To You Who No Longer Want Me - Chapter 55

Biare, who had an appointment with Rosalyn, was walking through Lanvin’s art street from early morning.

She arrived earlier than expected by carriage and was taking her time looking around.

Even in the early morning, artists heading to the art academy, visitors to art galleries and museums, and ladies and ladies going to dress shops and salons were all bustling about.

The reason she came here today was to see a performance at the opera house with Rosalyn.

A family that Rosalyn had befriended in social circles was sponsoring the opera house, and they had gifted her extra tickets.

She suggested going to see the performance together, and Biare gladly accepted, making the appointment.

As there was some time before the main performance started, she sat by the fountain and saw the Dantero family’s carriage approaching in the distance.

Shortly after, Rosalyn, who got out holding the hand of an escort knight, approached her and greeted her warmly.

“Princess, you’re already here.”

“Yes, I was so excited about the performance that I arrived early.”

Rosalyn smiled brightly in agreement, and the two headed to the opera house together.

After climbing numerous steps, the opera house, tinged with gold, stood majestically among the imposing columns.

Rosalyn, saying it was her first time seeing an opera performance, was taking in the building with an excited voice and eyes full of anticipation.

Biare, looking at her fondly, took her inside the opera house.

The interior, decorated with elegant moldings and magnificent chandeliers, added an extra touch of elegance.

“Princess, look at this.”

What Rosalyn pointed to was several poster frames hanging on the grand wall.

The frames, bordered with gold thread, were arranged in the order of current performances at the opera house.

Among them, the performance they were going to see today was an opera based on the literary work “Things You Left Behind When You Disappeared.”

This performance was so renowned that it was hugely popular, especially in social circles.

Being so famous, it was difficult to get tickets, to the point where scalpers appeared, and there were numerous newspaper articles criticizing this.

This time too, it was a great joy for those who had been waiting, as it started its re-run after two years.

Sure enough, as they headed into the hall, audiences gathered, and after showing their tickets to the staff, the two hurried to the box seats.

The box seats were private spaces set up with partition walls, making them popular among the nobility.

Rosalyn, picking up the opera glasses placed on the plush chairs, seemed fascinated even by those.

As the audience gradually filled the hall, the orchestra began playing the overture, signaling the start of the play.

From arias to recitatives, the stage of the play, showing dazzling production without a moment’s rest, was more than expected.

When there was a brief intermission after the first part ended, Rosalyn, who had been unable to take her eyes off the stage, exclaimed in admiration.

“Wow, they’re all really amazing, aren’t they?”

Biare nodded in agreement and said.

“Yes, the acting and singing are truly excellent.”

The opera performance “Things You Left Behind When You Disappeared” also became a hot topic for casting new actors instead of experienced famous actors.

At the time, there was considerable public opinion criticizing them for doing such a reckless thing, but the current cast had silenced those critics with their skills.

As the main performance was an adaptation of a literary work loved in the Marta Empire, it boasted a solid composition.

The content of the literary work “Things You Left Behind When You Disappeared” was roughly as follows:

A man who learns he is terminally ill bids farewell to his beloved for her sake, but his lover, unable to accept this, accumulates misunderstandings and wounds.

In the end, he passes away without clearing up the misunderstanding, and the lover left behind longs for him and sets off to find traces of him, leaving a long-lasting impression.

As this work was adapted into an opera performance, it faithfully contained the important contents of the original, so audiences rated it as a highly satisfying performance.

In the past, Biare had also visited Lanvin’s art street with Dension to see this performance.

‘In the end, we fought and couldn’t see it, though…’

They had visited the opera house to see the performance, but in the end, they returned to their respective homes without seeing the main show.

[Sion, you said you’ve never seen an opera either, right?]
[…Yes, I wasn’t interested.]
[Then this is a good opportunity. Have you read this literary work?]
[…Not yet. I didn’t have time to read it.]

‘Well, Sion isn’t very interested in these kinds of works.’

