Chapter 6: Soft tip brush

The next day of the ball I returned to my estate and waited for an important guest. Soon, at noon the butler informed me of his arrival.

'It's an honor to meet you, your Grace', said a man with a smile. If he were noble-blooded he would surely outshine the males at their looks.

'Mr. Greyson, what a pleasure, please come in and have a seat.

Richard sat right opposite to me, for someone his age he looked quite mannered. I noticed he brought a wooden suitcase with him, It must contain his brushes and art supplies.

He noticed my focus on his suitcase and said, 'These are a few supplies for our lesson, your Grace, some brushes, paints, and charcoal pencils'.

I noticed his nervousness quickly shifted when he talked about his supplies, He looked quite passionate about his supplies.

'Mr. Greyson, why don't we begin with our lesson? Let me escort you to my study if you don't mind'.

 'Oh, yes please do'.

I escorted him to my study which was just opposite my bedroom. I remembered hiding in here with my father, we were hiding because of my mother since we didn't want to attend any social gatherings but she found us and we were forced to go. 

'It's beautiful your Grace, your study is interesting'. 

He must really like the interior, the furniture and the sculpture were all chosen by Malisa, she says it gives my vibes.

'If you really like this then I must introduce you to the person who created this room they will be arriving late afternoon, could you wait till then?'.

His eyes were so captured by the interior that he couldn't stop to forget looking at everything.

'I would certainly wouldn't miss it'.

We sat at our stools and began with the lesson, Richard was not bad as a teacher. I tried to copy everything he did, from smoothing my brush tip and sharpening my grip. He was so focused on teaching that he accidentally forgot horrifics.

'You are doing excellent Evelyn, but your blending needs more color, have you tried adding more water'.

I was stunned to hear him say my name so bluntly and stared at him. At first, he looked at me with confusion but after a few seconds, he realized.

'I'm extremely sorry your Grace, I thought of um, what do I _'

'Richard relax, I'm not going to do anything, It's just that no one has called me by my name in such a long time, that's why I was confused'.

He looked extremely scared and was about to cry, but I didn't want tears from this man, not until she show up.

'Richard look, how about we make a deal, when we are in private, we can call each other by our first name'.

'Will I get no punishment?'.

'Of course not silly, we are in private so it's safe to say our names, what did you expect a dagger on your neck'.

 'Yes'.

His reply made a spirit of silence roaming around the room. I guess it's the rumours but if it makes them fear me so be it.

'Well, I'm not going to do that, and you are far more innocent than me to do that, shall we continue?'.

The lesson continued for what felt like forever, with minutes turning into hours until late afternoon. My wrist was about to break, and my back hurt from sitting on the stool for so long. Richard seemed relaxed and wasn't complaining about anything. I asked if we could take a break. He agreed to rest for the day.

Just as I was about to lay my head on the sofa, Richard spoke out of the blue. 'Ms. Evelyn, How on earth did you manage to locate mining stones that I guess are called mana stones, into this society? Don't get me wrong I know you are a noble but why give them to us commoners for use'.

His question didn't intrigue me, not even the slightest, cause the articles are on about it. 'Richard you are a smart lad, right? You know who runs the economy?'

'The aristocrats', he answered.

'Right, but who does the labor for that economy to be made, the money-making machine, the helping line behind the scenes of success business'.

I felt his silence, he was thinking hard, and for a certain minute, he looked at me with his contracted blue pupil and stared at me.

'I guess you got your answer, glad to see that I don't have to explain everything to you'.

'Your visions are impressive Ms, It's truly an honor for me to meet you'.

I don't know why but I was happy to hear that, but that's not why I brought him here. Suddenly the butler burst into panic, his expression was enough for me to know what was going on.

I turned to Richard and said, 'Richard why don't I introduce you to the person who designed the interior of my study'.

That person arrived at my doorstep, as always, she overdressed to impress. I stood up to finally finish the last piece of the puzzle, 'Richard Greyson I would like to introduce you to Princess Malisa Evermond, the one and only princess of Laden'.

'Pleasure to meet you Mr. Greyson'.