Volume 9 - CH 9

I Will Avoid the Male Lead and Make a Harem

When I laughed, the boy followed me and laughed timidly as well. After that, he looked shocked, as if something had suddenly clicked him.

He seemed to have a rather disordered personality.

‘It is as if one of his screws is missing.’

The young boy soon asked me hesitantly after discovering a thin branch.

“Can I try drawing you?”

I wasn’t sure how he would depict me using a branch, but I said……

‘It would be my honor to be drawn by him.’

In the original story, Isaac was executed while Alphonse was invited to the Imperial Palace.

There, he drew the portrait of the Empress which caused a tremendous stir.

After completing that one painting, Alphonse was appointed as a court painter.

It was the opposite end of the life of an orphan boy born on the street.

“I disposed of the Diamond Island so that he could paint you. Therefore, you should at least pretend to be happy with it.”

The Archduke asked the emperor to bring Alphonse to his residence. And he said something like that to Selina, saying that she should thank him.

He had been trying to win Selina’s affection at the time.

“…Can you draw it out on paper?”

The boy was using a branch to draw my face on the dirty ground.

I considered his sketching to be an honor in and of itself, but I yearned for a picture.

“There is no paper.”

“Why?”

Isaac must have sold many paintings and made a sizable profit.

Moreover, I have already heard from Camilla that he got 100 million for my portrait.

“My paintings aren’t selling,”

“What?”

“The wandering minstrel uncle said that he would sell the paintings for me…… Considering that I’m not particularly skilled at talking.”

While using a branch to scratch the dirt floor, the dejected child muttered.

“On the contrary, he said that no one wants to buy my paintings. My paintings don’t seem to be particularly compelling.”

Wow, that piece of trash.

I was at a loss for words.

You make a good living off of passing off paintings of others as your own, yet you abandon the child in a dilapidated thatched house like this. You don’t even give him some paper?

“Still, the uncle said he likes my paintings. So he occasionally saves money to buy me a paper.”

It would be a commissioned painting. Just like my portrait.

He was clearly worried that if he kept giving Alphonse papers, he would only draw the pictures he wanted to draw, so he bought them one by one.

‘And the reason he got this house is to isolate Alphonse.’

It was sickening to witness how cunningly he attempted to exploit this young boy.

“At least one…… If only one person likes my painting, that’s fine.”

“I like your painting, too.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah.”

Alphonse’s cheekbones puffed up. His eyes were filled with fondness as he looked at me.

When he tried to take a step closer to me, as if he felt a connection, William abruptly stopped his steps.

A searing emotion was burning in his faithful back.

Wow, wow.

‘Don’t be jealous, Husky.’

In a somber tone, William said, stretching out his arms as if protecting me.

“She is the daughter of Count Crawford, Selina Crawford. Bow your head.”

Alphonse, in fact, has been staring at me since earlier. He gave me an embarrassed look.

“Co-count’s daughter……!”

Nonetheless, he appeared to know whose land he was on.

“Yes. The Lord of this land’s one and only daughter.”

Alphonse bowed his head on the ground, terrified.

‘I know he’s a commoner, but he doesn’t have to go this far.’

I thought he had no idea how commoners generally treat nobility because he had never met anyone.

I squatted down and looked the boy in the eyes.

“Since when have you lived with Isaac?”

“Isaac?”

“That minstrel. I suppose that’s not his real name either.”

“If you mean Uncle James…… We met for the first time three years ago.”

Isaac makes the biggest investment of his life after recognizing Alphonse’s aptitude to paint on the dirt ground.

“He was the first person to purchase paper and paint for me. So I want to repay him when some of my paintings are sold, however……”

You repaid him more than enough.

“He pretended to be a painter and claimed to have painted your painting.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know how much he sold my portrait you drew to the lord of this land?”

“……”

“It’s 100 million runa.”