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Chapter : 8
But still…
The reason she had surrendered to those insignificant words, married into this unpleasant foreign country, and now sat in a mansion where even one drawing room was several times larger than her home in Bolton… was herself.
In the end, her mother had won.
‘It’s not like there was anything else I could do anyway.’
Rose ended the unpleasant memories with the thought she always repeated to herself.
Because of the severe tendonitis that never went away, she could not debut as a pianist.
And just as her mother had confidently declared, she had also been told that composing was not her path either.
After that, all passion and desire disappeared from her life.
So choosing this marriage had been half surrender and half stubbornness.
A stubborn desire to see whether her mother had truly been right, whether this really would become the greatest choice of Rose’s life.
“Come to think of it, Sophia, it’s been a long time since you played piano for us. You should play something.”
Beth’s cheerful voice pushed away Rose’s gloomy thoughts and pulled her back to reality.
Judging from her awkward tone, Beth had clearly decided that the topic of Bolton should never come up again in this room.
“Why don’t you play first, Beth? I’m curious how effective Miss Gordon’s passionate lessons have been.”
“Oh, Sophia. Since Rose is playing after me, that’s basically telling me to embarrass myself.”
At Beth’s sincere complaint, the stiff expressions around the drawing room finally relaxed into laughter.
“Hm. Would it really make a difference if you play after Lady Greenwood? It might actually be better to go first.”
Ray Crawford tilted his head slightly and joined in with his usual calm voice that barely rose or fell in tone.
“Ah, seriously!”
Seeing Beth openly annoyed made Ray’s small smile look strangely unfamiliar to Rose.
He was always the same. Not only his clothes, but even his mood and attitude never seemed to change. Sometimes Rose wondered whether he even had emotions at all.
But when he teased his younger sister like this, he almost looked like an ordinary person.
“No, Beth. It’s worth trying. Sophia hardly plays piano these days. Every morning I place sheet music on the stand for her, and she completely ignores it.”
The Earl of Greenwood, Sophia’s husband, spoke in a surprisingly serious tone.
“My husband thinks I’m some kind of piano machine. He tells me to play every day. Even my brothers weren’t this bad.”
“That’s because your piano sounds beautiful. It’s a waste to let talent like that sit unused.”
Their affection for each other felt so overwhelming it might spill onto the floor.
Unlike the Crawfords, who clearly thought being good at piano was not important in life at all, the Earl of Greenwood genuinely seemed to love listening to his wife play.
Once again, memories of her mother invaded Rose’s mind.
Her mother always became troubled and unhappy the more Rose devoted herself to piano.
The existence of Sophia Greenwood, this beautiful and cheerful woman, was stirring up Rose’s emotions in a deeply unpleasant way.
“Besides, Sophia doesn’t even need sheet music anyway.”
So it was true that she played well.
“Rose, do you play piano too?”
Sophia turned to her with an easy smile.
“…I can only read sheet music, that’s all.”
Thankfully, this time none of the Crawfords added anything.
If someone once again mentioned how well Rose played, or that she used to teach children, she felt like she truly would not be able to endure it.
“We should play together sometime! There are so many good duet pieces.”
Speaking brightly, Sophia smoothed out her skirt and walked gracefully toward the piano.
“Wow. It’s been so long since I played the Crawford family’s piano.”
Sophia gently touched the piano with the affectionate expression of someone greeting an old friend.
“Hm. What should I play?”
After pressing a few keys as if testing the sound, Sophia turned toward Rose.
“Rose. Is there a song you know? If there’s something you want, I’ll play it.”
There were many pieces she knew, many she had once loved.
But for some reason, nothing came to mind now.
Maybe she did not want to remember.
Maybe she was not even sure she wanted to hear piano music at all.
“…Nothing in particular.”
At Rose’s flat reply, Agatha’s expression stiffened slightly, followed by a warning look.
Rose wondered what exactly had been wrong.
Should she have answered with more words?
Or perhaps, even if music was not meant to become a profession, nobles still considered it basic culture to at least know a famous piece?
