It was my real brother, Edward.
“...Get out of my way now.”
I tried to pass Edward, feeling like I was going to vomit at any moment.
However, Edward approached me without paying any attention.
“You still haven’t signed the ‘Heaven’ plan I mentioned.”
“You’re still talking about that ?”
Edward was full of ambition to build a huge cabaret called ‘Heaven’ on the island.
It was a plan to hire beautiful singers and dancers and build a comprehensive entertainment facility, but even though it seemed plausible on the outside, it was a plan that I knew would fail.
“Even if I did it well, it would just be a copy of an existing precedent.”
There was already a real paradise on earth that Dante Heigenberg had created on the island.
“I told you, brother. I won’t be stamping that document.”
The construction of ‘Heaven’ required an astronomical amount of money.
Edward was after the assets in my personal bank vault because the money he had earned so far was not enough. The heirloom that my late grandfather had left just for me.
Edward had been relentlessly chasing after me these days to get my signature on the document that would use as collateral for the construction of 'heaven'.
"Damn it, Ariana! I understand that you, a woman, don't know much about business. But if you build this golden business that will bring in money-"
I tried to pass Edward, feeling like I was going to vomit at any moment.
However, Edward approached me without paying any attention.
“You still haven’t signed the ‘Heaven’ plan I mentioned.”
“You’re still talking about that ?”
Edward was full of ambition to build a huge cabaret called ‘Heaven’ on the island.
It was a plan to hire beautiful singers and dancers and build a comprehensive entertainment facility, but even though it seemed plausible on the outside, it was a plan that I knew would fail.
“Even if I did it well, it would just be a copy of an existing precedent.”
There was already a real paradise on earth that Dante Heigenberg had created on the island.
“I told you, brother. I won’t be stamping that document.”
The construction of ‘Heaven’ required an astronomical amount of money.
Edward was after the assets in my personal bank vault because the money he had earned so far was not enough. The heirloom that my late grandfather had left just for me.
Edward had been relentlessly chasing after me these days to get my signature on the document that would use as collateral for the construction of 'heaven'.
"Damn it, Ariana! I understand that you, a woman, don't know much about business. But if you build this golden business that will bring in money-"
"...Elena."
I spat out the words as if I was vomiting.
"Elena committed adultery with my husband."
"What?"
"She spent the night with my husband and got pregnant with his child."
"Ha! That girl insisted on..."
I realized instinctively as Edward muttered with his furrowed eyes.
"You already knew, brother."
"..."
Edward furrowed his brow with a displeased expression. I muttered absentmindedly.
"You knew it, but you kept it a secret from me... Why?"
No, now I knew the answer.
“Are you afraid that I’ll be a nuisance when I find out the truth?”
So that I’ll lie down and refuse to supply music to the opera house, which has become a family business that lays golden eggs?
“Ha, damn it.”
Edward shouted, his hair tousled.
“Why are you doing this to me? You should have taken care of your husband yourself! You play the piano all day like a crazy woman working hard. Would he be attracted to a wife like that?”
“...”
“That’s good. You should come to your senses now. Stop being a slob in the corner of the house and put on some make-up and some clothes! Huh? The Marquis sees all the singers singing at the opera house every day, so how could he be attracted to a wife who’s all plain like you?”
“...I see.”
I muttered as if I was possessed.
Then Edward let out a breath and tapped my head.
“Now you can understand. The Marquis was just shaken for a moment. If you just follow my advice, the Marquis will be back-.”
“Yes... That’s what happened.”
“What?”
I repeated in a blank voice.
‘That’s what happened. Stupid Ariana.’
Now everything was clear.
My brother, my sister, and my husband.
My family whom I loved didn’t see me as a human.
Just a livestock that produced golden eggs called hit songs. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Ariana!”
I saw my husband, Lucas, running towards me, shouting roughly.
Behind him, Elena was shedding tears like chicken poop.
“Come here right now. Talk to me!”
“Sister, sister! What if you leave like that?”
I felt like my head was going to burst from the disgusting double glazing.
I screamed with my eyes tightly shut.
“That, that...!”
Everyone shut their mouths for a moment at the dangerous scream.
However, the silence was short-lived. Lucas approached me with a stern face.
“You, you’re too emotional right now. Calm down and listen to me first.”
