The interior was white, a white Art Gallery.
“Wowaan.”
Pastel’s mouth dropped open.
Duchess Nastasha’s paintings are absolutely amazing!
One entire wall reaching up to the second floor was covered with a gigantic painting of a Sky Whale. Coral reefs were growing on the whale’s back, and Sky Fish swam along that ecosystem.
“Oh?”
“I saw a Sky Whale with Trees growing on it, and Piyaki Friends living there, but this painting is completely different! Is it a historical error?”
Looks like a historical error!
The Duchess must mainly stay in the Empire’s capital, so it’s no wonder she has less experience compared to explorer Pastel!
Wow wow, I’m so smart.
『It’s not an error.』
The Demon Lord observed with his arms crossed.
『The value of this painting lies in its expression of the ocean ecosystem against a sky backdrop. It collapses the boundary between sky and sea, blurring the lines between human habitation and the realm of nature.』
Pastel stopped laughing. With a subtly calm expression, she shot a glance at the Demon Lord.
“I didn’t ask you.”
Why is he interjecting with someone else’s thoughts when I didn’t even ask?
Absurd~.
『No.』
The Demon Lord looked equally bewildered. His hand gestured around. In the white art gallery, there were only a pink-haired girl and a man in a suit.
『I’m the only one here with you right now, so who did you ask?』
Pastel pondered for a moment. Because she hadn’t even thought about it.
Then she spotted an Ant Friend scuttling along the corner of the white wall under the painting. She pointed her finger at the Ant Friend.
“This guy!”
『Huh?』
The Demon Lord looked down in disbelief at the Ant Friend.
Pastel boldly initiated conversation.
“Hello, Ant Friend! As explorer Pastel, I think there’s a historical error in this painting! What do you think?”
Her voice reached the Ant. The Ant simply walked along the wall’s corner.
Silence filled the space.
I guess it’s a question that needs some thought.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over the Ant. It was the shape of a dress shoe. The black shoe stomped down on the Ant.
Squish.
“Huah!”
Ant Friend!
Pastel screamed.
『I truly don’t understand this.』
The evil Demon who stepped on the Ant sighed.
“I don’t understand it either!”
Pastel charged at the wicked Demon.
“Please return my Ant Friend!”
She grabbed onto his suit jacket and shook him.
“You’re a fiend who killed my friend! A Demon without conscience, morals, or experience in love!”
The Demon Lord swayed aimlessly, rubbing his head in confusion.
『I didn’t kill it. Look again.』
She lowered her gaze to the wall’s corner. The Ant Friend, which she thought was squished, was walking out from under the shoe and continued on its path.
“Oh?”
Thinking back, it was just the corner of the wall~.
It’s hard to kill it in one go just because of the angle!
“Phew.”
Pastel wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
“Ant Friend’s evasion skill must be maxed out to dodge the wicked Demon’s attack, right? That’s my Ant Friend!”
Wow.
The Demon Lord adjusted his disheveled suit.
『I really don’t get it…』
A sigh escaped him.
The commotion settled down.
Footsteps approached from the hallway. A neatly dressed staff member came over and pointed to one side.
“Much of the regular visitors have left. You should be fine to join now.”
“Oh, thank you.”
As expected of the United Kingdom, even though it was the Duchess’s private exhibition, anyone with money could view it regardless of status. It wasn’t a bad thing, but it wasn’t ideal for Governor Pastel to be publicly seen meeting with the leader of the Republican Party, so she was waiting until it was more exclusive to VIPs.
Pastel donned a veil from the staff and entered through the related persons’ entrance.
She spotted seats with the lights turned off. While the chairs were filled, it seemed like only the seat lights had been off to highlight the coral painting on the podium.
In the only bright spot, a brown-haired girl in paint-smeared work clothes pointed at the painting with a brush.
“Finally, I got 10,000 gold! Why is this taking so long? From now, I’m setting the bid units to 1,000 gold! There shouldn’t be any cowards who can’t spend that! 11,000 gold! 12,000 gold!”
Her lively voice rang out.
Duchess Nastasha was eagerly auctioning her own painting.
What are you doing, Duchess? So unbecoming!
While it’s supposed to be a solo art exhibition, it’s happening in real-time auction format. To be precise, Pastel entered just as the exhibition time for the Duchess was roughly ending, and the art auction was commencing.
But even in an auction, I didn’t expect the Duchess to be the one to sell directly, leaving the proper host behind.
Upon noticing, the host stood awkwardly in the corner of the podium, looking put out. It seemed the Duchess just intruded without any ceremony.
The host approached the high-spirited Duchess and whispered to her.
