Why the Northern Duke Wanders the Snowfields - Chapter 56

Tarion greeted them with a practiced bow that perfectly observed court etiquette.

When Kaeloc copied him, Tarion smiled in satisfaction, then raised an eyebrow at Aubrianna beside him.

“Why aren’t you following along, Aubrianna?”

“What?”

Do I have to do it too?

Today’s lessons were noble etiquette and dancing. Since Aubrianna couldn’t teach either one, Agnes called in Tarion, who worked at the royal palace for many years, to serve as their instructor.

“I only came because Kaeloc asked me to….”

“As long as you’re in this hall, you’re my student, so you must participate.”

Aubrianna glanced at Kaeloc, but he merely grinned.

“And since I can’t dance the woman’s part, you’ll have to be his partner.”

“Me?”

Could she even dance? A ballroom dance, no less?

She had a vague childhood memory of spinning around with her mother to music, but she had never even attended one of the commoners’ dances held in the bustling district.

Kaeloc’s eyes were now filled with mischief as he watched Aubrianna grow flustered.

He pointed a finger between himself and her, then twirled it in a circle.

Suppressing a hollow laugh at the sight, Aubrianna nodded.

Perhaps she possessed an unexpected talent for dancing….

But reality was cruel.

“Again!”

Panting, Aubrianna gathered all her strength, extended one arm out long, and raised the other hand to her shoulder as she took her position.

“Now, as I’ve told you repeatedly, Aubrianna, you need to turn to the left. Then begin!”

When Kaeloc touched a finger to the keys, a tune with a very simple rhythm began playing on the piano.

“That’s right! Keep turning like that, then lift your right foot! And hoo-p with your left! That’s wrong! No! Please!”

Goddess! Why have you given me such an ordeal?

Tarion, who raised his hands toward the heavens, threw his baton onto the floor.

“Compared to Lord Kaeloc, who has shown remarkable improvement, Aubrianna is….”

She didn’t need to hear the end of that sentence. She was absolutely terrible.

Following Tarion’s instructions and jumping with her left foot was simply too difficult.

How was she supposed to lift her right foot, turn on her left, and then jump?

Her body wasn’t capable of such a thing. If Kaeloc hadn’t succeeded, she might have stubbornly insisted that no human being could possibly do it.

A dejected Aubrianna stood pitifully with both arms hanging at her sides when Kaeloc approached her.

“Tarion. Then how about that one?”

The song Kaeloc named was a simple melody set to a story passed down in the North.

Tarion sat at the piano and tried playing the melody first, although he looked puzzled.

“You intend to dance to this?”

“For some reason, I think Aubrianna might be able to dance to it.”

Kaeloc soon took both of Aubrianna’s hands and stood with her in the center of the hall. He drew her hands up and placed them on his shoulders.

Then he lightly placed both hands around Aubrianna’s slender waist.

“These are the simplest movements.”

The monotonous notes repeated, then with a ting from the piano, Kaeloc guided her body in a long step to the right.

“Turn here.”

Taking the hand on his left shoulder, Kaeloc spun Aubrianna around. Just as she began to feel dizzy, she suddenly found herself in Kaeloc’s arms, moving to the left again.

“How is it?”

With Kaeloc leading her, she was dancing somehow. That realization gently soothed the hurt she felt from all of Tarion’s criticism.

Kaeloc skillfully led her through every corner of the hall, and the dance only ended after the originally short song repeated six times.

“Bravo!”

Tarion rose from the piano bench and applauded.

“Goodness! Your Grace learns ten things when taught only one!”

Aubrianna, who was panting for breath, suddenly froze.

‘Could he do all this after learning to dance for such a short time?’

Could his memories have….

Aubrianna’s startled gaze landed on Kaeloc’s profile.

“I’m not sure. How should I put it? I suddenly remembered.”

Perhaps he was out of breath as well, because the beautiful man’s lips were flushed red.

“You… remembered?”

“Yes.”

In contrast to Kaeloc’s smiling face, Aubrianna’s expression gradually stiffened.

“My lessons worked.”

Tarion approached with a confident expression.

“Lastly, I’ll teach you the minuet, the most basic dance performed at the royal palace. I don’t know the woman’s part very well either, but….”

Tarion’s gaze turned toward Aubrianna.

“I’m sure I’ll do better than her.”

Pouting as though he had never seen anyone so hopeless at dancing, Tarion took his position in front of Kaeloc.

