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Chapter 32
Count Green barely managed to keep a straight face.
The very Mary he had wanted so badly had painted a portrait of Leonia.
Just thinking about it made his blood boil, but he couldn’t show it openly.
‘There are too many eyes watching.’
If he slipped up, it might negatively affect the dress that would soon be unveiled.
He tried to suppress his anger and let it go, but—
“You seem to like the painting.”
Leonia, who normally wouldn’t bother acknowledging him, spoke first.
What is she thinking?
After a brief hesitation, he gave a measured reply.
“I heard Mary released a new piece, so I came to see it… but it’s not quite what I expected, so I’ve been studying it for a while.”
He was essentially saying it was unfortunate that she was the model of Mary’s work.
Leonia smiled faintly.
“I see.”
She clearly understood what he meant, yet didn’t react in the slightest—that alone irritated him.
She had always been like this.
When she was engaged to Diego, she acted like an empty doll. Now, she was as unreadable as the Duke of Arban.
‘She’s always been insufferable.’
There was no point in staying longer—he’d only get more annoyed.
Having decided that, Count Green began to leave.
No matter how valuable Mary’s work was, he had no intention of buying a portrait of Leonia Bellaci.
“Well then, I’ll be—”
“Wouldn’t it be better to tell Mary that directly, if you have something to say about her work?”
Leonia lowered her voice and said something unexpected.
“Mary will be arriving here shortly.”
“…What?”
Count Green’s eyes widened. Naturally, he stopped in his tracks.
He could meet Mary in person?
As he hesitated, the surroundings suddenly grew noisy.
“Mary’s here! Mary has appeared!”
At someone’s shout, attention quickly shifted.
“Mary? Where?”
“Which one is her?”
Through the murmuring crowd, a young girl wearing a half-mask approached, escorted by knights.
“Hello, I’m the painter Mary. It’s my first time… standing before so many people like this, so I’m a bit nervous.”
Standing in front of the painting, Mary spoke in a trembling voice.
“I came here because it’s my first time presenting my work outside a gallery… so I was a little curious.”
She awkwardly scratched her cheek, clearly nervous.
Then, as if they had been waiting, people began firing questions.
“Why did you suddenly paint a portrait?”
“How did you choose your model?”
Count Green also wanted to know, so he folded his arms and waited for her answer.
Perhaps overwhelmed by the heated atmosphere, Mary hesitated and fumbled.
Count Green clicked his tongue.
‘If she had accepted my patronage earlier, she wouldn’t have to make a spectacle like this.’
Mary was probably here because of anxiety.
Spencer had often been like that too.
‘She must’ve reached the stage where she needs to confirm her fame with her own eyes.’
Gaining attention right after her debut must’ve been a huge burden—or perhaps her talent had already reached its limit.
Still, she was the most famous painter for now, so he had considered using her.
But after she made the foolish decision to paint Leonia Bellaci’s portrait, he had no further use for her.
…or so Count Green quickly rationalized.
It wasn’t that Mary didn’t choose him—it was that he chose not to choose Mary.
“I’ll answer that.”
At some point, Mary slipped away, and Leonia stepped forward instead.
The crowd’s attention naturally shifted to her.
Since she was the model of the portrait, they expected her to explain.
“Miss Mary has agreed to paint portraits of both myself and the Duke. The one displayed in the lobby is one of them.”
That much, people had already guessed.
So tell us more!
Everyone—including Count Green—looked at her expectantly.
“Ah, but it might be difficult to talk about this without Miss Mary present.”
“…?”
“It wouldn’t be right to discuss it without the person involved, would it?”
But Leonia didn’t continue.
She cut off the explanation right at the most anticipated part and turned away.
“Oh, right.”
As if she had just remembered something, she turned back.
“I almost forgot—I have something to give you, Count.”
She took something out and handed it to him.
It was a necklace with a locket.
“…What is this?”
