Kyla could hardly focus on the performance.

Although she had come to the opera feeling excited, her mind was now elsewhere.

The image of the horse collapsing in a cloud of dust after being hit in the leg with a stick kept returning to her. The deafening gunshot. The sharp smell of gunpowder. The metallic scent of blood. The thin legs of the dead horse.

One after another, these memories flickered before her eyes.

Slowly, they blended with the image of her father’s body growing cold, his limp arm hanging from the stretcher as they carried him away.

Closing her eyes made no difference.

She clenched her fists so tightly that her gloves grew damp. Just then, Jayden took her hand and spoke.

“Kyla, are you alright?”

He was studying her face with a worried expression.

She didn’t want Jayden to worry about her.

“Ah, brother. Yes, I’m alright.”

Kyla gave him a small smile.

“I think I’m just nervous because it’s my first time at the opera.”

“That’s a relief, then.”

Jayden held her hand firmly for quite some time. Even after letting go, he seemed uneasy, repeatedly glancing at her as if to make sure she was all right.

Each time, Kyla smiled to reassure him.

The first part of the opera — the party scene and the lively drinking song — came to an end, followed by a duet between the two main characters: the ballerina and the nobleman.

The melody conveyed the fluttering excitement of two people falling in love. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Kyla tried to calm herself and focus on the performance. Gradually, she became absorbed in the love story unfolding before her.

The love between the two protagonists deepened, but they soon faced strong opposition from the nobleman’s father.

Ultimately, the woman lied, claiming that she no longer loved him so that he could live freely. Because of that lie, the two lovers were forced to part.

Later, when the man discovered the truth and regretted his actions, he returned to find her. But by then, she had fallen gravely ill.

As she sang “Farewell to the Past” in a sorrowful voice, she collapsed and died in his arms. Tears gathered in Kyla’s eyes.

By the time the performance ended and the curtain call began, Kyla was clapping so enthusiastically that, despite the gloves she was wearing, her hands were red and swollen.

Kyla and Jayden waited for their carriage at the steps of the opera house.

The winter night air was quite cold, but Kyla’s face remained flushed with excitement that had yet to fade.

“It seems you enjoyed it very much.”

Jayden looked at her with a satisfied expression.

“Yes. It was so moving. Still… it would have been even better if the heroine hadn’t died at the end.”

“I agree. I thought the same.”

“I don’t understand why the heroine had to lie and break up with the man. If she hadn’t lied and stayed with him, she might not have fallen ill or died.”

Kyla’s voice rose with excitement as she spoke. Jayden chuckled softly.

She was being completely serious, yet her brother only laughed. She cast him a sidelong glare.

“If I ever fall in love someday, I’ll never lie. And I would never do something foolish like leaving someone for their own sake. You can’t even know if that’s truly for their sake.”

“Yes. That’s a good thought.”

Jayden raised his fist to his lips as if clearing his throat, but the crescent shape of his eyes made it obvious he was trying not to laugh.

Kyla was about to protest but closed her mouth.

Her brother probably didn’t understand what it was like to watch someone you loved die… or what it felt like to be the one left behind afterward.

Even if he was a university student and four years older than she was.

“Why?”

Jayden looked at her curiously.

“Weren’t you about to say something?”

“Ah… it’s nothing.”

Kyla shook her head. No matter how hard she tried to explain, Jayden would never understand.

That lonely, hollow feeling—like being left all alone in the world.

***

“Silas, do you know them?”

At Adelaide’s question, Silas withdrew the gaze he had been fixed on the two figures outside the carriage window.

“Yes, Mother. That’s Jayden Feilding, a friend I study with in Portsmouth.”

“Feilding… Then he must be Melissa Feilding’s only son.”

Adelaide leaned toward the carriage window to take a better look, but the carriage had already begun to move.

“But who is the young lady beside him? I don’t recall the Feilding family having a daughter.”

“It seems the Feildings recently adopted a girl.”

“Really? How unusual to adopt a child who is already that grown. Could she be a relative?”

Silas suspected that the girl was not Jayden’s relative, but he couldn’t be certain.

“I’m not sure about that.”

Kyla.

That was her name.

The blue, transparent eyes of the girl who had looked up at him were exactly the same as the girl in his memory. Her pale face, reminiscent of winter, was unchanged as well.

Only her height was slightly different—she had grown tall, a height that didn’t quite suit the short, charming dresses worn by young ladies.

The moment Silas saw her, he knew she was the girl he had met at the polo field.

Even though they had crossed paths only once two years ago, he still remembered her face. He didn’t know why.

Perhaps it was because the girl who had seemed so interested in his horse had actually known nothing about horses.

Or perhaps it was because he himself hadn’t shed a single tear when the horse he had loved died—yet that girl had shouted at him in anger and cried bitterly, and he had envied that.

