Chapter 55

“I’ve talked about it to his aide, but I haven’t heard from him. If I finish the work at this rate, I will never see the Marquis again.”

With his tongue moistening his parched lips, Brad rambled on.

“As long as I’m painting, I’ll still get to see the Marquis, so if I somehow manage to catch his eye for the rest of the time, won’t he write me a sponsorship deal?”

Brad was telling that he wanted to be sponsored by the Marquis, but he was ignored. And if the painting got completed in this situation, he would get in trouble because he lost the reason to meet the Marquis.

He was determined to get the sponsorship from the Marquis before the work got completed somehow.

Seeing the look of disbelief on Liv’s face, Brad hastened to explain.

“Even if it’s not for the Marquis’s sponsorship, he recognized my talent so he may connect me with a good sponsor. That’s all it takes! I can do anything with that!”

It seemed like Brad wasn’t aiming for the Marquis’s patronage. Rather, his goal seemed to be to get the “sponsorship contract” itself.

“Why do you need a sponsorship contract?”

Brad, who had been rambling, closed his mouth to Liv’s question. Once again, cold sweat formed on Brad’s forehead. Liv, who was carefully examining his reaction, squinted her eyes.

“Are you gambling again?”

“No! That’s impossible!”

Brad denied it at once. His face was filled with sincerity as he shook his hand violently, so it seemed true that this was not about gambling.

“Then what is it?”

It wasn’t about gambling, but there must be another problem. Liv persisted, and Brad, looking troubled, cautiously spoke up.

“Actually, there’s a very famous businessman I recently met. He works in the capital. He’s someone who can sell my paintings and he can open a private exhibition for me in the capital!”

He was hesitant at first, but by the end, his voice had become cheerful. Brad looked at Liv’s reaction, his eyes shining. He was expecting that Liv would be surprised or impressed.

Unfortunately, however, Liv didn’t feel impressed at all.

No, she was surprised. It was just that the surprise wasn’t the kind of thing Brad expected. When Liv heard the word “businessman,” the first thing that came to mind was “swindler.”

Don’t tell me…

But Liv couldn’t accuse him of anything without knowing the circumstances, so she asked calmly.

“How did you get to know such a great person?”

“Of course…”

Brad shut up again with a look of reluctance on his face. Liv glanced at him again with suspicious eyes.

“Don’t tell me you told him about our work…”

“No way! I may be a loose-tongued person, but I do know how to keep a secret!”

Surely, even though Brad was bad at reasoning, there was no way he would go around mentioning the Marquis. If he had done such a thing, the Marquis would have noticed it and done something.

“It’s just, I’ve mentioned a few times while drunk that I think I’ve caught the eye of some wealthy aristocrat and will get patronage sooner or later. Well, he happened to hear about me while looking for a painter to invest in!”

Thinking about it, Camille had mentioned that. He clearly said that Brad walked around proudly these days because he had met a huge supporter.

If Camille, who didn’t know Brad at all, knew about it, that meant it had gotten around, at least in the art industry.

It was so easy to imagine what Brad would have looked like walking around.

Liv sighed, grasping her throbbing head. Brad, who looked a little embarrassed at the blatant sigh, coughed and raised his head.

“But, well, I didn’t make a debut, right? So he said I need such a… guarantee to prove my skills.”

“… He will sell your paintings, but he’s looking for an artist with a sponsor? It doesn’t make sense.”

Why is a sponsor a sponsor in the first place?

Despite Liv’s criticism, Brad shook his head firmly. It was an unbelievable change in attitude for a person who was determined to get the Marquis as his supporter.

“People don’t rely on their sponsors for everything these days. Relying on sponsors like the old days is a bad idea! Besides, I can hold an exhibition in the capital! I’ve already paid for the rental fee as—!”

“The rental fee? Why are you paying for the rental fee when you said he’d hold an exhibition for you? No, before that. Did you have the money for that?”

The person who spent his money in gambling houses and bars without fail?

At the sight of Liv asking in a tone of incredulity, Brad raised his voice, his face reddening.

“Liv!”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know via our discord so we can fix it as soon as possible.