Arc 2: The Phantom’s Serenade

Verse 1: Secret Girl Talk

A voice trickled into my ear.

“This was a bit of a surprise.”

The lights began to dim in anticipation of the curtain opening, and the air around us filled with excitement. Sirius Ensemble was giving a performance at the Royal Opera House. It was a famous theater. One of Sauslind’s kings from several generations back had developed a love for the arts and had done his utmost in calculating every little nuance for this building, including how the sound would echo.

There were seats on the second floor reserved for the royal family’s use. That was where I, Elianna Bernstein, sat as I waited on pins and needles for the show to begin. I lifted my gaze from the stage to the man beside me.

Even through the darkness, his blond hair was dazzling. Prince Christopher flashed me a handsome smile. As I began to tilt my head, he spoke gently and continued his earlier line of thought. “I didn’t expect to ever hear you say you wanted to come see an opera. I should have been the one to invite you. What a shame.”

I smiled and shook my head.

As soon as the New Year break ended, I found myself in the prince’s office. He showed little regard for those who might be watching as he pressed close and said, “You promised you would spend time with me, Eli.”

The romantic air in the room sent Lord Alexei over the edge. The atmosphere took a chilly turn, at least until he realized that the prince gave his indignation no heed. Then Lord Alexei cradled his head as if fighting back another migraine and said, “I’ll give you half a day. Whether you spend that privately in your room together or go off somewhere else, I don’t care. Fawn over each other as much as you please. As long as you focus on work once you’re done.”

I almost doubted my ears.

“Then I’ll take you up on that.”

When the prince then tried to drag me off to his private quarters, I panicked and blurted out, “I want to see the opera that’s become the talk of the capital lately.”

I never dreamed he would be able to make arrangements to grant my request the same day. It was a bit strange, however, that he mumbled to himself afterward, “We’d best go before my mother catches on.”

At any rate, I was genuinely happy he’d made such accommodations for me despite the short notice. And so I answered his question honestly. “I wanted to hear Songstress Eugenia sing. She debuted during the Holy Night’s Banquet, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to see her for her first performance.”

The Holy Night’s Banquet was an official event, so the free time I had during it was rather limited. When I heard that she would be debuting then, it vexed me that I wouldn’t be able to attend.

The prince chuckled. “If you truly wanted to support that songstress, you should have sent her flowers under the name of the prince’s fiancée rather than using your initials to hide your identity. Why didn’t you do that, Eli?”

“Uh...” I panicked, wondering how he could have known that I secretly sent her a bouquet. A cold sweat beaded on my forehead.

True, it was common for the royal family and nobility to show support for artists publicly. But I feared doing that with the songstress would stir rumors as to how the two of us became acquainted to begin with. That would be a bit...no, quite inconvenient.

Frankly, it was the prince whom I didn’t want to discover my secret. I knew if I made my support official, he would hear word immediately and ask me about it. That was what I had wanted to avoid. Everyone had their youthful indiscretions, didn’t they?

Sweat continued to pour down my forehead as I searched for the words to say, feeling a bit defiant in the face of his questioning. But the prince merely flashed the same smile at me that he always wore.

“Elianna, I admit, I’m most curious. Where would a Bibliophile Princess like you discover a songstress before her reputation was prominent enough to warrant a book being written about her?” His smile deepened as his merciless interrogation continued. “We have no secrets between us, right?”

He didn’t bring up the fact that we’d promised to be together during the banquet, but he scarcely had to. The atmosphere was tense enough I knew I couldn’t escape, and as the curtain on the stage rose, my mind flashed back to that summer night three years ago.

~.~.~.~

“Eli! I knew you would be in the archives.”

It was an early afternoon in the middle of summer.

The archives were located in a block of the Sauslind palace where the sun didn’t reach. It was quite cool in here even on the hottest of days, making it a popular, secret reprieve for many at the palace.

As someone who regularly stayed in the archives, I was helping some of the staff with their work—namely, carefully sorting each book one by one, which was an enjoyable task by my standards.

It was normally quiet in here, so when I heard someone say my name, I peered back in surprise to find one of my cousins who was about the same age as me. She was accompanied by Lord Alexei’s little sister, Lady Therese Strasser, whom I’d grown quite close to immediately after arriving in the capital. As the two of them raced over, I slowly scaled down my stepladder to meet them.

Lady Therese was the first to blurt something out. “Lady Elianna, are you free tonight?”

“Pardon?” I blinked several times, trying to guess what meaning could lie beneath that question.

Her auburn eyes twinkled with amusement. She ignored my confusion and continued, “There’s going to be a really entertaining event going on tonight. I was wondering if you would come with us.”

“Oh,” I said, unsure of how else to respond.

My cousin, Julia, cut in. “Come on, Eli, let’s go.”

Julia was the second daughter of Earl Storrev. She was sandwiched between her two sisters; the older one was the heir to the family, very mature and down-to-earth, and the younger was shrewd and calculating. Julia, however, was more reserved and quiet. Her dark brown eyes always regarded every situation calmly, making her skilled at deescalating conflict. It was hard to believe we were the same age—just fifteen years old.

Like Lady Therese, she was insistent on me going.

“Eli, you always coop yourself up in the archives and never go out. The last time you left this place was a few days ago, wasn’t it? When my mother took you along to the opera. I know they wouldn’t allow you to visit a summer retreat even if you asked, so we can at least enjoy a night together, just us girls.”

She was right; as the prince’s betrothed, I couldn’t leave the palace on a whim. It didn’t matter that I was, in truth, only a fake fiancée.

While I stood there with my brows furrowed, Lady Therese’s eyes sparkled with delight as she explained, “Serge Crowley is the talk of the capital right now, and he’s going to be singing somewhere tonight.”

“So that’s what this is about.” Now I finally understood.

Since the beginning of summer, the young singer Serge Crowley had shot to fame overnight thanks to his performances at the Royal Opera House. He had adorable facial features and the bearings of a nobleman. For as slender as he was, he had a surprisingly powerful voice, belting out songs about heartbreaking love.

I learned about him recently when my aunt and Julia dragged me along to the theater.

“There’s going to be an evening event at the Royal Opera House then?” I asked.

“No.” Julia shook her head. “You know Viscount Gorton, don’t you? He’s made a name for himself recently as a composer. Serge is going to perform at the viscount’s manor.”

“Oh, I see.”

In other words, they were inviting me to an evening party. Serge was a famous young singer, after all. They were likely curious and wanted to hear his voice up close. Knowing I wasn’t very proactive when it came to evening parties and noble events, they had decided to invite me along out of consideration.

I smiled. “Very well, then I’ll ask Alfred to escort me—”

But Lady Therese interrupted me in a loud voice. “Besides, I heard you’ve been interested in Serge ever since you saw him at the opera, Lady Elianna. I understand how you feel. His voice has the power to melt even the toughest of maidens’ hearts.”

Although it was clear she was teasing by her tone, I was left staring blankly. True, I was interested in the man, but in a completely different sense than she was insinuating.

Julia and Lady Therese both giggled mischievously. The latter brought her index finger to her lips and said, “Of course, we won’t tell His Highness. It’s a secret between us three.”

While the two of them continued to indulge themselves in their amusement, they ushered me along. I followed them with a question mark hanging over my head, completely confused as to what was going on.

Unbeknownst to me, there was a boy with honey-colored hair in one of the nearby aisles who also spun around on his heel and left at the exact same time.