Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Several days had passed since I had successfully established a solid professional foundation for my father.

Although the coroy plant thrived year-round (except in winter), the plant’s stem was at its strongest right after the rainy season, which meant my father had become incredibly busy. He often left the estate early in the morning and returned late at night, leaving me with much more time alone.

While this worried my father, I found the increased freedom to be quite liberating. I could do whatever I needed without having to explain my actions.

For example, I found myself waiting for Alfeo on the quiet staircase of the main building, where few people ever passed.

I spotted him looking around the estate, looking slightly confused.

“Alfeo! Over here!” I called.

He heard me and ran over.

“M’lady!” Alfeo said with a cheerful smile, carrying an object wrapped in a cloth. “This is it!”

The wooden sculpture was larger than I had anticipated. It was not much smaller than the original log, meaning the carving process had gone smoothly with minimal waste.

Even though I hadn’t seen the finished product yet, I couldn’t help but smile with anticipation.

“May I take a look?”

“Of course!” Alfeo replied, his excitement matching my own.

The coarse cloth, which he probably had laying around, felt similar to coroy fabric. It fell slowly as the wooden sculpture was revealed.

“Wow...”

From the moment I glimpsed the sculpture, I could not stop staring.

The log from a vivo tree, the most common of all wood, had been reborn into a masterpiece in Alfeo’s hands.

I’m so glad I entrusted the task to this future genius!

As he watched me stare wordlessly at the sculpture, Alfeo began to fidget nervously.

“Do you not like it?”

“What? No! How could I not like it? It’s so beautiful, I don’t even know what to say. Thank you, Alfeo!” I cried, clasping Alfeo’s right hand with both of mine.

A broad smile spread across his freckled face.

“Thank you for giving me this opportunity, m’lady. I wanted to tell you that.”

“You’re thankful for me? I should be thanking you!”

If Alfeo hadn’t taken on this carving, I would have no present to give to my grandfather.

But Alfeo shook his head at my words.

“Finding quality logs like this is very difficult for me. Just having the opportunity to carve such high-quality material was an invaluable experience for me.”

He caressed the sculpture with his calloused hand. A soft smile spread across his face, as if he were recalling the joy he found in creating it.

“And you believed in me,” he added.

Our eyes met, and I felt a connection.

“You know who the subject of this sculpture is, don’t you?”

Alfeo flinched slightly like he had been caught hiding a secret.

He nodded.

“My father saw me working on this sculpture in my room. He scolded me harshly and said ‘Do you know who this is? How dare you make a sculpture of her.’”

Oh, I guess Alfeo’s father would recognize her.

“Of course, he understood once he realized that you had commissioned the sculpture,” Alfeo explained as he carefully rewrapped the statue.

He treated it like something precious.

“You’re right. This is my grandmother’s image. Now I’m going to take the sculpture you made and give it to my grandfather as a gift.”

Alfeo’s hands trembled slightly as he tied the ends of the cloth.

“I see...” he said, nodding a few times. Then he looked at me and said, “Thank you, ma’am, for believing in me.”

I noticed a change in Alfeo’s eyes. They shone with a newfound determination, as if he had discovered a clear goal in life.

“I’ve been helping my father with carpentry for some time, but I’m at an age where I need to start thinking seriously about my career. It’s been on my mind a lot lately.”

Alfeo smiled shyly as he scratched the back of his head.

“My father and mother both wanted me to stop sculpting and have been pressuring me to learn carpentry...”

“And now you’ve decided?” I asked carefully.

In my past life, Alfeo had lived as a carpenter for more than ten years before becoming known as a sculptor.

I worried for a moment, fearing that my commission would lead to Alfeo saying, “Now that I’ve tried carving, I should focus on my main job.”

But my fears vanished when I saw his smile.

“I love carving. While I do have to follow in my father’s footsteps and become a carpenter, I’m going to keep sculpting in my spare time. And someday I really will become a sculptor.”

So this must have been on his mind for all those fifteen years.

It must have been difficult to focus on carpentry while using his days off to work on sculptures. The balance would have been impossible without a true love of sculpting.