“It’s an invitation. We reduced the scale of the wedding, but made it… unique.”
When he opened the locket, inside was the same portrait displayed in the lobby.
“We placed Miss Mary’s portrait inside.”
“…I see.”
He quickly closed it, hoping no one would take interest—
but of course, they did.
“A portrait? The one Mary painted?”
“They say it’s inside that necklace—the wedding invitation!”
Because many were already watching, the room quickly grew noisy.
“Please note that without this necklace, you won’t be able to enter the wedding hall.”
Leonia pointed directly at it as she emphasized the warning, then gave a small bow.
“Then, I’ll see you at the wedding, Count Green.”
Watching her leave after so carefully laying the bait until the very end, Count Green clenched his fist.
‘…That sly fox!’
He already disliked her, but now he was thoroughly sick of her.
The people in the atelier that day loved gossip.
Thanks to that, the bait Leonia threw spread through high society in an instant.
“They say Mary will reveal why she painted the future Duchess of Arban’s portrait at the wedding.”
“Who came up with the idea of using a necklace with a portrait inside as an invitation?”
“You need that necklace to attend the wedding, right?”
Soon, rumors began mixing with false details.
There was plenty of negative chatter, but that wasn’t what mattered.
‘Everywhere I go, that’s all anyone talks about!’
Leonia had clearly declared before the Emperor that she would reduce the scale of the wedding.
So normally, people would be more interested in the dress he was about to release.
‘Especially that necklace… that’s the problem!’
Interest shifted to Leonia’s necklace.
Not only that, but even portrait painting itself became a trend.
If it had stopped there, Count Green wouldn’t have been this furious.
‘That girl Mary released three portraits in a row.’
The first portrait featured Alice Bellaci.
People thought:
‘Mary must be acquainted with someone from that family.’
And most assumed it was Leonia.
That assumption shattered when the second portrait was revealed.
The model was none other than Alia Branto—
the Marquis Regen’s fiancée and the future Crown Princess.
Naturally, high society was shaken.
At the same time, doubts arose.
‘Mary painted Alia Branto? Then she wasn’t close to Leonia?’
That doubt soon turned into certainty.
Mary painted yet another noble lady who followed Alia.
A new narrative formed:
‘Then she must have just painted Leonia because she felt like it.’
If people had looked deeper, they might’ve realized the truth—
but before that could happen, another statement spread.
“I want to paint bright, blooming, spring-like works for a while.”
It sounded meaningless, but people noticed a pattern.
‘All of Mary’s models wore soft, delicate-colored dresses.’
From that, people reached the wrong conclusion:
Boldly bright colors.
Soft, pastel-toned dresses.
They believed they had figured out Mary’s preference.
Bang!
Count Green slammed his desk.
Because of Mary’s words, most ateliers were now focused on making bright pastel dresses.
‘But I prepared a low-saturation green dress with black accents!’
Even his atelier couldn’t ignore trends.
The dress he had spent six months preparing was now sitting in storage.
They were forced to make a new one.
‘If that girl Mary hadn’t spouted nonsense!’
He still had money from selling Spencer’s paintings and investments from Diego, so he wasn’t in immediate danger—
but the wasted time and money still stung.
“You there. Bring me a new dress immediately.”
“…Yes?”
He called over a passing maid.
“I’ll be choosing what to wear to the Duke of Arban’s wedding. Bring something appropriate.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
The maid hurried off.
Originally, Count Green had no intention of attending the wedding.
A small ceremony meant fewer useful connections.
He thought it would be better to spend that time working.
‘But she turned that around.’
It was no longer a small wedding—
but one only influential figures could attend.
The necklace and portrait strategy had worked.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason he decided to go.
He didn’t care how grand Leonia Bellaci’s wedding was.
‘My business plans were ruined, and she gets to have a perfect wedding?’
No.
He would never allow that.
No matter what it took—
Count Green swore he would ruin her wedding.
