Chapter 39

***

After Hannah left the gallery, Michael stared intently at her back for a long time.

“I never said a word.”

After Hannah had completely disappeared, he looked at Cassia and said, and she laughed bitterly.

“Why, did you want to protest, too?”

“Yes… No.”

“What?”

“No, I’d rather not.”

He chuckled. Cassia tilted her head, and he said, “Now that I think about it, I don’t think I can say that I’m not dating you. Well, after all, it’s not because nobody has ever talked about dating.”

“Are you offended by what I said?”

She thought he looked like a child when he talked a lot for no reason. When she asked, he said, “No. If you’re going to say that, I like whatever it is.”

“…”

“I just can’t. It’s just that, Cassia.”

She looked at him and let out a small laugh. It was cute to say that he couldn’t do it while he was doing it.

Maybe this person just picks out the words he likes and says things over and over again.

Her affection for him continued to grow in a pleasant mood. She felt happy all the time.

“Oh, I’d like to give you a hug now,” said Cassia, bursting into laughter.

“I’m afraid Miss Hannah is watching us outside, so you can’t make it obvious.”

‘Why is this entrance a glass door? So that you can see clearly from the outside.’

“I’ll have to paint it or put something to cover it…”

Cassia let out a pang of regret. Michael burst into laughter when he saw her like that.

* * *

Late at night, Hannah was walking toward her accommodation, letting out a deep sigh.

It was not easy to track the past deeds of the Third Prince.

It seemed that he had travelled here and there without leaving a single trace of what he had done.

It would be better to cross the border and go to another country to pursue information about him.

He must have been more vigilant in places that the Imperial Knights couldn’t track.

The issue of the Third Prince was a big topic among reporters as it was treated as a significant issue in the empire.

Everyone was bent on digging into the past of the Third Prince.

Emperor Fontrich wanted to raise the awareness and recognition of the Third Prince in the empire.

The Imperial Palace welcomed the public’s enthusiastic response, and journalists did not stop either.

So there was no obstacle to the pursuit.

It was only the Third Prince who avoided everything well.

“Oh, I should have taken that opportunity earlier.”

No matter how hard she thought about it, it was a waste. She should have taken that opportunity earlier.

The gallery was the only space that proved the Third Prince had stayed.

And the owner of the place was the only witness of the Third Prince.

Of course, the fact that the woman was a former Duchess of Whidrian was also an interesting point.

But she didn’t expect her to look so comfortable and say it wasn’t true.

‘Why did I run away from the store?’

It’s been a long time since she felt somewhat embarrassed, as she would normally hang on and ask.

It was then. A man appeared in front of her. 

Huh? Hannah opened her eyes wide.

The man who appeared in the dark was wearing a black cloak.

Just as Hannah was about to ask who she was, he slowly took off his cape.

In it was the figure of Count Allison, whom she had encountered in the gallery earlier.

“Count Allison…?”

Hannah’s eyes grew bigger. The sudden appearance of Count Allison spread a sense of wonder.

It felt strange. She was going to ask him what was going on when he said, “You don’t remember visiting me today.”

The way he spoke was strange, and it sounded a little different from his usual image.

Hannah, staring blankly at him, felt her mind go blank. Her eyes were dimly coloured.

With a snap, the notebook she was holding fell off. He continued in the dark.

“Also, you don’t remember seeing Cassia Bennette and Michael Allison today.”

Hannah didn’t answer, but just looked him in the eye.

It happened in an instant. Soon he disappeared from her sight.

A few seconds after he left, Hannah came to her senses and shook her head.

“…Oh, what was that?”

Something seemed to have gone by.

For some reason, Hanna, who trembled once in the midst of a flowing chill, picked up the notebook that had fallen.

She started walking down the street again.

Third, there was a lot of work to do here to investigate the whereabouts of the Third Prince.

* * *

It was a deep night. When Cassia got home from work, she changed into a set of pyjamas and took out a large canvas. 

In the middle of the living room, an easel was taken out, a canvas was placed, and a cup of warm tea was placed on a nearby table.

Sitting in a comfortable position with her legs apart, she calmly took out the palette and brush.

After that, she breathed deeply, imagined a picture in one of her favourite colours, and drew a thick circle.

A large, thick purple circle was drawn on the canvas.

Whoosh…

Once again, she exhaled and began to draw on the canvas with the colours she liked.

Red, yellow, blue, black.

Gradually, her hands became faster as she drew. The purple circle on the canvas began to fill with various colours.

Sometimes she took a sip of warm tea on the table, and each time she drank it, she felt it cool down.