Words?
What words were necessary?
‘I saw with my own eyes that actions were more certain than any words.’
Lucas’s ridiculous excuses chilled my heart.
I panted shallowly and looked around.
The people I loved and relied on passed before my eyes one by one.
‘I wanted to be loved. By you.’
I wanted to be a loving wife, a trustworthy younger sister, a good older sister.
I thought that I could regain my reputation as a 'musician' that had faded away in an instant after my grandfather passed away if I worked hard.
Then I thought I could go back to the happy times when my grandfather was alive.
With my people, my family.
'Stupid Ariana.'
I didn't even know that I was being completely deceived by those 'my people.'
"...Lucas."
"Yeah. Calmed down a bit-."
"Let's divorce."
"What?"
Lucas' eyes widened.
I let out a trembling breath. Words I never thought would come out of my mouth.
However, no matter how unfamiliar and trembling they were, I had to do what I had to do.
'I can't pretend not to know and obey even though I know the whole truth.'
I spat out the words as if I was vomiting.
"Elena committed adultery with my husband."
"What?"
"She spent the night with my husband and got pregnant with his child."
"Ha! That girl insisted on..."
I realized instinctively as Edward muttered with his furrowed eyes.
"You already knew, brother."
"..."
Edward furrowed his brow with a displeased expression. I muttered absentmindedly.
"You knew it, but you kept it a secret from me... Why?"
No, now I knew the answer.
“Are you afraid that I’ll be a nuisance when I find out the truth?”
So that I’ll lie down and refuse to supply music to the opera house, which has become a family business that lays golden eggs?
“Ha, damn it.”
Edward shouted, his hair tousled.
“Why are you doing this to me? You should have taken care of your husband yourself! You play the piano all day like a crazy woman working hard. Would he be attracted to a wife like that?”
“...”
“That’s good. You should come to your senses now. Stop being a slob in the corner of the house and put on some make-up and some clothes! Huh? The Marquis sees all the singers singing at the opera house every day, so how could he be attracted to a wife who’s all plain like you?”
“...I see.”
I muttered as if I was possessed.
Then Edward let out a breath and tapped my head.
“Now you can understand. The Marquis was just shaken for a moment. If you just follow my advice, the Marquis will be back-.”
“Yes... That’s what happened.”
“What?”
I repeated in a blank voice.
‘That’s what happened. Stupid Ariana.’
Now everything was clear.
My brother, my sister, and my husband.
My family whom I loved didn’t see me as a human.
Just a livestock that produced golden eggs called hit songs. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Ariana!”
I saw my husband, Lucas, running towards me, shouting roughly.
Behind him, Elena was shedding tears like chicken poop.
“Come here right now. Talk to me!”
“Sister, sister! What if you leave like that?”
I felt like my head was going to burst from the disgusting double glazing.
I screamed with my eyes tightly shut.
“That, that...!”
Everyone shut their mouths for a moment at the dangerous scream.
However, the silence was short-lived. Lucas approached me with a stern face.
“You, you’re too emotional right now. Calm down and listen to me first.”
Words?
What words were necessary?
‘I saw with my own eyes that actions were more certain than any words.’
Lucas’s ridiculous excuses chilled my heart.
I panted shallowly and looked around.
The people I loved and relied on passed before my eyes one by one.
‘I wanted to be loved. By you.’
I wanted to be a loving wife, a trustworthy younger sister, a good older sister.
I thought that I could regain my reputation as a 'musician' that had faded away in an instant after my grandfather passed away if I worked hard.
Then I thought I could go back to the happy times when my grandfather was alive.
With my people, my family.
'Stupid Ariana.'
I didn't even know that I was being completely deceived by those 'my people.'
"...Lucas."
"Yeah. Calmed down a bit-."
"Let's divorce."
"What?"
Lucas' eyes widened.
I let out a trembling breath. Words I never thought would come out of my mouth.
However, no matter how unfamiliar and trembling they were, I had to do what I had to do.
'I can't pretend not to know and obey even though I know the whole truth.'
Because I couldn't deceive myself.
"Whew... Ariana. Yes, I understand that you're very angry right now."
Lucas, who had been frozen in surprise, shook his head for a moment and tried to calm me down. In a sweet voice, like enticing a child who doesn't know what's going on with candy.
