Please Grant Me a Glorious Regret [Novel] Chapter 18

"Why all of a sudden?"

"Just in case you might…"

Her trailing sentence revealed immense hesitation.

She seemed to be agonizing over whether she should say what she was thinking.

In the brief moment she waited for her sister to continue, countless thoughts flashed through her mind.

Lisa had a remarkably keen intuition when it came to Arte.

Her heart pounded with the fear that Lisa might have somehow noticed the contract between her and Dimion.

"It's a great opportunity. It's not just any family; it's Rocata. You know how incredible it is for an artist to be sponsored by Rocata, right?"

"I know. That's why I also know how strictly they evaluate and how arrogant they can be."

"What? Are you saying my paintings aren't good enough to receive Rocata's sponsorship?"

She knew, of course, that wasn't what Lisa meant.

It wasn't an attempt to disparage her, but a reasonable suspicion that a Rocata sponsorship couldn't have happened this easily.

She knew it all too well, but to erase that suspicion, she had no choice but to react sharply.

"What? What are you talking about? You know how much I love your paintings. They're masterpieces that would make even the Emperor marvel, let alone Rocata."

Lisa waved her hands, denying Arte's accusation.

Arte's feigned hurt seemed to have worked, so Lisa's expression was much softer than before.

"The sum of 50,000 lirang is shocking too. I was surprised at first as well. But it seems he really likes them. He said they hold that much value."

When a gap opened, she had to push through.

Arte purposely widened her eyes and met Lisa's gaze.

"I've been praying so hard lately, you know? It must have worked. When will an opportunity like this ever come to me again? Just being able to paint freely again is wonderful enough, but now I can pay off our debts, cover Peter's surgery, and provide ample funds for the estate."

She raised her voice excitedly, exactly like a child looking forward to a picnic.

She had to appear genuinely thrilled about the Rocata sponsorship and excited to go up to the capital.

"He even said he'd arrange a spot at the art academy if I wanted. You know, Lisa, it was really hard for me when I had to quit back then. But now I have the chance to learn again. I want to make up for the regrets I had then."

It was half truth, half lie.

The sorrow of having to stop her education due to their family's declining fortunes was the truth, but the art academy spot Dimion supposedly promised was a lie.

However, to speak of her genuine feelings naturally, she needed the false promise.

Even if she had to mix in a lie, she had to maximize the impact of the final blow to erase Lisa's suspicions.

"Arte…"

Her painstaking efforts bore fruit.

As Arte brought up the wound she had deliberately ignored for so long, Lisa's eyes wavered significantly.

"Hah… Alright."

After sinking into thought for a moment, Lisa let out a deep sigh.

It was visibly apparent that the many question marks that had filled her head were being erased one by one.

Arte also breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

Lisa had a tenacious side.

If she found out that Arte had sacrificed herself to break free from the Pitt family's shackles, she was the type of person who would go to any lengths to break the contract.

She had to prevent that at all costs.

Arte never wanted to see Lisa overexert herself to protect her again.

"But you must stay alert. You didn't enter high society before, but once you go up, you'll be stepping into the capital's social circles."

Before she knew it, Lisa had moved to her side, sitting on the edge of the bed.

She squeezed Arte's hand tightly and pleaded earnestly.

"I'm going as a sponsored painter. They won't pay much attention to me. I'm not the only one receiving Rocata's sponsorship, you know."

"It's different if it's an artist the Duke personally discovered after coming all the way down to Dalupe."

Because she spoke with such unwavering firmness, Arte found herself involuntarily tensing up as well.

She hadn't given the social scene a single thought.

Just dealing with Dimion as his doll gave her enough to worry about, so she had no energy to spare for anything else.

"Speaking of the Duke, Arte."

Just as Arte fell deeper into thought, feeling more tense than before, Lisa tightened her grip on her hand even further.

"No matter how much time you spend together, never give your heart to Duke Rocata. No matter how he treats you, don't fall for it."

It was a completely unexpected request.

It was also bewildering.

The intensity and absolute resolve with which she spoke were enough to make Arte shrink back.

