At the words spoken with a chuckle, Valentin rubbed his head even more vigorously like a disobedient cat. In the process, everything that had been neatly brushed became tangled and disheveled again, but Reynard didn’t complain.

After sprinkling a few kisses near the head and ears in front of him, he started brushing the prankster’s hair again.

“Then shall we go paint today?”

“Will it be okay if it’s not sunset?”

Reynard accurately remembered and brought up what Valentin had said on the train. It was about what philosopher Rontega had said to his wife. About Île Saint-Pierre in the sunset.

“Actually, the sunset passes by much faster than you think.”

The sun that rises in the sky and moves roundly from east to west for half a day seems to move very slowly, but that’s because the sun’s journey is very long. The sky was that big and wide.

In reality, the sun that is about to topple over to the west runs very quickly to the opposite side of the horizon.

“I don’t think I can complete the painting in just an hour or two.”

“I see.”

“So I thought it would be better to paint all afternoon. The island under the blue sky will be beautiful too. Right?”

“Yeah.”

In fact, Reynard wondered how beautiful such natural scenery could be – in his eyes, the only beautiful thing was his husband in front of him – but he automatically nodded his head and affirmed everything Valentin said. Indeed, he was like a superior who had taken the advice of his assistant to heart. Or a henpecked husband. He was becoming a doormat in a very desirable and proper way.

“Today, let’s spend time on that hill from afternoon to evening like that. How about it?”

“Anything you want.”

Upon hearing the affirmative answer in a kind voice, Valentin opened his eyes, turned around, hugged Reynard’s neck, and kissed his cheek.

*

A thick cloth for a picnic was spread on the green field on a high hill.

If someone were to set foot on the highest point of this hill and walk just a little forward, they would be greeted by a cliff that seemed to drop straight down. It was a place that had endured the knocking of waves for many years.

From there, if you raised your head and looked straight ahead, you could see Île Saint-Pierre at a glance. If you widened your view to capture more of that sea, you could see the island floating on the blue water like a round cupcake.

As expected of late summer, the sun was hot, but being on a cliff on a hill, a cool breeze constantly passed between them.

Despite the relentless wind, the servants, concerned that the delicate skin of the newly welcomed master would burn, diligently set up a canopy and tidied up the place so that the couple could spend time comfortably outdoors, making it quite a splendid spot.

Valentin sat face to face with Reynard on the thick mat and put various small tarts in his mouth. After eating a bite or two of blueberry tart, he also fed it to his husband’s mouth, and repeated the same with fig tart and banana butter tart, looking just like a squirrel storing food in its cheeks for winter. That action was exactly like saying “Oh? This is delicious, so you should try it too!” with excited eyes, so Reynard happily accepted the desserts that didn’t even suit his taste.

Having devoured all of them, Valentin now hugged a fruit basket to his chest.

“Somehow these days, no matter how much I eat, I’m still hungry…”

“I thought it was fortunate that you were eating well.”

Reynard said while plucking a grape from the basket and putting it in Valentin’s mouth. While chewing well, Valentin voiced his worries.

“What if I end up rolling around later?”

The way the ends of his eyebrows were drooping pitifully was the expression of someone who was seriously worried. Reynard alternately kissed those eyebrows and gently stroked the contours of his face. The affectionate touch contained comfort.

“It’s okay. Later, I’ll roll you around well.”

“No, at times like this, you should say things like ‘You didn’t gain a single pound’ or ‘You’re handsome even if you gain weight.'”

Valentin looked at the romance idiot as if frustrated. It was as if he was pathetic enough to not know when he became gloomy because of eating. Now his gaze toward his husband was extremely free and unrestrained.

“Valentin, strictly speaking, you belong to the pretty side rather than the handsome side.”

“Wow, look at this person. Talking nonsense again.”

Now he’s openly grumbling and being sarcastic. The chipmunk’s cheeks had grown as big as an ox. The alpha in front of him made it that way. Reynard secretly laughed while looking at the puffing Valentin.

With a defiant expression, Valentin hugged the fruit basket tightly to his chest and picked up a plum, chewing it. As if the plum he was chewing was him.

“I should start painting now.”

Wiping his plum juice-stained hands on a handkerchief, Valentin looked up at the sky. Fluffy clouds with a dense texture were floating in the blue and clear sky. As if nature was also cheering for today’s painting, a satisfied curve naturally formed on his mouth.

