The reason I asked about Sir Lifros’s whereabouts was because I couldn’t remember exactly which room it was among the many.
- The incident that becomes the catalyst occurs on the day Baron Rood’s composition is announced during the Summer Music Festival.
- Sir Lifros was also present there.
Of all my memories, these two were the most certain and useful clues.
And indeed.
Baron Moss was here.
I realized I had delayed much longer than expected in finding Sir Lifros. Because Baron Moss was sitting at the piano in the center.
“Who is that person?”
A gloomy, withered gray silhouette. He places his hands on the keys.
“Well, I mean. Anyone has the right to perform, don’t they?”
“That person is him. ‘Heart in Love’ from House Baron Moss.”
“Haha, is he going to perform another serenade ahead of the times or something?”
Listening to the nobles’ murmuring, I moved my steps. With Baron Moss and the piano at the center.
The beautiful banquet hall decorated in blue-green, white and gold banners hanging beyond the piano.
My view adjusted to the angle that remained in my memory.
In this sudden musical performance situation, the nobles pretended to concentrate politely as custom dictated. Then they exchanged various critiques, pretending to be refined.
“Did he come forward with that level of skill?”
“He must have gained courage from seeing Lady Bridget’s performance just now.”
“But she’s a count’s daughter. She’s lovely enough that her performance skill doesn’t matter, plus she’s a young lady.”
The whispering murmurs soon grew as loud as the piano sound.
It was an immature performance. In this salon full of stellar musicians, displaying one’s own inadequacy was something an ordinary person would avoid.
But the Baron was originally strange. To a degree where that peculiar meticulousness in certain areas was incomprehensible.
“Ah, well now. What should we do about this?”
Even after the stumbling performance ended, the salon was a cold winter.
No one applauded. The atmosphere had formed that way. Rather, they could have pretended not to hear the performance and moved on with other conversations, but the nobles were clearly showing their displeasure. As if telling him to notice.
That was why.
In the past, I went to that spot and played the piano.
I wanted to share the burden given to someone.
‘Was Young Master Meyer’s piano skill that splendid?’
I only thought about how embarrassed the Baron must have been. Because I felt it was similar to situations I often experienced, it affected me more.
But I received better reviews than expected, and I was pleased by the changed atmosphere of the hall due to my performance. I also remember someone being greatly satisfied and patting my shoulder.
But the current me did nothing.
Because I didn’t divert people’s attention, murmuring that was even more unpleasant than in the past surrounded Baron Moss. Hesitantly, hesitantly. He was backing away from beside the piano. I watched dispassionately to confirm if that was the end of it.
At the same time, thump, a clear sense of relief spread through my chest.
I had the intuition that I’d avoided the critical moment.
It was bitter. And yet I wanted to laugh at the refreshing feeling. Like this, it was easy. I’d taken a first step that was easier than expected.
It was when I laughed emptily.
“A violin?”
“Who is that person?”
Step by step, someone was walking out to the center.
Walking out briskly and confidently, she was holding a violin. Behind the path she walked, the violinist who had been talking with Sir Lifros was empty-handed.
A small chin rested on the violin rest.
A slender bow began to flow, creating a slow melody.
People’s puzzled gazes focused on her. Questions turned to admiration. Excellent performance with excellent interpretation. The mockery floating in the air faded. In an instant, only the admiration that captivated people was wholly concentrated on her.
Only I was looking at Baron Moss.
I had been curious.
Did the Baron start from hatred, or start from favorable feelings?
Was he angry that someone received praise on a stage where he himself was harshly criticized, or grateful that they rescued him from a difficult situation?
And.
Was it revenge, or was it obsession?
Baron Moss’s head, which had been hanging bizarrely like a heavy flower, was now completely raised. I could see that pitch-black emotion that had finally sprouted from the shadows and find a clear answer.
The innocent violin melody was just being played softly, unaware of anything.
