For December in Ashton, it was an unusually beautiful day.

Instead of the dreary grey skies that usually characterized the season, a clear expanse of brilliant blue stretched out above them.

Kyla threw open the bedroom window and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the crisp, sun-warmed winter air.

Lately, nothing in her life had gone the way she wanted — except for the piano.

Yet on a day like this…

She couldn’t help feeling that something good was about to happen.

‘Something good…’

Jayden’s smiling face suddenly appeared in her mind.

He used to visit the Lester estate often.

But after she rejected him…

He never came back.

She missed him terribly.

She longed to see him.

But what she truly longed for was the brother she had found in him.

After rejecting his feelings, it would have been cruel to expect him to continue playing the role of her kind older brother.

For Mrs. Feilding’s sake, too — now that she had only just regained her health — it was best not to see Jayden for a while.

Mrs. Feilding had even revealed the secrets of her past in an attempt to make Kyla’s marriage to Norton happen.

Yet in the end, that marriage had fallen through.

‘Does Mother resent me now?’

The broken engagement to Norton hadn’t been Kyla’s fault.

But to Mrs. Feilding…

It probably didn’t matter whose fault it was.

After closing the window, Kyla walked over to her dressing table and sat down.

On the shelf were two tickets to the opera.

A few days earlier, Silas had approached her while she was practicing the piano and held them out to her.

“I heard you enjoy opera. Let’s go together.”

“Your Grace and I… alone?”

When she firmly refused, saying such a thing wouldn’t be appropriate, he merely grinned as though he’d expected that answer all along.

“Then at least go with someone else. They were rather difficult to obtain.”

He left the drawing room, leaving the two opera tickets on top of the piano.

As she watched him walk away, Kyla found herself feeling confused.

He had done nothing more than smile.

Yet somehow her heart lurched violently in her chest.

She was stirred by Silas’s deep, searching gaze.

His low, gentle voice left her with an ache in her chest that she couldn’t explain.

Ever since she had met him, her heart had refused to obey her.

She was frightened.

She was frightened because she couldn’t understand why a man who was about to get married kept getting closer to her.

But perhaps what frightened her most was herself.

She was beginning to waver because of him.

She was tired of trying to figure out what kind of man Silas really was.

She no longer knew whether he was good or bad.

Only one thing was certain. She must never allow herself to feel anything for a man who was already engaged. Whether that feeling was hatred, longing or love.

Although nobody had told her directly, she could easily imagine that ugly rumours about her relationship with Silas had spread throughout Ashton’s high society.

After all, it was Silas who had given people reason to gossip.

However, he was the kind of man who wouldn’t care at all about rumours.

This meant that she had no choice but to be careful.

‘Perhaps the best thing would be not to run into him at all today.’

Bearing this in mind, Kyla lowered her gaze to the two tickets resting on her dressing table.

They were invitations to a private box for The Magic Flute.

The performance was scheduled for today.

It was one of her favorite operas, and she longed to attend.

However, she had no choice but to give them up.

The only person she could invite was Mrs. Hamilton.

However, if Mrs. Hamilton asked how she had obtained tickets for a private box, Kyla would be lost for words.

More than anything…

She didn’t want to use tickets that had come from Silas.

She let out a quiet sigh and was just about to tear the tickets in half.

“Teacher!”

The bedroom door flew open without warning, and Riona’s cheerful voice rang through the room.

Kyla looked up to see Riona rushing inside with a bright smile.

Her glossy black curls bounced around her shoulders as she ran.

“Ah! I forgot to knock again. I’m sorry, Teacher. You’ll forgive me, won’t you?”

“I’ll think about it.”

A laugh escaped Kyla as she looked at the girl pouting so adorably.

“You have to forgive me. It wasn’t on purpose. But what’s that in your hand, Teacher?”

“Oh… these are tickets to the opera.”

“Then why are you trying to tear them up? You love opera.”

“Well… it’s…”

As Kyla fumbled for an answer, Riona leaned forward curiously and peered at the tickets.

“The Magic Flute? Is it a story about magic?”

“A story about magic… I suppose you could say that. One of the characters is the Queen of the Night, and she gives a prince a flute as a gift. The flute has been enchanted with magic.”

“That sounds like fun! What happens after that?”

“Hmm… There’s also a part where an old woman transforms into a young lady. And near the end, the prince plays the enchanted flute as he walks through a blazing wall of fire.”

“Wow… It sounds just like a fairy tale.”

Riona blinked her wide eyes in amazement.

Smiling at her reaction, Kyla couldn’t help but smile back.

“Teacher, don’t throw those tickets away. Come see it with me! Please?”

Riona grabbed Kyla’s arm and pleaded earnestly.

“Haha… When you’re a little older. The performance lasts three hours. You’ll get tired just from sitting that long.”

Meeting Riona’s gaze, Kyla spoke gently.

“If I get bored, we can just leave halfway through. I’ve always wanted to go to an opera house at least once.”

