Maylily - Chapter 25

“I never sacrificed for you. Teaching you to sing was because of my promise to your grandfather, and because I didn’t want to live with regret. So don’t think you owe me anything in return. You owe us nothing, May.”

“Aunt…”

“All done.”

With a satisfied smile, her aunt withdrew her hands from the scarf and looked at Maylily with tearful eyes.

“Watching your success will be a great joy, but nothing is more important to me than your happiness, May. So if that path ever feels wrong to you… just stop right away and come home.”

As though persuading her to return home together, her aunt held Maylily’s hands tightly, tears spilling from her eyes. In that moment, Maylily realized. Her aunt was suspecting her relationship with the Count.

Maylily barely held together the fragments of her heart that were breaking apart. If she wouldn’t return home with her aunt, then she had to grit her teeth and smile as if nothing was wrong. As long as she never admitted it, her aunt’s suspicion could remain forever only suspicion.

Wiping her aunt’s tears with a handkerchief, Maylily forced a composed smile.

“My greatest happiness is singing on stage. I strive to ensure that happiness is always something I can be proud of, so please be at ease, Aunt. Grandfather and you raised me with such immense love and devotion… how could I possibly go astray?”

At Maylily’s mature words of comfort, her aunt soon dried her tears. What Maylily saw in her eyes afterward—whether resignation or relief—she couldn’t tell.

“Yes, you must. I only wanted to tell you… value yourself above all else, May.”

“The train will soon depart! Please board now!”

Just then, the station worker’s voice rang out across the platform, ending their conversation. Hastily wiping her eyes, her aunt stroked Maylily’s cheek.

“Our firstborn, live well until we meet again.”

“Yes, I love you, Aunt.”

Answering with a tight embrace, her aunt boarded the train. Soon, with a loud whistle and a cloud of thick smoke, the black train began to move.

Chasing after the sight of her aunt waving from the window, Maylily ran down the platform with all her strength. Even after the widening gap made her aunt disappear from view, she didn’t stop until she reached the very end of the platform.

Gazing blankly at the train that sped out of the station with startling swiftness, Maylily let out a ragged breath. Her chest ached with guilt, ready to burst, each time she lied to her aunt.

“…I’m sorry, Aunt.”

No matter what, I cannot give up singing. Without it, I am nothing. It’s the only light in my life.

Only long after the train had disappeared into the sunlight and her breathing had settled did Maylily finally turn back, her steps dragging. As she stepped down from the platform and left the station, her footsteps felt unbearably heavy, as though she had already gone so far she could never return home again.

***

“They say Viscount Clavern’s reckless investment in trade ships failed. Because of that, the viscountcy’s finances have been in sharp decline these past few weeks…”

From the opposite seat, David recited the latest news of those they would soon encounter after Hugh’s brief holiday. Sitting with his legs loosely crossed, Hugh gazed out the carriage window, listening to the unofficial information never reported in the newspapers.

On the streets, where flowers had fallen after two nights of rain, bright green leaves had already sprung forth. The carriage passed that scenery as it rolled toward the townhouse of the Marquess of Cheshire, located in the heart of Aberque.

The Marquess of Cheshire, who owned a railway company, was one of the major business partners with whom the House of Everscourt had maintained a close relationship since the previous generation.

For that reason, Hugh—who was usually indifferent to social gatherings—could not refuse the invitation to the luncheon hosted by Lady Cheshire. Ever since her youngest daughter’s social debut two years ago, Lady Cheshire had been increasingly blatant in her ambition to secure a marriage tie with the House of Everscourt. And Patrick Cheshire, who was even more brazen within the walls of his family estate, ensured that the gathering would be nothing but tiresome.

“And about Miss Aile’s relationships with her colleagues, as you instructed me to investigate.”

After finishing his explanation of the luncheon’s attendees, David shifted the topic. Hugh, who had been gazing dryly out the window, turned to him.

At once, Hugh noticed that David’s form of address for Maylily had changed. Though slightly curious, he didn’t ask why. It wasn’t a matter that concerned him.

