Chapter 55

The opera house was a building that had a different feel from the Duke’s mansion.

A building that seems to embody cultural life, a building that a person like me, with a strict previous life, would not even dare to approach.

As I stood in front of the stairs, Jacob extended his left arm. He prompted me to place my hand over it.

I could go up this level of stairs by myself, did he need to offer his hand?

But Jacob seemed like he would be holding on to this odd pose until I raised my hand.

I sighed and placed a hand on Jacob’s forearm. Jacob, who smiled pleasantly, and I, who was in a bad mood, stood side by side and climbed the stairs.

“This… I didn’t expect other people to come, so I only reserved two seats…… What to do?”

Jacob, who was looking triumphantly at his left arm on which I laid my hand, glanced back at the two men following me and spoke. For some reason, the tone of his voice seemed sad, but the expression on his face was different.

At first, he didn’t seem to want to hide his expression. He seemed to be bothered by the uninvited guests… Unfortunately, the two people behind me weren’t actually uninvited guests, and they weren’t the ones who would notice something like this.

“That matter is fine.”

Furthermore…

“Father reserved a seat in advance.”

I also prepared for this situation. When I said I was going to see an opera, Mother, Father and Brother rushed out to reserve a seat for me.

In the end, it was the victory of Father, who acted first.

I couldn’t understand why my family was fussing over something like this, but I didn’t feel bad about it, so I pretended not to know and accepted the vote.

Passing by Jacob, who stood stunned, I handed four tickets to the staff in the lobby.

The staff who received the ticket with a calm expression was immediately startled, left the lobby to the staff next to him, and ran out to stand in front of me. It may have been quite nerve-wracking to see that a person from the estate’s family, where the opera house was located, had come.

“Welcome, Princess Selena. I will serve you.”

How was he going to serve us?

As we entered the VIP seating, four comfy-looking chairs were laid out on a partitioned balcony.

I took the second seat and put Aiden next to me because I considered how uncomfortable it would be to sit next to some other people.

Lucas, who was looking at the scene, shook his head and naturally sat down next to me.

“…Lady?”

As the seats on both sides of me were full, the confused Jacob called me.

‘In life, first come is first served.’ I shrugged, hoping in my heart that he had learned a good lesson.

“What’s wrong?”

When I asked, pretending not to know, Jacob forcibly raised his lips as if he had resigned. It was a pathetic smile.

“Hoo… it’s nothing.”

‘If so, that’s good.’

Jacob, who sat next to Lucas, fixed his eyes on the stage, wishing to have a good time.

The opera that soon started was a love story between a man and a woman.

It was a tragic love story, where two people who had crossed the gap of status fell in love passionately, and the male lead sacrificed his life to protect the female lead.

I had never been in a relationship, so it didn’t really touch me from a story standpoint. However, the song was beautiful, and the performances of the singers were excellent.

Finally, when it was time for all the singers to come out and greet the audience, shouts and applause erupted everywhere. I also applauded with all my might to the singers who showed great singing and acting along with the others.

The singers soon started singing encores.

It was a fresh and exciting rhythm that appeared in the first act. Under the colorful lights, the singers smiled and sang of happiness. As it was an encore song, the audience was enjoying the song while applauding in the middle.

It must have been a really good stage. However, my mouth was bitter, unsuited to this cheerful atmosphere.

If Eunji had seen this stage, how much would she have liked it?

That thought was running through my head. In my past life, She was a child who wanted to see a musical in person… How much would Eunji have enjoyed this performance, who died without even going to a theater in the end?

It was really funny.

When we could talk to each other, we pretended not to think of each other, so why were we thinking of each other now?

Were we wishing for each other’s happiness and regretting each other’s past?

Again, I got caught up in meaningless thoughts.

It was unavoidable. It was only about three months ago that I decided to be happy. It must have been too short a period to cover all the 27 years of my past life.

No matter how hard I tried, the shadows would follow me.

I would continue to stumble here and there in the future. I would remain in this precarious position, somewhere between my past life and reality.

Just a few days ago, I thought that holding Mother’s hand would make her happy, yet I came here today and got caught by the shadow of the past again.

‘Such a precarious state.’

It felt as if the endless thoughts were endlessly creeping up through my body and choking me again.

“Miss Selena.”

The various thoughts choked my throat so I was trying to catch my breath, but suddenly a very cautious voice spoke to me from the side.

