“Another song?”

The boy turned to look at me and sneered with a frown.

“You may not be able to burst eardrums, but you seem to have the ability to put people to sleep? Like some kind of demon.”

“No, it’s just a normal song. …But my mother said she falls asleep whenever she hears me sing.”

I was confident about this, so this time I didn’t get intimidated by that sneer and asserted myself once more.

“You saved my life, but there’s nothing I can do for you… No, why don’t you just lie down for now? I’ll keep watch tonight.”

“You’re persistent.”

The boy closed his eyes for a long time.

Though he said he didn’t need to sleep, it seemed fatigue was still accumulating.

It was natural, as it had been three days since he had gotten any sleep at all.

I asserted more strongly.

“Go over there and lie down. Please.”

Finally, I succeeded in making the boy lie down, half-forcibly.

Lying straight, the boy looked up at me blankly.

When those eyes, as beautiful as bright red ruby brooches, turned towards me, my small heart began to beat at a strange pace.

I cleared my throat slightly and opened my mouth.

– On a moonlit night, a starry night.

The ruby-like eyes widened a little.

I didn’t really expect my song to have some great power to put him to sleep like magic.

But if he closed his eyes and listened to the calm melody, wouldn’t it relieve his fatigue more than just standing watch?

With that prayer in mind, I continued singing.

– Close your eyes gently, follow the starlit path to find your dreams…

This was a lullaby my grandfather had made for me.

Though I was the one who mainly sang it, and my mother was the one who listened.

I twitched my nose slightly. I missed my mother and grandfather.

Tears tried to leak out, but I held them back tightly and continued singing.

– Singing and dancing with fairies, following the moonlight to find your dreams…

As I sang softly, I suddenly opened my eyes wide.

The boy’s eyes were closed before I knew it.

Breathing, breathing.

At the regular breathing sounds, I smiled gently.

* * *

It was midwinter.

The sunny daytime was somewhat bearable, but from evening, it was so cold we had to curl up and shiver.

From the fifth day, my legs were so stiff I couldn’t even walk properly.

Seeing me limping and falling down, the boy clicked his tongue and bent down.

“Get on my back.”

“Uh, I’m sorry…”

My mouth was so frozen I couldn’t even speak properly.

Finally on the boy’s back, I tried to keep my wits about me.

But contrary to my thoughts, my eyes kept drooping shut.

Despite being carried on someone else’s back, my breathing became rapid like someone running.

A sigh was heard from the back I was riding on.

“Hypothermia and malnutrition, huh. …Hey. Don’t lose consciousness.”

“…”

“If you lose it now, you might never wake up again.”

“Mmm…”

Thanks to the boy continuing to talk to me, I regained some consciousness.

“Do that thing you’re good at. …Singing, I mean.”

Those words bored into my ears like a spell. I stumbled to open my lips and started singing.

– Moonlight, bright night… starry night.

Grasping the melody, I forcibly held onto my consciousness that was trying to blur.

As I was reciting the lyrics softly, it happened.

“I take back what I said before about mocking you.”

A gruff voice came from the body carrying me.

“You can go around saying it’s your specialty. …The singing, I mean.”

I opened my eyes wide for a moment, then soon smiled broadly and rested my cheek on the boy’s back.

“Okay.”

A small whisper flowed from my mouth.

“I will.”

* * *

The fever kept getting worse. Every time I opened my mouth, hot breath flowed out that even I could feel.

It wasn’t just hot breath flowing out. Delirious words kept spilling out too.

It was evidence that my brain was being stewed by the high fever, but I didn’t know it then.

“You know… I have a dream.”

I mumbled strange things again, wheezing.

What was strange even in my hazy state was that the boy, who I thought would ignore my delirious talk, was responding each time.

“What is it.”

Although it was a very short and curt answer.

“Well, it’s… I want to have a place where people sing and dance to the music I create.”

A smile formed on my lips as I spoke of my long-held dream.

“Actually, it’s a place my grandfather has, and it looks really nice every time I go there. But that’s for my elder brother… Father always says the family business is inherited by men.”

“…”

“So I want my own, that… that…”

As my consciousness was about to sink below the surface while nodding off, a low voice was heard.

“Opera house.”

“Ah, …yes. I want to have an opera house. And I’ve decided on a really great name for it…”

I smiled broadly and whispered. It was a word I learned while searching through the dictionary, and I had been saving it to use here.

“…I’m going to call it Paradise. What do you think?”

“Well.”

The boy shrugged lightly.

“It’s tacky.”

Despite the indifferent answer, I laughed and said it was good.

It was a dream I had never told my grandfather or mother about.

Confessing it to someone else for the first time made my heart pound strangely.

“By the way… what’s your name?”

“You ask pretty quickly. Right.”

Well, the atmosphere was like he would never tell me anything.