For many years, Alfeo waited patiently for the day his work would shine. I knew that the young man standing before me, on the cusp between boyhood and adulthood, would eventually flourish after all those arduous years.

The emperor himself would grant him the surname of Jean, symbolizing beauty, and he would be known as Alfeo Jean.

“Alfeo.”

“Yes, m’lady?”

“You don’t only want to carve on your days off, do you?”

“...What do you mean?”

“You would be okay with carving every day, right?”

You may never get the time to learn carpentry.

I watched a large question mark form above Alfeo’s head, but I simply smiled and waved it off.

***

Every evening around sunset, my grandfather would take a walk through the garden alone. He spent most of his time during these walks in a grove of evergreen trees.

The grove wasn’t particularly special, save for the fact that it came from evergreens gifted by the first emperor of the Lehmbruck Empire many years ago. I had only learned about its personal significance during the last few years of Grandfather’s life (in my past life), when I spent most of my time close to his side.

It reminded him of Grandmother.

She disliked the sight of fallen leaves, so she preferred walking through the evergreen grove with my grandfather. After she passed, he continued the routine alone. Even the day before he died, my grandfather had walked among those evergreens.

I stood waiting in front of his office, timing my presence around his return from the evening walk. Before long, I saw my grandfather approaching from the other side of the hallway.

“Grandpa!” I called, running towards him.

“Oh, you little rascal. I told you not to run.”

“Heehee. I have something to give you! I’ve been waiting for you!”

“You have something to give me?”

I grabbed Grandfather’s hand and pulled him towards his office.

He seemed a bit surprised but willing to play along, so he followed my lead and opened the office door.

“Just what could it be…?”

Grandfather stopped in his tracks.

The wooden sculpture stood on the well-polished desk, where it would immediately be visible upon opening the office door. It was exactly where I had asked Alfeo to place it.

“Natalia?”

He called out Grandmother’s name in a daze. The sculpture was unpainted, made entirely of wood, but with the deep hues of the setting sun streaming through the window, it seemed to radiate warmth.

“This is my gift to you, Grandpa!”

“Firentia, you prepared this sculpture?”

He glanced at me before hurrying over to the bust.

“This looks... just like Natalia when she was young.”

His reaction was no exaggeration. Alfeo’s sculpting skills were already remarkable, and he had recreated the picture my father had drawn perfectly.

“Daddy gave me a portrait of Grandma. I took it to a friend of mine, who made it into a sculpture!”

“Gallahan drew it...”

Grandfather reached out carefully, gently brushing his fingers over the carved features of grandmother’s eyes. His touch seemed almost trembling, but the cold feel of the wood brought a bittersweet smile to his lips.

The expression was fleeting, however. When he turned back to me, his face had regained its usual composure.

“You said this is a gift for me?”

“Yes! Do you like it?”

“I do like it, but...” Grandfather paused with a slightly mischievous smile. “You know a gift doesn’t come with a price, don’t you?”

Ah, he knows about Clerivan’s assignment.

I expected as much. Knowing Clerivan, he would have reported the details of the lesson immediately, so my grandfather’s reaction didn’t startle me.

“Did that sculpture make you happy?” I asked.

“Happy. Happiness. I have so many happy memories from when she was that age, so every time I see it, I will be happy.”

“Then that’s all right! If you’re happy, I’m happy!”

And it wasn’t a lie.

When Grandfather’s health had declined, he often expressed his frustration at not being able to see Grandmother’s portraits clearly. That’s why I wanted her image on a sculpture. Even when he eventually lost his sight, he would be able to trace the contours of her face with his fingertips, keeping her memory vivid.

“I can always do better on Clerivan’s homework next time!”

This was also true. Even if it wasn’t on this assignment, I would find another opportunity to shine.

Besides, getting bonus points from Grandfather was more important. The succession lessons were intended to continuously evaluate candidates for the next head of the family.

“Firentia.”

Grandfather looked at me intently as if he was trying to read my thoughts.

But I wouldn’t be easily swayed by such scrutiny. I met his gaze with an even more innocent expression in return.

