“Oh my.”

Elena slightly opened her mouth as she saw the line of bustling guests in front of the opera house.

She knew that all seats were sold out, but seeing the crowd with her own eyes was almost unbelievable.

Her heart began to race at the thought of showing off her beauty and talent in front of so many people.

“Let me off here.”

Elena deliberately stopped the carriage in front of the opera house’s main entrance.

As she stepped onto the red carpet leading inside, the gazes of those standing in line all focused on her at once.

Someone whistled at Elena, who was perfectly dressed from head to toe.

Suppressing a rising laugh, Elena lightly passed through them.

The interior of the opera house, where the performance had not yet begun, was still.

… Perhaps, too still.

‘What is it?’

Elena slightly tilted her head.

The corridor leading to the waiting room was strangely quiet.

‘Did brother throw a fit?’

Edward had a sensitive and irritable temperament, like an artist.

So he hated it when someone acted noisily.

‘Looks like he got quite angry.’

But even so, it was the first time the thirty orchestra members were keeping this much silence.

Well, it’s good that it’s quiet. As Elena was entering the corridor with a smile, it happened.

“Huk, hah!”

An employee urgently ran out from the opposite side.

‘What, how undignified…’

While frowning, she suddenly felt uneasy.

If they were running like that, did something urgent happen?

‘No. Everything has to be perfect today.’

Elena blocked the employee’s path.

“Hey. What’s the matter?”

“Ah, hah, Miss Elena.”

The employee caught his breath.

As she met his eyes full of confusion, the uneasiness in Elena’s heart grew a little more.

“The orche-, hah, the orchestra members…”

The employee shouted with a pale face, as if still in disbelief.

“Not a single one showed up! They’re all absent!”

“…What?”

At the out of the blue remark, Elena lost her balance for a moment.

“They didn’t show up? …The orchestra?”

It was so absurd that she doubted if the employee was joking.

“Ha, does that make sense? At this hour, still…”

There was less than an hour left until the performance began.

“Then the final rehearsal? They must have done that, right?”

“We couldn’t do that either… Because no one came!”

Elena opened her mouth blankly, dumbfounded.

She had slept in late this morning.

Yesterday her skin condition was awful, so she judged that supplementing sleep to take care of her skin was better than participating in the final rehearsal.

“What nonsense is that!”

Elena let out a sharp scream.

“Does it make sense for everyone to be late together on such an important day?! You should have gone to their homes and dragged them here!”

“I already went and checked! But I couldn’t find them anywhere! As if they all, all disappeared together…”

Sweat was dripping down the forehead of the employee who was desperately shouting.

Elena slowly realized. This wasn’t some bad taste joke.

“What… That’s unbelievable…”

Elena staggered.

“So you’re just going to sit and do nothing?! What is my brother doing? You should ask around for other musicians!”

“How can we gather genius musicians who can master the sheet music in a few hours en masse?”

The employee made a wronged face and whined.

“Besides, you know, this stage is especially full of difficult techniques to perform!”

She did hear the members express difficulty as soon as they received the music sheets.

They said it was full of ornamental techniques unlike usual, so average musicians wouldn’t even dare attempt it.

Why did such difficult music have to be in this performance of all times?

As if… someone deliberately arranged it that way…

It was the moment a strange and eerie premonition struck Elena’s mind.

“What do you mean the orchestra disappeared?!”

Lucas, the biggest investor in this performance, burst through the door.

Elena’s lips quivered.

“Du-, Duke.”

“Find them! No matter what!”

Lucas shouted with a fiercely distorted face.

There were fifty minutes left until the performance.

“Do-, don’t worry too much, Duke.”

Edward carefully spoke to Lucas, reading the room.

His expensive suit, bought at a high price, was soaked with cold sweat.

“I somehow managed to find a piano accompanist for now. And a violinist too.”

A vein bulged on Lucas’s temple.

“How can I not worry?!”

Shouting like thunder, Lucas glared at Edward.

“People are waiting for the performance right at this moment!”

It was already past the time the performance should have started.

Hundreds of people were looking at the dark stage with puzzled eyes.

Since the performance didn’t start on time, everyone would find it strange.

And with each passing minute, that puzzlement would turn into irritation and then anger.

He felt like a rope was gradually tightening around his neck.

“Elena! You go out there!”

Edward, who was anxiously looking at his watch, shouted.

“What?!”

At those words, Elena, who was biting her lips, was startled.

“Right now! At least you go out and buy time!”

“What are you saying? What am I supposed to do without a single musician?!”

“You can sing!”

Edward shouted, glaring fiercely.

Usually she would obediently comply with such a fierce look, but this time Elena protested.

“Sing without even an accompanist! What, should I go out and perform some tricks?!”

“Yes! Do whatever it takes! Buy time until the musicians arrive!”

“What… How can you say that! Am I, am I a clown?!”

Elena’s eyes were stained with shame.

A large hand roughly grabbed her shoulder.

“Listen well. Elena Lopez.”

Grabbing Elena, Lucas spoke with burning eyes.

“I bet money on this house.”

“Euk…”

It was the first time she saw such a side of Lucas, who was always only kind.

As Elena looked up with terrified eyes, Lucas barely caught his breath.

His temples bulged with veins as he tried to contain his anger.

“Money, money. If someone’s stupid mistake ruins that…”

Lucas spoke firmly, as if scolding a foolish child.

“I might get very, very angry.”

“……”

Elena, who was silently trembling, soon tightly closed her eyes.

“I’ll go out… I just need to go out, right.”

“Yes, good thinking.”

Lucas patted the back of Elena, who said that.

“Don’t you dare ruin this stage, no matter what you do.”

The curtain of the stage that had only been dark slowly began to rise.

“Ooh, it’s finally starting.”

“At last.”

Gazes full of anticipation poured onto the stage.

But soon the audience’s eyes were filled with puzzlement.

Because there was only a single woman standing on the stage.

“…Huh?”

“Where is the orchestra? Why is there only a soprano alone?”

“Well, could it be some kind of stage technique?”

“It does seem a bit lacking in substance though.”

“Shh, it’s starting.”

In the silence, Elena forcibly suppressed her trembling body.

Soon, the first verse of the aria began to flow from her lips.

− The moment I first saw you, I felt…

The passage where she begins to feel lust for her friend’s husband.

The audience vaguely tilted their heads.

‘Hmm, her voice is nice to listen to, but…’

‘With no accompaniment, it feels quite bland.’

‘How much is the ticket price, how long are they going to make do with just one soprano’s singing?’

The puzzled gazes soon turned into coldness and irritation.

Elena, thrown into the middle of it, shrank her shoulders.

It was the first time she received such looks.

Because from the moment she first stood on stage, she always only received praise for her beauty and voice.

‘I’m… I’m a pro. I can do it even without accompaniment.’

Maybe this was actually an opportunity.

If she sang the unaccompanied aria really well, Lucas would also be deeply impressed.

He would recognize her as a woman resourceful enough to be worthy of a duchess.

It was the moment she somehow opened her lips, brainwashing herself.

The audience member sitting in the very front row slowly crossed his legs.

It was the moment Elena’s gaze unconsciously turned towards him at that large gesture.

“…!”

Elena’s eyes opened wide.

“If I can only have you, I… huk.”

Her voice cracked as she hurriedly inhaled.

But in that instant, Elena couldn’t think of anything.

‘How…’

Ariana, whom Lucas had searched for so much for days without being able to catch even a shadow.

Because she was sitting right there in that seat now.