“It seems Miss Aile is having some… difficulties forming relationships with her colleagues.”

“Because of her origins?”

“That no doubt plays a part. Among the chorus members is the niece of Director Fritz…”

What followed was a story common to opera companies everywhere: a colleague, jealous of another’s talent, lashing out with petty bullying—the tale of a loser consumed by inferiority.

Vanessa Fritz.

The description of that loser matched precisely the woman who had tripped Maylily at the patronage party.

“They say Vanessa Fritz mainly bullies Miss Aile in ways that humiliate her in places hidden from outside eyes. Vanessa is the director’s niece and a graduate of the Royal Conservatory, whereas Miss Aile has neither connections nor backing, so there is no one to stand up for her. And lately…”

David paused briefly to adjust his glasses. It was a habitual gesture he made unconsciously whenever he was about to speak of something troublesome.

“There are unsavory rumors spreading among the company members about Michele Baratti and Miss Aile.”

Even with the mention of a man deliberately cut off from Maylily, Hugh remained calm without the slightest hint of displeasure.

As with nobles who were praised as aristocratic, he showed so little change of expression, so restrained in showing emotion, that he could almost seem ascetic. For that reason, it was often extremely difficult to read his feelings.

Even now, David, facing difficulty, chose to leave unsaid that the source of the rumor was the closeness Maylily and Michele had shown at the patronage party. What was certain was that from that day onward, Hugh’s attitude toward Maylily had clearly changed.

The fact that he had gone to her as soon as he returned from his business trip, that he had ordered a dinner to be arranged with her that very evening, that he had commanded clothes to be purchased for her to wear on that occasion—these were all undeniable evidence.

“It seems Vanessa Fritz herself is the source of the false rumor… Shall I discreetly warn Director Fritz to put an end to it?”

At David’s cautious question, Hugh shook his head.

If Maylily’s reputation was soiled on its own without his name being entangled, all the better. What he desired was her pretty face and luscious body, not her reputation or honor.

In any case, whether such things even existed for that woman was doubtful.

“Let us watch a little longer. Vanessa Fritz may prove to be a surprisingly useful card.”

“Yes, understood.”

When their conversation ended, Hugh turned his eyes back to the carriage window, a cold smile flickering in them.

Hugh was convinced that he was the only person in Roden—no, in all of Riverton—whom Maylily could rely upon. Not because he was trustworthy, but because she was a lonely outcast with nowhere else to lean.

Not even her family back home could be someone with whom she shared her burdens. Otherwise, that day, she would have opened the door and fled into their arms, instead of enduring the desire-laden touch with a frightened face.

Hugh intended to extend a false hand of salvation when Maylily, driven into a corner by Vanessa Fritz, finally reached a dead end.

Once he had gained that innocent trust and played along just enough to keep it, he would take her in the end. Then both his revenge against Victor Heywood and his base desire for the woman would be satisfied.

What would become of her heart, crushed and broken once she realized the deception, was of no concern to Hugh.

***

After sending off her aunt’s family, Maylily had a little time to spare before work. Wandering through the bright spring streets of Aberque, she barely managed to settle her agitated heart before arriving at the theater and heading toward the dressing room.

“Maylily!”

At the sound of a call echoing low along the marble corridor, she turned to see two male troupe members approaching her.

It was Seth and Nathan. She knew their faces and names but had never had a personal conversation with them. In fact, most of the Roden Opera Company members were the same toward Maylily—except for Vanessa’s group.

“Hello.”

Standing directly in front of her, Seth raised a hand in greeting.

“…Hello.”

Flustered by the first greeting they had ever exchanged, Maylily returned an awkward smile. Seth, studying her face for a moment, grinned. Somehow, it was an unpleasant smile.

Wasn’t he one of Vanessa’s peers who had joined the company at the same time? Just as she recalled seeing the two of them joking around behind the stage, it happened.

“How much for one time?”

“…What?”

At the incoherent question, Maylily’s eyes went wide in shock. Then, with a smirk, Seth leaned his upper body toward her and whispered.