Chapter 23
23. Let’s draw! (2)
[Episode 23] – Draw a picture! (2)
A white drawing paper spread out on the table.
I sat the princess on my lap and prepared to draw on the drawing paper. The princess excitedly raised her black crayon, but when she tried to draw her picture, she couldn’t move her hand as if she was at a loss.
“Princess?”
“…I don’t know what to draw.”
The princess, who was staring at the white drawing paper, slightly stuck out her lips with a sullen expression. She said that she could draw something she liked, but when she tried to draw it, she didn’t seem to know what to draw.
“Then, shall I draw first? What I like is…”
I took the black crayons from the princess’s hand and started drawing on the right side of the drawing paper. It’s hard to say that I like it, but there was something that suddenly popped into my head.
Not long after I was possessed, when I looked down at the garden from the window, I saw a cat living there every day. A fat tricolor cat with one ear gray and the other orange.
“Fat cat!”
When a cat picture was drawn on one side of the drawing paper, the princess shouted with her eyes sparkling. I stroked the princess’ hair as if it were the correct answer and put the black crayons in her hand again.
“Then shall we draw a picture under the fat cat? How about the princess’ favorite… Cake?”
“Cake?”
“Yes, cake. Shall we draw a sweet whipped cream cake topped with sweet fruits?”
The princess pondered for a while, then drew a line on the drawing paper with crayons as if she had made up her mind soon. He drew a black triangle and began to paint over it with a grayish white color.
I drew a delicious strawberry in red on top of the cake picture with whipped cream, and the whipped cream piece cake was completed under the cat. I said well done and stroked the princess’s head a lot.
“Does the princess like strawberry cake?”
“Yes! And I also like egg tarts, though not cakes!”
The excited princess held a brown crayon in one hand and began drawing egg tarts on the drawing paper. He painted the brown tart part and the yellow egg part in an instant.
In an instant, the right side of the drawing paper was filled with pictures. The princess drew things she liked and filled them in on the white drawing paper without me having to say anything.
I drew grass in green, and then I drew red flowers, yellow flowers, and purple flowers on it. The sky was expressed in blue and the floating clouds were painted in white, and the landscape painting drawn by the child was completed in an instant.
But…
There were no people in the picture the princess drew.
I asked the princess, pointing to the middle of the empty drawing paper.
“It would be nice to have a princess here, wouldn’t it?”
“Ummm…”
The princess, who was troubled for a moment with a sullen expression, began to draw herself in the middle of the drawing paper as if she could not help it. He wore a red ribbon in his hair and painted his dress blue.
In an instant, a picture of a fat cat and snacks floating on the drawing paper and a princess standing on top of a flower garden was completed. Just, when the picture at the level of a 6-year-old was completed, laughter leaked out without me knowing.
The princess covered her mouth with the back of her hand so that she wouldn’t find out and smiled. The princess started drawing another person next to her in the drawing paper.
A woman taller than the princess, with blonde hair.
I immediately knew who the princess was drawing.
“Are you… Is this me?”
“Yes, Her Highness the Queen.”
As if she thought she drew well, the princess stretched her shoulders proudly on my lap and stretched out her chest. Certainly, she thought the character was well captured. If her blonde hair has a green eye problem…
“Why do I look angry?”
“But, Her Majesty’s eyes are scary.”
“……”
I was at a loss for words when I saw the green eyes drawn with sharp lines. I tried touching her eyes for no reason, but I had no choice but to accept the picture of the princess at the sharpness I felt with her fingertips.
As I let out a small sigh over some unknown bitterness, the princess didn’t stop drawing me and started drawing another person. A small person between me with sharp eyes and the princess with bright eyes.
When I saw the small person with the same blond hair and green eyes as me, I could immediately guess who it was. With only hair color and eye color, these details…
Couldn’t the princess actually have a talent for her drawing?
While stroking the princess’s hair, I pointed at the small mark the princess had drawn.
“Is this an angel?”
“Yes! That’s right! It’s pitiful to be in the mirror every day…”
-The princess wants me…! This painting should be preserved forever!
Ainsel looked down at the picture of the princess and wept with a voice full of emotion.
The large drawing paper was filled with the pictures drawn by the princess.
The princess said she had finished drawing and put down the crayons, then lifted up a large drawing paper with both hands. She smiled with satisfaction, as if she had painted it herself, but she did it very well.
A picture of me, the princess, and the three angels standing in a flower garden. Looking at the picture, I felt both a sense of dread and bitterness.
I definitely suggested to the princess to draw her ‘thing she likes’ and ‘the king and first queen’… But I couldn’t see them anywhere in the picture of the princess.
I wanted to ask the princess why she didn’t draw them, but I kept quiet. For now, I decided to be content with the fact that Ainsel and I were included in the princess’s ‘favorite things’.
“Princess, I’m thinking of hiring a drawing teacher. What do you think?”
I wonder if the princess likes to draw just like the king, so she tried to hire a professional teacher, but the princess shook her head approvingly.
It was unfortunate, but I had no intention of forcing the princess to do it. Even if it wasn’t for painting, it was clear that the princess was talented in other things as well.