"He's just a sponsor, and I'm a painter. Why would that happen? Furthermore, me? You know me well. I'm sick and tired of men."

"I'm saying this because he's not an ordinary man. He shines even here in the countryside where there's nothing to embellish him. When he goes to the capital, all sorts of halos you couldn't even imagine will adorn him. Splendor bewitches people, Arte. Even more so for someone like you, who has no immunity to such brilliance."

"Lisa. That's a bit too…"

"The moment you give him even a fraction of your heart, you're the only one who'll get hurt. So steel your resolve before you go. Promise me."

Arte stared blankly at the pinky finger thrust in front of her face.

The events that had transpired with Dimion over their short time together flashed through her mind one by one.

As she chewed them over, Lisa's worries felt like needless anxiety.

It was Arte herself who had been on guard, finding even Dimion's suddenly favorable attitude to be like a trap.

It didn't matter how radiant he was.

Arte wasn't a fool who would throw herself into a blinding light.

Nor was she stupid enough to mistake the interest shown to a doll for affection or love.

"Trust me, Lisa. That will never happen. I swear it."

Two identical fingers intertwined firmly.

The send-off was a noisy affair.

The moment she had felt slightly hurt, believing they didn't seem sad to see her go, now felt laughable.

The Count and Countess continuously wiped away their tears, and Martha, who had been Arte's personal maid for a long time, sobbed loudly while holding her hands tightly.

Lisa, seemingly still uneasy, held her hand tightly and continuously lectured her, while Peter, looking incredibly serious, chimed in with a few words here and there from the side.

Even from among the lined-up servants, sniffles could be heard.

Even the butler, who seemed like he would never cry no matter what happened, had reddened eyes.

Tears were everywhere, but the atmosphere wasn't entirely heavy.

Only Dimion and Arte knew the truth.

None of those seeing her off knew the contents of the contract, so in their eyes, Arte was a hopeful woman setting out to spread her wings.

Though they were sad to see her go, the air was filled with cheers and blessings for her future.

Arte smiled as brightly as she could while bidding them farewell.

Even though the weight of the contract pressed down on her shoulders, the thought that she had protected these lovely people allowed her to smile genuinely.

"…"

"…"

The smile vanished the moment she got into the car and they set off.

Dimion's driving hadn't changed in the slightest from the day they headed to the bank.

He still sped like a maniac and still didn't check on Arte's condition.

The situation was even worse than before.

Because Dimion's schedule was originally so tight, they had to drive non-stop.

There was no time to rest at a hotel or even take short naps along the way.

Since Dimion, who was driving, handled the forced march so effortlessly, Arte, who was just sitting there, couldn't show any signs of fatigue.

It was sheer torture.

Arte swallowed a hollow laugh as she recalled Lisa's worry.

It was a pointless concern.

If a moment of weakness ever arrived, just recalling this drive up to the capital would be enough to kill any affection she might have felt.

The constant drone of the engine was horrid, and the worsening motion sickness was agonizing.

As time dragged on, it became impossible to maintain her sanity.

Eventually, Arte lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.

Having passed her limit of endurance long ago, she simply didn't have the energy to stay awake.

"My Lady."

"…"

"My Lady?"

"…"

"My Lady!"

What woke Arte up was Dimion's voice, which reached her after quite a long time.

Unaware she had even fallen asleep, she jolted awake in shock and adjusted her posture.

"Did I… fall asleep?"

"You slept very well. Seeing as it took calling you ten times for you to finally open your eyes. Since when, I couldn't tell you."

"Ah…"

A wave of embarrassment washed over Arte, and she hung her head.

It was quite upsetting that she had tried to endure so well, only to finally crumble.

Pondering the reason why Dimion called her, a realization hit Arte, and she looked around with wide eyes.

At a glance, she could see the massive Imperial Palace, and filling the space along the many roads leading up to it were towering buildings, ornate statues, a bustling crowd, and countless carriages and automobiles.

It had been so long since her eyes had taken in such a panorama that Arte let out a gasp of awe without realizing it.

"Wow…"

It was the capital.

Finally, Arte had arrived in the capital.