Empress of Another World

Short Stories 9.8

Beatrice asked politely, “Your highness, may I draw you holding Lottie right now?”

Bina smiled happily. “Of course. I can’t wait to see the finished product.”

What a smart princess. Lady Lindel and all the maids in the room became expectant.

After the second princess was born, Lucretius gave Beatrice a separate wing he used to occupy as the heir when he was young. This showed that the emperor and the empress had decided that the first princess will become the next ruler of this kingdom.

There were many concerning rumors. The emperor and the empress were still very young, so it seemed irrational to designate the first princess as the next heir at this point. People were concerned whether a female ruler would be able to successfully run a kingdom.

However, those who knew the first princess weren’t worried at all. Princess Beatrice was extremely too mature for her age, and she was incredibly intelligent.

This was why the maids were excited to see how artistically talented the princess might be.

Beatrice studied her mother and her sister intensely and started to sketch.

***

“…”

Bina held her second daughter and stayed still for quite a long time for her first princess. Liselotte was very small, but it was still difficult to hold her for a long time. Bina’s arms and back started to become very uncomfortable.

“Beatrice, may I move now?”

A portrait usually took days to finish, so they could begin again later. Beatrice nodded confidently.

“Yes, your highness. I am almost done with the sketching part.”

“Really? You are very fast.”

Bina handed Liselotte, who was asleep, to the nanny and walked towards Beatrice and Lady Lindel to take a look at Beatrice’s work.

“…”

“…”

Both Bina and Lady Lindel became speechless. Bina could understand why Lady Lindel couldn’t say anything because they were probably thinking the same thing. Bina realized that her daughter was born at the wrong time in the wrong world. Beatrice should have been born in the 21st century on earth. If she did, perhaps she could have become famous as an abstract artist.

On the canvas was countless rough lines arranged erratically. Bina smiled awkwardly.

“Y, you’re very good, Beatrice… Is, is this part me?”

Beatrice pouted. “No, that’s the curtain behind you.”

No matter how hard she looked, Bina couldn’t tell between the curtains and herself.

“Umm, I see…”

Bina smiled awkwardly again. This form of painting was familiar to her. She vaguely remembered the drawings she did when she was younger. Bina herself had no artistic talent and she always got horrible grades in art classes at school.

Bina felt sad. ‘… Beatrice sings like her father and draws like me… It’s the worst combination.’

She remembered when Beatrice took a singing lesson recently. The vocal teacher became pale as she listened to the princess sing.

“Hmm…!”

Beatrice continued to sketch with her charcoal angrily. She seemed frustrated, most likely because it wasn’t going as she expected. Lady Lindel, who was standing behind the princess, seemed concerned.