"But think carefully. Do you want to break up with me and become a divorcee? Do you know what divorcees are like in the Empire? You’ll be kicked out penniless without receiving a single penny of your property? Huh?”
“I don’t need any other property. I’ll just take my songs.”
“Ha! You said your songs?”
Edward, who had been listening to the conversation with his mouth open, suddenly interjected.
“You only wrote a few chords, but I did all the core work! How is that your song?”
“Do you really think so, Edward?”
I looked at Edward quietly. For a moment, Edward flinched and stammered. I used to believe that. Edward only touched the smallest parts of my score. One note, a couple of accents. Then he insisted that it was the finishing touch that elevated my previously lacking song into a masterpiece.
“Haa... Oh, naive Ariana.”
Lucas shook his head and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. The momentary thought of the affectionate hand caressing my sister’s thigh came to mind. I felt nauseous.
“The songs you composed? How can you possibly get credit for your contribution? The representative composer of the Lopez Opera House known to the world is Count Lopez. Not you.”
“Yes. The Marquis is right! If it weren’t for my fame and arrangements, do you think your songs would have seen the light of day?”
Edward, who had become more assertive again, responded to Lucas’s words.
“...Yes, I see.”
Lucas and Edward exchanged glances as I quietly answered. It seemed as if I had lost my temper. I slowly opened my mouth again.
“Then I’ll go to a newspaper and talk.”
At those words, the three of them’s eyes widened at the same time.
“You might even see me in the gossip magazines. [Count Lopez, the head of the musically renowned Lopez family, is actually musically incompetent]. [All of his music was his twin sister’s].”
Edward’s eyes lit up with a blue flame.
“Hey! Are you crazy?!”
“I can’t wait for this title. [Marquis Pedegrin, having an affair with his sister-in-law. The other person is Elena Lopez, the ‘flower of opera’].”
My lips felt bruised as I spouted out sensational headlines. I tried to hold it back, but a tear eventually flowed down. I looked around at the three of them with wet eyes.
“...Then, take care. I’ll see you in court.”
“Ariana!”
“Sister, what’s really going on?”
“Damn it! Grab that thing!”
I ran out of the mansion like crazy.
Hehe!
I got on the horse that was tied to the stables and spurred it on, and it galloped away. I let out a sob as I felt the strong wind hit my face.
‘Don’t cry.’
Since the rotten part was cut out, we can start over. Again, once more...
‘But, can we really start over?’
Divorce, court.
I blurted out the harsh words as if nothing had happened, but my whole body was trembling.
My husband, my brother, my sister. My family, whom I believed to be my people. Now that I know that these people have betrayed me so miserably, I probably won’t be able to trust anyone again. Even if I breathe and move with this broken heart, can I still call that living?
I will never be able to truly rejoice in the happiness of others, rely on them, and love them like I used to. What on earth will I do...?
Bang!
At that moment, a terrible pain shot through my whole body.
I fell from the horse like a marionette with its strings cut and collapsed on the ground.
Tachtachtach, tachtachtachtach...
I could hear the idling sound of the car that Edward had recently bought to buy new things.
‘It hurts.’
I couldn’t breathe due to the unrealistic pain.
Every bone in my body screamed.
Was that red river flowing there my blood?
“This damn thing! This crazy bitch, she’ll stand when she has to!”
I could hear Edward jumping out of the car and running towards me.
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
Elena’s shrill screams were also heard.
“What if you kill her?”
“I was just trying to block her path! What do you want me to do when she suddenly jumped in?”
“If Ariana dies, who’s going to write my songs now?! What about the funds for building heaven?”
“Damn it, I can write my songs! In the first place, that girl was just a little bit of a note-taker, and it was my touch that created the real masterpieces! And the funds... Okay, wait a minute.”
Edward, who had been looking around, approached me stealthily.
Then he lifted my blood-stained finger as if he was disgusted, and carefully stamped it on a document.
“...”
The identity of the document was the plan Edward had shoved at me a little while ago.
It was to allow the distribution of funds for the construction of ‘Heaven.’
At that moment, a terrible pain shot through my whole body.
I fell from the horse like a marionette with its strings cut and collapsed on the ground.
Tachtachtach, tachtachtachtach...
