TNBTW | Episode 47

She had no idea why she had developed this ability, but Edith decided to be grateful for it regardless.

“Skyle?”

Just as she stepped down from the carriage, Edith spotted a familiar figure standing near the front door. It was her contract husband, Skyle.

As always, he stood with perfect posture, looking at her. He must have arrived home a little earlier than she had.

“You’re already off work?”

“Yes. I’ve decided not to take on evening duties for about a week, following the physician’s recommendation.”

“That’s a great idea! You do feel a bit better now that you’re resting, don’t you?”

Edith smiled warmly. He had worked without pause; it was about time he took a break. They didn’t say that rest was the best medicine for nothing.

“I’m not sure.”

But Skyle’s response wasn’t very encouraging. As Edith awkwardly glanced around and let the corners of her mouth drop, his eyes, which had briefly flicked toward her, quickly turned away again.

“…I don’t feel like I’m getting any better.”

Then maybe you were seen by a quack?

Edith was about to cautiously voice her suspicion when she recalled just in time that he had been treated by a court physician.

‘Hmm, in that case, I take back the quack comment…’

Though she hadn’t even said it out loud, Edith quickly amended her opinion. Her courage wasn’t great enough to call the Emperor’s personal physician a quack!

“Were you returning from the Hartmann estate?”

“Yes, that’s right. I got home a little later than I expected.”

“What was the matter this time?”

“Oh, today was…”

She was about to answer naturally when a sudden realization struck her.

“Come to think of it, Skyle, you’ve been asking a lot of questions lately. You never used to ask anything.”

Whenever Skyle initiated a conversation, it had always been for a reason. Something like the contract, the Emperor’s orders, or news of business trips.

Any casual conversation had always been started by her, and even then, it had never flowed particularly smoothly.

That was how it had always been, but lately, something had changed. He asked after her well-being first. Like today, he showed interest in what she’d been doing.

Ah, and the other day, he had even asked what she liked.

“Does that make you uncomfortable?”

Skyle’s face stiffened, seemingly misunderstanding her meaning. Edith quickly shook her head.

“No! Not at all! I actually like that we can talk. Living alone used to be kind of lonely, but this feels a bit like when I lived with my younger sibling.”

“You had a sibling?”

Realizing her slip too late, Edith flinched. She had a sibling, but Edith Irene Brussels did not. Baron Brussels had only one child—her.

“…I can’t see them anymore now, though.”

After a moment’s hesitation, that was all she said. To cover it up, she would’ve needed to lie somehow, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Oh, and the reason I went to the Hartmann estate today…”

Edith began to change the subject but then trailed off. It wasn’t an easy topic to bring up with Skyle.

Not because it was a secret. Even though this wasn’t an official counseling session, Edith still tried to maintain confidentiality. She hadn’t planned on sharing any detailed information anyway, so that wasn’t the issue.

“If it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to.”

“It’s not that, um… Actually, it has to do with a child’s younger sibling.”

The problem was the topic itself; siblings. Thinking of Skyle’s relationship with his own brother made her cautious. She wouldn’t have mentioned her good relationship with her sibling if it hadn’t slipped out unintentionally.

Feeling guilty, she glanced at him nervously. But as always, Skyle’s expression was unreadable.

“Christian and I share a similar temperament because we inherited the same blood from our father. Our mothers are different, so you could say we’re only half brothers.”

That makes sense… Edith nodded instinctively. That’s what siblings were, after all.

“There’s no deeper meaning to it for me.”

Nod, nod. Edith was slowly bobbing her head when she suddenly stopped.

“I don’t know what Christian thinks. We’ve never had a proper conversation. But… it’s possible he resents me.”

If there’s any shred of humanity left in that child, that is.

Though his voice remained calm and low, it threw Edith into confusion.

“Resents you? Why would he…”

She couldn’t understand his words.

Christian had been branded a demon by the temple. At what point could he possibly blame Skyle? Especially since they’d never even spoken.

“According to the Pope, Christian was born with the qualities to become the vessel of a demon. It has nothing to do with me.”

Skyle’s gaze briefly met Edith’s flustered eyes before drifting into the distance, to some place she could not see.

“But perhaps… the reason it was discovered lies with me.”

His grey eyes, like misty night fog, rippled with a quiet intensity.

 

***

 

“Hello, Elliott! We meet again!”

“Hello, Duchess!”

The little boy with his adorably curly hair responded to Edith’s greeting with a bright smile.

 

 

Elliott stood holding Sophia’s hand, looking perfectly at ease. The previously spiking red-alert levels on his status had now gone down considerably over the past few days.

Catching Edith’s eyes, Sophia gave a subtle signal and then bent down to meet Elliott at eye level.

“Today, the Duchess is going to help with your art class. Our Elliott likes drawing, right?”

“Yup! I love it!”

Understanding Sophia’s intention, Edith continued with a gentle smile.

“Everything’s ready, so shall we start right away?”

“Yes! Let’s go to the art room!”

Elliott let go of Sophia’s hand and took the lead with enthusiasm. It seemed he truly enjoyed drawing, just as she’d heard.

The room, with its wide windows overlooking the lush green garden, looked like the perfect place for a child to paint.

A table with easels and various art supplies stood facing the windows, suggesting that he sometimes sketched the view outside.

“Today, we’re going to do something a little special.”

“Something special?”

Elliott’s eyes widened.

“That’s right, something special. Today, you’ll get to draw whatever you want.”

“Anything? Not just apples?”

Apparently, he’d been receiving formal lessons from an artist, starting with simple still-life like apples since he was still young.

“Of course. If there’s anything you’d like to draw right now, you can draw it, anything at all.”

Edith placed a clock she had prepared earlier on the corner of the windowsill where Elliott could easily see it.

“But you’ll only draw until the long hand goes around once.”

“Why?”

“Because drawing too long can be tiring. Everyone needs a break.”

“But I’m not tired…”

He looked a little disappointed at the time limit, but only briefly. The joy of getting to draw what he wanted soon overtook him.

Elliott expertly squeezed paint onto the wooden palette and mixed it with his brush. He worked so swiftly that Edith didn’t even have a chance to assist.

He mixed yellow and blue and began painting without hesitation. Wherever his small hand guided the brush, the white canvas came to life in cheerful colors.

Edith stayed quiet for a while, simply watching so he could concentrate fully on his artwork.

How much time had passed? Gradually, the painting began to take shape. The boy was painting a landscape from outside the window.

“You’re using green… Looks like a field to me.”

Rather than asking directly what he was painting, Edith tried describing what she saw.

“There’s a big castle where we live, and this is behind it! It’s super wide. Thiiiis big!”

Fortunately, her guess was correct, and Elliott excitedly explained. It must have been the field near Count Hartmann’s Castle.

A few more strokes and the canvas showed a blue sky above and green grass below. Then, he carefully painted a field of flowers on the green plains.

It wasn’t long before the peaceful spring landscape began to shift. Elliott began drawing people near the flower field. Edith leaned in to look more closely.

He painted three people: a brown-haired woman in a pink dress smiling, a curly-haired man, and a small boy standing between them.

“Looks like three people went on a picnic in the field together.”

“This one’s my mom, this one’s my dad. And this is me. It’s my family!”