Chapter 11
The Opera House
Since when had it started?
As the prima donna’s sorrowful voice drifted through the opera house, Ariel found herself replaying the events of earlier that day. Valentin’s confession refused to leave her mind.
An elopement born of love.
Oh, my love—my everything—
When I look into your eyes, I could go anywhere—
So long as I may remain by your side—
Of all things, the lovers onstage were performing a passionate tale about fleeing together into the night.
The timing felt far too perfect to be coincidence.
I meet you even in my dreams—
No matter how enormous the waves, they cannot tear us apart—
As long as I can stay with you—
Did he deliberately reserve tickets for a play with this kind of story?
Ariel stole a glance at Valentin’s profile beside her.
She never should have agreed so easily just because he mentioned that her favorite playwright had released a new work. But after receiving his confession, she could hardly cancel their plans outright.
Valentin, meanwhile, remained perfectly calm.
During the confession itself. Afterward, too.
“Don’t make such a serious face. Just know that I’ll always be behind you.”
“Valentin, I…”
“Don’t struggle so hard all by yourself. Doesn’t it feel reassuring? Knowing there’s a man waiting who only looks at you?”
“……”
“Come on. It’s almost time to meet my brother and sister-in-law.”
From dining with the Count and Countess Cayenne, to tea afterward, to arriving at the opera house, Valentin had behaved exactly as he always did.
And somehow, Ariel had ended up participating in this awkward little performance with him.
At least the Count and Countess Cayenne were sharing the private box with them. If she had been alone with Valentin, she might have drowned in the suffocating lake of discomfort.
She glanced at him again, marveling at the sheer thickness of his skin, when suddenly he turned his head.
Their eyes met.
A soft smile rose at the corner of his lips.
In the past, she would have thought nothing of such a smile.
Now, strangely enough, it weighed heavily on her.
It’s fine.
Just as Valentin was acting as though nothing had happened, she could do the same. She could pretend she had heard nothing at all.
Yes. Let’s pretend none of it happened.
Brainwashing herself with those thoughts, Ariel forced the corners of her lips upward in response. Then she hurriedly turned her attention back to the stage.
Pretending nothing between them had changed. Pretending everything remained the same.
Could they truly cover over the violent ripples that had erupted between them? Could they calm the raging current and return to the peaceful waters they once had?
Wrapped in uneasy foreboding, Ariel’s heart floated higher and higher, lifted beyond what she could bear by the prima donna’s voice soaring toward its climax.
There is no returning to the past now—
From the moment I met you, it became destiny decreed like a cruel joke from God—
As though trying to escape her discomfort, Ariel tore her gaze away from the stage.
And froze.
Without realizing it, she inhaled sharply.
A gentleman had just entered the private box opposite theirs.
Alone.
Without companions.
The performance was already more than halfway over. He was so late that it would have made more sense to attend the next showing instead.
Yet despite the considerable distance between them, Ariel recognized him instantly.
As though sensing her gaze, the man removed his hat with elegant grace and inclined his head lightly toward her.
Ariel stiffened.
Pretending not to notice the greeting at all, she quickly turned her head away.
Though her eyes fixed stubbornly upon the stage, every nerve in her body remained focused on the opposite box.
The prima donna’s magnificent voice, singing of destiny, flooded her ears.
Leonardo had realized, upon arriving at Viscountess Bailton’s party, that he had once again missed Ariel entirely.
Had Kelt’s social circles always been this impossibly vast?
Suppressing his irritation behind a smooth smile, he excused himself and departed early.
Inside the carriage returning home, he crossed his long legs and tapped one foot restlessly.
Should I simply go to the Rosenberg estate?
The increased insurance fees imposed on ships crossing the Ezra Canal.
Pressure from the Queen and Duke Trier.
Ariel’s sharp green eyes.
One after another, the thoughts passed through his mind.
Then Leonardo let out a low sigh.
More than anything else, the green eyes he had seen last lingered vividly behind his eyelids.
Within those bewildered emerald waves, he thought he might have glimpsed an unfamiliar emotion.
Something raw. Wounded, almost.
Perhaps it was nothing more than a fantasy his imagination had created over the past several days.
Whatever it was, ending the day like this left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
Driven by the sudden urge to finally rid himself of the woman absurdly talented at hiding from him, Leonardo pulled the opera invitation from inside his jacket.
Intermission had already passed by now.
For a moment, he loosely twirled the invitation between his fingers before opening the small window connecting to the driver’s seat.
“Take us to the Vintz Opera House.”
Never, even in his imagination, had he expected to find Ariel there when he impulsively followed that whim.
I’m glad I came after all.
A self-mocking smile touched his lips as Leonardo abandoned any interest in the opera itself and instead leisurely watched the private box opposite his own.
