The Stepmother Has Left - Chapter 44

McKenna Hudson.

 

Yes, she was right, as expected. She was quite a famous figure.

 

Even an outsider in painting has probably heard of her name and work once.

 

She did not reveal her face at first, but worked with the initial letter of her name, “M.”

 

Although she continued her long career as a painter, she eventually revealed her face and real name.

 

She was known as a geek. When she was doing her work, she got everything needed for the work beforehand.

 

There were also rumours that someone had seen her digging up a grave at night.

 

Then, at some point, she stayed inside for several years without appearing for her work.

 

Despite such eccentricities, thanks to her tremendous talent, all the aspiring painters wanted to be her students, but she did not accept anyone as her disciple.

 

People who came to see her complained, saying she was a cranky grandmother.

 

It was Cassia’s first time actually seeing her.

 

White, three lines of greyish hair, moderate dark skin, stern walk.

 

Cassia knew Mrs. McKenna was quite old, but she didn’t look too old, perhaps because of her straight waist.

 

The firm, hard expression on her face seemed to tell exactly what kind of character she was.

 

In fact, Cassia never imagined that she was the one Adolf brought in as her teacher.

 

She was a little surprised. How did he succeed in persuading her?

 

But she also never came up to the capital to learn painting, it was just out of a little curiosity.

 

But once you’ve made up your mind, you have to do it right.

 

Cassia stood up from her seat. Above all, she wanted to say hello because she was her teacher.

 

“Hello, Mrs McKenna. My name is Cassia Bennett. It’s an honour for me to learn from you. I look forward to your kind cooperation.”

 

“…I heard that there are some paintings you drew in Lawrencia. I’d love to see them.”

 

“Oh, yes.”

 

She didn’t answer Cassia’s greeting out loud and told her to bring her a painting.

 

Cassia thought this might be the case, so she brought the paintings she drew in Lawrencia here.

 

She brought the canvases that had been standing on the wall in the corner of the living room and held them out to her.

 

Mrs. McKenna looked at the paintings with a mysterious expression.

 

An expression of a thorough evaluation.

 

However, nothing was revealed on the outside, so Cassia couldn’t guess at all.

 

She swallowed in a trembling mood.

 

How long has it been?

 

Mrs McKenna took her eyes off the painting.

 

Then she took the canvases from Cassia’s hand.

 

She held them out to Sophie, who was standing next to her.

 

“Throw it away.”

 

“…”

 

“It’s trash without any foundation.”

 

‘Again, my hunch about her first impression seemed to be correct.’

 

* * *

 

The class began the next day immediately.

 

Early in the morning, she sat on a chair with canvas in her room and waited for Mrs McKenna.

 

When the time came, the door opened, and Mrs McKenna entered with a briefcase.

 

“Good morning, Mrs McKenna.”

 

“…”

 

She entered the room with a simple nod.

 

Behind her, a person came in, carrying a lot of books related to art.

 

Books containing the stories of important artists, including various historical books related to art.

 

Other than that, books on art techniques, even cultural books that did not seem to be related to art.

 

The person put them on the desk and disappeared.

 

Bang, as the door closed and Mrs McKenna looked at Cassia and said, “These are books that will help you. Read it on your own.”

 

“…Oh. Thank you. I’ll make time to read them.”

 

Looking at her, Cassia got up and nodded.

 

Mrs McKenna looked at the canvas in front of her and the palette Cassia had prepared beforehand and wriggled her eyebrows.

 

“There.”

 

Opening the door again, she called Sophie.

 

“Yes, Ma’am. Do you need anything?”

 

“Put that palette away and get some charcoal.”

 

“…Charcoal?”

 

Sophie’s expression became suspicious, but she soon listened to her master. She came into my room, took the palette, and rushed to a nearby workshop to buy charcoal.

 

Cassia asked, a bit puzzled.

 

“Don’t we need a palette today?”

 

“You won’t use it for the next few months. Until your foundation is established.”

 

“…I see.”

 

Wasn’t charcoal usually used for sketching? Cassia didn’t quite understand what it meant to lay the foundation with it.

 

She tilted her and said, “I’m going to learn to sketch, to be exact, drawing for the time being.”

 

“Many artists don’t know the importance of drawing, but it’s actually the most fundamental technique.”

 

Soon the door opened, and Sophie came in.

 

“I’ve got charcoal here, Ma’am.”

 

“Thank you. Put it down and leave.”

 

Sophie calmly put it down and went out. For some reason, there seemed to be sorrow in her eyes as she went out and looked at Cassia.

 

‘Somehow I think so too, Sophie.’

 

* * *

 

Cassia had been drawing apples for a month.

 

As Mrs McKenna said, drawing was the most fundamental technique. The technique of representing objects with only black lines, light and shade.

 

To learn it, she tried many different ways with an apple.

 

She drew an apple by adjusting the angle at which the sunlight falls on it,  depending on the change of sunlight over time.

 

In fact, at first, she didn’t understand why she was doing this.

 

But as she did it, she suddenly understood why.

 

In fact, she realised that the apples we see have different shapes and colours every moment.

 

What parts were hidden and revealed according to the change of light, and what parts were seen according to the angle of light.

 

She drew hundreds of pictures, but not a single one had the same apple drawn.