I wanted to immediately run over and shield Lady Lifros. But I couldn’t move. Overwhelmed by an ominous magic, I ended up watching as the Baron stared directly at the young lady with a face mixed with all sorts of emotions.
“That was such a beautiful performance!”
The piece performed was an Iotan song, <Gift of Dawn>.
To the people’s cheers and applause, the violinist, Lady Lifros, responded with a fresh smile.
“Thank you.”
As someone had done for me, someone patted Lady Lifros’s shoulder. Lady Lucia smiled briefly with a shy smile. Sir Lifros was looking proudly at his younger sister who had splendidly disrupted the Imperial citizens’ unreasonable social customs.
And Baron Moss.
Taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention to him, he was watching Lady Lifros in silence.
As he must have done to me in the past.
Lady Lifros felt the gaze, then turned her head away as if it were nothing amid people’s overlapping greetings.
Just as I had done in the past.
My shoulders became terribly cold.
Lady Lifros was originally not someone who belonged here.
I realized that my trivial action of asking about her brother’s whereabouts had led her here, and because of that, she had become Baron Moss’s new target.
* * *
At first, it was because I kept feeling gazes.
‘I feel like someone keeps looking at me.’
‘You’ve gone mad.’
Mikhail declared it was a delusion.
‘If anyone even bothered to look at you, you should be grateful!’
So I thought it was nothing.
Next, things disappeared.
‘I think someone is taking my things.’
From one day on, every time I went to a social event, things went missing. A doublet I’d briefly taken off, leftover wine I’d been drinking, a cane Mikhail had temporarily left with me.
‘Now things are disappearing from my room too……’
I discovered that a small ornament I’d been so familiar with was gone, and once I realized it, I could detect all the gaps in my room that I hadn’t been attached to. To the point where I wondered how I hadn’t noticed before.
‘They’re all worthless things.’
‘These are things I’ve used since I was young.’
‘I’ll replace the maids. But what a maid with no eye for value.’
Things stopped disappearing. But then,
‘I think someone is entering my room.’
Now they weren’t taking anything. However, they left traces of subtle disturbance. As if wanting to be discovered. If the other party had been more careful, I might never have known. Because I was too absorbed in my own pain to have the capacity to look around.
‘There’s no reason for that to happen to you! Stop being such a nuisance!’
At some point I took out the unpleasant anonymous letters from my pocket, but Mikhail didn’t look at them. He thought I was seeking attention.
‘Your delusions have gone too far! You just want to annoy me, but every time there’s no evidence! A letter? I’m surprised there’s someone sending you letters! Do you know how much Jake struggled replacing the servants!’
‘But—’
‘All those people lost their jobs overnight because of you and suffered inconvenience! Besides, do you even know where I found the things you claimed were missing! Go right now and do something about those damn pheromones! Get out! Right now!’
In fact, I knew Mikhail was thinking like that. In autumn. Around that time, I had become a thorough liar at home due to various things with Rilke.
But even knowing this, I had to say something.
If I couldn’t confide in someone about the ominousness that was gradually gnawing at me, I felt I couldn’t endure it.
And then, one night.
A stranger infiltrated the annex.
They probably kept coming in disguised as an attendant or something. Jake, who was bringing documents, discovered them lurking in front of my room.
‘I told you someone keeps entering my room!’
‘I heard everything from Rilke!’
Instead, Mikhail got angry at me.
‘Where are you hiding that bastard! With such dissolute conduct, how can I hold my head up!’
Even after overturning the bed and confirming no one was in my room, I couldn’t leave the house for two weeks.
Even now, I’m not certain how Baron Moss could have gone in and out of my room. I could only speculate that there was an accomplice inside the mansion.
What I learned for certain later was only that the person who had entered my room, taken my things, and sent me letters was all Baron Moss.
Separate from not believing me, Mikhail replaced all the servants. After that, there were no more incidents of things being moved or intruders. No more letters came either.
I thought that was the end of it.