Riona’s words brought back memories of Kyla’s own first opera.

The little girl before her was two or three years younger than she had been back then.

“Miss, I’m sure the Duke won’t allow it.”

“Ah! Don’t worry about that. My brother isn’t home right now. I’ll ask Mother for permission myself, so please? Pretty please?”

Riona looked up at Kyla with pitiful eyes, blinking her large black eyes in exaggerated appeal.

Kyla felt her heart soften.

‘No… I can’t give in.’

Tightening her lips, she steeled her resolve.

“Miss. No.”

“Why not? Is it because you don’t want to see the opera? Or… are you feeling sick?”

Tilting her head, Riona looked at her with genuine concern.

“It’s not that.”

How could she possibly explain to Riona that she wanted nothing—absolutely nothing—from Silas?

In the end, Kyla could only offer an awkward smile.

“Then it’s settled. Hehe. I’ll go ask Mother for permission right now. Just wait here, Teacher!”

“Miss! I need to go practice the pia—”

Without waiting to hear the rest of Kyla’s sentence, Riona dashed out of the room, beaming with excitement.

Mrs. Lester was usually generous, unless there was a good reason not to be.

She would almost certainly give her permission this time, too.

Kyla looked down at the tickets in her hand once more.

Just because she watched the performance with tickets that Silas had given her, nothing would happen.

Besides, there were only two tickets, and Silas was out of the house.

Unlike at the department store, there was no chance he would suddenly decide to join them.

She also had no excuse left to refuse Riona’s invitation.

Imagining how delighted Riona would be at seeing the opera, the turmoil in Kyla’s mind gradually settled.

‘Since it’s come to this, I might as well enjoy it.’

A faint smile tugged at her lips.

‘So I’m not the only one who keeps changing my mind.’

After putting the tickets back on the dressing table, Kyla gathered her music and went downstairs to the drawing room on the first floor to practice in the afternoon.

The fire that had been burning in the fireplace since morning, together with the sunlight streaming through the large windows, filled the room with pleasant warmth.

She paused by the fireplace to warm her hands before taking her seat at the piano.

Just as she lifted the lid of the grand piano and reached for her music, there was a knock on the drawing room door.

Turning towards it, she saw the door slowly open.

Riona peeked her head inside.

“Teacher, may I come in?”

Seeing Riona adopt such an overly polite manner while smiling so sweetly made Kyla laugh.

The moment she did, Riona threw open the door and skipped into the room, her yellow dress fluttering around her.

“Mother gave us permission! She said we can go to the opera!”

Her face was radiant with excitement.

“Are you really that happy?”

“Of course! I’m so excited!”

Riona spun around the drawing room like a little ballerina.

“Then, Miss, make sure you’re ready ahead of time and have an early dinner. I’ll come to your room and pick you up when it’s time.”

“Yes, Teacher!”

Riona laughed brightly, twirling around for a while longer, before skipping out of the drawing room.

Seeing how happy Riona was lifted Kyla’s spirits, too.

After finishing her afternoon practice, she went straight to her room to change into the evening gown Riona had given her.

It was a pink satin gown with a wide, graceful neckline and short sleeves trimmed with delicate white lace.

All five of the dresses that Riona had chosen were beautiful.

To Kyla, however, they all looked much the same.

Still, she remembered how Riona’s eyes had sparkled when she said that this pink dress suited her particularly well.

As she changed, Kyla realized that the soft, rose-petal-like gown was hardly befitting of a piano teacher without a maid.

After a fierce battle with the countless layers of undergarments, she finally managed to put the entire outfit on properly.

By the time she had finished, she was drenched in sweat despite the winter chill.

She pinned her hair up neatly and adorned it with a cream-colored ribbon.

As she was gathering her cloak and gloves, Lily came in with a message.

“Miss Riona asked me to tell you she’ll be a little late. She said to wait for her in the carriage.”

“Really? Did she say anything else?”

Kyla had gone out with Riona several times before, but never once had the girl asked her to wait alone in the carriage.

“No, Teacher. That was all she said.”

“I see… All right. Thank you, Lily.”

“It’s nothing.”

Lily flashed her a bright smile before hurrying out of the room.

‘Riona’s been so well-behaved lately…’

‘Is she planning to play another prank on me like she used to?’

‘No… surely not.’

Riona had seemed far too eager to see the opera to risk ruining the outing by disappearing, keeping secrets or playing tricks.

Once she was ready, Kyla stepped outside.

It was night-time and, as Lily had said, there was a carriage waiting at the entrance to the mansion.

The coachman opened the door for her.

Seeing that there was no one inside, she climbed into the carriage and waited for Riona.

She had just drawn her cloak tighter against the cold when she suddenly realized how careless she had been, lulled into complacency by her complete trust in Riona.

It had never been Riona who she truly needed to be wary of.

The carriage door swung open.

A blast of icy winter air followed.

Silas Lester climbed inside.