“Since there’s no one to play the music, I’ll hum it myself.”

Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. Hmm. Hmm, hmm.

Tarion’s humming melody lingered in Aubrianna’s ears.

Plod, plod.

With dispirited steps, she walked over to the only chair in the hall and sat down, doing nothing but watching the two men exchange elegant, intricate footwork.

‘His memories could return.’

She never thought they would be gone forever. But for him to remember something so suddenly?

Wearing a blank expression, Aubrianna unconsciously raised her hand and pressed a piano key.

Ting!

Their concentration broken, the two men glanced at her for a moment before resuming their dance.

Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.

As the melody continued, Aubrianna looked at the key she pressed, then quietly followed the melody with one hand. The two men were already past the center of the hall and near the far end, so they wouldn’t hear her. Growing confident as the melody became familiar beneath one hand, she raised the other as well.

When the accompaniment from her left hand joined in, the simple tune transformed into beautiful music.

‘I learned when I was very young, but I can still play.’

It was fascinating. She remembered plunking away at the keys beside her mother.

‘I was even praised for being quite good.’

Her mother was overjoyed when she saw how readily Aubrianna followed along. She also promised to buy Aubrianna a piano of her own.

In the end, that promise was never fulfilled….

Playing the piano as she remembered her beautiful mother to the melody Tarion hummed, Aubrianna raised her head with a puzzled expression when Tarion’s voice stopped.

“When did you learn to play?”

Tarion was approaching with an intrigued expression.

“…When I was young. My mother taught me.”

Beside him, Kaeloc was staring at her with a grave expression.

Did she do something wrong? Wondering if she wasn’t supposed to touch the piano without permission, Aubrianna hesitantly rose to her feet.

“I’m sorry. Did I do something wrong….”

“No. Not at all. I was only surprised because you play so well.”

Only then did relief spread across Aubrianna’s face. This time, however, Kaeloc’s gaze began to harden.

‘She… learned to play the piano?’

In the first place, no one could learn to play the piano unless they received an aristocratic education. Pianos themselves were extremely expensive, and there were only a limited number of people capable of teaching it.

Judging from the things that came up in conversation, she seemed to have lived quite comfortably in a large house with a nanny and housekeeper. Since she was very young and entered an orphanage after her mother died, it seemed clear that she had no one to rely on in the Kingdom of Trilan.

In truth, one could easily imagine what Aubrianna’s mother looked like simply by looking at Aubrianna’s beautiful appearance.

‘She must’ve been beautiful.’

He felt sorry for Aubrianna, but her mother might have been someone’s mistress. Perhaps she bore an illegitimate child like Aubrianna and received money and a mansion in return, then crossed into the Kingdom of Trilan and lived there alone with her daughter.

But the piano was different.

Even the Kingdom of Blanc couldn’t have been that different from the Kingdom of Trilan.

In fact, royal authority there was so strong that nobles of lower rank couldn’t even dream of indulging in such an expensive pastime.

Moreover, fleeing to the Kingdom of Trilan, where she had no connections, just before the border closed….

What if Aubrianna’s family was a noble house caught up in the civil war?

Kaeloc decided to investigate her past again.

Meanwhile, Aubrianna began to worry when she saw Kaeloc’s stiff expression.

‘Is it bad that I learned to play the piano?’

She only played it briefly when she was a child. After that, she neither saw nor played a piano again.

After entering the ducal castle, she sometimes heard guests who arrived early play the piano in the drawing room while she helped prepare for balls.

That clear sound, filled with memories of her mother, sometimes left her lost in reminiscence.

‘I suppose I’ll never have a piano of my own for as long as I live.’

As she grew up and learned about the world, she realized the piano wasn’t an instrument one commonly encountered or could easily learn to play.

‘Lady Aileen Lott probably learned from childhood.’

She remembered Aileen calling Kaeloc’s name in her clear, cheerful voice.

‘She probably plays pieces as bright and lively as her personality.’

Aubrianna could barely play a monotonous dance tune, and even then only haltingly.

Kaeloc’s prospective fiancée would arrive here shortly. She didn’t want to imagine it, but if Kaeloc became captivated by Lady Lott’s beauty and abandoned her for a second time….

Aubrianna squeezed her eyes shut at the horrible possibility.

“Aubrianna?”

When she opened her eyes again, Kaeloc was standing before her, gazing at her affectionately.

“You need to go get ready now.”

She was going to dress herself up to welcome his prospective fiancée.

What a cruel irony.