Thump.

Late at night, everywhere was quiet, but my ears were noisy with the sound of my own heartbeat.

Looking up at the dark ceiling, I let out a deep breath.

Get a grip, Ariana.

I pulled the blanket tightly and lay on my side. The vast bed was so large that even stretching out my arms, I couldn’t reach the edges.

Changing positions and closing my eyes didn’t quiet my mind.

“Haaa.”

Sighing for the hundredth time, I curled up. It felt like the sensation still lingered on my lips.

Don’t get swept away. I repeated to myself.

I have things I need to focus on, and above all, this kind of thing probably wouldn’t even register as significant to that man.

‘That’s probably why he’s so skilled at it.’

I recalled his touch, moving from my cheek down to my neck as we kissed.

The eyes filling with increasingly intense pleasure, the roughening breath, and then the gaze that looked at me intently, his Adam’s apple moving without composure.

And then…

“I was annoyed that you forgot, so I planned to hold back until you remembered…”

“This is almost torture.”

If his aide hadn’t knocked on the door then, what would have followed?

I frowned, sinking into serious thoughts.

Before I die, that is, five years from now in this timeline, a shocking rumor will circulate in high society.

The rumor that Duke Heigenberg, who was said to call female singers to his bed every night, was actually impotent.

The source of the report was a fairly famous soprano at the time, and after that, more reports followed one after another.

At first, many thought it was a malicious rumor spread by women rejected by the duke, but when the duke’s side took no action, it soon became accepted as fact.

Dante Heigenberg is impotent. That was the open secret everyone in high society knew.

But can a man with physical defects show such… such reactions?

Recalling the presence I felt at my waist, I bit my lip in embarrassment.

“…Sleep.”

I forced my eyes shut.

Today again, I didn’t complete a single measure of the score. To be precise, I wrote a lot, but erased it all.

‘What nerve you have to be lost in other thoughts when you’re in this state.’

Recalling the harp melody I heard after a long time, I tried to fall asleep.

Before long, drowsiness began to creep in sluggishly.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I was running through the forest again.

‘It’s a dream.’

Since I had this dream recently, I could recognize it immediately this time.

However, despite my conscious mind realizing it was a dream, my young body was frantically running through the forest.

The dark forest and the smell of blood assaulting my nose. A nightmare with no discernible origin.

But this time, there was something different.

“Little lady, come here.”

Turning around at the eerie voice, I was startled almost to the point of fainting.

I saw a monster wearing a white mask in the distance, looking around as if searching for something.

Suppressing a scream, I ran away, but just as I lost my footing, I fell with a splash into icy cold water.

It was an illogical progression, as dreams often are. Even as I thought this, my young body diligently flailed about.

Nevertheless, my body continued to sink.

As I struggled painfully, wondering if I would wake up from the dream if I ran out of breath, it happened.

“…ke up. Wake up!”

Someone reached out to me. At the same time, I heard a shout that shouldn’t have been audible underwater.

I looked up dazedly. Someone was trying to save me as I sank.

A boy with black hair fluttering above a white face.

My eyes slowly widened.

“…Gasp.”

I woke up from sleep, taking a deep breath.

‘The forest… that dream again.’

I had the same dream twice. I had a feeling it wasn’t just a simple nightmare.

Maybe it’s related to the memory Dante said I would recall.

Dante. As soon as I thought of that name, the face of the boy I saw in the dream came to mind.

Though his appearance was young and immature, those features clearly resembled someone I knew.

“Haaa.”

I walked to the terrace to get some fresh air.

Even breathing in the cold air, the image of the forest I saw in the dream wouldn’t leave my mind.

The eerie yet mysterious midnight forest.

That image seemed like it would linger for a long time.

Just as scary ghost stories tend to haunt children’s sleep more than beautiful fairy tales, and nightmares tend to be remembered longer than happy dreams.

‘…Ah.’

As I thought that far, my eyes suddenly widened. My aimless pacing on the terrace came to a halt.

“Perhaps…”

Music that lingers long in people’s minds, that can cause ripples in the heart the moment it’s heard.

