Leian enjoyed listening to her voice so much that he could tolerate the fact that she would someday marry his brother. Unrequited love was a wearisome thing, but it was bearable if one tried hard enough.

“Ah, we’ve arrived.”

Alex announced. Indeed, the carriage was gradually slowing down. When it stopped in front of the theater, an attendant who had been sitting in the coachman’s seat hurried over to open the door. The noble passengers disembarked one by one.

Alex got out first, followed by Leian, then Calie.

As Calie carefully stepped down while holding the voluminous folds of her skirt with both hands, Leian instinctively reached out his hand.

“Here, hold onto me as you come down.”

“Thank you.”

Since it was early summer and the weather was warm, neither of them wore gloves. When the girl carefully extended her hand in return, their bare skin touched. Leian felt his stomach flutter.

As Calie applied pressure to his hand for support, Leian unconsciously gripped back more firmly. The convex part of his palm pressed gently against hers. Calie’s eyes wavered.

She soon reached the ground. As soon as her feet touched the surface, she withdrew her hand. Missing the warmth that had disappeared in an instant, Leian briefly clenched his fist.

“Let’s go in.”

This time, Alex extended his hand. Calie readily took it. Walking slightly behind them, Leian couldn’t see the girl’s expression. He only knew for certain that his own mood had become very gloomy.

The three headed toward the box seats prepared for the imperial family. Here they could watch the opera without being conscious of others’ gazes.

Alex sat in the middle, with the other two seated on either side of him. Leian wasn’t at all disappointed about not sitting next to Calie. Rather, he felt relieved that the distance between them had increased.

There wasn’t much time for small talk before the performance began. Shortly after they arrived, the lighting changed and the curtain rose on the stage.

The three sat side by side and enjoyed the performance. As opera was an entertainment of the upper class, the quality was excellent. Everything from the music to the direction was flawless.

‘Though the plot itself is quite ordinary.’

Leian evaluated coldly. In reality, the plot was quite simple and conventional.

It was about two people who fell in love at first sight, overcame all sorts of adversities that appeared along the way, and finally achieved true love.

‘I suppose that means people like these kinds of stories.’

How great is love that brings the whole world to its knees? A pure love that never yields to any difficulty.

Perhaps people are so enthusiastic about fictional stories because such pure love is hard to find in reality.

In today’s opera, the male protagonist falls into a villain’s scheme and drinks a potion that erases his memory, causing him to forget the woman he loves. The heartbroken female protagonist sings a sorrowful aria.

However, after various twists and turns, the man remembers his original lover, and the two who have achieved their love showcase a sweet duet.

The one-line explanation that “he recovered his memory through the power of love” was quite one-dimensional, but Leian could fully empathize with the premise.

Of course, such potions didn’t exist in reality, and Leian had never been in such a situation.

But he had the intuition that if he somehow lost his memories of Calie due to some accident, he would still end up liking her just the same.

‘It would only be my memories that were damaged, not Lady Lucaen herself.’

Even if he were to forget Calie, the person herself wouldn’t change. Every aspect of her that had enchanted him—her gaze, her manner of speaking, her every gesture—would all remain the same, so his amnesia would have no effect.

If he were to meet her again with no recollection of their past memories, it might feel strange at first, but eventually he would be drawn in again. He would waver again. He would come to like her again, even knowing he shouldn’t.

Leian closed his eyes as he listened to the beautiful cl*max of the duet. The poignant yet hopeful lyrics entered his ears. They were lyrics pledging eternal love.

Cherishing that song, the boy thought only of one girl.

⁕⁕⁕

The opera singing of beautiful love came to an end. Even after the actors gave their final bows and the stage lights dimmed, the audience’s applause, captivated by the lingering emotion, left a long echo.

The Crown Prince, the Prince, and the lady waited until all the other spectators had left before leaving their seats. As they exited the now-empty theater, the bright sunlight stung their eyes.

Calie blinked in a slightly dazed feeling. Having been immersed in the performance for over two hours, she had forgotten that in the outside world, it was still in the middle of the day.

In the world of the opera, months of time had passed, but returning to reality, everything remained the same.

The protagonists’ aria set against a dreamlike spring night was still vivid in her mind, yet what greeted Calie now was the same early summer afternoon as two hours ago.

Calie suddenly felt deeply depressed. After being completely immersed in a fictional story, she turned her head to find that nothing had changed. She had to return to her stifling reality, leaving behind the lingering emotions. She already felt suffocated.