‘Except for dancing.’
And what if you have no talent?
Even if you don’t have talent in the first place, there’s no problem in making a living because you’re a princess. It’s just because it’s my wish that I don’t die like in games and live happily ever after.
I looked at the picture the princess held up and asked the princess.
“…I’m going to send this painting to Your Majesty now, is that okay?”
“…Yes, I want to show it to my mom and dad.”
The princess nodded slightly and held up the painting high into the sky.
“I want to show you how I am doing.”
The princess’s voice began to tremble.
“I’m sure… You’re worried about me. Therefore…”
The trembling in his voice began to spread to his shoulders and chest.
Soon after putting the picture down on the desk, the princess started wiping her eyes with her hand to see if she was shedding tears.
The sobbing quickly spread to sobbing.
The princess sitting on my lap turned around and buried her head in my chest. Is it because you don’t want me to see you crying, or is there no one to lean on except me.
I lightly patted the princess on the back and held her in my arms. Every time I patted her on the back, the crying princess dug deeper into my arms.
It is not that everyone is blind because they are young. Rather, the younger you are, the more you realize your situation and instinctively try to act according to your surroundings.
The princess must have noticed instinctively.
That the king and the first queen had no way of worrying about him.
The truth is that you are not loved by your parents.
Even if you never received it, you can’t give up on that love.
I calmly stroked the princess’s back and waited until she got tired of herself and stopped crying. In the end, after crying for over an hour, the princess fell asleep in my arms helplessly.
After confirming that the princess was asleep, I approached Vinshaw, who was standing outside her door holding the picture the princess had drawn.
I came to check on my class, but when I saw the princess crying in my arms, Bangchaud was busy pacing outside the door, not knowing what to do.
“Bang show.”
“Yes, Her Highness the Queen.”
“When I bring the paints to His Majesty today, please include the princess’s picture as well.”
“…I will.”
After handing over the painting to Vinshaw, I took the princess in her arms and headed to her room. I thought, ‘Please, I hope you feel something when you look at the picture.’
From noble mtl dot com
But did I ask for too much?
The next day, I regret today’s class like crazy.
To the point where I can hardly forgive myself.
*
The next morning.
I went to the room where the king lived with a little bit of anticipation at Vinshaw’s words that he saw the painting enter the room. Still, with the mind that there might be a change in the king.
As I walked with a half-expected and half-worried mind, I was able to arrive near the corner room where the king lived. The moment I turned the corner of the hallway, I heard a disturbing sound in this place that was quiet every day.
No way, really?
Did the king of the corner who saw the picture of the princess finally change his mind? I poked my head out of the corner with a desire. The moment I put my head out and looked at the buzzing place.
I felt my heart drop.
Two knights always guarding the room where the king lived every day were staring at the princess sprawled on the floor, not knowing what to do.
I wondered if what I saw was real, so I approached the knights to make sure. As soon as one of the knights saw me approaching, his face turned contemplative and he began to make excuses.
“Wow, Her Highness the Queen, this, this… We also have time to stop the princess…”
Ignoring the knight’s excuses, I approached the princess.
The princess was sitting on the floor and eagerly picking up something. The princess, who gathered a lot of colorful pieces in the palm of her hand, stared blankly down at them.
Nausea came up.
No matter how much, I wanted to do something like this.
No matter how much he has no interest in his children.
Isn’t this too much?
“Princess…”
I called the princess, but there was no answer.
As if the princess put the colorful pieces together like a puzzle, he began to organize them on the floor. Each one, each one. I was putting something precious back to its original state.
However, it seemed difficult to put the pieces of paper carefully shredded together any further. After comparing the pieces several times, the princess raised her head and looked up at me.
The princess tried to smile.
“Wow, Her Highness the Queen… I’m sorry… I guess you didn’t like Obama… I should have drawn better…”
“……”
“I-Look at this… But, I was able to guess the cat drawn by Her Highness the Queen. Chi, you can put the torn ones back together…”
The moment I saw the expression of the princess smiling, I suddenly stopped breathing. His chest was stuffy and his throat was choking as if he was going to burn at any moment.
I could never have imagined that a parent would do something like this.
At least, I thought that if I wasn’t interested, I would end up in the discard line.
However, the reality he faced was much more severe and cruel than he had imagined.
The painting of the princess was torn to pieces beyond recognition.
“Yes, and I will send the finished drawing to His Majesty. Since Your Majesty likes to draw, I’m sure you’ll like the pictures the princess drew, too?”
What the hell have I done?
Haven’t I left an indelible scar on the princess because of my shallow expectations for the king?
To me, it was just a shallow expectation, but to the princess, wasn’t it the last expectation for the king?
As soon as I felt the feeling of falling endlessly, the princess tugged at my sleeve as if to ask me to look here.
Let’s lower our heads and look at the place the princess pointed.
Very little, but the shredded pictures were put together like a puzzle.
The princess pointed to the picture on the floor as if she had guessed it right.
A picture of me and the princess standing hand in hand.
The moment I saw it.
I heard something snapping inside me.