Everyone’s eyes widened as they turned to look at the door.

Ariana Heigenberg burst in, accompanied by her husband.

With large eyes brimming with moisture.

“Ah, elder brother!”

“…!”

Edward’s eyes bulged.

‘W-Why is that wench here?’

He became acutely aware of his own posture, kneeling with his head bowed to the ground.

It was a sight he didn’t want to show to that girl, if no one else.

Shame flushed Edward’s cheeks bright red.

“Oh my, Duchess…”

The emperor turned to Ariana with a troubled expression.

Edward looked at the emperor once, then at Ariana once, with eyes full of wariness.

Though he didn’t know why Ariana had barged in, her intention was clear.

It must be to push him into an even more certain hell.

However, the plea that burst from Ariana’s lips completely missed his expectations.

“Please, please spare my elder brother’s life!”

‘…What?’

Edward gaped blankly.

Ariana pleaded again with a desperate face.

“It can’t be my elder brother’s crime, Your Majesty. Please, just listen to my elder brother’s words once.”

“…Hmm.”

An awkward expression settled on the emperor’s face.

With the duchess begging like that, it was difficult to firmly dismiss her.

Especially with the duke watching with fierce eyes beside her.

“My lady. I understand your desire to save your blood relative, but the nature of the crime is quite clear.”

“But what if it’s not a crime my elder brother committed?”

“…What did you say?”

The emperor’s eyes widened. Tommen also furrowed his brow.

Edward looked up at Ariana with disbelieving eyes.

“Elder brother.”

Ariana turned to Edward and whispered urgently.

“There’s no choice. You’d better admit it. If you want to live, this is the only way now.”

“…W-What?”

Edward asked stupidly.

Ariana Lopez. No, now Ariana Heigenberg.

The girl who had stolen the orchestra and betrayed Edward was now dangling a lifeline tantalizingly.

However…

‘Is this really a lifeline?’

It couldn’t be an intact rope. Surely it must be rotten somewhere.

But could he really not grab it? Edward swallowed hard.

If he didn’t grab onto something, his head would fly.

“The music performed today, it’s not actually composed by you, elder brother, is it?”

“…”

Edward’s eyes slowly widened.

Ariana gently lowered her head. Her lush platinum blonde hair cascaded down both sides of her face.

Enough to hide her expression from everyone.

“Admit it.”

A faint smile seeped into Ariana’s lips.

“That you are not the original composer.”

Thump.

Edward’s heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst.

Ariana was the only person who knew this music wasn’t Edward’s.

But she had no evidence. The original composer, Eduardo, was dead, and the real score had long been torn up and burned.

Edward’s eyes darted around as he stammered.

“What… are you…”

“Elder brother, I’m telling you the only way you can survive.”

A tender light rippled in her beautiful emerald eyes.

“If you confess that it’s not a song you composed… then, at least, you can be free from the charges you’re currently facing.”

Her smooth voice sounded almost like singing. Like a siren luring sailors to their deaths.

“So please confess. That it’s not your music, that you stole someone else’s music.”

Ariana slowly smiled amidst her cascading platinum blonde hair.

“Just like you always stole what was mine.”

Edward, who had been staring blankly with wide eyes, suddenly shouted convulsively.

“Stop spouting nonsense! You crazy bi- ack!”

Edward, who had tried to lunge at Ariana, fell down from a kick.

“Your foul language never improves.”

Dante withdrew his foot and spoke in a chilling voice.

“Kuh, kuhak, kuheuk…”

Edward, sprawled pathetically on the floor, trembled in all four limbs, unable to get up as if his ribs were cracked.

Watching this scene, Roman put his hand to his forehead.

‘Good heavens. To think this is the descendant of a musical maestro…’

‘What a spectacle, what a spectacle indeed. How embarrassing to see Karka’s envoy like this.’

The emperor also let out a groan of “Hmm.”

“Marquis Roman.”

Ariana, who had risen, looked at Edward lying on the ground.

“How many measures of my elder brother’s music overlap with Karka’s ceremonial music?”

