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Episode 08
“Surprising.”
The moment their eyes met, Eurych felt as if Orphea had pierced through his innermost thoughts. With too much on his conscience, he unconsciously touched his own cheek.
Just then, a servant carrying wine bumped lightly into Eurych.
“Ah, my apologies.”
Eurych offered a kindly smile, soothing the nervously bowing servant.
“It’s fine. Just pour me a drink.”
His throat had been parched anyway. Eurych moistened his lips with the wine the servant handed him.
‘…It’s been a while since I’ve heard Orphea performance. Though unbecoming of a Grand Duchess, it’s not an opportunity that comes easily.’
Just as Eurych settled his mind to enjoy Orphea’s performance—
Orphea’s performance began.
A slow overture. But that was merely the prelude to the coming storm.
In an instant, the melody shifted, swallowing the banquet hall in the blink of an eye.
The lyre is a delicate instrument.
It goes out of tune if not tuned daily.
But if it were the me of the past, I would have tuned it perfectly the moment the morning sun rose—and indeed, as I believed, the perfect melody flowed forth.
A soft, elegant sound like spring sunshine, easing the tension of the crowd.
One by one, they began to close their eyes, lulled by the sweet sound—
That’s when I began to sing.
Beneath the wine glass, beneath the fan
In a place no one can see
Hidden away, secret desires
I want to hear the siren’s song.
When I playfully wrinkled my nose at the last line, everyone in the hall burst into laughter.
“Haha! I was like that once too.”
“No wonder my son keeps saying he wants to sail the seas to see a siren lately… Now I see who he takes after.”
Sensing the atmosphere through my skin, I smiled with satisfaction.
No need for a strong shock at the start. Better to lull them into complacency.
That way, I could seep into their minds without them even realizing when they were bewitched.
Once the mood felt adequately lifted, I gradually shifted the melody of the song.
The bright, cheerful tone sank slowly, and my voice deepened.
When night falls and flesh and soul sleep
Desire quietly awakens, whispering
Come to me
Come to me
“Truly… it truly feels as if a siren is singing.”
One by one, their gazes grew hazy, filling with strange longing and possessiveness—as if the desires they yearned for were shimmering just within reach.
‘Seems I’ve stirred them properly.’
Truthfully, the song itself was nothing out of the ordinary.
But the one singing it was none other than me—Orphea der Vogelweide.
My song can draw out unknown strengths and stimulate hidden desires.
Like now.
Intoxicated by the beautiful song, step by step
At the end of your stride
What awaits you is
The sea that accepts everything
The people leaned forward as if ready to rush out immediately.
In their eyes, I must appear as something they desire.
I spotted Eurich’s among the crowd staring at me, dazed as if enchanted by a siren, and smiled faintly.
What form do I take in your eyes now?
A mountain of treasure? The supreme throne? The most beautiful woman in the world?
Or perhaps… the image of the dead Gert?
Destroying everything Gert had was Eurich’s true heart’s desire.
“A commoner daring to be Grand Duchess? Why don’t you be my mistress instead? Then maybe—just maybe—I’ll spare you.”
“Even if Gert is dead, do you think Hylas would stand by and watch this?”
“Hylas? Ha! You think that dog’s still alive? I got rid of Gert’s loyal hound long ago!”
Only then did I realize why no one defended me when the Lübenherz family framed me.
Everyone in the estate who could have taken my side had already been killed by Eurich’s hand.
Hylas, Bertha—all of them.
Eurich’s insulted me, tried to kill me, and reached for those around me.
That’s why my resentment toward him burned far hotter than toward anyone else in the Lübenherz family.
‘Others may be spared, but Eurich’s—I will have my revenge.’
But everyone else believed Eurich’s to be kind and affectionate without doubt, and all his misdeeds vanished with the regression.
Moreover, as Gerhard’s cousin and the top successor to the Grand Duchy in Gert’s childless absence, I couldn’t rashly accuse or attack him without cause.
‘If there’s no reason, I’ll just make one.’
Through this song, I intended to make Eurich’s spill the desires and truths he had hidden away.
A lover calls from behind
Don’t go to the sea
But the sailor doesn’t look back
The graspable desire consumes him
Making people’s minds hazy and compelling them to confess was easily within my power.
But my ability had an inherent flaw: song doesn’t discriminate among listeners.
If everyone hearing my song spilled their truths, it would be troublesome—turning the banquet hall into a chaotic confessional where even Eurich’s shocking words would be drowned out.
Only Eurich’s needed to lose his rationality.
So, I lowered the song’s power just enough to stir emotions.
And…
With the milky-white medicine I’d asked Bertha for, I gently unlocked the latch to Eurich’s heart alone.
As I told Bertha, this milky-white medicine wasn’t poison or harmful—just a little something to make one slightly more honest.
Amid the turmoil stirred by my song in the depths of his heart, that alone would suffice.
‘Come to think of it… what must Gert be thinking now?’
Even with the song’s power lowered, its emotional impact was real. But it was still human power—I couldn’t shake the emotions of someone with strong divine blood like Gert.
If anything, it meant he could listen to my performance playing—though frankly, Gert wasn’t particularly artistically inclined.
‘He wasn’t pleased when I joined the expedition either.’
Though four years ago, it felt like yesterday.
“Bringing a minstrel on board? What good is strumming an instrument?”
“Managing the morale of 50 people on this ship isn’t easy! Just because you don’t need it doesn’t mean it’s useless, Gert!”
Expedition leader Dietrich insisted a minstrel was essential to immortalize their journey in epic poetry.
Faced with Dietrich’s firm stance, Gert had no choice but to allow me aboard.
But that didn’t mean he accepted me outright—he’d always furrow his brow whenever I played among the others.
By the expedition’s end, however, he acknowledged my contributions and recognized me, a minstrel, as a rightful hero.
Though whether he grew to love music was another matter.
‘Honestly, it’s fascinating.’
He was the first person I’d met so indifferent to music—it was baffling. Even stray dogs would stop and listen when I sang!
Perhaps because of those expedition memories, after marriage, I unconsciously avoided performing in front of him—sometimes stopping midway.
So this was my first performance before Gert in a long time. I glanced toward where he sat.
‘…Still the same.’
Gert was frowning, arms crossed, staring intently at me as if to devour me—a gaze burning fiercely.
“Orphea…”
Looking into that gaze, I recalled Gert’s humid voice whispering in my ear as he held me.
