Finally, Violet opened her eyes and looked at Aldin.

“Sir Aldin.”

“…Yes.”

Perhaps it was the seriousness on her face, but Aldin answered with a firm tone.

“I—”

Unfortunately, Violet couldn’t finish her sentence.

Because—

“Where did you go?! It took me ages to find you!”

An interrupter had appeared.

“……”

“……”

“What? Why do you both look like that? Do I have something on my face? Huh?”

“…Haa.”

“Why?”

The timing was truly frustrating. Violet’s sigh deepened.

“Never mind. Where have you been wandering off to…?”

“I told you I had something to check out! Was I not supposed to come back?”

“……”

“What’s wrong? Hey, did I do something wrong?”

“…Just keep living like you do.”

No matter how baffled Cairn was, the two of them simply sighed in unison.

And so, the festival came to a close.

As the festival was wrapping up, a piece of ominous news reached Violet’s ears.

A rumor had spread through the marketplace that war was soon to break out in the empire.

* * *

The entire nation was abuzz with rumors of war, though nothing had been confirmed yet.

People were filled with unease and fear. Every time they gathered, the conversation inevitably turned to war, and some even went so far as to investigate the validity of the rumors themselves.

Even if the rumors were true, it wasn’t as though their lives would change immediately.

Instead of investigating the truth of the rumors, Violet focused on what she had to do. She steadily worked on finishing the crown prince’s portrait.

She knew she should officially reject him once the portrait was complete. The air between them was already unbearably awkward.

And above all, Rajaden’s expression was enough to pierce anyone’s heart.

“…I suppose it won’t work with me, after all.”

Forcing a calm expression, he asked her to finish the portrait, telling her not to worry about the confession. Violet wanted to ask how she could possibly ignore that expression but chose to remain silent.

At least he wasn’t clinging to her pathetically. Other than occasionally looking at her with an inexplicable expression, Rajaden said nothing more.

‘He’ll sort it out on his own.’

Violet decided to think more lightly about it. She didn’t know his true feelings, but it seemed like the option of exile could be taken off the table.

With the international situation in chaos, exile wouldn’t be a good choice.

“I hope my painting pleases Your Highness.”

“…If you’ve painted it, how could it not be beautiful?”

Violet’s expression grew slightly awkward at the unexpected compliment, but the crown prince’s wistful expression didn’t change. She only hoped the painting wouldn’t end up burning.

In the end, the final touches were completed without incident, and the crown prince’s portrait was finished. Regardless of how Violet personally felt about him, Rajaden had been a striking subject and muse.

The portrait, bathed in light, resembled a god more than a human being. If someone were to see it, they might cry out that depicting a human as a god was blasphemy, but Violet didn’t care. She had already been called a witch who had made a pact with the devil, so what did it matter?

The empress said nothing about Violet’s painting, and Rajaden only wore that wistful expression, so the work was completed without further issue.

With the portrait finished, Rajaden no longer had an excuse to meet with Violet. The rumors that had once surrounded them had mostly died down, so they would no longer be the subject of gossip.

Rajaden was diligently moving on from his feelings. There were more important matters for him to focus on.

Meanwhile, Violet had begun preparing for her exhibition in earnest. She had a clear goal of holding the exhibition before the winter ended, so she threw herself into her work.

There was much noise surrounding Violet’s exhibition.

Because she was a noblewoman, or because she was a female artist, she was surrounded by countless prejudices. She also had to endure accusations that her paintings were so close to blasphemy that she must have made a pact with the devil.

Amidst the noise, she steeled herself.

It’s okay to fall into a slump. Overcoming it was all that mattered.

It’s okay to fall apart. As long as she could stand up again, no matter how slowly.

Violet liked her own paintings. No matter what anyone said, she loved the world she created through her art. At times, she wondered if she really had made a pact with the devil without even remembering it.

As Violet continued preparing for her exhibition, a rumor quite different from the news of the war began to spread.

…The rumor was that Aileen Everett had collapsed after ingesting poison.