“...”
Lucas’s eyes quickly filled with greed.
It seemed like he really liked the song I had just played.
“Then, Ari, you take charge of this opera from beginning to end.”
“Marquis!”
This time, Edward looked back at Lucas with wide eyes.
Lucas gave Edward a tired look.
“There’s not much time left until the concert, and you still haven’t finished a single song, Count Lopez. Isn’t that right?”
Edward couldn’t refute his words and instead blushed brightly.
“Once Ari finishes composing, you can just take a look at everything again.”
“That’s... huh, right...”
Edward looked dissatisfied, but he couldn’t go against the top investor’s words any further.
I silently admired Edward and Elena for a moment.
Standing side by side, their faces flushed and blushing at the same time, they looked exactly like twins. Just like when I was dying and putting my thumbprint on them and laughing together.
“Marquis! Are you really going to put on an opera about, uh, what’s wrong with sex?!”
“This performance is important, Elena.”
Lucas scolded Elena, who was protesting like a cat as if he were teaching a child.
“There’s news that Dante Heigenberg is returning to the island.”
“Huh?... Dante?”
Elena’s eyes widened.
At the same time, I also slowly swallowed my breath.
Lucas furrowed his brow and growled.
“Yeah. They’re going to welcome him and throw another show in that ‘paradise’ or something. A stage that’s all about money... Tsk!”
Lucas clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“You can’t let the topic be taken away from you. This performance absolutely has to be a hit. You know that only then can we perform on stage at the upcoming National Foundation Day celebration at the Imperial Palace!”
There was a simple solution.
Start a new family. With a man who was neither Lucas nor Edward.
In other words, get married again.
The name that had been lingering in my mind for a while now spilled out of my lips.
“Dante Heigenberg.”
A blood-soaked war hero and the master of paradise. The debauched protagonist of a rumor that he changed partners every night.
And...
“Why are you pouring gold into the mouths of those who don’t even know your worth?”
One night, a man came to visit me out of the blue and whispered a story that no one had ever told me.
“Don’t be foolish and come here. You never know, right?”
“...”
“I will treasure you like a jewel.”
Elena’s pupils dilated widely.
Her unfocused eyes blankly stared at me. I looked at the scene with a slightly pleasant feeling.
“Wh, what is that...”
After a while, Elena groped her lips and barely managed to make a nonchalant voice.
“What’s that title, Sister? Isn’t it too vulgar?”
“Vulgar?”
I tilted my head slightly.
“You think so? Concubine is vulgar?”
“Of course!”
“Oh, I see. Me too.”
I tilted my head slightly to Elena and smiled.
“I thought you didn’t know.”
“...”
Elena’s eyes grew much wider than before.
Her gaze quickly scanned my face. Her aimless eyes were tangled in confusion. Suspicion, hopelessness, anxiety.
“...What are you talking about?”
“Huh? It’s literally like that.”
I folded my eyes and laughed.
“It’s a better title because it’s vulgar. Don’t you know? Since ancient times, love has been the subject that most caught people’s interest.”
“...”
Elena furrowed her forehead with a questioning expression.
“No matter what, why... give it such an uncultured title.”
“Well, it’s not a bad idea.”
At that moment, Edward crossed his arms with a grumpy expression.
Elena looked back at him with a bewildered expression.
“Brother!”
“Why? Your sister isn’t wrong. It’s intense. It’ll definitely create a buzz.”
“It’s such a weird title, whether it’s a buzz or something!”
“You don’t like it that much, Elena?”
I said, furrowing my eyebrows to make a pitiful expression.
“How about you sing it just once?”
“What? Me, me?”
“Yeah, of course.”
I smiled brightly as if asking a reasonable question.
“You’re the prima soprano of our opera house.”
Prima soprano. The main character and flower of the opera.
“Who else would sing this aria if not you?”
“...I...”
Elena’s face turned pale with each passing moment.
Edward raised one eyebrow as if to ask what she was doing instead of singing it, and Lucas didn’t seem to have any intention of joining in either. He just looked at my expression here and there with slightly embarrassed eyes.
I said with a smile on my face like a mask.
“No. I’m sorry, Elena.”
“...What?”
“I asked you to sing a song that wasn’t even finished yet, so I asked you to do something too hard.”
Elena, who had been blankly staring for a moment, soon raised her chin.
“So, you want me to sing out of the blue?”
Elena, who had thought I had taken a step back, quickly became more assertive and said in a sharp voice.
“That’s an extremely rude request. Do you think I’m some kind of clown-?”
