Painting lessons

A knock on the door interrupted them and startled them so much that they were speechless for a few minutes.

But the knocking continued, and someone had to answer.

“W-who is it?”

Moniri got up from the couch and hesitantly approached the door. She opened it, and Lutyl walked in, calm and smiling—a complete contrast to them. Moniri smiled back, trying to show that everything was fine.

Indeed, everything was fine, as long as they hadn’t been caught. Her plan wasn’t in jeopardy; she just had to tell Almond discreetly.

“Young Lady, a painting professor has arrived. His Majesty the Emperor is waiting for you in his office.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Moniri turned and looked at Almond. Then she glanced around and walked toward her office. She took a small piece of paper and a pencil. When she finished writing, she approached Almond and discreetly handed it to him, greeting him.

“Almond, see you later!”

She said to Almond just before closing the door. He was confused.

What did she mean? She seemed to be signaling something to me, but I don’t understand.

He unfolded the small piece of paper he was holding in his hands, and then he understood. That’s because the note read: “Early tomorrow morning. Meet in the courtyard behind my room. Be careful! Don’t let anyone catch you.”

~~~~~~

Moniri entered Emperor Kaspen’s office.

“Moniri! How was your day?”

“Fine, Father! I was quite… busy.”

“I hope you didn’t get too tired. You have a lesson now.”

“No, I don’t feel tired at all. Also, Lutil told me that a painting teacher has arrived.”

Moniri’s eyes fell on the man standing next to the Emperor’s desk. He was a middle-aged man of average height, shorter than the Emperor but taller than she was. His hair was brown and gray, as was his beard, and it was short, he was also wearing a hat. His clothes seemed clean, but on the sleeves one could make out colorful splotches.

“Yes! Moniri, this is your art teacher, Mr. Sfold.”

The Emperor gestured with his hands toward Mr. Sfold, who smiled broadly. His face was calm, and up until that moment he had not yet spoken.

Moniri and Professor Sfold, guided by Lutil, made their way to a room, the classroom where the lessons would take place. And until Lutil left, things were going quite well. But when the maid left, the atmosphere immediately became somewhat uncomfortable and awkward. The professor remained silent, with the calmest expression a person could have, and she didn’t know what to say or how to start a conversation.

“Hello, Mr. Sfold.”

She said this hesitantly and somewhat shyly. Seated at her desk, the professor stood in front of the large movable blackboard.

“My name is Moniri, and I am the adopted daughter of Emperor Kaspen and Empress Tchanna.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Moniri.”

Silence again. But at least some progress had been made—or so Moniri wanted to believe. A few minutes passed, and finally Professor Sfold moved from his spot. He opened the bag he’d brought and took out a large sheet of paper. He handed it to Moniri and turned back to face the blackboard.

“You brought a pencil, didn’t you?”

Moniri nodded and took out of the drawer the pencils that Empress Tchanna had given her specifically for this purpose.

“Now do as I do. We won’t start painting on canvas right away; we need to go over some basics first.”

Then, Professor Sfold began drawing with a piece of chalk, first a circle, then a square, and continued with a trapezoid.

These are a bit boring, but I’ll follow the professor for now. He must know what he’s doing.

They continued like this for another half hour when the professor stopped drawing and turned toward her. He didn’t say anything and picked up his bag. From inside, he took out two pencil-shaped pieces of charcoal and something that looked like an eraser.

“How about we make things a little more interesting?”

He said, handing her the two pieces of charcoal and the eraser.

“You can draw with these, too. Use the eraser to erase if you make a mistake, but you can also smudge the charcoal and draw with your fingers.”

“With my fingers? So I have to take off my gloves?”

“Yes, that’s right. But if you don’t want to, we can do it next time.”

Moniri sat down to think about it for a moment. She was already nervous enough, but if she took off her gloves, who knows what might happen. She ran through many scenarios in her mind, all of which ended with her being banished from the palace. But she decided to think it over a little more.

~~~~~~~

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them, she had already made up her mind. In the end, her fear had been overcome by her love of painting and her determination to learn. She took off her gloves, set them aside, and picked up a piece of charcoal.

Professor Sfold helped her learn how to use the charcoal by drawing the exact same shapes.

Half an hour later, the lesson was over, leaving Moniri with mixed feelings, which she was to convey to her mother, the Empress.

After the lesson, Lutil was waiting to escort her to the Empress’s garden for afternoon tea.

“How was your lesson today, Moniri?”

the Empress asked as soon as she took her seat.

“For the first time, it wasn’t bad, although…”

“Although what?”

Although the professor was a bit too quiet and seemed like he didn’t know how to convey his knowledge.

But she couldn’t say that. The class was quite good, and the professor, aside from some communication issues, was fine too. Moniri was sure that the next lessons would be even better, so she didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

“Although I didn’t know that to paint, you have to know so many basic things. And it was also kind of boring at first.”

Empress Tanna laughed with a melodious laugh. She expected Moniri to develop into a great talent, but Moniri found the theory very tedious. This not only struck her as funny but also extremely charming.