“Really? Then I’ll play one Agatha likes. It’s been a while.”
Sophia simply smiled as if it were no big deal and straightened her posture before placing her hands on the keys.
The soft first note spread gently through the drawing room, followed by a lazy flowing melody.
The moment Rose remembered what piece it was, the rhythm suddenly turned lively.
The exotic dance music from the Kingdom of Planto flowed effortlessly from Sophia’s fingertips.
While everyone in the drawing room smiled and enjoyed the melody, Rose sat frozen in shock.
This piece was famous for both its poetic elegance and the lively style unique to Planto dances.
It sounded easy and pleasant to listeners, but the actual difficulty was terrifying.
The fact that Sophia could play it at all was shocking enough.
The fact that she had memorized it was almost unbelievable.
Now that Rose’s tendonitis had worsened, she could not even play this piece at its original speed anymore.
Her hands no longer moved like that.
Sophia was now playing the flashy middle section filled with endless arpeggios and trills without a single mistake, so easily and lightly it almost looked unreal.
As if she were simply practicing a beginner exercise with no difficulty at all.
It was the most beautiful performance of this piece Rose had ever heard.
Completely overwhelmed by a beauty and perfection that felt unmatched by anyone else, Rose listened without even breathing.
Every note Sophia played awakened the emptiness inside her.
She could not stop herself from thinking.
If Rose had been able to play this well… would her mother still have opposed her?
If she had possessed this level of talent, would her mother still have denied her entire life so easily?
Even after Sophia finally struck the last staccato note and received applause from the others, Rose still could not move a single finger.
“Rose.”
Perhaps she looked rude sitting there motionless, because Beth quietly called her name.
Only then did Rose finally come back to her senses and awkwardly manage a few claps.
“What did you think?”
Sophia stepped away from the piano bench, fixed her dress, and smiled brightly at Rose.
What did she think?
“…Why…”
Rose spoke almost as if hypnotized.
“Didn’t you debut as a pianist?”
The moment Sophia blinked in confusion at the unexpected question, Agatha sharply called out Rose’s name.
“That’s… a compliment, right?”
Sophia asked awkwardly with a laugh, and for some reason her reaction filled Rose with unbearable misery.
Did this woman not even realize what she possessed?
How…
How could someone who had what Rose had desired her entire life be satisfied with simply casually playing in a noble drawing room for people who did not even understand how extraordinary it truly was?
“You… play piano more beautifully than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
“Oh my, Rose.”
At the trembling compliment Rose forced out while enduring the sick feeling in her stomach, Sophia burst into cheerful laughter as though she had heard something amusing.
“Well, His Majesty King Catherine did once say my performance was the best. But he’s always been fond of me, so I shouldn’t take that too seriously. Still, since your words sound sincere, I’m happy.”
The more casually Sophia treated all of this, the more suffocated Rose felt.
“Rose!”
Just as Rose tried to speak again, Agatha’s sharp voice rang out once more.
Seeing everyone’s attention turn toward her, Agatha herself looked startled, as if she had not realized she had raised her voice.
But only for a moment.
Like a proper noblewoman of Orthuran, Agatha quickly cleared her throat and smiled calmly again.
“Would you come downstairs with me for a moment? Mrs. Selma asked me to check whether everything is properly prepared before dinner, and I’ve only just remembered.”
Mrs. Selma was the head housekeeper of the Crawford mansion.
As an experienced woman who practically managed the entire household, there was no reason she would need such a check. Still, Rose quietly followed Agatha out.
As expected, the moment they reached the stairs, Agatha began scolding her in a lowered but furious voice.
“Rose, honestly, where did everything I told you go? Didn’t we already finish discussing ‘jobs’ this morning? A pianist? Were you telling Lady Greenwood to become some kind of entertainer?”
The dream Rose had wanted her entire life could become an insult to someone else.
Rose was using all her strength just to endure the miserable, pathetic feeling she could not even properly explain, so she could not bring herself to answer Agatha at all.