As Valentin got up from his seat, picking up the bag containing art supplies and the easel, Reynard jumped to his feet. Although the servants were waiting from a distance, it was clear that his delicate omega was trying to move on his own again. Rather than arguing with him to make the servants do it, he decided to move directly now.

“Don’t carry these things and let me do it.”

“I used to do it alone even normally, you know.”

Ignoring Valentin’s words, Reynard set up the easel in the pre-determined spot and fixed it. Then, after placing the bag with art supplies on a small stool, he silently watched Valentin take out the paper.

“It’s not paint.”

“Yes. Oil painting is not suitable for simple outdoor painting.”

Oil painting had many inconveniences unless a long time and stable place were guaranteed. Valentin had no intention of sitting for a long time outdoors where the wind blew a lot, taking out a large amount of paint and oil bottles, and arranging brushes and knives.

“Instead, I brought various types of pastels.”

Valentin opened the art supply bag and showed it to Reynard. The way he boasted with an excited face was like watching a child bragging about the colorful marbles they had collected. Inside the bag, pastels of various colors like a rainbow were lined up and packed.

“So these are pastels.”

Reynard looked inside as if seeing it for the first time in his life. It was the face of a genuine lover filled with unfamiliar curiosity about a field he had never been interested in all his life, thanks to his husband. Valentin left a light kiss on the face of the lover who had come close while looking into the art supplies and briefly explained.

“Yes. This side is regular pastels, and the opposite side is oil pastels.”

Among the warm and cool colors lined up in order, one particularly stood out. Somehow, a crimson lake oil pastel was broken in the middle.

‘When did this happen…?’

Among all the intact ones, the fact that the red one was broken felt somehow ominous.

“Is there a problem?”

Reynard carefully asked Valentin, who had stopped still while looking at the art supplies.

“It’s nothing.”

Valentin pushed aside the strange feeling.

Turning a sketchbook with a thick texture, Valentin started sketching lightly with a light-colored pastel.

“Don’t you draw with a pencil first?”

It was a question befitting someone who had at least been exposed to the concept of drawing somewhere as a refinement. Valentin laughed, looking at her husband who asked if he wasn’t sketching with a pencil.

“I’m not drawing in a orthodox way as if making some grand work, but trying to draw a rough picture that only captures the feeling.”

He added that he quite liked that kind of drawing, and his eyes turned to the island visible in front of him.

Reynard calmly stood and watched the white hand sketch quickly and draw the background part without hesitation. Then, as Valentin picked up a knife to grind the pastel into powder for a nice background, Reynard opened his mouth.

“What’s that?”

“If you grind it into fine particles like this and rub it, the color is applied very naturally and nicely.”

“Can I try it too?”

“You?”

“Yeah.”

Reynard nodded seriously.

There was a reason why he had suddenly become interested in Valentin’s trivial things and persistently asked about them.

He wanted to naturally blend into Valentin’s life.

Reynard knew roughly what his husband liked and what made him happy.

It would be correct to say that he also wanted to add something to the scenery Valentin drew and looked at. His lovely husband was someone who said he gained affection and courage for life from the lively movements of nature. He wanted to taste a spoonful of Valentin’s feelings, which were like an unknown magic potion in a large pot that he couldn’t even guess with his own way of thinking.

He wanted to feel the feeling of the 1st Princess, who said she could empathize with his thoughts and ideas without having much conversation. So Reynard suggested it to Valentin. Even if it was something as trivial and small as a piece of pastel. He wanted to do something together, anything.

Let me into your life.

It was a desperate inner cry in its own way. Whether he knew or not about such thoughts, Valentin smiled brightly and held out the light blue pastel and knife he was holding to him.

“You saw what I did earlier. Try grinding it on the paper like that.”

Valentin took the sketchbook that had been standing on the easel and laid it flat.

Reynard clumsily imitated what Valentin had been doing until a moment ago. Somehow, the way he was holding it transformed the small art knife into an excessively dangerous weapon, but Valentin decided to ignore such trivial things.

Snap.

“Ah…”

The same exclamation came from the couple.

One contained surprise and apology, and the other contained disappointment.

“I’m sorry.”

Valentin burst into laughter as he watched Reynard constantly flustered, searching for the snapped light blue pastel in the grass. It’s not like a bear searching for a precious blueberry in a meadow…

“It’s fine. Don’t pick it up.”

“No, still. It’s something you cherish and I made a mistake.”

Remembering how Valentin had handled it carefully since departing, Reynard eventually found the piece by rummaging through the grass. Seeing that, Valentin started laughing even louder. And he calmed his flustered husband.