Portrait of An Arrogant Master - Chapter 169

“Yes, Your Highness. I trust you’ve been well?”

“I’ve always been at peace, thanks to you.”

Normally, Rubens would have thought it was just a formal expression of thanks, as the Duke’s household servants treated him with the utmost respect. However, given what he knew of Benedict’s condition, Rubens didn’t take his words at face value.

‘He’s been holed up in his room drinking for days, waiting for my return from the South while he languishes in sickness.’

Benedict’s smiling face seemed to hide his gaunt appearance, which was more pronounced now.

“Your Highness, would you like to join me for lunch? I have urgent matters to attend to, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to talk for long.”

“Ah, I have lunch with the Emperor at the palace.”

The Emperor?

Rubens’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“The Duke must be tired after returning from the South. Since my schedule here in Obelit is likely to be extended, I have plenty of time. We can dine together at a later date.”

Benedict casually patted Rubens on the shoulder before heading downstairs. Rubens’s gaze followed him, puzzled. The anxious urgency he had shown earlier, urging Rubens to hurry, was nowhere to be found now. Benedict’s steps were leisurely.

It was curious that he mentioned the Emperor, considering Rubens’s less-than-friendly relationship with the Emperor. Rubens’s eyes narrowed as he tried to read Benedict’s intentions.

But after a moment, Rubens dismissed it.

The young man, trailing behind him, probably hadn’t given it much thought. Despite his noble blood, the Krygen family was of a sufficiently high status to challenge the imperial family.

Benedict seemed to be quite genuine, but perhaps his feelings for Macy were more superficial than expected. Perhaps he had come to terms with the hopelessness of his situation, realizing it was futile to hang onto something with no future.

Just as he had easily let go of his ambitions for the throne.

‘If he gave up willingly, then that’s a good thing.’

Rubens shook off his doubts and continued on his way.

* * *

Macy sat huddled on the studio sofa, sketchbook in hand. On the paper, there were no set rules as she freely sketched scenes: flowers blooming in the cabin’s garden, a fawn she had seen during her morning walk, Morgan chopping wood by a tree stump, and the truffle pasta Dia had made her that morning—all scattered across the page in no particular order.

She had been sketching for a while when suddenly, her pencil snapped.

“Hmm? Did I sharpen it too much?”

Macy looked around and noticed the knife on the easel. She stood briefly to sharpen the pencil and returned to her seat.

“What’s this? When did I draw this?”

But when she looked at the sketch of the male body on the paper, she was taken aback. The figure of a man filled the entire page.

The trapezius and deltoid muscles, along with the biceps, were perfectly sculpted and well-defined. Below the pectoralis major, the serratus anterior muscles were intricately detailed. The abs were so clean and firm, they almost seemed like shards of glass…

It was obvious who the owner of such a perfect body was.

“Ah… I wasn’t supposed to draw this…”

It was Eren Wood’s body.

The more she looked, the more finely detailed it seemed. The small scars on his body, the black mole on the inside of his thigh, and even the prominent name written on his scapula—her favorite spot.

How had she observed and remembered all these details without even realizing it? She felt disgusted with herself. The pencil had snapped, but the drawing had gone down to his pubic area.

If she had kept drawing without thinking, she probably would have gone lower…

“I’m insane, I’m insane!”

Macy panicked and quickly erased the drawing. Looking back, it was a relief the pencil had broken.

Had she unconsciously wanted to see him? Eren had left a note saying he’d be back soon, but he hadn’t shown up that night.

She could roughly guess why he was late. He had probably fallen behind with work after being away from the estate for so long. He was such a busy person.

But she never expected she’d end up drawing him like this. Especially his body—her obsession with it…

Even while erasing, her mind kept replaying the image of his e***t p–is, causing her face to flush with embarrassment. She couldn’t believe she was such a shameless pervert.

As she continued erasing, she suddenly heard the front door close.

‘Is Eren here?’

Macy immediately jumped up and rushed out of the studio.

“Were you working?”

“Yes…”

But it wasn’t Eren who entered the cabin. It was Morgan, taking off his hunting cap as he stepped inside.

Come to think of it, today was the day Morgan usually came back from the Krygen office. He regularly stopped by to bring Macy any mail addressed to her.

“By the way, Macy. Did you send a letter to Marquisate Lingston?”

“Yes, I did…”

Macy hesitated, feeling a little awkward.

“I was finding it a bit difficult to draw full-body portraits… so I sent a cancellation for the commission.”

In the letter, she had included the deposit and explained that, due to unforeseen circumstances, she wouldn’t be able to continue with the portrait work.