[3rd POV)
After Camilla left, Ekaterina went to a room in the residence of the Duke of the Imperial Capital, where she took her measurements and promised to bring the dress back for fitting next week.
The room was decorated with portraits of the heads of the Yurinova dukes and their families. From the first Sergei to the current Alexei, a variety of figures filled the wide walls.
Ekaterina smiled up at the picture of her dandy grandfather Sergei sitting comfortably in his chair, and Alexei, a beautiful ten-year-old boy without his spectacles, standing beside him with a serious expression on his face.
……It’s too big!
A young woman was depicted in a very large portrait. She is very beautiful. She is tall and slender, and her clothes are luxurious. Her long light blue hair is tied up in a knot, and she wears a gorgeous tiara with a necklace and earrings adorned with huge jewels. Her long, slit eyes, which should be smiling yet looks somehow cold, are light blue.
It’s annoying that she looks so much like her brother.
This is my grandmother. When she was younger. Crown Princess Alexandra. Why do you have a portrait of her when she was a princess mixed in with the portraits of all the dukes of Yurinova? This is from when we weren’t a family yet!
[Ekaterina’s POV]
“This old hag.”
I muttered inaudibly so that Mina, who was standing behind me, would not hear me.
Hmph!
I turned my head to the one next to her, where a beautiful man was sitting on a chair, looking relaxed, with his long legs crossed and a sweet smile on his face. This one also looked just like his brother, only with light blue hair, light blue eyes, and without the one pair of glasses. His father, Alexandre.
Next to him is older brother. The beautiful young head of the family, standing dignified with a sword in his hand. He has a beautiful face just like his father’s, but his face is tight and severe because he is aware that he is the only one who has to carry the immensely powerful and wealthy Yurinova dukedom on his shoulders, and he is steeling himself to face it head on.
Unlike me, who resembles my mother, my brother’s face is that of my grandmother and father. However, the color of their eyes is just light blue, not the impressive neon blue of my brother’s eyes, which seem to be glowing by themselves. Maybe it’s just because it’s a portrait, and they couldn’t draw it that well.
Nevertheless, the portrait of my brother, both the one of him with my grandfather and the one of him alone, expresses the color of his eyes very well. Maybe it was the difference in the skill of the painter. But I would like to think that they were really different shades.
[3rd POV]
“Young lady.”
Ekaterina turned around when a voice that wasn’t Mina’s called her.
It was an older woman in a dark dress. The dress was tailored by the housekeeper, who united the female servants. However, she is not a housekeeper.
“I’ve been sent by the butler. May I help you?”
“Yes. Are you the same Nonna who was my grandmother’s chambermaid?”
“Yes, my lady. My name is Nonna Zales.”
“Yes. I understand that my grandmother frequently ordered dresses from you. I’m sure she hasn’t gotten rid of them yet, so I’d like to take a look at them to see what they look like. Please show me where they are kept.”
I’m not sure what to make of this. This attitude….well, I kind of expected it.
I know how to deal with this, but I’d like to know some things.
“What was grandmother like, from your point of view?”
“She was a great lady, my lady.”