“Let’s see… twelve measures. The rest is new music I’ve never seen anywhere else.”

“Then it’s certain.”

Ariana shook her head.

“That score can’t be my elder brother’s work. My elder brother…”

Looking down at Edward’s back as he gasped on the ground, Ariana continued.

“Is a person incapable of creating anything new at all.”

Edward lifted his head abruptly, clutching his chest.

Ariana asked in a low voice.

“Isn’t that right, elder brother?”

“Kuk, what nonsense…!”

At that moment, Edward’s eyes inadvertently met Tommen’s, and his whole body froze.

Tommen was smiling. As if he was very pleased with Edward’s answer.

Hearing the sound of his premonition screaming, Edward’s jaw trembled.

‘If I deny those words now…’

If he didn’t grab the lifeline Ariana was dangling, Tommen would immediately challenge him to a duel.

This rotten rope was the last chance given to Edward now.

After intensely racking his brains for a long while, Edward’s eyes reddened as he trembled.

No matter how much he thought about it, he could see no exit other than the door Ariana was kindly gesturing towards.

It was a perfect trap that he had to enter even knowing it was a scheme.

“…I.”

Finally, he opened his mouth.

“The music I… made… is not mine.”

His body shook violently with shame.

But because his pride wasn’t more important than his life, he had no choice but to continue spitting out words.

“I took someone else’s score and… pretended it was mine… I lied.”

“…Oh my.”

“Oh dear…”

The emperor and Marquis Roman sighed in unison.

The situation was flowing in a completely unexpected direction.

If those words were true, at least they could prevent Tommen from challenging Edward to a duel.

“There are witnesses who can support those words.”

Ariana, who spoke in a calm voice, gave a faint smile towards Edward.

“Don’t worry too much, elder brother. I’ll help you.”

* * *

“That’s right. Not a single measure of the music composed purely by Count Lopez would amount to anything in all of Lopez House’s music.”

“That’s also why we left the Lopez Orchestra. We endured unfair treatment believing in the count’s music creation ability, but then we found out that all those pieces were actually someone else’s.”

Former members of the Lopez Orchestra testified one after another.

Marquis Roman, who had been suddenly tasked with investigating this case due to his deep knowledge of music, clutched his forehead and asked.

“Then whose on earth were all the Lopez House’s music pieces?”

“They were Miss Ariana Lopez’s!”

A young-looking boy, a violinist named Ruben, raised his hand and said.

Louis, who was said to be the former orchestra master of the Lopez Orchestra, also nodded.

“That’s correct. They were all Miss Ariana’s music.”

“Miss Ariana herself demonstrated her composition skills to prove that fact. We all decided to change our affiliation after seeing that.”

Other members also chimed in agreement.

Marquis Roman was dumbfounded.

“So you’re saying Count Lopez didn’t create a single piece himself? I know he produced quite a few pieces over the past year or two, so were all of those…”

The members nodded without hesitation.

Marquis Roman let out a sigh.

Then he could understand why Ariana was able to defend Edward without even hearing the whole story.

‘Since her elder brother was completely incapable of creation, she naturally thought this piece couldn’t have been made by him either.’

She had simply assumed he had stolen or bought someone else’s work and pretended it was his own.

Because that’s how her own pieces had always been forcibly taken from her.

“…Good heavens.”

Marquis Roman put his hand to his forehead at the revealed truth.

When the stories uncovered in this investigation room got out into the world, it would cause a huge commotion in the empire’s music world.

* * *

What Edward presented on the music festival stage today was not a piece he created.

He had slightly modified a score he bought on the black market from an already deceased unknown artist and pretended it was his own work.

This was the content of Edward’s statement.

Edward glared at his opposite with bloodshot eyes.

“I said what you told me to.”

The content of the statement was all fabricated by Ariana.

Faced with the threat that she wouldn’t add any testimony unless he said it that way, he had no choice but to follow along even though it made him sick to his stomach.

“You did well. Now the whole world will know.”

Ariana smiled brightly.

“That my elder brother is a shameless thief.”