So quickly, she drew the picture.

When the painting was finished, the outside was beginning to brighten as if the dawn was about to come.

She looked at the finished picture. Various colours were intertwined around a large purple circle.

She glanced at it once, and at dawn, and smiled.

She stayed up all night.

She started painting because she was relatively less tired today, thanks to Michael’s help in her work, but she wanted to find out her true feelings.

How much she loved painting. It was to judge for herself how talented she was in painting.

The last suggestion that Adolf had made to her, still lingered in her ears.

[And if you go to the capital with me, I will support you in all circumstances so that you can paint to your heart’s content.]

Cassia slowly rose from her seat.

She looked at her painting quietly, recalling his words that rang in her ears again.

* * *

“I’m going to the capital.”

“…!”

Cassia spoke to Michael, who came to the gallery in the morning, and he looked at her in utter surprise. He kept his eyes wide open.

“What?”

“I’ve decided to go to the capital. I’ll quit my job soon.”

Her body was tired from staying up all night, but her mind was well functioning. Michael stared at her blankly. 

“I stayed up all night last night. While I was drawing. I wanted to test myself.”

“…”

“But after I finished painting, it was dawning.”

Cassia chuckled.

“I’m still not sure if I’m talented in painting, but I’ve noticed something for sure. Time goes by very quickly when I draw. And during that time, I was able to immerse myself in a different world.”

“…”

“I think this is enough courage to learn painting, and I think it’s worth visiting at least once.”

In fact, she might have known it from the beginning. From the moment Adolf offered her a suggestion.

And since the moment, the offer has been ringing in her ears since he left.

She wanted to learn how to paint properly. The fact that she liked painting more than she thought.

“Well, if I had to give it another excuse, it’s a pity that Adolf and I are separated like this.”

“…”

“Sorry for the sudden news. I know you’re worried, and you care about me. But I want to go to the capital, Michael.”

Already, there were so many customers here that she had lost the level of composure and leisure she originally thought of.

As long as Adolf continues to be a topic of discussion among people, it does not seem likely that people will stop visiting this gallery.

That’s why she decided to settle everything and go back to the capital.

“Okay.”

Michael listened to her explanation with a serious look, and then nodded and answered briefly.

“If you’ll do that, I can’t help it.”

A regretful look flashed across his face.

***

When she made up her mind to leave for the capital, everything went fast.

The first thing she did was to let people know that the store was closing.

[Planning to close]

When she hung a sign in front of the gallery so that it could be seen clearly, the visitors began to ask her.

“Excuse me, are the words on the outside real?”

“I can’t believe it’s closed…! Is that true?”

Cassia held out her coffee cup and said to them, “Yes, I’ve put it up in advance because there are people coming from far away. After closing the gallery, I don’t want them to come here in vain.”

People’s reactions to the closing of the gallery varied.

However, most of them believed that the store should not be closed as it is.

The only place where the past whereabouts of the missing third prince was proven.

This place had already become a symbolic and sacred place for people.

Hannah, who was staying in Lawrencia, also rushed into the store when she heard the news.

“Is it true that you’re going to close this place?”

“Yes, that’s right, Hannah.”

“No! You know how symbolic this place is to the people.”

Hannah seemed genuinely sorry for the closure. 

“I don’t want to let go of my greed as a journalist, but I don’t want such a symbolic place to disappear like this!”

“Then can Hannah write an article?”

“What?”

Cassia was just thinking about it, and she thought it was good. 

“Everyone is against the closure. If Hannah writes an article that gets a lot of people interested in whether or not this gallery is going to survive, it’s a good solution.”

Cassia felt troubled. As to how to end the gallery closure, which many people opposed.

“Write an article, Hannah. The interview about the actions of the Third Prince will be replaced with this.”

As Hannah was constantly looking forward to an interview with Cassia, Cassia thought that it would be a win-win for each other if she could throw a good article with this.

At her words, Hannah sighed, saying, “You really have no intention of responding to the interview,” and nodded her head. 

Cassia looked at her like that and tilted her head.

“You don’t remember, Hannah?”

“Yes? What?”

“…No.”

At first glance, Cassia thought it was strange. About Hannah not mentioning anything about Michael’s relationship with her.

She didn’t ask, as it would be nice if there was no mention.

Anyway, Hannah went back and started writing articles about the gallery’s existence.

Shortly after that, articles about Cassia’s little gallery were published in newspapers.

Rumours of the disappearance of the Third Prince’s symbolic place quickly spread throughout the empire.

And one day, “Are you there?”

A customer came to her who could really be a solution.

***