Chapter (2)
Reunion (2)
That night, I met my long-forgotten first love again—in a dream.
Long, pale hands stained with paint, slightly messy black hair, and slender yet broad shoulders.
“Is it really alright for you to leave with me like this? I think it’s foolish.”
He whispered that without loosening the arm wrapped around me. When I didn’t answer, he let out a soft laugh and playfully pretended to bite my ear with his red, full lips, as if sulking.
He always smelled faintly of oil and paint.
We fled together in a carriage in the middle of the night.
But the very next morning, I had to leave my bloodied lover behind… and return alone to the count’s estate.
My lover was a painter—one who painted portraits for aristocrats.
A commoner, yet a mysterious man surrounded by rumors.
Some said he was the illegitimate son of a noble. Others claimed he had been born in a brothel. There were even whispers that he had once had a secret affair with a noblewoman in the East.
With his strikingly handsome appearance, it was only natural that he attracted both fascination and jealousy.
Even before he came to the Malev estate, I had already been curious about him.
A new painter cloaked in mystery. About my age, yet he had already traveled across many countries.
Before my debut in high society, my father had hired him—rather than a famous painter—to save money on portrait commissions. The reason was simple: to spend more on expensive dresses and jewelry instead.
“What are you looking at me like that for?”
“…I’ve seen you before.”
“If you fall in love with me, you’ll regret it. You might be disappointed in the father you’ll meet in the future.”
“What do you mean by that?”
That was how we first met, and the impression wasn’t particularly good.
He seemed tired of being flirted with by noblewomen, and to me, his attitude came off as rather insolent.
We clashed from the very beginning.
And yet, by the time the season ended and his portrait work was complete… I had fallen deeply in love.
How did we come to love each other?
Even now, when I try to recall those memories, they are faint and blurred. I only remember that he was incredibly handsome… and that I, too, was quite beautiful back then.
We spent every day together in the same space. It was only natural that we grew fond of each other. We talked easily, and being together was enjoyable.
But we were young—and reckless.
When we whispered our love, we never worried about the vast difference in our social standing.
The only thing that made me cry every night… was the knowledge that he would leave as soon as his work was done.
“I came because your eyes are swollen again. At this rate, it’ll be hard to find paint that matches their color.”
The wind drifted in through the open window, gently swaying his black hair. He sighed, brushing it back.
He approached me as I sat in a velvet chair, knelt on one knee, pressed his lips to my dry palm, and asked softly:
“…Will you come with me?”
As a child, I had been frail. I had never left the estate, let alone traveled abroad. Even my debut into society had been delayed by two years.
It was only natural that I fell for such a dangerous yet sweet proposal.
He tried to tell me the reality, flustered—
“If you leave with me, you won’t live as comfortably as you do now. I’ll do my best to earn money, but it might not be enough for you.”
But such words never reached the ears of a young girl in love.
My heart only trembled with the hope of being with him forever.
In the end, we ran away together in the middle of the night, hand in hand, while everyone in the mansion slept.
I remember how excited I was as we changed carriages and left the estate.
But we didn’t get far.
“Rosalie, how could you do something like this? Have you decided to disgrace the family?”
Our plan had been to reach a temple outside the estate and hold a private wedding ceremony.
But after hearing from the servants, the butler secretly sent word to my brother, Gérard.
He rushed down from the capital—and was waiting for us at the temple, accompanied by the count’s knights.
“I never imagined you would make such a foolish choice… I should have paid more attention.”
In his rage, he forced me into the Malev carriage.
And right before my eyes… he ordered the knights to brutally beat my lover.
The man collapsed under their merciless kicks. They even slashed his face, saying he would never again deceive innocent noblewomen with that handsome appearance.
That cruel, horrifying moment—
I fainted from the shock.
And when I finally came to, I was already back in the count’s residence.
“All marriage proposals for you have been withdrawn! What have you done?!”
What happened afterward was predictable.
My father was furious beyond words. And somehow, news of my elopement with a poor painter had already spread beyond the estate.
When I finally made my debut in high society, it was a nightmare.
As soon as the nobles of Rodin saw me, they would whisper—
“Ah, that woman?”
They mocked me, treated me like a disgrace, and turned away.
The humiliation… the loss… being left alone without even my lover—
It shattered me.
I longed for him, searched for him… but he had vanished without a trace.
Only later did I learn that it had all been orchestrated—by order of a powerful lord.
But at the time, I was like someone lost in a midsummer night’s dream, obsessed with finding him.
For one year… two years… three…
Eventually, after a long time, I gave up.
And then, strange rumors began to circulate.
“You know, the man who ran away with Lady Malev…”
“They say he’s actually the illegitimate son of the former king. He’s studying abroad on the southern continent.”
I had already withdrawn from society, so I only heard these rumors much later.
But by then… too much time had passed.
No matter who he truly was, I had already been branded as the woman who abandoned her family and ran away.
Even Gérard’s reputation suffered, entangled in scandal.
That brief love left an irreversible scar on my life.
Even if he had later been recognized for his royal blood, granted a noble title, and risen to prominence somewhere far away… it had nothing to do with me anymore.
He had settled in the southern continent and never returned to the Kingdom of Ifelda.
And so, I believed that I would never see him again.
Until one chilly, rainy spring day.
I went with my sister-in-law to Rodin’s finest boutique.
And there—coming out of Madame’s private salon—I saw him.
“I’m afraid the amethyst cuffs from Mount Setiya ordered by Prince Vallière will take a bit longer. Oh my—!”
The Madame, smiling shyly, turned toward me.
At the same moment, a tall, striking man stopped.
Our eyes met.
“…I see.”
As if it were nothing, he quickly turned his gaze back to the Madame.
But I saw it—
Those transparent emerald-like eyes trembling.
It had been nine years… no, nearly ten.
My heart began to pound violently. Heat rushed to my cheeks.
How…? How was he here?
When had he returned?
I had known nothing.
I hadn’t even realized—
That the Duke of Hestein de Vallière had recently returned to Ifelda.
And so…
I never imagined that I would have such an unexpected reunion with my former lover.
