“Um, yes…?”

At the natural gesture, Rosalyn unconsciously grasped Ariana’s hand.

As she raised the dazed Rosalyn, Ariana spoke calmly.

“When we go in, I’ll first ask for a warm drink. Use that to warm your body and loosen your throat. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“What, what…? What do you mean you’ll take care of?”

Hearing the blank voice, Ariana belatedly realized.

Ah, I didn’t explain. After a brief moment of reflection, Ariana said,

“I’ll accompany you. So, sing.”

“You, really?”

Rosalyn’s eyes widened instantly.

Rushing close, Rosalyn asked in succession.

“Really? Are you serious? Really?”

“Yes. Really.”

“The, the song I’m going to sing, it’s ‘About Possession’? Isn’t that a really difficult piece?”

“Ah, that one.”

Ariana nodded lightly.

“It has a lot of technical accompaniment.”

“Ye, yes, right?”

Rosalyn’s face fell in an instant.

Should I not have said that?

What if this miraculously found accompanist runs away because the song is too difficult?

No, if I don’t say it, how can I entrust the accompaniment…! But still! What if she says she can’t do it!

‘Should I change my words now? Say that I don’t mind even a children’s song, that I just want to be on stage!’

As Rosalyn’s mind was instantly tangled in confusion, a voice like salvation fell on her ears.

“It’s okay.”

Ariana was lost in brief thought.

‘About Possession’.

It was a piece where minor and major keys changed frequently.

Edward had harshly criticized it when he first heard it, saying it was a piece without foundation.

Even Ariana, who composed the piece at that time, knew that frequent key changes weren’t orthodox, but it seemed necessary to capture the dramatic emotional changes of the female protagonist.

And the result was a huge success.

‘About Possession’ was the representative aria of the first opera that sold out all performances at the Lopez Opera House.

The accompaniment is difficult because of the frequent key changes. But each change had a reason to capture the changing emotional state of the female protagonist.

As long as one remembers that reason, there’s nothing difficult about it.

Even if one doesn’t remember every note, as long as one knows the reason why their past self engraved those notes.

“Um, should we do a different song? One with an easier accompaniment…!”

When Ariana was silent for a moment, Rosalyn, who had been rolling her eyes, cautiously suggested.

Then Ariana shook her head lightly and said,

“No, let’s do ‘About Possession’. I’m confident.”

“Are, are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Ariana nodded, then turned to look at Rosalyn and smiled slightly.

“Because I created it.”

Looking up at the stage, Ariana slowly murmured.

“So this is what Paradise was like at this time.”

The stage setup was messier than expected.

It was natural since it wasn’t a formal venue like an opera house, but considering that Paradise would shake up the system five years later, it was unexpected.

‘Well, there were rumors that Dante never intended to grow Paradise like this in the first place.’

His interests were not in stages, performances, or operas, but just in ‘music’ and ‘sound’ itself.

And the reason for his obsession with sound was still veiled even five years later.

‘Anyway, we can’t perform like this.’

The same music sounds vastly different when played in a cave versus an open field.

Even good music needs a favorable space for the sound to resonate well.

Having come to a conclusion, Ariana called over a passing employee.

“The stage and seats are too close. It’s burdensome for the singer, and the sound won’t resonate properly in this environment.”

The employee, caught while passing by, blinked with a blank face.

“Then what should we do?”

“Please increase the distance and deploy a few employees to guard just the stage.”

“Ah, yes…”

“The reflector panels are also positioned incorrectly. Please make them face each other a bit more.”

“Oh, who messed with this?”

‘Who exactly is this lady?’

The employee looked puzzled but followed Ariana’s instructions for now.

Although it was a woman he was seeing for the first time, her natural way of giving instructions looked so normal and familiar.

Moreover, everything she said sounded reasonable, so he found himself following along hesitantly.

One of the resting employees gestured towards the scene.

“Who’s that lady?”

“Don’t know. Says she’s the accompanist.”

A colleague watching with a disinterested face shrugged.

“Accompanist? Then who’s the singer? Don’t tell me it’s that country-looking girl back there?”

“And why is the singer’s nose so red? Is she Rudolf or what?”

“Seems she was outside for a long time. Someone said they saw her crying her eyes out earlier.”

“Outside on such a cold day? Jeez. Can’t a singer even do basic throat care?”

“Did she catch a cold? She’s shivering. How’s she going to sing properly like that?”

“Leave her be. It’s a throwaway time slot anyway.”

A weekday afternoon. That awkward time before evening.

It was the time when there were the fewest customers, so it didn’t matter much who took the stage.

If the level was too severe, they could just pull them off midway.

The customers who had been giggling and drinking since the afternoon also glanced at the bustling stage, but that was all.

“Why is it so busy over there?”

“They say there’s a performance.”

