Your Majesty Is So Handsome

Warning! Graphic content ahead.

Madame Gundal welcomed me, her daughter, and the royal guard outside our home with a smash to my back. As expected, it was because I came home late thanks to the Emperor interrupting my search for the sheep.

"No, I did this to myself…" I sat in the corner sulking about how unfair all this was. I changed into some comfortable clothes and then spread out my painting tools onto my bed. The Emperor has completed his visit and will soon return to the capital with Madam Rurin. Soon these painting tools will have to be returned.

I placed my finger onto the blank canvas and what came to my mind was the Emperor"s face on a white background. The Emperor really was too handsome. The first time I saw him, he was good and majestic. The second time he was like an intimidating beast.

When the sword was aimed at my neck, I couldn"t think of anything of all. But as I remember it now, the emotional impact from that scene was greater than the horror of death.

"…Ah."

I decided to draw him from that time. Since I don"t have a picture, I would have to go by memory before my image of him gets blurry. Then, I won"t be able to see the Emperor in his true form.

I promptly sat down on a chair and began to paint. Diana"s body never developed the muscles to paint, so the picture didn"t come out as well as I pictured in my mind. The brush touched the canvas loosely, but the image of the Emperor I wanted to paint was already engraved in my head.

The face that peered down at my own with a sword aimed at my neck. Behind his head, the white moon was shining brightly. The whole world that surrounded him seemed to only be used as a device for his glory.

The Emperor was scary enough to die from fright, but beautiful enough to admire. The picture was drawn to show a perspective so close that it was like you were there. I focused on my memories since I was fighting against time. My hands moved faster. As I continued to paint, I felt that my hands were gradually starting to slow down. I didn"t like it yet, but it was starting to look okay. The Emperor"s face, which only remained in my head, was increasingly being engraved on my canvas. A little bit more, just a little bit more…!

I wanted to capture his head perfectly. I laughed and impatiently stroked the canvas with a brush. I couldn"t stop even when my arm was getting sore.

But I finally did when my arm felt too heavy to lift the brush. In addition to my arms, my neck, shoulder, waist, and stomach felt stiff. I later woke up on my bed after pa.s.sing out. Ah, I"m hungry.

"What time is it?" I unconsciously turned my head towards the window but my gaze never reached it.

"Ugh! MMaMaMMadam Rurin? Why are you…?"

Madam Rurin stood at the door and looked at my face with shock. She was panting violently. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were teary. She didn"t answer my question, but looked at my picture of the Emperor. "Who, what, why." I could only notice some of the feelings Madam Rurin was feeling but couldn"t express.

"A goldsmith!" She fell to the floor in a fit of emotion. Her tears were pouring, but her eyes never left the picture.

"Uh? What? Why are you… "

"Go-Gold hands… You have gold hands…"

My eyes started to twitch. I wouldn"t go as far as saying I have gold hands, Madam Rurin is really good with praising people.

"Me?" I studied painting before so I know that I can paint very well. But in this world, the style, color, and composition are… Well I guess my picture wouldn"t be considered simple. I just painted as I saw it, but was it really worth calling me a goldsmith over? I wasn"t sure that was right.

"Yes, who else but the one who created this picture? Only goldsmiths! Diana! No, not Diana! I have now come to know you as a genius!" She started crying.

I shifted my eyes. "Uh… thank you aha…"

"Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you for being born! Thank you for painting this! Oh my G.o.d! Why have you been hiding this talent for so long!"

While I love art to an intense degree, but this was the first time I heard such deep praise. It was really awkward, but I quite like it. "Ah… yes… But why are you in my room?"

"Oh! Yes, that. Please forgive me. I came here to pick up my brush… I heard a noise but you didn"t answer so I opened the door in case something happened to you. And then… this impressive sight…" Madam Rurin said and then another tear fell.

"Oh, I"ll give it to you since you"re leaving."

"Oh, no, no!"

"Yes?"

"You can not! Just leave it! No, please just leave it here!"

"Yes?"

"It seems clear to me that the materials were meant to be in your golden hands. Please accept them if you don"t mind and make some good works… if you send some over to me that would be even better…" pushed Madam Rurin politely and eloquently.

"Ah, okay." I need to be quick on my hands then. Even if Madam Rurin leaves tomorrow, I can finish this with all of my strength today. She cheered me on as she left my room. Because of her support, I hoped I had enough strength to finish, and soon the sun was already starting to set.

After a long time of concentrating on my painting, the sun started to rise. My eyes were stiff and my whole body felt sore, but life in rural villages didn"t allow oversleeping. A new day has started and the sheep will be hungry again.

"…Ah, the sheep!" I suddenly thought of the animal I lost. Yesterday, a member of the Emperor"s guard said he would come visit me, but I had to find out for myself anyway.