“Thank you for coming today, Lady Lucaen.”

“I should be thanking you for inviting me, Your Highness.”

“Leian and I will return to the imperial palace now. You’re going straight home, right?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

When coming to the theater, she had first visited the imperial palace and ridden in the carriage with the Crown Prince and the Prince, but after the performance, the plan was for everyone to return to their respective homes.

Therefore, in front of the theater now, besides the imperial carriage that had brought the three of them earlier, there was also the Lucaen ducal family’s carriage, which had arrived in time for the end of the performance.

Seeing that carriage, the girl felt even more suffocated. The Lucaen family crest, a symbol of imprisonment in itself, was emblazoned on the side of the carriage, staring at her.

She had almost begged to be taken to the imperial palace with them. She wanted to plead for a position in the imperial palace, saying she would be happy even as a menial maid, that she didn’t expect to be treated as a lady, if only they would save her.

If life had followed its natural course, her position would have been exactly that—a menial maid. She would have been too lowly to even make eye contact with the Crown Prince or the Prince, let alone brush fingers with them.

Then she wouldn’t have to suffer nightmares about marriage after being unwillingly designated as the Crown Prince’s bride-to-be. That seemed far better.

But if she hadn’t been a noble lady, she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to become close with Prince Leian either. Realizing this made her feel even more distressed.

Calie glanced at the Prince. The unpredictable boy who had barely spoken a word to her when they met at the Crown Prince’s Palace a few days ago, and again today at the theater.

She was bewildered by how the boy who used to chatter freely when they were alone had become so abruptly taciturn, as if he had become a completely different person. She felt quite hurt. It was a deeper wound than she had expected.

At the same time, she thought it was fortunate. It wouldn’t look good to focus on conversing with the Crown Prince’s brother in front of the man who was practically her fiancé.

She feared causing unnecessary misunderstandings. For instance, the suspicion that Lady Lucaen might have feelings for the second prince rather than the Crown Prince.

Of course, since that wasn’t actually a misunderstanding but the truth, she had no right to feel wronged if discovered. Still, she would feel terribly guilty toward His Highness the Prince. It would be a dreadful misunderstanding for him. After all, His Highness didn’t share her feelings……

‘He must already be walking on thin ice every day.’

She knew that as the Prince grew older and healthier each year, nobles including her fake father paid more attention to him.

He was bound to attract attention, for better or worse. On top of that, if rumors spread that he coveted his brother’s woman, people would tear him apart with their three-inch tongues.

So for the Prince’s protection as well, she had no choice but to suppress her presumptuous first love. If it was an unrequited love that would never be returned anyway, she could only hope it would fade away soon.

“I truly enjoyed today. Thank you for creating such a good memory. Your Highness the Crown Prince… Your Highness the Prince.”

Yet, with some lingering futile desire, she used the farewell greeting as an excuse to address the boy she loved by his title.

Leian’s eyes widened. His expression showed he hadn’t expected her to specifically address him.

Seeing his surprised face made Calie feel somewhat embarrassed, but she didn’t regret capturing his attention in this way.

“Yes, take care. Let’s meet again soon.”

“……I enjoyed today too.”

After the Crown Prince responded kindly to her greeting, Leian added his comment a beat later. Though it was a brief reply, it was enough. Calie decided not to ask for more.

She boarded the carriage with the help of the Lucaen family’s coachman. Before the door closed, she turned her head toward where the Crown Prince and the Prince stood.

At this moment of seeing off his prospective fiancée, the Crown Prince was smiling like a gentleman, while the Prince remained expressionless. If she wanted a warm smile, she should have been looking at Crown Prince Alex, not Prince Leian.

But Calie couldn’t take her eyes off Leian’s face. And for once, Leian didn’t avoid her gaze either. Instead, he stared at her so intently it was almost disconcerting. As if he wanted to engrave her current image in his eyes forever.

Though it couldn’t be true, it seemed so much like it that Calie’s heart pounded. She almost opened her mouth to call the Prince’s name without realizing it. But just as her lips began to move, the coachman closed the door.

‘Ah.’

Strength drained from her body. When her vision was cut off, her reason returned. Calie bit her plump lips firmly, reproaching herself for nearly doing something foolish.

Soon the coachman began to drive. Calie deliberately avoided looking out the window. She simply stared straight ahead with a gloomy feeling, ruminating on someone’s green eyes and warm hand.

For anyone, unrequited love was truly a wretched thing.