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unedited
Even if they pitched a tent in a windy spot, they couldn’t keep out all this heat.
Moreover, lately Rieta has hardly come out of the house.
It had been a long time since she faced summer without the protection of the roof.
So, she relied on the little winter in her hand, Rieta, to admire the scenery swaying in the wind.
Large leaves, summer bellflowers, and small bugs on the table.
“It really is summer.”
When Rieta laughed at that, the Duke replied, “Yes, it is.”
The ice in her glass melted and made a ‘clink’ sound.
“If the Duke hadn’t called me outside, I wouldn’t have realized it.”
“I heard that you’re only in front of the desk lately. Darrell is worried.”
“Only in front of the desk…….”
Rieta couldn’t bear to say that she wasn’t, and smiled awkwardly.
“Yes, it was. I haven’t gone for a walk in a while. I guess it’s because Noel isn’t there.”
“I guess so. I didn’t expect it to be this quiet without the child.”
When Noel was at the mansion, he could always hear the two children giggling together.
On such a hot summer day…….’
The Duke’s gaze, reminiscent of last summer, turned to the flower bed of bellflowers.
Noel and Rieta used to squat around it every summer and close the petals to make a little flower bag.
Why did the children laugh so much at such a trivial game?
The Duke regretted not paying more attention to the sound.
Now that he couldn’t hear it, he couldn’t figure out why they laughed.
“Is it quiet right now?”
The Duke’s gaze returned to Rieta’s question.
To 15-year-old Rieta Liz.
“Duke, if you say that, the singing bugs in the garden will be upset.”
Especially the cicadas.
The still innocent laugh of Rieta made the Duke laugh along with it.
Maybe he was relieved.
He thought to himself ‘Princess Rieta is still here,’.
And the wind blew again.
There was a different scent this time. Rieta turned her head to where the wind had come from.
Near the tent, under a large tree, there was a canvas.
“Has the painter returned?”
Rieta asked as she looked at the pure white canvas.
The artist sponsored by the Duke was still drawing everywhere these days.
He returned to the capital from time to time to give drawing lessons to the Duke’s children and Rieta.
Through that time, Rieta learned very well that she did not have talent for paintings no matter what.
She liked the art class itself though.
It was, especially when she was with Darrell.
Because the colors he chose were always pretty.
“No, he is in the Duchy.”
“So, is it Darrell that is painting?”
“No, I am.”
“The Duke?!”
Rieta replied, unknowingly startled.
But she realized that it was rude and quickly apologized.
“That didn’t mean that the Duke’s drawing was strange.”
“I know. The fact that I am not close to the brush.”
Rieta tried to say “No!” again, but stopped.
For some reason, it seemed that his story was not over.
“…… But sometimes I also have something I want to leave behind.”
What do you want to leave behind?
Rieta looked in the direction his canvas was headed.
There was a hazy mansion somewhere filled with strong sunlight.
“You want to leave behind the mansion in summer?”
“If possible, I would like spring and winter in as well.”
“Wouldn’t the canvas be too small to fit everything in?”
Rieta tilted his head.
“Actually, it’s more a matter of my skills than the size of the canvas. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have continued to take art classes.”
The Duke smiled and replied.
“If it’s something you really want to leave behind, wouldn’t it be nice to ask the painter?”
Rieta put down her glass.
Clasping her cold palms.
“Because the Duke and the painter teacher seem to get along well.”
The Duke nodded his head.
Perhaps, if he asks the painter, the painter will do everything the Duke could wish for.
For example, he will capture all the laughter of summer he missed on the canvas.
However, the Duke did not want to leave such things in the family.
It was a decision he made when thinking about the child’s distant future.
Still, he couldn’t let go of his lingering feelings and ended up sitting in front of the canvas.
“But I think it’s cold to leave it for yourself. Seeing that the canvas is white, you must have just started?”
“…… hmm, ”
Actually, it has been like this for several days, and it is difficult to say that he has not been able to draw a single line.
“More than that, I have something to tell you. Princess.”
So, the Duke put aside the painting for a while and turned to another topic.
He asked for tea time because he had a story to tell from the beginning.
“Yes, Duke. Please go ahead.”
Rieta shifted her posture and sat down, listening to the Duke.