Chapter 19
Unfortunately, this was all Dante’s own doing.
Of course, Dante himself would probably think that was unfair.
‘Well, who told him to run away?’
If he hadn’t kept running, I wouldn’t have dragged him into this.
In the end, it was simply a change in perspective.
If there was no way to catch a constantly fleeing Dante, then all she had to do was create a situation where he couldn’t run away!
‘Hehehe.’
Dante Graham, you walked right into this one.
You challenged me to a game of hide-and-seek.
But being a ten-year veteran of Townsend meant one thing:
I was a master of tag and hide-and-seek.
‘So don’t feel too wronged about it.’
From the very beginning, this was a game I was destined to win!
Fortunately, the circumstances worked out perfectly.
From the company’s standpoint, having both male and female models was hardly a bad thing, and Dante and Rowena were around the same age anyway.
More importantly, Ober absolutely adored Rowena and even considered her his muse.
“If I can draw Miss Rowena, I can do anything! Adding one boy into a picture is no trouble at all!”
The proud, almost arrogant Ober had become completely humble thanks to Rowena.
Because of that, Seymour’s side was able to request that Dante be included in the photoshoot illustrations as well.
Of course, from Dante’s perspective—without knowing any of these details—it must have felt like a bolt from the blue.
But what could he do? Dante had accepted the job.
His part was only for a single illustration, and above all, it had been a direct request from Seymour.
And so, after the concept sketch session ended—
“Good work.”
Grinding his teeth, Dante stepped down from the stage.
Meanwhile, Rowena hopped down energetically with a bright smile and ran straight toward Ober.
“Teacher, can I see the sketches?”
“Of course! I’ll show you!”
Excitedly, Ober began showing her the sketches one by one. There were many of them, though only a select few would ultimately be chosen for the final pictorial.
“This one especially captures how cute you are, Miss. I definitely plan to keep it. And this one—flowers suit you so well…”
Ober enthusiastically explained each piece, but Rowena’s interest lay elsewhere.
She didn’t particularly care about how pretty she looked.
Rather—
“…Ah!”
Carefully flipping through the sketches, Rowena suddenly brightened and pulled one out.
“This one made Dante look really good! I’m gonna go show him!”
The ultimate reason she had dragged Dante into the photoshoot in the first place—
Was simply because she wanted to become friends with him.
‘Just trapping him here wouldn’t mean anything.’
She had thought that since they’d be spending time together as models, she could casually strike up a conversation.
But—
“Hey, um…”
“Don’t talk to me. Look ahead.”
He had been unbelievably cold.
More importantly, once the models struck a pose, they weren’t allowed to move.
Ober and the studio apprentices sketched at terrifying speed the moment a pose was set.
Even the slightest movement would disrupt their work, so Rowena had to use every ounce of willpower to stay completely still.
By the time the concept sketch session ended, Dante had already gone off to the dressing room.
But Rowena didn’t give up.
‘I’ll use this sketch to talk to him!’
She hurried after him into the dressing room, where Dante had already changed clothes and was organizing his things.
“Dante, look! You came out really well in this one!”
But Dante’s reaction remained cold. No, now he wasn’t even looking at her anymore.
“Go away. I told you not to talk to me. No matter what you say, I’m not answering.”
“Hmph.”
Pouting, Rowena muttered under her breath,
“Dante, you idiot dummy.”
“What did you just say?”
Dante immediately frowned and looked at her.
Rowena burst into giggles.
“You said you wouldn’t answer me!”
“…Childish beyond belief.”
But even as he said that, his cheeks had turned faintly red with embarrassment.
“You really won’t look at it? It’s a memory, too. Teacher said I could keep this.”
“I don’t need it. What matters is that I helped my uncle.”
“But still…”
Rowena tugged lightly on the hem of his clothes, dragging out her words. Dante’s face hardened coldly.
“Everyone likes you, so maybe you can act like that with them. But not me. I hate you.”
So go play your childish games with someone else.
With that, Dante shook off her hand and walked away.
Feeling dejected, Rowena turned to return the sketch to Ober—
When suddenly, a commotion erupted near the door.
People carrying armfuls of items flooded into the dressing room, practically taking over the entire space.
Caught off guard, Rowena’s eyes widened.
“Huh?”
Hey, our clothes are still here though?
As she busily moved through the crowd to gather her things, a sharp voice rang out behind her. It belonged to a girl with a haughty expression.
“What’s with that kid? She’s annoying. Throw her out.”
“You can’t do that, miss. She’s probably one of the models from the previous session.”
After all, everyone had the right to use the dressing room. They couldn’t just kick someone out.
But apparently, the girl didn’t think so.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Who does she think she is? Wait, is she actually wearing company clothes right now? How tacky!”
The girl scoffed and strode directly toward Rowena.
When Rowena looked at her with wide, sparkling eyes, the girl abruptly grabbed at the clothes Rowena was holding.
“Hey, just because you’re here doesn’t mean you’re somebody important, okay? Leave while I’m being nice. I want the room to myself!”
Rowena quietly observed her.
The girl looked about two years older than Rowena and radiated pride and arrogance. Perhaps the people around her had made her that way.
And Rowena, drawing upon her extensive experience surviving as a bottom-of-the-barrel orphan child, knew exactly how to deal with people like this.
“Woooow.”
Breaking into a huge grin, Rowena pointed at the girl with one finger.
“Big sis, you look like a monkey’s butt!”
Ten years in Townsend Orphanage—
Written one way, pronounced “absolute battlefield.”
Rowena had long ago learned the essence of fighting.
Winning a fight wasn’t about hitting harder.
“Ah! No, wait… a monkey’s butt that rolled around in the mud!”
It was the one who laughed that won.
Hehe!
Donna Devon—the only daughter of Count Devon and the current darling child model of high society—felt her mind completely shatter in that moment.
All because of the bombshell that had come out of this tiny little girl’s mouth!
‘Sh-she said I look like a monkey’s butt?’
Donna had earned her popularity through her proud, catlike charm and elegance.
Everywhere she went, people called her pretty and adorable. Her dark brown curly hair was a particular source of pride.
And yet this tiny brat had just utterly demolished that pride!
“W-what did you just say?”
“Hmm? Grandpa doctor said old people start losing their hearing. But you’re still young, so why can’t you hear properly? Did you hear me?”
Her voice sounded genuinely concerned.
Which only made Donna angrier.
“You look like a monkey’s butt, and your clothes look like a molting chicken. Hehe!”
As Rowena giggled, Donna’s face flushed bright red.
In fury, Donna ripped off the white fur-trimmed coat she was wearing and threw it aside.
“Who brought me this hideous thing?! Take it away immediately!”
“S-sorry, miss!”
“And you! What exactly did you just call me?!”
Donna shouted furiously, pointing at Rowena. Rowena tilted her head innocently.
“What part? The monkey’s butt part? Or the molting chicken part? Ah! Right, I also said a monkey’s butt that rolled around in mud. Was it that one?”
“Y-you little—!”
At last, Donna’s patience snapped.
Her face burning crimson, Donna raised her hand as if to strike Rowena down.
