Everyone's eyes widened as they turned to look at the door. Ariana Heigenberg was rushing in with her husband. Her large eyes were filled with tears.
"Ah, brother!"
"...!"
Edward glared.
'Why is that woman here?'
He became aware of himself kneeling on the floor with his head bowed. It was a sight he didn't want to show to that woman, even if it was to others.
Edward's cheeks were red with shame.
"Oh, Duchess..."
The Emperor looked back at Ariana with a troubled expression. Edward looked at the Emperor once, and then at Ariana once with eyes filled with caution. He didn't know why Ariana had barged in, but her intentions were clear. She must have been trying to push him into a more certain hell. However, the plea that burst out of Ariana's mouth completely missed his expectations.
"Please, please spare my brother's life!"
"... What?"
Edward opened his mouth blankly. Ariana pleaded again with an earnest face.
"It's not my brother's fault, Your Majesty. Please listen to my brother's words just once."
"...Ugh."
An embarrassed expression fell on the Emperor's face. It was difficult to firmly reject the Duchess's plea. Even more so, since the Duke was watching with his eyes wide open.
"Lady. I understand your desire to save your blood relatives, but the nature of the crime is so clear."
"But what if it wasn't my brother's fault?"
"... What did you say?"
The Emperor opened his eyes. Tonmen also hardened his brows. Edward looked up at Ariana with disbelief.
"Brother."
Ariana turned to Edward and whispered urgently.
"There's nothing we can do. Just admit it. If you want to live, that's the only way."
"... W-what?"
Edward asked dumbly.
Ariana Lopez. No, now Ariana Heigenberg. The girl who stole the orchestra and betrayed Edward was swinging the rope. But...
'Is that really a lifeline?'
It couldn't be a healthy rope. It had to be rotten somewhere. But, could he really not grab onto that?
Edward swallowed hard. If he didn't grab onto something, his head would fly off.
"The music you performed today wasn't actually composed by you, brother."
"..."
Edward's eyes slowly widened.
Ariana lowered her head slightly. Then her voluminous platinum hair fell on both sides of her face. So much so that no one could see her expression beyond her hair.
"Admit it."
A faint smile crept onto Ariana's lips.
"You are not the original composer."
Thump.
Edward's heart pounded loudly. Ariana was the only one who knew that this music wasn't Edward's. But she had no proof. The original composer, Eduardo, is dead, and the original score was torn up and burned a long time ago.
Edward stuttered and rolled his eyes.
"That... What..."
"Brother, I'm telling you the only way for you to live."
Her beautiful emerald eyes sparkled with longing.
"If you confess that it wasn't your song... Then, at least you can be free from the charges you've been covering up."
Her smooth voice sounded like she was singing. Like a siren who lures seafarers to drown.
"So please confess. That it's not your music, that you stole someone else's music."
Ariana slowly smiled between her messy platinum hair.
"Just like you always stole from me."
Edward, who had been glaring blankly, shouted hysterically.
"Stop talking nonsense! Where the hell is this crazy bitch, huh!"
Edward, who was about to run toward Ariana, was kicked and fell back.
"You can't change your bad habits."
Dante stepped aside and let out a cold
voice.
“Ku, keuhuk, keuhuk....”
Edward, who had collapsed on the floor in a slump, was shaking his limbs, unable to get up as if his ribs had cracked. Roman looked at him and touched his forehead.
"My goodness. That guy is the descendant of a great musician..."
"What a sight, what a sight. It's truly embarrassing to see Karka's envoy."
The Emperor also groaned.
"Marquis Roman."
Ariana, who had gotten up, looked at Edward, who had collapsed.
"How many measures of your music overlap with Karka's ritual music?"
"Let me see... Twelve measures. The rest is new music that I've never seen before."
"Then I'm sure."
Ariana shook her head.
"That score is not my brother's work. My brother..."
Ariana continued, looking down at Edward's back, who was lying down and panting.
"He's someone who can't create anything new."
Edward grabbed his chest and raised his head. Ariana asked in a low voice.
"Isn't that right, Brother?"
"Tch, what the hell are you talking about...!"
At that moment, Edward's whole body froze as his eyes inadvertently met Tonmen's. Tonmen was laughing. It seemed as if he really liked Edward's answer. Edward's chin trembled as he heard his premonition screaming.
'If I deny that right now...'
If he didn't grab the rope Ariana was swinging, Tonmen would immediately challenge him to a duel. This rotten rope was Edward's last chance.
After racking his brain for a while, Edward trembled and his eyes turned red. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't see any exit other than the door Ariana was kindly gesturing to. It was a perfect trap that he couldn't help but enter even if he knew it was a ruse.
"...I,"
Je finally opened his mouth.
"The music... is not I made."
His body trembled with shame. But his pride was not more important than his life, so he could not help but continue speaking.
"I took someone else's sheet music and lied, pretending it was mine."
"... Huh."
"This..."
The Emperor and Marquis Roman both groaned.
Things were going in an unexpected direction. If that were true, Tonmen could have prevented Edward from challenging him to a duel.
"I have witnesses who can back up what he's saying."
Ariana said calmly, smiling faintly at Edward.
"Don't worry too much, brother. I'll help you."
***
"That's right. There isn't a single line of music that Count Lopez composed purely out of all the music in Lopez House."
"That's why we left the Lopez Orchestra. We trusted the Count's ability to create music and endured all the unfair treatment, but it turned out that all that music was actually someone else's."
Former members of the Lopez Orchestra testified one after another. Marquis Roman, who was suddenly assigned to investigate this case because he was well-versed in music, asked while holding his forehead.
"Then who on earth owned the music at the Lopez House?"
"Ariana Lopez!"
A young-looking violinist named Ruben raised his hand and said.
Louis, who was the former orchestra master of the Lopez Orchestra, also nodded.
"That's right. It was all Ariana's music."
"Ariana herself demonstrated her composing ability and proved it. We all decided to change our affiliation after seeing that."
The other members agreed in unison. Marquis Roman was dumbfounded.
"So you're saying that Count Lopez didn't compose a single song himself? |
I understand he's produced quite a few songs in the past year or two, but that's all...?"
The members nodded without hesitation. Marquis Roman let out a sigh.
Then it was understandable why Ariana could defend Edward without even hearing the whole story.
'Since my brother was completely incapable of creating anything, I guess he thought that this song couldn't possibly be his.'
She took it for granted that he would steal or buy someone else's and pretend it was his. Because her songs were always stolen that way.
"...Oh my."
Marquis Roman touched his forehead at the truth that had been revealed. If the stories revealed in this investigation room had been released to the world, there would have been a huge uproar in the music world of the empire.
***
The song that Edward performed on the music festival stage today was not one that he had created. It was a piece that he had slightly modified from a sheet music he had bought on the black market from an unknown artist who was already dead and had pretended to be his own. Edward's statement was as follows.
Edward glared at her with bloodshot eyes.
"I did as you said."
She had made up everything in the statement. He had no choice but to follow suit and threatened that he would not add any more testimony if he did not say so.
"Well done. Now the whole world will know."
Ariana smiled.
"That my brother is a shameless thief."
The statement was all made up by Ariana. He had no choice but to follow along, even though his stomach was turning because he was threatened that she wouldn't add any more testimony if he didn't say so.
"Well done. Now the whole world will know."
Ariana smiled.
"That my brother is a shameless thief."
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