“Silas. It seems something amusing happened.”

“What?”

“Your smile hasn’t faded at all. And it certainly can’t be because of the opera that ended in tragedy.”

‘Was I smiling?’

Silas rubbed the corner of his mouth.

“Anyway, it’s good to see you healthy again. Going to the opera, and even seeing my son smile.”

Facing his mother, who looked happier than she had in a long time, Silas pushed the image of the thin girl with blue eyes out of his mind.

His mother seemed curious about what had made him smile.

In truth, it had probably been closer to a faint smirk than a real smile, but he had no intention of explaining it to her in detail.

The truth was, even he didn’t know the exact reason himself.

***

The Christmas holidays passed quickly, and as soon as the new term began, Jayden returned to Portsmouth.

The Feilding townhouse, once filled with lively banquets and constant laughter, returned to its quiet and composed atmosphere.

Every morning, the sound of Kyla’s piano drifting from the drawing room was the only thing that broke the solid silence.

There was not a single day when music did not echo through the Feilding household.

Even on days when the drawing room was crowded with guests visiting Mrs. Feilding, the piano could still be heard.

The only difference was that, unlike usual, Kyla would be called out to greet the guests and perform for them.

Just like now.

At Mary’s words that Mrs.Feilding was asking for her, Kyla went down to the drawing room on the first floor.

Inside, Mrs. Feilding was having tea with two noblewomen. The moment Kyla entered, all their eyes turned toward her.

“So this is the child you adopted recently.”

“Yes, that’s right, Countess Rothermere.”

Mrs. Feilding smiled gently at the middle-aged woman known as the Countess of Rothermere.

“Oh my! Then this girl must be the daughter of that Count Snowdon…”

Another woman—much younger than the countess but with a striking resemblance—spoke in surprise before trailing off. She exchanged glances with the countess.

The story of Count Snowdon, who had taken his own life with a pistol after going bankrupt, had already spread throughout society.

Mrs. Feilding pretended not to notice the two women’s exchanged looks. She introduced Kyla, who stood there awkwardly.

“She turned fifteen not long ago. Her name is Kyla.”

“Kyla. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hello.”

The noblewomen smiled elegantly like peacocks while slowly looking Kyla up and down.

“She’s quite pretty.”

“She’s rather tall for fifteen.”

“But she’s far too thin. Being slender is one thing, but this is…”

The Countess of Rothermere clicked her tongue.

“How pitiful… It seems she wasn’t properly fed after her family fortunes declined.”

The younger woman looked at Kyla with narrowed eyes before shaking her head with a look of false sympathy.

“Mrs. Feilding truly has such a warm heart. Taking in an orphan who’s a complete stranger—especially a girl this grown—is no easy task. And who knows? She might grow up and repay her adoptive parents’ kindness with betrayal.”

The countess spoke dramatically, glancing toward the younger woman as if asking for agreement.

“That’s right, Mother. Mrs. Feilding is truly remarkable. If it were me, I’d simply donate to an orphanage or hold a charity bazaar. Raising an orphan properly until she can marry a respectable man must cost an enormous amount of money and effort. There are so many things to take care of.”

Kyla had thought the two looked very alike, and now she realized the younger woman was the countess’s daughter.

While the women chatted endlessly about her, Kyla stood there silently, like someone who could not hear.

“I intend to provide this child with at least a respectable dowry when she marries.”

Mrs. Feilding said this calmly as she lifted her teacup to her lips.

“My goodness, the Feilding family truly is different. Mother, do you think this girl understands just how fortunate she is?”

“She should. Of course she should.”

The Countess of Rothermere nodded at her daughter’s admiring remark.

“Listening to Kyla’s piano playing these days is my greatest pleasure. I found her an excellent piano teacher, and her skills have improved tremendously.”

“Oh my, you hired a separate piano teacher for her? Isn’t piano usually taught by the governess?”

The countess’s daughter paused, her hand hovering over the cookies in surprise.

“I’m confident that Kyla possesses talent comparable to Clara Burke. She’s even memorized those difficult scores entirely. I’m not planning to raise her as a professional pianist, of course, but it would be a shame to waste such talent. I intend to teach her properly as much as my means allow.”

“Clara Burke… you mean the genius pianist?”

The young noblewoman looked even more astonished.

But Clara Burke? Kyla knew she didn’t come anywhere close to Miss Clara Burke’s level. She thought her mother’s praise was far too exaggerated.

Kyla’s patience was slowly reaching its limit, and her legs were beginning to ache.

‘How long do I have to stand here like this? Don’t those noblewomen even see me?’

Kyla felt as if she were a glass doll.

A doll made of glass—transparent inside, yet with no heart at all.