The lair of the wicked noble faction existed within the deep shadows of the imperial capital, in the basement of a sinister and gloomy inn.
Just a little outside the grand mansion complex where the nobles of the central government resided, there lay a villa area for nobles with lands distant from the capital.
The self-proclaimed hideout of the noble faction was one of those sprawling villas.
What is this?
Pastel narrowed her eyes and examined the note’s address.
A villa located to the right of the third largest mansion, complete with an art workshop.
An entirely unfamiliar address system.
“Did I come to the wrong place?”
Could it be that she was lost?
No, more than that, the address feels too subjective. Perhaps it’s too overwhelming for the smart Pastel.
Still, for the residents of the capital, it might have been intuitive enough that she could find it by asking passersby, but she still didn’t understand.
How could someone answer with “Oh, that one?” when asked where the third-largest mansion was? How is it used like a proper noun?
Sky Island seemed to use a somewhat reasonable address system unlike this underdeveloped capital. Perhaps because it is a planned city? Sky Island is large enough to be called a city, after all.
Pastel hesitated in front of the villa’s gate. She looked around the meticulously tidy ground, devoid of any trash, and crossed her arms, grumbling.
Now that she thought about it, could she really just walk in uninvited? She came because she received the hideout’s address like an invitation, but she didn’t expect it to be such a respectable place.
After futilely trying to find her way into a dim, moody bar, drawing the attention of suspiciously dressed individuals while sitting in front of the bartender.
“Matador, without tequila.”
Ordering something that sounded sophisticated made the bartender’s expression change as he wiped the glass.
“Please, follow me inside.”
Following him revealed a hidden secret space where a gloomy-looking noble awaited.
Then the competent Governor Pastel would smile relaxedly, cornering the noble with her words, while the noble, dripping with cold sweat, would start to crumble.
“It was a misunderstanding! Our noble faction recognizes the great Governor Pastel as the leader of the royalist faction!”
Then, in that manner.
“Now I see. The low level of the air in this place does not suit me, the schemer Pastel.”
Flipping her pink side hair, she intended to toss the erroneous note aside and leave the gloomy bar, but!
It turned out to be a surprisingly realistic future!
“But this is unbelievable!”
Pastel stumbled and plopped down on the clean ground, far from gloomy; her b*tt just got dusted instead.
“I had such a bright future with sunshine, and I missed it!”
My capable future!
Though she hadn’t lost anything in particular, she still felt like she had already suffered a loss!
“Uwaaaah!”
She just wanted to eat marshmallows or something today!
Unfortunately, Pastel was too capable. She had come to mess around, knowing she would get scolded if she spent time alone with the devil.
She thought that if she talked about the noble faction hideout and asked for marshmallows, she could eat them without getting scolded!
But it seemed proper etiquette to convey her visiting date after being polite at a place that wasn’t even a hideout in the first place.
Access to the hideout became troublesome contrary to her plans and it became increasingly difficult to obtain marshmallows.
“My marshmallows!”
She wanted to eat them today!
Suddenly, she heard a clattering sound from beside her.
“Lost your way?”
Turning around, she saw a girl with brown hair, appearing slightly older.
A wheeled box full of art supplies caught her eye. In comfortable work attire, various colors of paint were splattered about. Leaves stuck to her brown hair swayed; she looked like someone who had just come back from painting in the mountains.
With someone to comfort her appearing, Pastel’s expression immediately changed to one of despair.
“I’ve lost my way in life.”
Serious.
“That’s a much more serious reason?!”
The girl covered her mouth in surprise. Upon examining Pastel with her brown eyes and noticing the dusty hem of her clothes, she became resolute.
“I can’t just leave you like this as an adult!”
The girl swiftly supported Pastel.
Eh.
Then she abruptly opened the villa’s gate and strode in confidently.
“Come in! I know it’s cliché, but viewing high-quality paintings will surely lift your spirits.”
Pastel followed without thinking. Alongside a well-maintained garden spread a wide lake, canvases with paintings scattered throughout.
Oh dear.
After experiencing only quiet and serene human interactions until now, meeting someone like this felt somewhat perplexing.
“Watch out for the stones; I need to inform the gardener, but I keep forgetting.”
The girl grumbled while walking directly across the lawn instead of the nearby marble path. Pastel hopped to avoid a stone aptly named.
But isn’t this the norm?