“Once the entire opera is complete, I’ll ask you again.”
“...What, what did you say?”
I held Elena’s hand with both of my hands. Elena looked at me in surprise.
“I really want you to sing the aria I just improvised. I think I understand why men praise you so much, calling you a muse.”
“Why... why?”
“It feels strange, Elena. It feels like all the chords are trying to jump out...”
I looked back at Edward and Lucas with a shy smile like an excited girl.
“Hey, can I go up and start working right now? I think I could recall everything from the overture to the last aria right now, just like the improvisation I had earlier.”
“...Really? All of it?”
Her unfocused eyes blankly stared at me. I looked at the scene with a slightly pleasant feeling.
“Wh, what is that...”
After a while, Elena groped her lips and barely managed to make a nonchalant voice.
“What’s that title, Sister? Isn’t it too vulgar?”
“Vulgar?”
I tilted my head slightly.
“You think so? Concubine is vulgar?”
“Of course!”
“Oh, I see. Me too.”
I tilted my head slightly to Elena and smiled.
“I thought you didn’t know.”
“...”
Elena’s eyes grew much wider than before.
Her gaze quickly scanned my face. Her aimless eyes were tangled in confusion. Suspicion, hopelessness, anxiety.
“...What are you talking about?”
“Huh? It’s literally like that.”
I folded my eyes and laughed.
“It’s a better title because it’s vulgar. Don’t you know? Since ancient times, love has been the subject that most caught people’s interest.”
“...”
Elena furrowed her forehead with a questioning expression.
“No matter what, why... give it such an uncultured title.”
“Well, it’s not a bad idea.”
At that moment, Edward crossed his arms with a grumpy expression.
Elena looked back at him with a bewildered expression.
“Brother!”
“Why? Your sister isn’t wrong. It’s intense. It’ll definitely create a buzz.”
“It’s such a weird title, whether it’s a buzz or something!”
“You don’t like it that much, Elena?”
I said, furrowing my eyebrows to make a pitiful expression.
“How about you sing it just once?”
“What? Me, me?”
“Yeah, of course.”
I smiled brightly as if asking a reasonable question.
“You’re the prima soprano of our opera house.”
Prima soprano. The main character and flower of the opera.
“Who else would sing this aria if not you?”
“...I...”
Elena’s face turned pale with each passing moment.
Edward raised one eyebrow as if to ask what she was doing instead of singing it, and Lucas didn’t seem to have any intention of joining in either. He just looked at my expression here and there with slightly embarrassed eyes.
I said with a smile on my face like a mask.
“No. I’m sorry, Elena.”
“...What?”
“I asked you to sing a song that wasn’t even finished yet, so I asked you to do something too hard.”
Elena, who had been blankly staring for a moment, soon raised her chin.
“So, you want me to sing out of the blue?”
Elena, who had thought I had taken a step back, quickly became more assertive and said in a sharp voice.
“That’s an extremely rude request. Do you think I’m some kind of clown-?”
“Once the entire opera is complete, I’ll ask you again.”
“...What, what did you say?”
I held Elena’s hand with both of my hands. Elena looked at me in surprise.
“I really want you to sing the aria I just improvised. I think I understand why men praise you so much, calling you a muse.”
“Why... why?”
“It feels strange, Elena. It feels like all the chords are trying to jump out...”
I looked back at Edward and Lucas with a shy smile like an excited girl.
“Hey, can I go up and start working right now? I think I could recall everything from the overture to the last aria right now, just like the improvisation I had earlier.”
“...Really? All of it?”
Lucas’s eyes quickly filled with greed.
It seemed like he really liked the song I had just played.
“Then, Ari, you take charge of this opera from beginning to end.”
“Marquis!”
This time, Edward looked back at Lucas with wide eyes.
Lucas gave Edward a tired look.
“There’s not much time left until the concert, and you still haven’t finished a single song, Count Lopez. Isn’t that right?”
Edward couldn’t refute his words and instead blushed brightly.
“Once Ari finishes composing, you can just take a look at everything again.”
“That’s... huh, right...”
Edward looked dissatisfied, but he couldn’t go against the top investor’s words any further.
I silently admired Edward and Elena for a moment.
Standing side by side, their faces flushed and blushing at the same time, they looked exactly like twins. Just like when I was dying and putting my thumbprint on them and laughing together.
“Marquis! Are you really going to put on an opera about, uh, what’s wrong with sex?!”
“This performance is important, Elena.”
