Raising my Fiancè with Money - Chapter 52

Vanessa

TL: Jasmine

“…… Who are you?”

When the woman blinked and asked, Lilia realised she was mistaken. Come to think of it, she was the only one who recognized her. Lilia, who had hesitated for a while, spoke frankly,

“I’m sorry. I happened to see that scene while passing by the gallery earlier. Do you draw?”

She answered without energy,

“Yes… But I’ve never even published a work. Even if I want to entrust it to a gallery, I’m repeatedly kicked out.”

“I think I should stop drawing.”

“I can’t believe you’d quit….”

When Lilia was very sorry, the woman hesitated and confessed.

“I was lucky to go to the exhibition a while ago, and I saw paintings of other painters there. There are so many people in the world who draw well.”

She seemed to have lost a lot of confidence after going to the exhibition and seeing colorful works.

“I can’t afford that kind of paint, my drawings are monotonous…….”

(T/N: dull, and repetitious; lacking in variety and interest.)

Her cheeks turned red as if she was ashamed to tell such a trivial story.

Lilia agonized for a moment. Even if she didn’t ask, she could see the situation clearly. She didn’t look like she was in any position to be anyone’s student.

Lilia made a decision after hesitation. She thought she would recommend Cliff’s atelier if she had any talent.

“If you don’t mind, can you show me your drawing?”

“…..My drawing?”

“Yes. Can’t you?”

“It’s not that, because this is the first time…..”

The woman carefully asked if it was okay because it was charcoal. When Lilia nodded, she carefully removed the newspaper for her one audience. Then, a piece of paper painted with black charcoal was revealed on the wooden board.

”

The moment she saw the picture, Lilia was suffocated. It was very rough and unconventional. The thick lines that stretched randomly formed the shape of a wolf. The wolf in the picture seemed like it would run out of the picture with power at any moment.

From head to toe, she felt numb and fluffy. Forgetting that she was standing in the middle of the road, Lilia looked at the painting for a long time. When Lilia didn’t say anything, she said awkwardly,

“As expected, I’m very inexperienced, right? Actually, majored in oil painting, but paint was too expensive….”

Lilia jerked up her head. The surprised woman tilted her upper body.

“Your major is oil painting?”

“Yes? Yes. All I can do now is draw with charcoal…….”

“Oh my god.”

It was awesome. The drawing was still great, but if she made use of her major, she (the woman) would be the best painter representing her generation. Lilia reached out and held her hand.

“Contract with me!”

Vanessa is a commoner, but she was born as the eldest daughter of a wealthy family. She had a natural talent for painting. Her family recognized Vanessa’s talent and provided support. Vanessa flew toward her dream with the encouragement of her family,

But before she turned fifteen, her family collapsed. It was because her parents misplaced the joint guarantee 1). The most prosperous house in the neighborhood was auctioned off, and the place where she fled from the debtor and settled was the slum.

Her parents went to a distant country to pay off the debts. Vanessa had to feed her two younger siblings day by day.

Nevertheless, Vanessa did not give up on her dream. During the day she worked at a nearby restaurant and in the evening she painted. Although she had no lucrative materials, she obtained charcoal to continue her painting practice.

As time passed, Vanessa was at a crossroads. The situation only got worse, and she couldn’t make ends meet with paintings. She had to let go of her dream now.

At that time, Vanessa heard that a large exhibition would be held in the capital. Finally, she decided to see the exhibition

When she arrived in front of the museum, there was an admission fee. It was not much money for others, but it was not readily available to Vanessa. When she turned around after hesitating, the exhibition staff exclaimed,

– The 1,000th guest is free of charge.

After her family collapsed, luck had finally fallen on Vanessa, who was full of bad luck. Vanessa, who entered the art museum for free, saw the works of the painters. The art that was generously poured out with expensive paints was very colorful and splendid

Looking at the art, she felt shabby wearing dull and old clothes. Vanessa, who had been to the exhibition, thought about giving up everything, and decided to really try on her last challenge.

From that day on, Vanessa began touring the galleries blindly. If she was lucky, she was politely rejected, and if she was unlucky, she was cursed and dragged out by the guard. What all had in common was that Vanessa wasn’t welcomed anywhere.

Repeated rejection and contempt during numerous galleries tarnished her self-esteem. All that was left were seeds of hope. And when she arrived at the last gallery, Vanessa thought,

‘If I get rejected here, let’s burn all the art and cling to my livelihood.’