“Aw, I liked how quiet this time slot was.”

Rosalyn stepped onto the stage where no one was paying attention.

‘Phew…’

The audience consisted of only a few drunken idlers and employees with disinterested faces.

But Rosalyn was happy just to be standing on a stage, not in a desolate alley.

‘There are people who will listen to my song.’

I must do well, I must really do my best.

Rosalyn turned around, steeling her resolve dozens of times.

The sight of Ariana sitting in front of the piano, checking the keys, was like a scene from a neat landscape painting.

She couldn’t help but admire the calmness and maturity that was on a different level from her own trembling self.

‘Since my benefactor has come, I’ll really do well.’

That nasty, vile traitor Mark may have left, but instead, her benefactor had miraculously come.

She was determined to do her best, if only to not waste this stroke of luck.

Soon, Ariana began to play the first note.

“Ah…”

With just that one phrase, she could feel it.

The fundamental difference between the playing of that good-for-nothing philanderer traitor Mark and this lady’s performance.

If Mark’s playing was merely a skill of extracting notes from a sheet music with an instrument, Ariana’s performance was conveying the story beyond those notes.

‘About Possession’.

It’s an aria sung by the female protagonist, a notorious femme fatale, when she falls in love after accidentally entering a cathedral and meeting a priest.

The scene where she realizes that true possessiveness, which no jewel or handsome man could ever evoke, is surging within her.

That emotion of wanting to grasp that shining being with her own hands, even if it means they no longer shine.

The D minor that began to resonate gloomily seemed to draw up such yearning from the pit of her stomach.

Rosalyn slowly opened her mouth, feeling as if she was enchanted by something.

− I want to make even your gaze and every breath mine.

The nobles who had been incessantly raising their glasses blinked and turned their gaze.

Every time their gazes turned towards her, just like in the lyrics, Rosalyn felt a thrill running to the tips of her hair.

The priest’s gaze, the thirst of the female protagonist wanting every single gesture to be hers, spread through Rosalyn’s body.

The melody rising stickily from Ariana’s fingertips took Rosalyn into the cathedral where she faced the beautiful priest.

− I want it so much, why can’t we be together?

As the aria intensified, those seated stopped clinking their glasses.

Even those who had been giggling and dancing, those who had been passing by indifferently, began to be drawn in and give their attention.

As the accompaniment rushed towards its climax, Rosalyn’s volume also expanded.

“Wow… What’s with that girl?”

“The singing is one thing, but the piano is a work of art… Isn’t this ‘About Possession’? Was it this kind of piece?”

“Shh, quiet! I can’t hear.”

People started to sit in the audience seats that weren’t even half full.

Amidst the numerous gazes fixed on her, Rosalyn felt her heart racing rapidly.

The next verse was the part where the female protagonist fully embraces and blooms her fever-like first love.

Feeling the protagonist’s pain and ecstasy deep in her heart, Rosalyn opened her mouth.

“If only you could be mine… Ugh!”

In that moment, Rosalyn’s body stiffened as if struck by lightning.

A tingling sensation pierced through her vocal cords. It was a pain that almost brought tears to her eyes.

Fortunately, it was at the end of a phrase so it wasn’t too noticeable, but some gave slightly puzzled looks.

‘Ouch, it hurts…’

During the short interlude, Rosalyn’s heart pounded frantically.

Something was wrong with her throat. She was certain even without trying to make a sound.

Could it be an aftereffect of being out in the cold for too long? She thought she had calmed down with the warm water Ariana had given her, but apparently not.

‘What should I do? The next phrase is ultra-high pitched.’

Thump, thump, thump.

Rosalyn’s heart started beating like crazy. In a completely different direction from the excitement that had been dominating her until just moments ago.

If she forced out the ultra-high notes in this state, her vocal cords would be severely damaged.

Even so, Rosalyn wanted to finish this performance perfectly.

Ariana’s playing had led Rosalyn to a state of perfect unity with the female protagonist’s emotions.

She didn’t want to ruin this moment, this feeling.

‘But even if I force myself to sing, my pitch will be off.’

It was a nightmare just to think about.

If only she had even a minute to clear her throat.

What should I do? How should I…

It was then, as she was waiting for the next verse with a fearful heart.

‘…Huh?’

Suddenly, Rosalyn realized that the interlude wasn’t ending.

It wasn’t that time felt slower because she was too flustered.

Clearly, the interlude for this part isn’t very long. But the interlude Ariana was playing wasn’t ending, instead it was heading towards a new horizon.

‘Huh? …This phrase isn’t in this piece.’

Rosalyn turned to look at the piano in a daze and met Ariana’s emerald eyes.

In that moment, Rosalyn had a lightning-like realization.

‘She’s buying me time.’

Her benefactor was now buying her time.

While freely creating a melody that didn’t exist anywhere in the score.