 

It was all about the senses. And it was the eyes that a painter should have.

 

And Cassia was learning the basic eyes.

 

When she realised the reason, her skills naturally began to change.

 

After knowing the purpose, she focused more on it and observed the apple closely.

 

And she got interested in the work.

 

These were the days when she worked so hard to acquire the senses with her whole body.

 

One night, she woke up suddenly.

 

“Oh, I just fell asleep.”

 

She yawned and looked at her watch, and it was almost bedtime.

 

Cassia put down the book she was reading in front of the desk.

 

It was a thick cultural book about art history, given by Mrs McKenna in her first class.

 

After finishing her classes with Mrs McKenna every day, she would read the book that her teacher gave her.

 

Because she, too, was well aware of the importance of this basic knowledge as she was educated as a noblewoman.

 

‘Why did I not know this content was so interesting when I was young?’

 

She definitely had a memory of learning about art history at the academy when she was young.

 

But learning with interest and compulsion was different.

 

“I need to read a little more…”

 

With regrets, she took off the glasses she was wearing while reading the book and tidied the space up.

 

She only slept for a few hours a day since she started painting lessons.

 

In fact, it was not easy to draw apples every day, but she lost track of time when she was immersed in them.

 

However, she felt that her physical strength was limited because she was old.

 

It was a pity that she couldn’t read more books, but she thought she should take a rest today.

 

It was when Cassia was about to get up from her seat after organising her desk…

 

Knock knock

 

Cassia heard a knock on the door. The door opened, and Sophie came in.

 

“Miss Cassia!”

 

“Sophie.”

 

Cassia smiled happily at Sophie coming in. Sophie would always come in at this time and put her to sleep.

 

As Adolf said, she began to learn how to paint, so she didn’t know how fortunate it was to have someone to take care of her condition.

 

In addition, Sophie was a capable maid.

 

It was not enough to manage her schedule, so she managed the housework that Cassia couldn’t do because she was learning to paint.

 

Sophie was in charge of her diet for three meals a day, and her cooking skills were excellent.

 

Thanks to Sophie, Cassia could spend her time learning to paint comfortably.

 

“Are you going to sleep now?”

 

“Yes, I’m going to.”

 

“Here, warm water to drink before you go to bed. It will help your body relax.”

 

“Thank you, Sophie.”

 

Cassia approached the bed with the water Sophie gave her.

 

As usual, she put water on the table and sat on the bed.

 

Sophie seemed to have something to say. She crept up to Cassia’s side. She asked with a smile.

 

“Miss Cassia, how’s your studying going these days?”

 

“Thanks to you, I am really enjoying it, really.”

 

“Are you not tired? I think you’re pushing yourself too hard these days.”

 

“It would be a lie if I weren’t tired, but it’s just fun to study after a long time.”

 

It may be because she was full of passion because she hadn’t started painting classes yet.

 

However, it was not easy to do, even though she knew she had to control her physical strength.

 

She was not forcing herself to endure class time, but because she was learning, and time passed like that.

 

Mrs McKenna didn’t hesitate to comment on her painstakingly drawn sketches, but Cassia liked that.

 

She wanted her teacher to teach her more. She wanted to hear more vitriol. As her teacher said, she was a beginner who didn’t have any basic skills yet.

 

Cassia was spending her time feeling tired but proud, day by day.

 

“I have a suggestion for Miss Cassia.”

 

“What is it?”

 

Sophie came up to the bed and said, “I consulted with His Highness the Crown Prince, and I think it would be good for you to exercise.”

 

“Ah.”

 

“If you want to paint in good health for a long time, you must have physical strength.”

 

Cassia never thought about it, but it made sense.

 

Even when she was the Duchess, even though she couldn’t be far away, she took a steady walk in the Duke’s garden.

 

Come to think about it, all that stamina was stockpiled and that supported running the gallery.

 

Even if it wasn’t so, she had been sitting for a long time recently and felt like her physical strength was rapidly decreasing.

 

“I think it would be good to keep going, even for a walk. If there is a sport you are interested in, I think it would be good to learn about it this time.”

 

“Yes, as you said, that sounds like a really good idea.”

 

Cassia was lost in thought.

 

‘Hmmm, what kind of exercise would I like to do?’

 

Contemplating, she answered.

 

“Then, can I go horseback riding regularly?”

 

“Horseback riding?”

 

Sophie looked at Cassia with slightly surprised eyes. It seemed like something she wasn’t expecting.

 

“Because I used to enjoy it when I was young. As you said, if anything is okay, I think horseback riding would be good.”

 

When she was in Lawrencia, she recalled riding with Michael.

 

Even though she was very tired that day, after riding the horse, she felt like her stress was relieved all at once.

 

Even though she had a hard time with sore muscles all over her body for a few days because of the exercise.

 

Cassia thought it was a good way to exercise and relieve stress while having fun.

 

“Oh, Miss Cassia. Of course, it’s okay.”

 

Sophie smiled and nodded.

 

“I’ll ask His Highness the Crown Prince to prepare a very good horse.”

 

“Thank you, Sophie.”

 

Sophie carefully covered Cassia with a blanket and left the room.

 

Cassia immediately fell into a deep sleep.

***