It occurred to me that perhaps it existed at coordinates completely different from what I had been thinking.

* * *

Time passed quickly, and as the knife-like winter winds began to carry a hint of warmth,

The Founding Festival was just a month away.

Before a grand-scale festival like the Founding Festival, smaller parties were usually held here and there.

Tea parties, balls, salons… The nobles attended various parties to preview the season’s trends and each other’s strategies in advance.

Numerous invitations flew from house to house.

Among them were invitations that were ignored, ones that were welcomed to the point of being traded at high prices, and occasionally, invitations whose very existence became a topic of conversation.

The evening party to be held at the Lopez mansion was one such event.

“Count Lopez is holding a party? It’s a bit amusing. I wonder if he got permission from the Imperial Bank?”

“Oh my. Haven’t you heard? They say he’s paid off all his debts. There’s a rumor that he paid the full amount in a single promissory note.”

“Is that so? Why did he drag it out for so long if he had the money to pay it off so quickly?”

“Who knows? I heard he’s prepared special souvenirs for this party, perhaps to restore his reputation.”

“Special souvenirs? What, is he going to scatter gold bars? Hohoho.”

It was a well-known tactic for unpopular parties to distribute expensive items as attendance souvenirs.

While it was effective in attracting visitors, it was also often mocked behind closed doors as a desperate move by nouveau riche seeking social connections.

However, even the nobles who usually scoffed at such tactics couldn’t help but open their eyes wide at these souvenirs.

“I heard they’re memos personally written by the late Count Eduardo Lopez.”

“What? You mean memos written by the music maestro?”

“My goodness. They’re giving away something so precious as souvenirs?”

“This year marks the 10th anniversary of the maestro’s passing, you know. I heard they want to share them so people will remember him longer.”

“I see…”

Some noticed Edward Lopez’s ulterior motive.

‘It seems Count Lopez is planning to hold a grand event soon.’

With this being the 10th anniversary, it was an appropriate time to hold a memorial concert.

Distributing Eduardo’s belongings beforehand to raise interest would likely have a good effect.

Count Lopez had used his head, even at the cost of bleeding money.

“The souvenirs are interesting. There will certainly be some people who’ll drop by.”

“Well, the stage fiasco last time was because of a contract mishap with the orchestra, wasn’t it? It was a big mistake, but it was his first… It seems a bit unfair to be ousted over just one incident.”

“That’s right. He’s also the grandson of the music maestro. Who knows? Perhaps this grandson who inherited his blood will also become a giant in the music world later.”

Amidst such talk, the party at the Lopez mansion began.

“Welcome, it’s a beautiful night. Thank you for visiting.”

Elena, dressed gorgeously, greeted guests at the entrance of the party hall.

Beside her, Adolf stood guard, showing off his handsomely groomed appearance.

“Hello, Countess Rowena. Here, a souvenir prepared with our gratitude.”

The noble ladies who entered, receiving gentle welcoming greetings, exchanged glances among themselves.

“Miss Elena Lopez has been seen frequently lately.”

“She doesn’t miss a single party.”

Elena, who had once faltered due to unsavory rumors, was now swimming through high society like a fish in water.

Recently, there was even a rumor that she accompanied Adolf to a card game room where only men attended, showering her fiancé with all sorts of affection and encouragement.

They say Adolf’s shoulders were so high that day, they could have pierced through the ceiling.

“But I wonder if that explanation is true? That Lucas Fedegrin unilaterally harassed Miss Elena, and Elena was hiding it because she was afraid of hurting her sister…”

“Well, we can’t know the truth, but seeing that Lady Ariana hasn’t made any rebuttal, I suppose that’s the agreement between them?”

“True. Elena even attended the duke and duchess’s wedding as a guest. The duchess was generous enough to accept such a sister.”

“But for having reconciled, there seems to be no interaction between the two at all, doesn’t there?”

To someone’s doubt, a noblewoman shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, we can’t blame that entirely on Miss Elena. Lady Ariana hasn’t left the duke’s residence for over a month. She’s not interacting with anyone, not just Elena.”