“Still, I can’t accept such a wonderful gift without giving something in return. If there’s anything you want, do tell me, Firentia.”

“Anything I want? ...Hmm.”

Of course.

Of course Grandfather wouldn’t take a gift without giving something in return, even from his own granddaughter. That said, requesting money for the assignment in this moment would be a waste of opportunity.

I had something else in mind.

“If that’s the case,” I began after pretending to consider for a moment, “I have a friend who helped make this sculpture. His name is Alfeo, but...”

Every word I spoke resulted in my grandfather’s smile getting broader and broader. Eventually he cut me off.

“Ha! Are you telling me that such a great artist has been hiding within these very Lombardi walls?”

I could tell from his laughter that he was in the best of moods. As expected, his intense passion for collecting talent was already as strong as it would become in the future.

I stood there calmly, savoring the sound like music. The better his mood, the larger the sum he would likely give me.

I had become the dutiful granddaughter who commissioned and gifted a sculpture of Grandmother to Grandfather. I was also the thoughtful granddaughter who had introduced an uneducated-but-genius sculptor, capable of creating such a perfect piece, to Grandfather.

There was no way he could let such a wonderful granddaughter leave empty-handed.

It is said that one should never refuse money from an elder, after all.

***

Lesson day finally rolled around, marking the day we would learn the results of our assignments.

I arrived at the classroom early and watched the other children’s faces as they entered.

The twins walked in with their usual sullen expressions, but then they perked up as they ran over to me. Bellezac, on the other hand, looked unusually tense.

Lorraine surprised me. She entered the room with a small pouch of coins, and her face was flush with anticipation.

“Hello, Lorraine.”

“Oh, Firentia! Your brooch is quite pretty today,” she said, pointing at the green adornment pinned to my outfit.

“Yeah, I like it too. Thank you.”

As we were exchanging greetings, Clerivan walked in and began the class.

“Well then, shall we see the results of the assignment?”

As promised, Bellezac did not do the assignment.

Why is he so stubborn about such trivial matters?

And as expected, the twins reported selling their log as firewood to the servants. They insisted that they had sold it to people who really needed it and did not force anyone to buy it.

Then it was Lorraine’s turn.

“You turned it into charcoal and sold it to the blacksmith?” Clerivan summarized.

“Yes. That’s why I had to share some of the money with the servants who helped me. This is how much I have left.”

There were fifteen copper pieces in Lorraine’s pouch.

Given that a vivo log was worth about twenty copper, she had barely broken even. However, it was surprising to see Lorraine, who was usually quite timid, take such initiative.

Clerivan seemed to share this sentiment, nodding and offering her praise.

“Lastly, Miss Firentia.”

“Yes, teacher.”

“How much did you earn by selling your log?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Did you not complete the assignment?”

Bellezac leapt up from his place on the sofa at Clerivan’s question.

“No. I did my best, teacher.”

“Then where is your money?”

“It’s right here.”

“Um? Where...”

I pointed to the brooch on my chest, displaying it proudly for Clerivan to see.

“I used the log to make a sculpture, which I gave to Grandfather, and he gave me this brooch. It’s emerald!”

And it’s so big and expensive!

For once, even Clerivan seemed shocked. I leaned back in my chair, savoring my small victory. Of course, I wasn’t the only one who had benefited.

Grandfather had given Alfeo ten silver coins for his work on the statue. He also arranged for him to receive a Lombardi family scholarship and the opportunity to study under a renowned sculptor.

I savored the sight of the classroom staring at me in astonishment while suppressing the urge to cross my legs and laugh triumphantly.

Then I noticed Bellezac, nostrils flaring in anger. I shot him a sly smirk, making sure only he could see it.

He had always belittled and considered me inferior to my cousins. He had mocked me for not receiving a proper education and claimed that I would never live as a noblewoman, leaving me to work as a commoner instead.

He had harassed me by saying that I would live and die like my mother.

So, let him feel it—what it’s like to be overshadowed by someone he considers beneath him. Let him experience the sting of losing things he thought were his, one by one.

This was only the beginning.