I could hear the idling sound of the car that Edward had recently bought to buy new things.
‘It hurts.’
I couldn’t breathe due to the unrealistic pain.
Every bone in my body screamed.
Was that red river flowing there my blood?
“This damn thing! This crazy bitch, she’ll stand when she has to!”
I could hear Edward jumping out of the car and running towards me.
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
Elena’s shrill screams were also heard.
“What if you kill her?”
“I was just trying to block her path! What do you want me to do when she suddenly jumped in?”
“If Ariana dies, who’s going to write my songs now?! What about the funds for building heaven?”
“Damn it, I can write my songs! In the first place, that girl was just a little bit of a note-taker, and it was my touch that created the real masterpieces! And the funds... Okay, wait a minute.”
Edward, who had been looking around, approached me stealthily.
Then he lifted my blood-stained finger as if he was disgusted, and carefully stamped it on a document.
“...”
The identity of the document was the plan Edward had shoved at me a little while ago.
It was to allow the distribution of funds for the construction of ‘Heaven.’
“Okay, okay. I’ve stamped the seal.”
Edward muttered in a voice full of joy.
“Huh, huhu, good. This is enough. Once ‘Heaven’ is completed, I’ll be richer than the Emperor!”
The voice stained with greed was uglier than any beast or insect.
“Ah... This. Poor Ariana. What is this pretty body of yours?”
My husband, Lucas, knelt in front of me. Then he whispered in a pitiful voice.
“You shouldn’t have acted so pretentiously.”
“Lu, Cass...”
“I’m sorry, Ariana. But I really loved you once. This is true. Even though you were a stone and boring person.”
“Ugh...”
“But a woman with a face similar to yours acts cute and flirtatious unlike you. What man wouldn’t fall for that? Huh? It’s because your sister is such a monster.”
Then goodbye, Ariana.
The man who used to be my husband whispered.
“I’ll play the funeral march you composed at the funeral.”
Lucas closed my eyelids as if he were offering his last mercy.
I repeated in my now almost hazy mind,
‘Ah...’
Stupid Ariana. Foolish Ariana.
Pathetic Ariana who trusted those people and gave them everything just because they were family.
‘What a miserable life.’
No one would cheer on the story of a foolish and incompetent woman being betrayed and abandoned. It was a miserable farce that no audience would listen to.
I felt the sound of my life slowly fading away.
Smorchando, gradually fading away.
And until it could no longer be heard, diminuendo, diminuendo...
‘No. I don’t want it to be like this. This is the end...’
A miserable regret welled up in me, but I was helpless in front of the mercilessly lowering curtain.
‘No way...’
And finally, Al Fine.
It was perfect silence.
Edward muttered in a voice full of joy.
“Huh, huhu, good. This is enough. Once ‘Heaven’ is completed, I’ll be richer than the Emperor!”
The voice stained with greed was uglier than any beast or insect.
“Ah... This. Poor Ariana. What is this pretty body of yours?”
My husband, Lucas, knelt in front of me. Then he whispered in a pitiful voice.
“You shouldn’t have acted so pretentiously.”
“Lu, Cass...”
“I’m sorry, Ariana. But I really loved you once. This is true. Even though you were a stone and boring person.”
“Ugh...”
“But a woman with a face similar to yours acts cute and flirtatious unlike you. What man wouldn’t fall for that? Huh? It’s because your sister is such a monster.”
Then goodbye, Ariana.
The man who used to be my husband whispered.
“I’ll play the funeral march you composed at the funeral.”
Lucas closed my eyelids as if he were offering his last mercy.
I repeated in my now almost hazy mind,
‘Ah...’
Stupid Ariana. Foolish Ariana.
Pathetic Ariana who trusted those people and gave them everything just because they were family.
‘What a miserable life.’
No one would cheer on the story of a foolish and incompetent woman being betrayed and abandoned. It was a miserable farce that no audience would listen to.
I felt the sound of my life slowly fading away.
Smorchando, gradually fading away.
And until it could no longer be heard, diminuendo, diminuendo...
‘No. I don’t want it to be like this. This is the end...’
A miserable regret welled up in me, but I was helpless in front of the mercilessly lowering curtain.
‘No way...’
And finally, Al Fine.
It was perfect silence.
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