To Those For Whom Even Regret Is A Luxury (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 12
‘My goodness.’
The words that came out of my lord’s mouth were so unfitting that Rio felt like crying instead.
Cold sweat pouring down his face, Rio carefully chose his words.
“W-well, you see. I truly wonder why Lady Lopez would have such a misunderstanding……?”
The moment he opened the door to the information guild and confirmed that the person who entered was none other than yesterday’s Lady Lopez, how shocked he had been.
Still, he had managed to cleverly pretend to be the master and hear the full story regarding Ariana’s fiancé—that part had gone well.
‘But why did she drop such a bombshell afterward and just leave, my lady…….’
“Anyway, my future husband is in no condition to have relations.”
Ariana’s face as she said that had been filled with calm certainty.
Dante leaned deeply back into his chair and glared at the ceiling.
“I wasn’t nervous.”
Just moments ago she had been trembling like a deer struck by an arrow in front of him, yet after he scared her a little, she met his gaze without even blinking.
‘I thought she had quite some guts.’
Now that he thought about it, that attitude back then wasn’t simple courage…….
‘She believed I would never actually lay a hand on her.’
Dante let out a hollow laugh through his teeth.
“Well now…….”
He smiled lightly and twisted the corner of his mouth.
“How infuriating.”
* * *
I stepped out of the alley with calm footsteps.
Perhaps because I had left both the request fee and the work at the guild building, my steps felt considerably lighter.
‘First, I’ve cast the bait regarding the adultery.’
Now it was time to do what truly needed to be done.
I raised my head and looked toward the clock tower.
‘There’s still quite a bit of time left.’
There was still a long while until the appointed hour to meet Dante, but I couldn’t afford to waste it idly.
As I walked through the alley, I fell into thought.
‘I need an outstanding orchestra. And an outstanding soprano as well.’
I had no intention of merely stepping on the Lopez Opera House and my family just once and being done with it.
My plan was to crush them so mercilessly that they would never even dream of rising again.
The weapon for that would naturally be the opera I was composing, but no matter how good the music, if it remains trapped on the staff paper, no one can hear it.
‘I already have something in mind for the orchestra.’
But the soprano……
I fiddled with the corner of my lips and sank into worry.
Elena was an exceptional soprano.
Even setting aside her beauty and charisma, that was the truth. Her natural tone was like silk, and both her volume and range were outstanding.
No matter how brilliant the performance, if the soprano singing the aria lacks skill, the audience will judge the entire opera as poor.
‘A soprano of Elena’s caliber is rare.’
That was an objective fact# fact.
Five years from now, Elena would undisputedly become the empire’s greatest soprano, unrivaled by anyone.
Ah, yes. Except for exactly one person.
Rosalyn. The one with the unusual background of coming from a circus troupe.
Two years from now, after debuting with the circus troupe, Rosalyn would transfer to Paradise and instantly establish herself as a top soprano on par with Elena.
If I could secure such a soprano right now, nothing could be better.
‘However, that person…….’
That plan had one fatal flaw.
The fact that Rosalyn’s past was shrouded in mystery until her debut.
Many people pointed fingers, wondering just how rough her life must have been for her to hide it so tightly. But I……
‘I have a guess where she might be.’
Today’s outing had three objectives in total.
Visiting the information guild, meeting Dante.
And scouting a usable soprano.
Every Wednesday at Paradise, aspiring singers hoping to become professionals perform. And today happened to be that day.
‘No need for two separate outings—perfect.’
The dates aligning like this felt like a good omen.
Just as I thought that and turned into the alley leading to Paradise.
“Heuk, heuk…….”
My footsteps slowly came to a halt.
It was an extremely faint sob. So weak it could be buried under the sound of the faint wind or a cat’s meow.
But it rang clearly in my ears.
“Uheuk……!”
I lifted my head and slightly widened my eyes.
Far down the alley, in the corner, I could see a woman draped in a blanket, crying.
“…….”
I tightly clutched the winter cloak I was wearing.
It was a bitterly cold day with piercing winds.
On a day like this, even an hour outside would give you a terrible cold.
Because of the weather, even the beggars had completely vanished, leaving the alley empty.
Except for that woman.
“Heuk, sniff, hueee!”
“…….”
A faint smile appeared on my lips.
It was merely the sound of crying, yet the volume and resonance were extraordinary.
I slowly crouched down in front of the woman.
Around this time, Elena had begun developing a particular ‘hobby.’
It was crushing any female singers who showed even the slightest promise.
One day, with a sneer, she had said something like this. It was around the time the weather had turned this cold.
