna spoke in a downhearted voice, Hain encouraged her.
“It doesn’t have to be a gift. What’s important is to do something that makes the other person happy. You can do what your Highness is confident about!”
Said Hain in a more excited voice than Sienna. But Sienna couldn’t easily think of what she could do. Moreover, she had to make Carl happy with it…
Sienna was going to say that she couldn’t think of anything and that she should put the plan off, but Hain said with a flick of her finger.
“How’s a banquet?”
“A banquet?”
“Yes, the imperial banquets hosted by Your Highness have received rave reviews every time. There are complaints that you don’t hold banquets often, but the responses after the banquets are always amazing. Not only is everyone talking about your banquets, but the noble ladies refer to those.”
Sienna was embarrassed by Hain’s praise. Holding a banquet was possible because she only gave instructions and did not make anything herself. It was because of the admirable practitioners who understood perfectly even if she spoke vaguely. Hain continued her words with glistening eyes.
“The finger-sized cake at the last banquet was very popular. It was filled with sweet, savory mousse cream or cold desserts made from jelly foam with sugar, spices, and topped with honey-stained flowers. The ladies of the nobility have sent me a lot of letters asking me to teach them how to cook those. Or they asked which tailor will be in charge of the empress’ dress for the next feast…It’s not easy to get away from those requests with just excuses but… my point is, Your Majesty’s banquet is just amazing.”
The more she spoke, the more Sienna could see how great her troubles were. Hain meant that she had been doing a good job of dealing with the noble ladies of higher rank than herself. But that wasn’t Sienna’s problem right now.
“But how can a banquet be a gift for Carl?”
“We’re having a banquet just for the Emperor! Wouldn’t he be happy then?”
‘A banquet only for Carl…’
