To Those For Whom Even Regret Is A Luxury (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
“…….”
Elena’s pupils widened greatly.
Her unfocused eyes blankly took me in. I watched the scene with a hint of amusement.
“Wha—what on earth….”
Only after a moment did Elena finally stammer out a voice, barely maintaining composure.
“What kind of title is that, sister? It’s far too vulgar!”
“Vulgar?”
I tilted my head slightly in confusion.
“Is that really how you see it? Adultery being vulgar?”
“Of course!”
“Oh, I see. I just thought…”
I leaned gently toward Elena and gave a bright smile.
“…you didn’t know.”
“…….”
Elena’s eyes grew impossibly wider than before.
Her gaze rapidly swept over my face. Her unfocused eyes tangled with confusion—suspicion, disbelief, anxiety.
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Huh? Exactly what I said.”
I smiled, crinkling the corners of my eyes.
“A vulgar title is even better, isn’t it? Don’t you understand? Since ancient times, romantic intrigue has always been the most captivating subject for people.”
“…….”
Elena frowned, her brow furrowed in uncertainty.
“No matter what, you can’t possibly… give it such an uncultured title!”
“Well, it’s not a bad idea, actually.”
At that moment, Edward cut in with arms crossed and a sullen expression.
Elena turned to him, flustered.
“Brother!”
“What? Your sister isn’t wrong. It’s certainly striking. It’ll definitely stir up plenty of buzz.”
“Buzz or not, it’s still a completely absurd title!”
“Do you really dislike it that much, Elena?”
I furrowed my brows, trying to appear regretful.
“How about you just try singing it once?”
“What? Me… me?”
“Of course.”
I beamed as if asking something perfectly reasonable.
“You’re the prima soprano of our opera house, after all.”
Prima soprano—the star, the very flower of opera.
“Who else would sing this aria but you?”
“…I…”
Elena’s complexion turned increasingly pale, shifting shades of blue.
Edward raised one eyebrow as if urging her to just sing already, while Lucas showed no intention of interfering—only watching my expression warily with a hint of bewilderment.
I donned a smile like a mask and spoke.
“No. I’m sorry, Elena.”
“…What?”
“I shouldn’t have asked you to sing a song that isn’t even properly finished yet. That was unreasonable of me.”
Elena stood stunned for a brief moment before lifting her chin.
“So now you say that, after demanding I sing right away?”
Concluding I’d backed down, Elena immediately regained her arrogance, speaking in a deliberately aloof tone.
“That’s an awfully rude request. Do you think I’m some kind of clown—”
“I’ll ask you again once the entire opera is complete.”
“…Wha—what did you say?”
I took both of Elena’s hands in mine. She flinched and looked up at me, startled.
“I’d really like you to sing that aria I just improvised. Now I understand why men keep calling you their muse.”
“Why… why are you like this?”
“It’s strange, Elena. It feels like melodies are fighting to burst out all at once…”
I turned toward Edward and Lucas with the shy smile of an excited girl.
“Um… may I go upstairs and start composing right away? Right now, I feel like I could recall everything—from the overture to the final aria—just sitting down, just like that impromptu piece earlier.”
“…Really? All of it?”
Greed instantly glinted in Lucas’s eyes.
He must have been quite taken with the piece I’d just played.
“In that case, Ari, you’ll handle this entire opera from start to finish.”
“Marquis!”
This time, Edward turned to Lucas with wide eyes.
Lucas shot Edward a weary, dismissive look.
“There’s hardly any time left before opening night, and you still don’t have a single finished piece, Count Lopez. Am I wrong?”
Edward couldn’t retort—his face just turned bright red.
“Once Ari finishes composing everything, we’ll just go over it once more to polish it.”
“Well… hah… fine…”
Edward looked thoroughly displeased but didn’t dare defy the lead investor any further.
I silently observed Edward and Elena for a moment.
Standing side by side, their faces flushing red and pale in unison, they looked exactly like twins.
Just like back then—when we held hands as I lay dying, stamped our seals together, and smiled side by side.
“Marquis! Are you really going to stage an opera about… about adultery?!”
“This performance is important, Elena.”
Lucas scolded Elena as though she were a child, despite her fierce, catlike protest.
“There are rumors that Dante Hagenberg is returning to the capital.”
“Huh? …Lord Dante?”
