Lady Rozemyne gave a troubled smile. “I started making songs with Ferdinand before my baptism, and we kept making them until circumstances saw him sent to Ahrensbach. Perhaps my appearance at the time made it seem harmless enough, but nobody warned me that what we were doing might be problematic. The harspiel concert we held was well received, and many asked for more songs.”
I had pictured Lady Rozemyne as the mature young woman before me now, but she had been but a child when she and Lord Ferdinand started composing music together. Still, she must have cared for him even at that age, so my concern for Lord Wilfried remained.
“We created music of other genres, but love songs just so happened to sell the best,” Lady Rozemyne insisted. “I could not make them with my musician, as she was raised in the temple and had too limited an understanding of romance.”
“Could you not have made them with Lord Wilfried, though?” I was somewhat taken aback by the idea of marketing sheet music, but the matter at hand was far too important to be put aside. “I cannot help but feel that you prioritized Lord Ferdinand at the expense of your own fiancé.”
“My apologies. Lord Wilfried took no pleasure in practicing the harspiel, and I thought it improper to summon him all the way to the temple to compose.”
Ah...
I, too, found practicing the harspiel a chore, and the thought of being summoned to help compose music was anything but pleasant. Perhaps, at the time, Lord Wilfried simply had not cared that Lady Rozemyne was making songs with Lord Ferdinand.
“Then I must apologize,” I said. “If the idea did not appeal to him, then forcing Lord Wilfried to participate would not have been wise. Might I assume Lord Ferdinand takes an interest in composing?”
“He does, to the point that I could trade songs for favors and rewards. Money and passion are seldom enough to sway him, as the people of Dunkelfelger surely know from how often they tried to entice him into playing ditter.”
During our music lesson, I had imagined Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand singing their love for one another while Lord Wilfried was none the wiser. Her mention of “favors and rewards” dispelled any such romantic imagery in a heartbeat.
Yes, I remember now. This is Lady Rozemyne’s true nature. What led me to conjure up thoughts of romance?
I thought back to a past attempt to speak with her about love stories, and my surprise when she had launched into a passionate rant about the library city she wished to create. Her accessories from Lord Ferdinand, all made with his mana, had felt like proof of their love, but I must have been mistaken. Or perhaps Lord Wilfried had erred in saying that Lady Rozemyne had been in love with Lord Ferdinand from a young age.
“E-Erm, Lady Hannelore... If Wilfried had been interested in new music and recipes, I would have bartered with him as well, or at least sold them to him for the same price I charged my adoptive father. My songs would never have been too valuable to him anyway, as any new ones I produced inevitably reached him through Aub Ehrenfest.”
I assumed she was trying to save face, but all this talk of bartering made my head spin. It had never even crossed my mind that she was charging even Aub Ehrenfest for her products.
“You sell music and recipes to members of your family?” I asked.
“Of course. Is it not important to demonstrate the value of one’s knowledge?”
She needs to demonstrate her value to her own family? I... Oh!
Lady Rozemyne was so exceptionally close with Lord Wilfried and Lady Charlotte that it had completely slipped my mind, but she had entered Ehrenfest’s archducal family through adoption. Unlike the aub’s children, she must have constantly needed to prove her worth as an archduke candidate.
I was terribly embarrassed to have learned the truth of the matter—that my issue with Lady Rozemyne had stemmed from my own unfortunate assumption. But at the same time, I could now say with complete certainty that she was largely ignorant to how she was perceived.
“I understand now that your songs were created not out of romance, but as the products of a stark business relationship. However, I maintain that choosing to perform a love song that you made with Lord Ferdinand was unwise. Each time there is an incident of this nature, Lord Wilfried is belittled over having his engagement canceled.” If she had gone with a regular song instead, we would not have needed to have this conversation in the first place.
Lady Rozemyne furrowed her brow. “You speak of the song I chose for class, correct? It was a vow to keep a promise made with someone precious to you. What about that was romantic?”
For a moment, we merely stared at one another. We had yet another grave misunderstanding on our hands.
“The focus of your song—a promise between new family exchanged in the supreme gods’ presence... Were you not referring to your Starbind Ceremony?” I asked.
“N-Not at all. It was about when I was adopted.”
“And your wish to ‘always have our hearts as one, no matter the time or place’?”
“Was my desire to stay connected to my old family, even as my status changed...” Lady Rozemyne whispered, shrinking with each answer.
At last, we had reached the truth: Lady Rozemyne had wanted to express not a thriving romance, but her enduring love for her old family. I supposed that was clear now that she had told me, but adoptions were not common enough for most people to make the distinction. I would never have expected such a great disparity between the lyricist’s intentions and the meaning assumed by her audience.
“Ngh... Do you think everyone saw it as a love song?” Lady Rozemyne asked.
“Before, I saw it as a song expressing elation at being engaged to one’s beloved and impatience for their Starbinding. I sincerely apologize, but... I imagine most others thought the same.”
Lady Rozemyne froze, covering her mouth with her hand. She might not have meant it as a love song, but I could tell the lyrics had come from her heart.
Unsure how else to contribute, I released my sound-blocker and said, “Shall we ease our minds with a spot of tea?” I waved over our attendants, who had been watching us patiently despite the anxious looks on their faces.
“Lieseleta, it seems my song of choice was interpreted as a love song...” Lady Rozemyne muttered.
“Indeed, reports from the archnobles reached the same conclusion. Lord Ferdinand has already been informed.”
“Come again?”
“He stated that, although he doubted you chose a love song on purpose, there is little wrong with your classmates thinking otherwise.”
As disparaging as they were, the rumors about Lord Wilfried were of no consequence to Lord Ferdinand or Lady Rozemyne, nor would they impact the pair’s royally decreed engagement. Thinking back to the Lanzenave War, Lord Ferdinand would not care at all as long as no harm came to his fiancée.
No doubt Lord Ferdinand actively wishes to cause confusion, as he made perfectly clear before.
Lady Rozemyne sipped her tea, enjoyed a few more snacks, and then picked up her sound-blocker. Thus resumed our private conversation. I understood now that she had no bad intentions; as long as I explained the situation to her, she would surely be more considerate of what Lord Wilfried was having to endure.