Dividing people into the normal and abnormal is not good, but it is true that her friends are far too calm!
So calm, in fact, that Pastel felt a sense of obligation!
But this person was a comfort to her.
“I suddenly feel like I’m back home!”
Could she call it Pastel Pastel Hill?
“That one?”
The girl pointed at a nearby canvas. The painting of a coral reef under the sea was titled “Hometown.”
Gosh, she had no idea what was being said out of the blue.
But in truth, logic in conversation didn’t matter, so Pastel just nodded.
“Yes! And the lake is absolutely beautiful!”
The shimmering lake sparkled emerald green.
A privilege available only to the wealthy!
Creating a lake in one’s yard!
“I also love this lake!”
The girl smiled with satisfaction. The art supply box rattled as it was pulled along. A long brush was taken out, pointing from one end of the lake to the other.
“Originally, it was supposed to be more than this; I planned to buy the entire section over there to create a little sea, but everyone warned me I’d go bankrupt, so I couldn’t. How could they not understand my grand dream? With the right land price, I should have done it then! Everyone is lacking in vision!”
The brush moved to cover Pastel vertically. The girl observed her proportions as if sketching a human figure, then smiled.
“Shall I draw your portrait?”
“Wooah! Really?! I’d love it!”
Pastel trotted along behind as they entered an auxiliary building of the villa. It was a messy and white space resembling an art workshop. The art supply box was haphazardly placed in one corner.
“Where’s the butler? Not a drink! A cup of black tea!”
The girl shouted while biting on a hair tie to fix her hair. Then she discovered a leaf stuck in her hair and swatted it away.
“You know my name value, right? The portrait is a gift, so you can just take it.”
Eh.
Do you know I’m suddenly coming in?
Can the artistic girl succeed where even the devil failed?
Pastel could confidently say.
“I don’t know! Who are you?”
The girl chuckled as if she had heard a funny joke and pointed to a chair.
“Sit there. It’s been a while since I’ve drawn a portrait, but I can do it quickly.”
Yet being a kind person doesn’t bother to reveal who she is, so Pastel sat in the chair without any complaints, humming and swinging her legs.
“Please draw me beautifully!”
Ah, that’s right!
“If it’s a gift, can I give it to someone else as I wish?”
The girl divided various colors of paint into separate containers.
“Not cash? Is there someone you want to give it to?”
The paints mixed slightly with other materials, gradually changing into pastel shades.
“I have a totally indebted devil! Shouldn’t I give him at least one portrait? That thought keeps popping up!”
“That brother? Isn’t it a bit early to gift a portrait? Am I too old-fashioned?”
The pink eyes widened in surprise.
“Can’t you gift it?”
The girl smiled softly.
“You can gift it! It’s a present. I thought it might be that you would cash it in, but since that’s not the case, I was just joking. It’s more romantic than I expected, isn’t it?”
Gifting a present and cashing it in.
That’s just plain wrong.
“I’ve never even thought about that! Changing a gift into money is really, really wrong! It’s a greedy action that doesn’t consider the feelings of the person who gave it!”
While Melissa often hinted at needing to drop her greedy behaviors, Pastel felt she was being quite conscientious.
She thought Melissa’s standards were a bit too strict.
“Really?”
The girl’s expression changed to one of confusion as she began painting. She seemed troubled, unable to understand the riddle contained in Pastel’s words.
“But what if the person who gifted the painting wants to cash it in? Isn’t it okay? The empire’s tax system is way too oppressive, so converting assets into paintings is a form of free resistance against the oppression.”
Oh?
That sounded like something a bad tax evader would say.
The diligent taxpayer Pastel had no idea of the context behind it.
The pastel brush strokes filled the canvas. As the conversation paused and time flowed, Pastel’s pastel portrait was completed.
The brush was set down. A fountain pen wrote the title under the portrait.
“Pastel Love Viscount Craft.”
Oh dear.
How did she…?
“Complete! Didn’t take long, did it?”
The girl set the fountain pen down and looked back. Her brown eyes smiled. Within them, the hidden truth of the central government was contained.
“I’ll introduce myself formally. I’m Nastasha, leading the Redgrave Duke family.”
The schemer’s gaze sharpened and fixed on her.
“As the leader of the republican faction, I will check if you truly understand the spirit of the noble republic.”
Eek?!
She felt like she had stepped into a dangerous place…!