[Hmm, I’m sure it was this way…]
[If you turn this way, the hall will be on the right.]
[What…?]
[I mean… that’s what my intuition tells me.]

‘Sion is acting strange today…’

[Here are the poster frames! These must be the main characters.]
[No, those people are supporting characters. These are the leads.]
[Wait, Sion. How do you know that?]
[That’s…]
[I don’t want to be disappointed in you. Tell me the truth.]
[I’m sorry, Bia. Actually, I’ve seen this performance before.]
[What? Then why did you lie?]
[You seemed to want to see it.]

‘It was hard to get these tickets… No wonder you didn’t seem to like it.’

[Who did you see it with?]
[…]

‘Again. That look again…’

[Sion…?]
[I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can tell you that.]

‘Could it be that he saw it with his deceased first love…?’

[…Why?]
[I’m sorry, Bia.]

‘It’s already in the past… Why can’t you be honest?’

[I’m leaving first, Sion.]

Recalling that conversation, Biare thought of Dension who couldn’t speak honestly.

It was an unchanging fact that he had hidden that fact, even making clumsy lies to be considerate of her.

Although she knew well that Dension couldn’t forget the memories of his first love, she couldn’t bear the thought that he remembered her while being with her.

Biare wasn’t magnanimous enough to understand the lie, so she couldn’t watch the performance with Dension that day.

On the other hand, she also felt pathetic for being jealous and envious of his deceased first love.

She tried not to show it because she didn’t want to show such a side to Dension, but sometimes even those efforts were in vain.

Even though she knew well that he loved her, she always had an uneasy feeling on one side.

‘So sometimes I regret it.’

If she had honestly conveyed her feelings to Dension, they might not have had many arguments.

At that time, Biare was clumsy at expressing emotions and didn’t know how to honestly convey love.

By the time she realized this belatedly, Dension was no longer by her side, so it was already too late.

While Biare was lost in thought, the intermission ended, and the second part of the performance began.

By the time the opera singers finished their ensemble and the play was ending, the audience was already wiping tears with handkerchiefs.

Rosalyn, who was sniffling next to Biare, also wiped both cheeks with the handkerchief she had given her before.

As the performance ended, applause erupted, and the opera cast came out for a curtain call.

Even Biare thought it was truly an excellent work, so she too stood up and applauded.

Before it got crowded with exiting audience members, they quickly left the opera house and headed to Lanvin’s art street.

As a return gesture for Rosalyn showing her the hard-to-get opera performance, Biare visited a restaurant she had reserved.

The waiters greeted them in a line at the sound of the door opening, and Biare skillfully looked at the manager and said.

“I have a reservation under Biare Ruschef.”

“Your party is already waiting for you.”

The manager quickly scanned the paper with the reservations and politely guided them to the upper floor.

Rosalyn looked at her questioningly at his answer, but Biare just smiled slightly.

As they went up to the upper floor following the manager’s guidance, they saw a man sitting at a distance.

He too seemed to have heard the footsteps and turned his head, about to greet his sister warmly when he found her.

“Sister, please… Huh?”

Gaizen, who was squinting as if seeing an illusion, finally seemed to have discovered his fiancée.

“…Princess?”

Likewise, frowning at the unbelievable situation, Rosalyn looked at her with a somewhat puzzled expression.

“I thought it would be nice to have a meal together outside for once. Is that alright with everyone?”

Gaizen and Rosalyn quickly sat down at Biare’s fresh voice and clear eyes reaching them.

“Of course, it’s fine. Right, my lady?”

“Yes, it’s fine with me too.”

Looking at the two sitting across from her, Biare finally smiled contentedly.

‘They still seem shy with each other, but.’

As it had been almost a year since the two got engaged, Biare wanted to pay a little more attention to them.

“Move over a bit, will you? It’s cramped.”

“Hey― My lady, don’t invade my space.”

Although they spoke childishly like that, in official settings, the two presented the image of a beautiful couple that would not be out of place anywhere.