“Anyway, I hate people who don’t know their place the most. Lord Dante is doing a bit of charity work for unknown singers, and all sorts of riffraff come running like mad just because of that. Rosalyn? Ha, what rose is she supposed to be. That hair color looked like a rose that had been completely soaked in water and left to rot.”
I quietly looked down at the woman crying “hueee.”
Cotton-candy-like pink hair.
Above all, a beautiful timbre that could be felt even through her crying voice.
‘I didn’t expect to find her this easily.’
As expected, today was a day with good instincts.
“Excuse me. Put this on.”
I said that and handed her some clothing.
“Thank you, heuk, thank you so much, cough!”
The woman lifted her tear-streaked face and looked up at me.
“You are so kind…… cough! I will definitely, sniff, definitely repay this favor.”
The revealed face was clear and youthful, without a trace of stage makeup.
‘So this is what you looked like. You in your girlhood.’
Thinking that, I slowly moved my lips and asked.
“Is something the matter?”
* * *
“That’s too much, huee…….”
Wiping her wet cheeks with her sleeve over and over, Rosalyn cried.
“How could he, when it was such a hard-won opportunity, hueeeeng……!”
She had been sitting in the freezing cold crying for nearly an hour now.
She knew that if things continued this way she would come down with a terrible fever, but she had no strength to stand up.
Rosalyn had been born an orphan and lived wandering the back alleys.
For an orphan, she had never gone truly hungry, thanks to the odd jobs she did here and there.
From a young age, Rosalyn had a good singing voice and was adored by the people of the back alleys, who called her a nightingale.
When she sang with all her might, the adults would laugh heartily, say she was impressive, and toss her coins.
It was only natural that Rosalyn dreamed of becoming a singer.
Once she reached the age to be called a young lady, she even stood on small stages.
She gained a handful of fans, and even had a boyfriend who was an excellent pianist.
“Rosalyn, you have talent. If my accompaniment and your singing come together, we’ll definitely make it big!”
How sweetly she had dreamed because of her lover’s whispers.
Then one day, an opportunity finally came to Rosalyn and her lover.
After singing at a small restaurant attached to an inn, they received an offer asking if they would like to perform at a pub owned by Duke Hagenberg.
Since it was a well-known rumor that the duke, having returned from war, was collecting talented singers and composers, Rosalyn and her lover were overjoyed.
And that very night, another person approached them.
“Your piano playing is excellent.”
A silky voice and dazzling platinum-blonde hair. Recognizing the woman, Rosalyn’s eyes widened.
Wasn’t that the soprano who was currently all the rage?
“Gasp, could it be Lady Elena?”
“Are you two lovers? Hmm. The boyfriend’s playing is quite good…… but I’m sorry to say, that voice is a bit wasted on him.”
Rosalyn had stared blankly at Elena, who smiled as she said that.
And then, one week later.
In other words, today—the day she was supposed to have her stage at Paradise.
Rosalyn’s lover, Mark, had vanished without a trace.
Leaving only a single letter saying he had met his true love.
Panicking, Rosalyn searched for an accompanist to play in Mark’s place, but no one was willing to perform for a girl with no career.
The song Rosalyn was scheduled to sing was also notorious for its difficult accompaniment, which didn’t help.
“I see.”
Though half of it had been sobs, Ariana nodded after hearing the whole story.
“You were planning to debut together with your lover who was your accompanist, but he ran away.”
“Hueeuk!”
Hearing Ariana calmly summarize it in one sentence, Rosalyn buried her face between her knees and cried.
Hearing her miserable situation neatly summed up from someone else’s mouth made another wave of sorrow well up.
“What time was it?”
Ariana asked, offering a handkerchief.
“Keuhng……?”
Blowing her nose into the handkerchief, Rosalyn raised her head.
Come to think of it, who was this lady?
‘Her hair…… is incredibly beautiful.’
It was platinum blonde similar to Elena’s, but the feeling was different.
While Elena’s was heavily coated with perfume and hair ornaments to the point of being overwhelming, this lady’s platinum hair fell naturally and looked as harmonious as a landscape painting.
And above all, those features.
She looked about the same age as herself, yet strangely, her eyes were deep.
The calm air, as if she had been through every hardship and was now contemplating the past, combined with her refined features to create a mysterious impression.
“I asked what time slot Paradise gave you, Miss Rosalyn—from what time to what time.”
Rosalyn, who had been staring at her face in a daze, came to her senses late.
“Ah, from four o’clock to five o’clock……!”
At those words, Ariana glanced at the clock tower and muttered.
“Not much time left.”
Ariana stood up and extended her hand.
Then she spoke to Rosalyn, who was staring up at her blankly.
“Stand up. We have to go perform on stage.”
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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