“Huh? You want to lower it to platinum since the amounts are high? But then the numbers become smaller. Bigger numbers are more fun! This person has no sense.”
Wow, the power to ignore the auction organizers and do as you please.
So envious.
Pastel looked for an empty seat and, spotting two available in a less noticeable back corner, slid into one.
– The Duchess going this far means the Emperor, huh?
The humans seated next to her flinched as they whispered to each other. They glanced at Pastel, who had partially covered her face with the veil, before whispering again.
– Is the lady sitting next to us…?
A furtive glance came her way.
– She looks like her. Better to pretend we haven’t seen her, right?
– Indeed. But why is she here?
– Let’s ignore her, shall we?
– Mmm.
With her ears perked up, Pastel breathed a sigh of relief. VIPs really are VIPs for a reason. Rumors will spread, but it’s much better than being talked about publicly.
After that, the gentlemen and ladies continued to remain silent about the auction, focusing instead on a discussion about the Duchess.
Pastel, who was popular, didn’t indulge in eavesdropping usually, but as Governor Pastel, she couldn’t resist but listen intently.
– Since the Duchess happened to be visiting the Demon Realm now, it seems the rumor is true that the Emperor is sending officials to every art auction.
– Are you telling me the Duchess would really outsource the perfectly normal art auction in the Empire to the Demon Realm just for that?
– There’s no reason she couldn’t. The transactions can be in the Empire while the auctions are just a formality in the Demon Realm.
The lady let out a sigh.
– Because the Emperor is meddling in the art scene, it looks like the lead in cultural dominance is slipping to the Demon Realm. It’s infuriating that they suspect tax evasion instead of boosting the art culture with that money.
– Indeed. It seems the royal family thinks only of their own paths and has no regard for the Empire’s future.
“Is this all they have? I thought the United Kingdom was prosperous, but maybe I had too big of expectations?”
The Duchess pointed at the coral painting.
“If we buy this, we could confidently say we have no money when the Emperor or the royal family demands money. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure our assets safely through this painting! But is there only a bunch of commoners here who don’t care about that? How disappointing!”
The humiliated Demons eagerly raised their price paddles. The painting’s price soared. It was clear the amount reflected not just the pure value of the artwork.
A brief silence fell next to her. The gentlemen and ladies remained quiet, looking elsewhere.
Then, they lightly applauded.
– The Duchess’s painting is truly excellent no matter when you see it. I can understand why they are willing to pay big money for it.
– That’s true, she is the blessing of our Empire.
Cheerful laughter filled the air.
As Pastel eavesdropped confidently, her curiosity grew.
Why has Duchess Nastasha come to the Demon Realm now?
To scold some pink-haired person who reported the Republican Party as traitors to the Emperor!
She trembled for a moment thinking of such things, but objectively considering, the timing seemed off.
The Duchess doesn’t just pop over to the Demon Realm as if it’s a stroll in the park. Planning her visits along with arranging various duties in the Empire’s capital isn’t something a leader of the Republican Party can just do in a short period.
The Republicans are the traitors! While the airship carrying the telegram headed to the Empire, the Duchess must have already decided to visit the Demon Realm and boarded the airship.
Perhaps the Duchess didn’t hear the news of the traitor because the airship got reversed in the wind.
But why did she come?
The gentlemen and ladies next to her guessed she was looking for a breakthrough to evade the royal scrutiny during the auction, but she found it hard to completely agree.
Since they were involved in the art scene, they might perceive the art world as everything in life, so they might consider the mere pursuit of an open auction culture as a strong enough reason for the Duchess to be here.
However, it’s hard for the leader of the Republican Party to visit the Demon Realm just for that alone.
Not to say that such a reason couldn’t exist too! But it was more accurate to see it as an outward justification and an alibi, while the true intent was something else entirely.
While the auction progressed, Pastel furrowed her brows, wrestling with her thoughts.
Having just tasted a fleeting taste of central politics, she couldn’t afford to let her guard down.
Oh?
The unfaithful cat cried out.
Meow meow~.
Not just a meow but a cutesy meow. Because she has to act cute.
Uh-oh.
It can’t be.
Absolutely can’t be.
Thinking of the too realistic reason that it would be immensely disgraceful to try and woo back an ex-boyfriend who dumped her in school would mean moving under the appropriate external pretext, like a free auction, felt painfully plausible, but it absolutely can’t be…!
The leader of the Republican Party shouldn’t behave like that!
Pastel firmly denied this with a cold head.
Until meeting Duchess Nastasha after the auction ended, who might casually drop something like,
“I heard there was a witness claiming I was seen in the Demon Realm…”
Huah!
Please don’t do this!
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