“But…… there are people watching……”

“All the more reason to call me by name. If you keep saying Count, Count, won’t people suspect there’s something wrong between us?”

He whispered softly, then pulled back and gave her a beautifully composed smile. He took her hand, pressed his lips to the back of it, and tilted his head.

“Hmm? Ilesia.”

It was the same as always. He knew exactly how he appeared to others, and he knew how to use that.

Knowing all of that and still falling for him anyway. I must be foolish.

What made it even more foolish was that she didn’t want to deny her own feelings.

Ribeta followed Diego with a flushed face, barely keeping up.

Diego stopped in front of the most famous opera house in the capital. It was known for staging all manner of plays and operas, and was so popular among nobles and even the imperial family that getting a seat was notoriously difficult.

“Let’s go in. We’ll be late for the start.”

“Oh!”

Ribeta stepped inside the opera house in a daze, pulled along by Diego. The interior was as lavishly decorated as the exterior, and everywhere she looked there was something to marvel at.

Having never been anywhere near a place like this, Ribeta found it all breathtaking. Every direction she turned was more dazzling than the last.

Still, looking around wide-eyed was not fitting behavior for a noblewoman. Ribeta pressed down the urge to stare. In doing so, she didn’t even notice how tightly she was gripping Diego’s arm.

Diego watched her steadily.

As they crossed the lobby of the opera house, voices drifted to Ribeta’s ears.

“Isn’t that Count Ruperto? And beside him, that’s Lady Barea.”

“They disappeared right after the wedding and there was no word of them for a while……”

“Apparently they went on a honeymoon. There were people who saw them in Danitas.”

“The countess doesn’t look unwell at all. They seem to be getting along.”

“That’s just how rumors are. Count Ruperto always draws them.”

Just hearing their conversation was enough for Ribeta to understand the situation. She had been shut away in the residence since returning from the honeymoon and had no idea what was being said in society, so it was fortunate to find out this way, even indirectly.

Avoiding detection was important, but so was showing that the marriage to the Barea lady was solid. Ribeta finally understood why Diego had brought her out.

Right. Of course. There’s no way the Count would go out with me for no reason.

Her chest stung, but she could bear it. She had already prepared herself for this. She had decided not to want more, not to reach for more.

What she needed to do was show people that things between her and Diego were not bad. Maintaining a relationship that wouldn’t reflect poorly on him in public was one of the conditions Diego had set in their contract.

“Diego.”

Diego inclined his head slightly at her call. The people watching from nearby stirred at his gentle gesture.

“I’ll do my best, even if it’s lacking. Please forgive me if I’m a little forward.”

A trace of puzzlement crossed Diego’s eyes, but the two of them had no time to continue. The bell signaling the start of the performance rang out.

Ribeta smiled at Diego. He smoothly escorted her inside.

“Are we really watching from here?”

“Yes. A seat where no one can approach us.”

Even after being escorted to her seat by Diego, Ribeta couldn’t contain her surprise. The attendant had led them to what was known as a box seat, an extraordinarily luxurious private section.

She had never been anywhere near an opera house, but she had heard about box seats more times than she could count.

Melissa had pestered the count and countess for days on end to buy her a box seat at the opera house, and when they still refused, she had taken it out on Ribeta. She had said it was Ribeta’s fault for eating and doing nothing, like a parasite, and that she didn’t deserve to be fed, and had starved her for several days.

Ribeta had never understood what box seats were that Melissa would go to such lengths over them.

And now here she was, seeing one for herself. With Diego Ruperto, no less.

“Are you thirsty? Shall we have something to drink?”

It seemed you could eat and drink here as well as watch the performance. Something like the private service at the hotel, perhaps. She had heard it was a section reserved for the highest-ranking nobles, and everything about it truly exceeded her imagination.

“I don’t know what to choose. Please recommend something, Diego.”

The attendant took Diego’s order and withdrew. Now it was just the two of them in the box.

Diego sat at the far end of the sofa. It was wide enough that he wasn’t encroaching on her space, but close enough that she could feel his presence. Ribeta carefully pressed herself to the edge on her side.

“You’re keeping quite a distance.”

“What? Oh, no, I’m not.”

“I may be fond of you, but I haven’t lost my head to the point of reaching for you in a place like this.”

Ribeta’s face went red. Diego rested his chin on the armrest, sitting at an angle, and looked at her.

“We can do whatever we like when we get home. Why would I do anything here.”

“……”

Where did the performance end, where did the pretense end, and where did the teasing end?

But none of it would hold any real feeling from Diego. Ribeta found that sad and, at the same time, sweet. It felt, at least, like he was saying they were close enough to trade jokes. It was like holding a mouthful of the bittersweet chocolate that sometimes appeared as dessert at the residence.

The curtain rose just then. Every light except those on the stage went out. Ribeta’s gaze moved naturally to the stage. A low voice came from beside her.

“I hope you enjoy it.”

“Yes. You took the time to come, so I hope you enjoy it too.”

“Well, sure.”

Diego’s response was decidedly flat. Ribeta noticed, but soon forgot entirely. Performers in brilliant costumes appeared on stage, and a dazzling dance began to the sound of music.

The opera was utterly captivating. It told the story of two lovers who had inexplicably been turned into a cat and a dog, and their struggle to return to their original forms.

Being a cat and a dog, they couldn’t understand each other at first and kept getting in each other’s way, but in the end they joined forces and found their way back.

It was charming and easy to watch, and Diego explained during the intermission that it was currently the most popular opera around.

Ribeta couldn’t take her eyes off it for a single moment.

It was a fabricated world, and yet it was deeply compelling. Like the lovers turned into a cat and a dog, anything could happen inside it. Imagination could run freely. Losing herself in it, she could forget the hardships of reality.

Only now did she understand why people were so passionate about novels and plays and operas.

Even something false can be beautiful. It can be wonderful. Not everything false is bad. And this is something I love……

Ribeta was happy to have discovered so many new things today. The view from a box seat she was sitting in for the first time. The glittering stage. The grand sound of the orchestra filling the air. All of it, every bit of it, she would never forget for the rest of her life.

And the thing she would remember most of all, the thing she must not forget, was the man who had shown her this world.

“What is it?”

On stage, the performers were taking their bows. No matter how magnificent the costumes or how striking the makeup, no one standing on that stage was as elegant or as striking as Diego Ruperto. That was likely true objectively, but her own feelings had something to do with it as well.

She loved him, after all.

She had heard many times that the person you love looks most beautiful to you. Even accounting for that, though, he was a remarkable man. The thought came to her freshly, as though for the first time.

But what was actually on her mind was something else. Diego’s reaction had been so underwhelming. Ribeta asked carefully.

“What did you think of the opera?”

“Eh. It was fine.”

“…… Didn’t you come because you wanted to see it? If it wasn’t something you wanted to see……”

So he really did come out on purpose to put the rumors to rest. And he sat through an opera he didn’t even like because of that.

The lightness she had been feeling deflated all at once. Her heart shrank like a balloon with all the air let out.