Sneaking a glance at Jaha, I saw him put down his brush with a smile. After all, Enfrise was the master of this mansion, so why would Jaha refuse?

It was just me feeling unnecessarily guilty.

I should’ve mentioned that I was learning letters. I completely forgot.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

I quickly went to open the door. There stood Enfrise, holding a tray with a puzzled expression.

“I’ve brought some snacks.”

“Thank you. But why are you…?”

He didn’t reply. Dodging the question with a slight shift in his gaze, it seemed… that he must’ve grumbled in front of Tembur again? From the looks of it, It seemed like he was bothered by my interaction with Jaha. Then, he should just ask to be called by his name, too.

Ah, but then, his heart might…

Hmm.

“Would you like to join us?”

“Would that be alright?”

“Why not? But there’s a bit of a strong smell inside at the moment. That’s because of the oil used in the paints. It’s quite pungent.”

The paint itself wasn’t terribly smelly, but the oil…

It was mixed with two types, one smelling somewhat like cooking oil and the other truly noxious. How to describe it? It was just really strong, somewhat akin to the smell at a gas station.

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“It’s fine.”

Really. Would he even care about the smell of oil? Even without it, he probably couldn’t tell whether the snacks were going through his nose or mouth.

“Good day, Your Grace.”

“Sorry for the intrusion, Jaha.”

“An intrusion? Please, don’t mind me. Then, Lady Rivette, it might be best for you to have the snack with His Grace while watching. I was going to show you how to do it anyway.”

Ah, Jaha really knows how to read the room. Or was it Enfrise failing to hide his jealousy?

Even now, he was looking at Jaha with burning eyes.

And to think he endured the last two lessons without showing up, except for the first one. But then, the atmosphere had been a bit off since the second lesson. And now, to act like this right after making up? While part of me thought, ‘Really, already?’, there was a small part that was pleased.

In novels, whenever the male lead got unreasonably jealous, I’d think, ‘Why are you even jealous over that?’ and get frustrated. Though now that it was happening to me, it felt strangely nice.

Was it because it’s Enfrise?

“After setting the big composition, we start with the darker colors. However, even within the same color, there are differences in lightness and saturation.”

“Lightness refers to brightness, and saturation to vividness, right?”

“Exactly. You’re well-informed.”

Jaha flashed a smile at me, then startled and turned his head. Glancing to the side, I saw Enfrise gripping his fork with a sullen look.

“To adjust the lightness, it’s cumbersome to create new paint each time, so usually, white is mixed in.”

As Jaha brushed dark spots near the apple’s stem with a fine brush, he mixed a bit of yellow and a bit of white into the dark-brown paint. Then, he began to apply it next to the areas he had already painted.

Oh, that looked quite professional.

Depth… perhaps? The indented feeling of the stem area was somewhat represented.

“In this way, you move from dark and deep colors to lighter ones as you paint.”

Jaha remained silent after that. Probably out of consideration for Enfrise. It was obvious that engaging me in conversation would just make him uneasy.

I said nothing, too, and simply watched his hand move. Honestly, it wasn’t out of consideration for Enfrise. I was just zoning out, similar to how people blankly stare at fire or water, known as fire-watching or water-watching.

Was this paint-watching? Or drawing-watching?

Anyway, there was a certain enjoyment in watching.

As the brush strokes transformed, something that both was and wasn’t an apple took shape. There were colors like that in an apple?! I found myself marveling, but as another layer of color was added, I couldn’t help but admire it.

Ah, that was definitely an apple!

“It’s done.”

“Ooohh, Jaha, you paint really fast.”

“Apples are something I’ve painted several times, and I didn’t go into detail. Normally, I’d refine it further, but for a demonstration, this should suffice.”

Jaha set his brush down and moved away from the easel to sit down. Naturally, he chose a seat diagonally across from me and right next to Enfrise.

I took a brief look at him and then approached the easel myself.

“I want to try painting now. Can I paint over this?”

“Adding a bit of white to the eyes and nose should do the trick.”

I loaded the brush with plenty of white paint and erased the eyes and nose.

Sorry, Flea, for making you hear you look like a pigeon… I promised to get better at drawing quickly and immortalize your cuteness for generations to come.

“First, mix a good amount of oil with the yellow to create a circle…”

…A, a circle….

Why was the circle behaving like this? Did someone take a bite out of it, or did someone press it from the side?

