The moment I saw that small head crouched down, trembling, I recognized her right away as the famous Miss Danyu. Deep red hair and gray eyes. Exactly as the rumors described. Though I did follow that up with another thought shortly after. Something along the lines of: she’s smaller and more innocent-looking than I expected.

Whether she was aware of it herself, I cannot say, but Danyu Astrid was a fairly conspicuous figure even in this crowded capital. It started with her birth. Though the boundary between nobility and commoner had eroded considerably since the establishment of parliament, the kingdom was still led by an elite of noble descent, and among them, the Astrid name belonged to one of the most distinguished families with ties to the royal house. Her mother’s influence over high society and the arts world was particularly formidable, which made people regard her with even greater reverence.

Her appearance was also a frequent subject of conversation among her peers. The charming red-haired girl had the kind of looks that set adolescent boys’ hearts racing, and there was no shortage of students who pined for her from a distance. 

Among the children I taught through private home visits, there were quite a few young boys who fretted and fussed over “Miss Danyu of the Astrids.” In equal proportion, there were girls who resented her for it, and so around that time, Danyu Astrid was an object of admiration to boys and an object of envy to girls, which kept her at a perpetual distance from her peers.

But more than anything else, what made her stand out was undeniably Sio Lieselotte. Sio had shown a genius for music from childhood, and from the moment he began playing the piano, he had never once slipped from the public eye in the kingdom. And Danyu Astrid was always at his side.

People whispered with a certain suggestive imagination about the relationship between the young female student and her teacher with his colorful romantic history. The fact that Sio, who changed lovers as routinely as worn-out shoe soles, had kept only her close for so long seemed to stir a peculiar kind of speculation. In truth, I was not much different. If anything, because I knew Sio Lieselotte well, I was firmly convinced the rumors were true.

Sio Lieselotte was a sensitive and self-righteous man, as geniuses tend to be. He maintained a fundamentally warm manner with people, but the moment music entered the picture, he transformed into the most stubborn person in the world. 

Once he believed he was right, he never backed down, and that relentless obstinacy kept him in constant petty conflict with his peers throughout his time at the arts university. By the time anyone took stock of things, only someone like me, who lived by the principle of going along to get along, and the inherently easygoing Charlotte Ilse remained within the circle he could call friends.

In other words, Sio Lieselotte had a talent for driving people away. Not just friends, but lovers and students too, who more often than not found him unbearable and fell away within a few months. Against that backdrop, hearing that a woman had stayed by his side for years came as quite a surprise at the time.

Every time our group of peers got together, they would bring up Danyu Astrid and let loose a stream of crude remarks about how soft the young woman must be to have kept that Sio Lieselotte tame and at her side. It was hardly the kind of talk fit for a young lady of the Astrid family, but at the time, people were fixated on cutting Sio Lieselotte down by any means available.

Every time those fellows laughed and violated Sio’s woman with their words, I would give a vague nod, play along just enough, and quietly shift away. I had no intention of joining in with their vulgar talk, but I had no desire to actively defend anyone either. Simply fitting in well enough and carving out my own adequate place in the atmosphere. That was my personal rule for navigating this world.

“Mr. Schuster, who was on the Jubilion judging panel, has asked me to perform at a recital, and he said he’d like me to include the piece I played at the Jubilion in the program. But I’m a little, um, Astaire? You are listening, right?”

Those ceaselessly chattering lips pulled me back to the present. I had drifted off into old memories and missed most of what came before, but I offered a small smile that suggested I had been listening attentively the whole time. Reassured by it, Danyu started chattering again. The soft murmur of her voice near my ear was not unpleasant.

“The thing is, I feel a bit pressured by it. Back then, I was somehow possessed, and the notes just flowed out of me, but I’m not sure I can lose myself in the playing like that again.”

I stood leaning against the piano and watched her quietly. The red hair and gray eyes were the same, but the face before me had grown distinctly more mature. Each time she spoke, her feet swung from the piano bench. Beneath the hem of her skirt as it drifted in the breeze, the flash of her pale white ankles caught my eye.

Just the two of us in a small practice room. This was not a good situation. It was perfectly natural for a professor to give a student private lessons, but out of all the professors available, why had I of all people been assigned as Danyu’s academic advisor? 

I let out a sigh at the tangle of feelings, and Danyu startled, her eyes going wide. She had likely assumed my sigh was a reaction to something she had said. Before the misunderstanding could deepen, I opened my mouth quickly, though I kept my tone unhurried and composed.

“It’s only natural to feel afraid after a remarkable performance. But if you’ve already made up your mind to do the recital, there’s nothing wrong with throwing yourself into it. You can’t spend your whole life avoiding it.”

It was a perfectly sound point no one could argue with. With a little more thought I could have offered something deeper, but my mind simply refused to cooperate. And it was not just today. Lately, every time I saw Danyu, one particular thought crowded out everything else. It had started with something as small as a single pin. From the end of the Jubilion, through the start of a new spring, and still now. Danyu had yet to come and collect the hairpin she had left in my keeping.

Last winter had surprised everyone. The winner had transferred her key to another person. When it became known that the recipient was the kingdom’s treasure, Sio Lieselotte, the existence of the illness he had worked so hard to conceal spread across the entire capital. His devoted followers were struck speechless with shock, and Sio vanished without a trace.

People came to me in droves asking after his whereabouts, but I had no answer to give them. Sio had left me a letter before departing the capital, but even that gave no indication of his destination. It held nothing more than a bare statement that he was setting off on a journey to clear his head.

Still, I was certain Sio was doing well wherever he was. Danyu, who was more sensitive to anything concerning Sio than anyone, looked entirely at peace. Perhaps the two of them had been in contact without my knowing. Or perhaps it was more than simple contact.

Perhaps the two of them were……

“More importantly, I’d appreciate it if you called me Professor while we’re at school. For appearances, if nothing else.”

I shook my head and let the thought scatter before it could continue. Thoughts that started chasing their own tails had a way of going on endlessly, and it was necessary to cut them off somehow.

“It’s just the two of us during private lessons, isn’t it?”

I said it with a deliberate smile, and Danyu responded with a sulky pout. Her face had grown into that of a mature young woman, yet moments like this still made her seem like a child. The gap between the two unsettled me in a way I could not quite name.

“I mean that you need to build the habit. You made a slip in front of the dean the other day, if you recall.”

I gathered the sheet music scattered across the piano and pointed out the mistake, and Danyu visibly flinched and pressed her lips shut. She had clearly remembered the incident from a few days ago, when I had been in the middle of a conversation with the dean in the hallway and Danyu, not noticing him, had come running over calling my name. We had both ended up on the receiving end of his suspicious look as a result. I was old enough that it mattered less for me, but for Danyu, a young lady, it was the kind of misunderstanding that could do her no good, and so I was particularly careful about it.

“Ugh, I really am sorry about that. But when it’s just the two of us, I’m going to keep calling you Astaire. You said you like being called by your name, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes, but.”

And yet, with her being this unconcerned about it, even the consideration I had taken such care over was wasted. Besides, I was the one who had set things off on the wrong foot by asking her to use my name in the first place, so I was in no position to blame anyone. I let out a quiet sigh and glanced at the clock. It was nearly time to clear out the practice room for the next lesson.

“So then, what was it you wanted to talk about, miss?”

“Pardon?”