But unexpectedly, the boy answered readily.

“Dante Heigenberg.”

“…Wow, that’s a difficult name.”

Dante. I rolled that name around in my mouth.

It was a pretty name. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was good about it, but I liked how it rolled off the tongue.

“I’ll remember it.”

“If you have a conscience, you should remember it. The name of the benefactor who went through all this trouble.”

Right. If I have a conscience, I should remember it.

Even without him saying that, it was such a pretty name that I wouldn’t be able to forget it.

Dante. I kept pronouncing that name. I still liked it. It was similar to andante too…

“Get up. Once we cross this hill, we’ll reach the main road. From there we can catch a carriage. …What’s your name?”

“Name, Lili…”

“No, tell me your full name. You’re a noble girl, right? There should be a mansion with your family name.”

Dante urged me to say my name, saying he would drop me off there.

“Lopez. Ariana… Lopez.”

“…Ariana Lopez.”

A low voice murmured my name.

After that, my consciousness was sporadic.

Every time I woke from the dizzying fever, my mind became hazier.

“…Where is this?”

“We’re really almost there now.”

My vision kept changing rapidly each time I slowly closed and opened my drowsy eyes.

Each time, my mind kept getting mixed up like dough.

Blink. Where is this and why is it so cold?

Blink. Where is Mom?

Blink. Grandfather said I could sing at the imperial palace today. Was that today?

And blink, blink again…

Suddenly opening my eyes, I found the boy carrying me and asked blankly.

“Who are you…?”

Who is this boy?

How can a person look so much like a doll?

My mother said I was the prettiest in the world, but maybe she said that because she hadn’t seen this face…

Blink. And my consciousness went out completely.

* * *

“Ah…”

Tears fell to the floor with a plop.

As I gasped for breath while clutching my chest, a rough voice was heard.

“Ariana. Ariana!”

The hand gripping my shoulder was large and firm.

I blankly raised my head to look at the owner of the hand.

There were those eyes, red as blood, but at the same time as beautiful as rubies, I had thought.

How could I have forgotten until this moment?

“I remember… everything.”

Dante’s eyes widened.

After that, when I woke up, I couldn’t remember anything.

I couldn’t even remember that my mother and grandfather had passed away, so when I heard that the funeral had already been held, I had to fall ill again.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Unlike me, you remembered from the beginning.”

Meeting Dante’s eyes, I continued speaking with sobs.

“You remembered everything from the start.”

Dante, who had been looking at me with hardened eyes, let out a low, mocking laugh.

“What was so pretty that you pretended to know first.”

He whispered in my ear in an accusing voice.

“You’re the one who ungratefully forgot.”

At that moment, what suddenly came to mind was the memory before I died.

“Ariana Lopez.”

When I was the foolish Marchioness Fedegrin.

Dante was the only person who called me by my maiden name.

“Have you thought about it? My offer.”

“…Your Grace.”

“It shouldn’t be a disappointing amount. Why don’t you come over now? I told you. Your talent shouldn’t be treated like this.”

At that time, Dante Heigenberg was a strange and peculiar existence to me.

It wasn’t just because Edward would denounce Dante and his Paradise whenever he had the chance.

It wasn’t just because that man alone nonchalantly saw through the fact that I was the real composer of the Lopez Opera House.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace. I’m grateful for the offer, but I can’t betray my husband and family.”

“Why can’t you do it?”

Dante tilted his head crookedly and said.

“I thought being ungrateful was your specialty.”

“…Pardon?”

The biggest reason Dante was a strange person to me was because he would suddenly come and throw out odd remarks.

“Come over to my side now. Ungrateful Ariana Lopez.”

…At that time, I had interpreted those words strangely.

‘He must mean that his recognizing me is a great favor.’

It wasn’t unreasonable to think that way, since he would wave checks with ridiculously large amounts written on them every time he visited.

It was indeed a great favor for Duke Heigenberg to treat an unknown woman with such value.

But no. The ‘favor’ he spoke of was not just that.

I took a long breath, and looked straight at Dante standing before me now, not in the past.

“I’m sorry for forgetting so carelessly. And.”

Then I gave the greeting I should have given long ago.

“Thank you. For saving me. I will never forget again.”

“…”

The red eyes slowly widened, then after a moment, a dark heat settled in them.

“That’s right. I saved you.”

A smile played on his elegant lips. It was a smile tinged with deep satisfaction.

Dante grasped my hand and intertwined our fingers.

Slowly and politely, as if confirming a possession that had entered his grasp.

As the rough fingertips brushed between my delicate fingers, my nape instinctively shrank.

As I swallowed my breath, he pressed his lips down on the back of my hand.

The hot sensation burned like a small flame on the back of my hand, spreading to my heart.

“You are the only being I have saved.”

He whispered as if branding me with sound.

“Never forget again.”