…That was impossible! I never thought drawing a circle would be the first challenge!

“….”

“….”

Despite several more attempts, it was futile. If anything, it just gets more distorted.

Curious about the two men’s reactions, I sneakily glanced back. Enfrise had an inscrutable expression. It was impossible to tell if he was laughing, angry, or sad, while Jaha had a resigned or perplexed smile.

“…Um, Jaha?”

“Maybe… for now, let’s put aside the apple and focus on practicing drawing circles. That’ll be today’s task. Until I visit next time.”

“Okay…”

With a sigh, I grasped the brush again.

* * *

Ugh.

I always believed hard work could overcome any obstacle, but recently, I was beginning to question that belief. Both with these stubborn characters and drawings, why wouldn’t things go my way?

“How about taking a break?”

“Just a bit longer.”

The most frustrating part is this. How many times had I written the character ㅇ, and yet here I couldn’t draw a circle? But why didn’t it work when I used a brush?

“…Chaperil.”

“Yes!”

“Would it be all right… if I hug you now?”

“…Uh, uhh—”

Ah, I wanted to keep trying.

I sneak a peek at Enfrise. His flushed face turned slightly away, and his stammering looked unbearably cute.

Haa. Well, I could always practice drawing later.

I put down the brush and sat next to Enfrise before I leaned my body to rest my head on his shoulder.

“Are you jealous because I’ve only been practicing drawing?”

Seeing Enfrise get jealous over animals, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got jealous over a drawing. I teased him with that thought, but surprisingly, he readily nodded in agreement.

“Yes.”

“What, you’re going to get jealous over the clothes I wear next?”

“That might happen.”

Seriously, he was supposed to deny it, not agree! His easy agreement left me speechless.

“Do you not like me learning to draw?”

“…To be honest, I’m not fond of it. It would be okay if I were the one teaching you, but…”

“You’ve seen me and Jaha during our lessons. There’s nothing between us.”

“That… you don’t know.”

Umm, this was serious. It was all the author’s fault. What kind of backstory did they create to leave him with such low self-confidence?

“Why would I give my heart to someone else when I have the Grand Duke?”

“You might not, but… what about other men?”

As his arms securely wrapped around me, I wondered if he’d always feel this anxious with me.

“Ah.”

Then, I remembered about the letters.

Hmm, perhaps it was best to be honest. Even though this was reality for me, it was still a novel’s world, and I possessed the female lead. This meant if I hid something, the world would somehow reveal it.

“There’s something I need to tell the Grand Duke.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve asked Jaha to teach me how to read and write.”

I haven’t actually started learning. I only received the picture cards. It was because Enfrise walked in today, so I couldn’t even start with the letter ㄱ.

“Why… with Sir Jaha?”

“Technically, I asked him last time. I thought it was better to keep a distance from you at that time… but since you don’t like me drifting away, I’m telling you the truth.”

“….?”

His hold tightened. Was he holding back something again?

“Should I just learn from the Grand Duke then?”

“Yes.”

Wow, that was a quick response—almost 5G speed.

“We’ll have to study closely together, is that okay?”

“Yes. It’s much better than watching you do that with another man.”

“Hmm.”

I casually wrapped my arm around Enfrise’s waist. He tensed up instantly, his body stiffening further.

“Is it really okay?”

“…Perhaps.”

“Alright then, I’ll learn from the Grand Duke.”

The atmosphere seemed all right now. Should I ask again about the medicine? And also about my illness.

“But I have something I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

“Promise you’ll answer.”

“Yes.”

He agreed without even knowing what I was going to ask?

“Will you answer whatever I ask?”

“….”

He hesitated. He must have just realized there were still things he wasn’t ready to talk about. Hey, maybe I should’ve just asked without warning. But seeing Enfrise troubled…

It was beautiful, but not exactly pleasant.

“Last time, you mentioned I have a chronic illness.”

“Yes.”

“What kind of illness is it?”

“….”

Ah, he clamed up again.

I wished I knew the reason. Could it really be that I have a terminal illness? Still, there was nothing like that in the original story! Well, these days, hidden settings aren’t always indicated by keywords. Maybe it was something like that… Nonetheless, why would a fluffy story need hidden settings?

It would probably be just a setup for a scene, right?!

“…Right. You must be curious.”

As I was about to give up on getting an answer, Enfrise spoke up.

__