Vanessa knocked on the gallery door. However, only criticism and swear words were returned this time. When even the seeds she had were carved out, Vanessa was completely broken. Vanessa thought she should go back home and burn the art. Then someone called Vanessa,

“Wait a minute.”

As she turned her head, she saw a lady with soft blonde hair and clear purple eyes. She was accompanied by two tall men and the flow of elegance hinted that she was an aristocratic young lady. Vanessa, who was staring blankly at her lovely face, asked belatedly,

“…..Who are you?”

Then she replied that she saw what happened in front of the gallery earlier. When asked if she was drawing, Vanessa was frustrated and told the woman whom she saw for the first time.

She, who was just listening, asked if she could see her work. She hesitated because it was a shameful work that no one welcomed.

I’m going to go home and burn it anyway, but it’s better to show it to at least one person.’

As she thought so, she had nothing to show. Vanessa showed her charcoal paintings that she had painted. The lady didn’t say anything for a while, then grabbed Vanessa’s hand and shouted.

“Contract with me!”

Vanessa blinked because she thought she heard it wrong for a moment.

“No, not like this. Let’s sit somewhere and talk.”

Vanessa was dragged away. When she came to her senses, she sat in a luxury tea house nearby. Vanessa,

who checked the menu, was surprised. A cup of tea was more expensive than the cost of two meals.

“I’ll buy it. Don’t feel pressured.”

“…… Thank you.”

Vanessa had no pride to put forward. If a word of thanks could save you money, it would be cheap.

“What’s your name?”

“Va, Vanessa.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

She smiled. Introducing herself as Lilia, she made suggestions one after another.

“If you don’t mind, won’t you sign a contract with

me?”

“Contract…..?”

“I can provide as much support as you want, such as painting materials and art galleries, I’ll pay the down payment in advance.”

Vanessa only opened her mouth at the tremendous proposal. There was no reason to make such a proposal to her, an unknown person.

“….. Why did you choose me?”

“I really liked the work.”

It was a crystal clear answer. Vanessa looked at Lilia with trembling eyes. She was about to be swayed by her angel-like appearance.

…… Maybe she’s a scammer. The world is wide and rough, so there must have been a swindler with such a lovely face. But now Vanessa had nothing more to lose, even to a scammer.

“If you give me a moment to think…….”

“How many days later should we meet again?”

“N, No. Just a moment…”

Vanessa urgently shouted, fearing that Lilia would leave like this. Lilia drank tea leisurely, telling her to do so. It was elegant even though she was just drinking tea.

Vanessa, who was briefly distracted by the appearance, shook her head.

Will this opportunity come to me in the future?

Lilia was the only one who said she liked her work, which everyone had ignored, except for her family

“That….. I don’t have money. Will it be okay?”

“Of course.”

Lilia smiled softly. Vanessa, who breathed a sign of relief inside, made eye contact with Lilia for the first time.

“I want to sign a contract.”

The voice seemed to tremble badly at the end.

“Frances.”

Lilia reached out her palm and called someone, Immediately, a man with blue hair handed over a pen and paper.

Upon receiving it, Lilia called a man with navy hair who looked older. When she whispered something, he left right away. Only the man called Frances stood in a straight escorting posture.

“This is a temporary contract. How much do you want in advance?”

Vanessa thought about it. She herself had something called shame. However, if she focused on painting, she would not be able to work at a restaurant.

Fortunately, her younger siblings met with the bakery owner and didn’t go hungry, but there were monthly living expenses to worry about. There were many things to spend money on because of her siblings. Vanessa carefully opened her mouth.

“…1500 Kroel.”

“1500……?”

Vanessa looked at Lilia’s reaction that screamed it was ridiculous. As expected, it must have been too shameful to receive two months’ salary at once from working at a restaurant. As Vanessa hurriedly tried to correct, Lilia said,

“It’s too little.”

“……What?”

What do you mean it’s too little? It was a large amount that she had seriously thought about.

Did I look so skinny? Lilia muttered to herself, then banged on the table.

“Let’s do 150,000 Kroel.”

Vanessa was instantly dizzy at the huge amount of money. It was exactly 100 times the amount she asked for. Vanessa froze at an amount beyond her imagination. Then Lilia tilted her head and suggested it again.

“Don’t you like it? Then 300,000 Kroel?

[1] A joint guarantee means the signatories are jointly liable as a group for the borrower’s indebtedness. If one guarantor does not pay, the others are on the hook to fulfill the group’s obligation to repay the full amount of that indebtedness