I slowly turned my head toward the sound.

“Aiden.”

And, as he had called me, I uttered his name in a very cautious and gentle tone. Aiden’s head moved up and down, answering my call.

It was strange.

On the bright stage, the actors were singing happily, and everyone was looking at them… Yet Aiden’s green eyes were staring at me.

‘Why are you looking at me?’

‘Why… are you calling my name every time I’m about to drown in the swamp of the past?’

I didn’t say anything, I was only thinking so in my head. Even though I just looked at him without saying a word, Aiden continued to look at me without averting his gaze.

“It’s okay.”

I murmured a little.

A voice so small that even I couldn’t tell if I was talking to Aiden or myself.

Aiden’s eyes, which were looking at me, were like greenery. A big forest. It was just a peaceful place where there was nothing to be afraid of, nothing to annoy or bother you.

I wanted to say something, so I opened my lips, but not knowing what I wanted to say, I closed my lips again. Instead of looking for something to say, I slowly lowered my eyelids.

In the blurred vision, Aiden’s eyes were still on me.

It was after my breath returned that the shadow of the past disappeared.

***

Selina’s eyes closed slowly, and Aiden took a deep breath. Unknown sensations numbed his toes.

It was the first opera he had ever seen.

He had lived as a beggar and moved around the streets, then came into the duke’s family as a servant.

The first opera he saw was thrilling.

The orchestra and singing voices filled the large hall and made his heart pound. But strangely, he couldn’t fully concentrate on the stage.

He kept staring to the side at Selena’s face over and over again.

Situations where he was walking behind her, side-by-side with her, or alone with her were common, but it was the first time since the rumbling carriage of that day.

Besides, it was such a long time.

He looked at Selena, who had her mouth shut, and smiled secretly at the passionate applause, and then called out to the Miss when her eyes were slowly sinking.

To be precise, it was more like the words came out of his mouth unknowingly.

“Miss Selena.”

Aiden had seen those eyes before. The day she nearly fell off the stairs, she had eyes exactly like that when he rescued the Miss. Something dark and empty… The Miss’s head slowly turned towards him. The time it took when her head turned to his direction felt like eons. He could feel the loud singing voice gradually fading away from his ears.

As if the flow of time had stopped, the only thing that caught his eye was the Miss.

His throat felt dry and he had to swallow, but the sound of him swallowing seemed too loud.

“Aiden.”

The Miss called his name.

His ears were tickled by the soft, airy voice. Itchiness quickly spread all over his body.

His fingertips, his toes, and even his hair.

Aiden nodded his head, and Selena looked at him blankly.

A moment of silence passed, and a small mutter leaked from Selena’s lips.

“It’s okay.”

It sounded like a mumble from her mouth, but it was clear to Aiden’s ears.

The two looked at each other for a while.

Aiden looked into Selena’s sky-blue eyes and thought of the floating sky. He thought that if he laid on the field and looked up at the sky, it would feel like this.

Selina opened her lips as if to say something, but she remained silent and closed her eyes.

Aiden didn’t take his eyes off her even as she closed her eyes.

Aiden opened and closed his lips as Selena did. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t.

The only difference between the two was that Selena didn’t even know what she was going to say, but Aiden knew what he wanted to say but couldn’t.

The gaze towards him, the sky-blue eyes he met in the dark space, the slow call of his name, the muttering that said it was okay.

‘I think I like you.’

It was a sentence he couldn’t even say out loud, and had been circulating in his head for a very long time.

It tickled his fingertips, toes, head and heart.

Aiden quietly lifted his eyelids and looked at his Miss, whose eyes were still closed.

‘I like you.’

The thought he realized quickly engulfed his whole body, sending him out of control.

The emotions that burst out like an explosion were overwhelming and he wanted to spit them out in any way, but he couldn’t.

A servant and a Lady.

It was a nonsensical combination that he read only in fairy tale books that he thought was a mass of fantasy when he was a child. The fairy tale ended beautifully. With holding hands, and loving each other.

‘They lived happily ever after.’

It seemed that he was going to laugh at a story that was far from reality.

He realized at a very young age that reality and fairy tales were different.

Fairy tales were absurd fantasies, and reality was the bitter truth. The end of this truth would be tragic, like the content of this opera.

‘I like you, Miss.’

The emotions he couldn’t admit showed themselves elsewhere instead of his mouth. Aiden stared at Selena’s face through his blurred watery vision.