Lucas scolded Elena, who was protesting like a cat as if he were teaching a child.
“There’s news that Dante Heigenberg is returning to the island.”
“Huh?... Dante?”
Elena’s eyes widened.
At the same time, I also slowly swallowed my breath.
Lucas furrowed his brow and growled.
“Yeah. They’re going to welcome him and throw another show in that ‘paradise’ or something. A stage that’s all about money... Tsk!”
Lucas clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“You can’t let the topic be taken away from you. This performance absolutely has to be a hit. You know that only then can we perform on stage at the upcoming National Foundation Day celebration at the Imperial Palace!”
“...”
“So, like Ari said, we have to create as much topic as possible for this performance... Ari?”
“..."
“Ariana!”
“...Ah.”
After a while, I felt a hand waving at me. Lucas was looking down at me with a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong, you?”
“Ah... It’s nothing.”
As I said that, I shook my head.
Dante Heigenberg. The name that had pierced my mind the moment I heard it, I kept it in one corner of my mind.
“But is Dante really coming back to the capital?”
Elena asked in a quiet voice. She was just asking, not really interested. However, there was a strange excitement at the end of her voice. Lucas roughly clicked his tongue as if he didn’t notice it.
“Yes. He’ll come back with a lot of blood. This time, he came after slaughtering some barbarians.”
“Oh my...”
“Our future sister-in-law shouldn’t go near that kind of man.”
Lucas patted Elena’s head as if he were a caring guardian. Elena rubbed her head against his palm like a puppy.
“I know. He's so promiscuous in his private life, isn’t he? He brings female singers into his bedroom every day.”
While admiring that rather disgusting sight, I had another thought in my head.
‘Promiscuous.’
It certainly seemed that there were many such rumors around this time. That Dante, who runs the pleasure tavern ‘Paradise,’ brings different people into his bed every night. That he was such a promiscuous and debauched man.
‘Five years later... slightly different rumors began to circulate.’
“I can’t be pushed around by someone so shallow. I have to make this performance a success. You all know that, right?”
Lucas looked at the three siblings with affectionate eyes.
“Prove that my insight into the potential of the Lopez Opera House was not wrong.”
“I guess you mean to make sure that the money you invested doesn’t go to waste.”
I smiled brightly, swallowing a slanted smile.
“Of course, Marquis. I will also do my best to compose.”
Your funeral march.
***
After Sophie was gone, I was completely alone. I entered the room, leaned against the door, and slowly exhaled.
The reality I was standing on was still clear.
“Have I really returned to the past?”
A phenomenon that could not be explained by any common sense. However, it didn’t matter if I was just crazy. I would never be able to close my eyes in peace unless I took revenge on my beloved family here.
So, definitely, thoroughly...
“I will drop you into hell.”
I have talent. The talent to use music that sells, the so-called ‘money-making code.’
Countless nobles danced to the waltz I wrote. Even foreign royalty bought tickets on the black market to hear the opera I composed. Every single note of the songs I had painstakingly created over the past five years was in my head.
'I can make it again.'
I didn't need Edward's arrangement or Elena's singing. These notes in my head were my only treasure.
'But the problem is...'
I bit my lip as I recalled the wall of reality.
Imperial law was extremely conservative and did not recognize the personal property of unmarried women.
In the Empire, property earned by women would belong to their husbands if they were married, and to their fathers if they were not.
Lucas had said the same thing.
“Naive Ariana. Do you think your great songs would be recognized as yours if you divorce me?”
That was certainly true.
If I married Lucas, my songs would belong to Lucas, and if I didn’t, they would belong to Edward.
‘To break this...’
In the Empire, property earned by women would belong to their husbands if they were married, and to their fathers if they were not.
Lucas had said the same thing.
“Naive Ariana. Do you think your great songs would be recognized as yours if you divorce me?”
That was certainly true.
If I married Lucas, my songs would belong to Lucas, and if I didn’t, they would belong to Edward.
‘To break this...’
There was a simple solution.
Start a new family. With a man who was neither Lucas nor Edward.
In other words, get married again.
The name that had been lingering in my mind for a while now spilled out of my lips.
“Dante Heigenberg.”
A blood-soaked war hero and the master of paradise. The debauched protagonist of a rumor that he changed partners every night.
And...
“Why are you pouring gold into the mouths of those who don’t even know your worth?”
One night, a man came to visit me out of the blue and whispered a story that no one had ever told me.
“Don’t be foolish and come here. You never know, right?”
“...”
“I will treasure you like a jewel.”
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