The cousins seem remarkably close.
Ariel and Valentin sat side by side, seemingly absorbed in the performance.
Though perhaps the bastard stealing glances at her every few moments deserved further examination.
The role played by the Count and Countess Cayenne seated behind them was so painfully obvious it nearly made him laugh.
Human smoke screens.
Whether the married couple themselves realized they were being used to conceal ulterior motives was another matter entirely.
How ridiculous.
If they were truly that close as cousins, then the second son should know better than anyone that he had no chance.
Which explained why the coward lacked the courage to confess properly and instead enjoyed this pathetic little date while hiding behind his older brother’s support.
Offering his sincerest condolences to the pitiful soldier incapable of confessing his feelings, Leonardo finally rose from his seat.
Thunderous applause erupted as the curtain call began.
Since I came all this way, I should at least let Sophien know I attended.
“You’re leaving already?”
Having successfully completed her debut performance as prima donna, Sophien could not hide her disappointment.
The Duke had come.
The moment the theater owner informed her he was waiting backstage, she had rushed over with a pounding heart. Yet after offering only a brief compliment on the performance, the impossibly distant man was already preparing to leave.
Knowing full well he was not someone who could ever be held onto only made her want to hold him more.
“Won’t you stay for tea at least…?”
“I squeezed this visit into an already nonexistent schedule.”
Checking his pocket watch, Leonardo answered in a detached tone.
As he moved to leave without hesitation, Sophien hurriedly spoke again.
“Once the Kelt performances end, I think we’ll be heading to Chessmore next.”
Leonardo paused and turned around.
He gave a light nod, as though acknowledging the information casually, before lowering his gaze in thought.
Then he looked back at her.
“When you arrive, stop by Elysis.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Sophien smiled brightly.
The Duke of Devonshire and the prima donna under his patronage.
Officially, that was the extent of their relationship.
But the atmosphere between them felt intimate enough that actors and theater staff passing backstage could not help casting curious glances their way.
So they really are that sort of relationship?
A nobleman becoming fascinated with a dazzling stage actress was hardly uncommon. In fact, it was almost cliché.
“Do you need anything?”
“You already give me more than enough.”
As though satisfied by that answer, Leonardo nodded.
Instinctively, Sophien realized she could not keep him there any longer.
Does he have another engagement tonight?
Watching his tall figure disappear down the corridor, Sophien’s cheeks flushed.
The thought that he had carved time out of his impossibly busy schedule just to watch her performance sent gentle ripples through her heart.
The audience poured from the theater.
Hoping he was not too late, Leonardo moved against the current of people descending the marble staircase like a salmon swimming upstream.
Finding Ariel was easy.
The moment he spotted her laughing together with the Countess Cayenne, he strode toward her without hesitation.
“What a pleasant coincidence to meet here.”
The instant he blocked her path, Ariel’s green eyes widened like a startled rabbit’s.
Then, immediately, her gaze sharpened with open hostility.
“Oh my. Did the Duke of Devonshire attend the opera as well?”
“It was truly a magnificent performance. Did you come alone?”
Fortunately, the Count and Countess Cayenne—who maintained friendly relations with him—welcomed Leonardo warmly.
Responding with an effortless social smile, Leonardo turned back toward Ariel.
“If it would not be too much of an imposition, may I borrow a moment of your time?”
Her green eyes trembled slightly.
“As an apology for last time, I would like to offer you tea.”
The request was flawlessly polite.
As people exiting the theater noticed the scene unfolding atop the staircase, attention gathered instantly like ants swarming sugar.
Sensing possible reconciliation at last, the Count and Countess Cayenne felt inwardly relieved.
Valentin, meanwhile, turned rigid with displeasure.
Accepting every gaze directed toward him with perfect ease, Leonardo extended his hand toward Ariel.
The surrounding noise faded.
Time itself seemed to slow as curious spectators transformed fully into an audience. Their footsteps slowed, and some even stopped outright to watch.
Silence settled.
Then—
“It’s rather difficult when you approach me so suddenly like this.”
Her cold voice splashed down like icy water.
Sharp gasps broke out all around them.
Leonardo’s blue eyes flickered, as though asking if she truly meant it.
Seeing that rare crack in the composure of such a proud man, Ariel lifted her chin defiantly and stared straight back.
I am far angrier than you think.
That was the message blazing in her eyes.
Holding her head high in open protest, Ariel swept past the man standing frozen like stone.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Count and Countess Cayenne hurriedly excuse themselves with awkward expressions.
She also caught the mocking look on that soldier bastard’s face.
Click. Click.
As the sharp sound of her heels echoed against the marble staircase, Leonardo slowly curled his suspended hand into a tight fist.