Elena’s eyes widened.
At the same time, I slowly drew in a quiet breath.
Lucas, his brows deeply furrowed, growled,
“Yes. He’ll probably throw another grand performance at that ‘Paradise’ place or whatever it’s called to welcome him back. A garish stage plastered together with nothing but money… tch!”
Lucas clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“We can’t let them steal our spotlight. We must make this performance a huge success—you know that, right? Only then can we present our stage at the upcoming Imperial Founding Festival at the palace!”
“…….”
“That’s why, as Ari suggested, we need to maximize buzz for this performance… Ari?”
“…….”
“Ariana!”
“…Ah.”
Only after a pause did I feel the hand shaking me. Lucas was peering down at me with a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Oh… nothing at all.”
I shook my head as I spoke,
all the while holding the name that pierced my mind the instant I heard it—Dante Hagenberg—to one corner of my thoughts.
“But… is Lord Dante really returning to the capital?”
Elena asked in a deliberately casual tone,
as if she had no real interest—but a subtle thrill lingered at the end of her voice.
Lucas, seemingly oblivious to it, clicked his tongue roughly.
“Yes. He’ll bring a whole flood of bloodshed with him again. This time, they say he’s been slaughtering some barbarian tribes.”
“Oh my…”
“Stay far away from that man, my future sister-in-law.”
Lucas patted Elena’s head affectionately, playing the protective guardian.
Elena rubbed her head against his palm like a puppy.
“I know. Isn’t he notorious for his scandalous private life? He calls female singers into his bedroom every night.”
As I watched that rather sickening display, I thought to myself,
“Scandalous, huh.”
Indeed, around this time, such rumors were rampant.
Dante, the owner of the pleasure den ‘Paradise,’ allegedly dragged a different person into his bed each night—such a dissolute, decadent man.
“Though… starting five years from now, slightly different rumors began to circulate.”
“We cannot afford to lose to someone so vulgar. This performance must succeed—understood?”
Lucas looked at the three siblings with gentle eyes.
“Prove that my judgment in recognizing the potential of the Lopez Opera House was right.”
‘Meaning we must work hard so your investment doesn’t go to waste.’
Swallowing a crooked smile, I replied brightly,
“Of course, Marquis. I’ll do my very best to compose.”
—Your funeral dirge.
* * *
After even Sophie left, I was completely alone.
I entered my room and leaned against the door, slowly exhaling.
The reality beneath my feet remained clear as ever.
‘Have I truly returned to the past?’
An occurrence defying all reason.
But even if it meant I’d gone mad, I didn’t care.
Because unless I exacted revenge on the family I once loved—right here—I could never rest in peace.
Therefore, absolutely, thoroughly…
‘I’ll send you plummeting into ruin.’
I possess talent.
The talent to craft music that sells—the so-called “profitable chord progressions.”
Nobles danced in droves upon the waltzes I composed.
Foreign royalty even resorted to buying scalped tickets just to hear my operas.
Every single note of the pieces I agonizingly created over the past five years remained vivid in my mind.
‘I can recreate them all once more.’
I need neither Edward’s arrangements nor Elena’s voice.
These notes in my mind alone are my treasure.
‘But the problem is…’
Remembering the harsh wall of reality, I bit my lip.
Imperial law was extremely conservative, not recognizing unmarried women’s rights to personal property.
Any wealth a woman earned in the Empire belonged to her husband if married, or to her father if not.
Lucas had said as much himself:
“Innocent Ariana. Do you really think you’ll be recognized as the rightful owner of your brilliant compositions once we divorce?”
His words had been undeniably true.
Whether married to Lucas or not, my compositions would end up belonging either to him or to Edward.
‘To overcome this, there’s…’
—A simple solution.
Form a new household. With a man who is neither Lucas nor Edward.
In other words, marry again.
The name that had been circling my thoughts spilled from my lips.
“Dante Hagenberg.”
War hero drenched in blood, master of Paradise—and the infamous subject of rumors about changing bedmates nightly.
And also…
“Why keep pouring gold into the mouths of those who can’t even recognize your worth?”
The man who’d once appeared unexpectedly one night and whispered words no one else had ever dared speak.
“Don’t be foolish—come this way. You never know…”
“…….”
“…Perhaps I’ll treasure you like a precious gem.”
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
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