The Emperor said if he found it while hunting, he will return it, but then again what are the odds of that even happening? It was still early in the morning and if I hurried back to the mountain I could find the sheep without being caught. If it hadn"t been eaten yet that is.

I ran out of the house after dressing up quickly. It wasn"t the time for people to work yet, but there were a lot of people out on the street.

"…?"

I walked closer to see what was happening. Everyone looked excited.

"What"s going on?"

"Oh, my lady," someone who noticed me explained. "It"s His Majesty, the Emperor…"

"Look, over there!"

"All hail the Emperor!" The enthusiastic atmosphere among the people were hard to control. I then saw a chunky flesh of meat hanging high up on the pole.

"What is it? Meat? From the Hunt?"

"It"s from the hunt! A big one from hunting barbarians!"

"Wha…?"

The ident.i.ty of the bodies displayed were from the barbarians who were skinned alive. The armed Emperor and his Royal Guards, were out at midnight, hunting. The events that happened yesterday popped up in my head. The actual hunting that the Emperor said he was doing was actually about the barbarians. Because I appeared before him with a machete, it wasn"t unreasonable for him to mistake me for an a.s.sa.s.sin or barbarian.

"If I had just moved an inch…" The feeling of the sword that reached my neck made me shudder.

Our Emperor is so handsome, has a good voice, a good body, and is brave enough to fight with his own sword. I will not go near you, but love you from afar, Your Majesty. I made a vow in my heart and turned my head slightly.

In this world, n.o.body worried about if this was even considered normal. People even came to admire and praise the way the barbarians were skinned. This was some world I"m living in.

Some of the children who helped out with work in my home were there and one of them was a girl much younger than me.

"…Are you okay with seeing that?" I asked.

The child looked down and lightly responded, "The barbarians have done much worse than us!"

I had never actually seen a barbarian nor fought one. "…More than this?"

"Of course! Don"t we have to know how to fight because of them?"

"Ah…"

"We could never get rid of them, but His Majesty did it for us! His Majesty is the best! I love you Your Majesty!"

"I love you, Your Majesty!" When the child shouted, everyone else shouted too.

"You"re not afraid of His Majesty?"

"He"s the greatest!" The child was determined. It was then that I started to realize something.

Indeed, love can cover up anything. It seems that love can be bought with something cool or favors, but real love was supposed to be something tender and pure. Theirs were lacking. After speaking with the child, I saw an animal tied underneath the pole.

“What is that, a sheep?”

The Emperor has kept his promise after all. The sheep that I lost was crying underneath the pole.

I love you Your Majesty!

The Emperor left early in the morning. His visit was a short warning to others of the terrible might of his Empire.

Madam Rurin was scheduled to head back this afternoon. Originally, she wasn"t supposed to come here before the Emperor, but at that time it was speculated that Gundal"s state was horrible (an accurate prediction). She now has to head to the capital in a rush because of all the work that has piled up for her.

Madam Rurin was sad she didn"t get to see the finished picture as she headed to her carriage. I suppose my t.i.tle of goldsmith was compromised because of the sheep.

My real name here is Diana, but my family shortened my name to Dana. Coincidently, it was the same name I had in my past life. I was okay being called Diana, but when Madam Rurin called me by my nickname I felt good by it. Even if my name technically changed, I am still me.

"…If we have a lot of people like Dana, that would greatly contribute to the Empire"s prosperity… so peaceful… so happy…"

"Ahaha…"

"That"s why Dana, I was worried about it, but now I"m asking you… Do you want to nurture your artistic soul on all fronts and come to Relans?"

Relans was the capital of Tallan. I widened my eyes. That was something I never thought of.

"Maybe?"

"Yeah! I mean not right now. Don"t you think you"re talents will only be hidden away here?" Her eyes were filled with antic.i.p.ation.

I uncertainly asked, "If I go to the capital, what will I eat?"

"Of course I will help sell your work. Rest a.s.sured, I will commit my entire life in selling your work!"

"What if you can"t sell?"

"There is no such thing. I have never made a mistake with these eyes," Madam Rurin boasted as she puffed out her chest in confidence. "I purely love art and I love to find geniuses like you Dana."

It was a pretty sweet deal. If I go to the capital, I can paint without worrying about money. And from morning to night, I won"t have to do any physical ch.o.r.es. But this sweet story won"t last forever. I can"t stop my suspicions from ending.

"Why is Madam Rurin doing this?"

She laughed and wrinkled her eyes. "It"s a hobby for a lot of n.o.ble families. Our hobby is to spend money. Making money not so much."

How much money do you have to be able to say that?

"…Madam Rurin. You have a lot of money?" I grumbled with envy.

"Of course!" She replied with joy.

Translator: Cenetta

Proofreader: Arie Bee

Like what I"m doing?

The Lady is a Stalker

Your Majesty is so Handsome