Chapter 28

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Thief's End
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“The de Mare young ladies are so talented! The second daughter excels in theology, and now the eldest is composing!”

The nun in charge of hymns at the Grand Cathedral beamed upon receiving the sheet music Isabella submitted. Isabella, displeased at being placed on the same level as Ariadne, forced a small laugh before changing her mind. The Apostle of Acereto incident was such a major event. If she could be considered on par with that without lifting a finger, wasn't this a profitable venture?

“This is a full score. We'll practice our parts separately, and then when we gather for a full rehearsal, we'll invite you, the composer. Please come and see if your vision is being brought to life.”

Isabella gave the nun a brilliant smile, as splendid as a May peony, and resolved to gather her friends on that day to properly show off. Her insignificant half-sister was receiving far too much praise from the common folk. It was time to show them who the true queen of San Carlo’s social circles was.

* * *

As a proper lady who had made her début the previous year, Isabella could invite her fellow débutante friends in her own name. Another privilege of being a débutante was the ability to make day visits to respectable places like the church, the royal palace, or a friend's home without her mother's accompaniment. The Grand Cathedral, where the first rehearsal of the Missa Brevis Isabella had “composed” was to take place, was the perfect venue to invite her débutante friends.

It was to be a day of listening to the music, moving to the nearby Cardinal's residence for afternoon tea with her friends, receiving the usual praise for her beauty, offering a few compliments in return, and then departing with a sense of fulfillment.

Of course, Lucrezia, who doted on Isabella, insisted she absolutely had to attend, arguing that a mother couldn't possibly miss the historic day her eldest daughter's composition was rehearsed for the first time. Despite Isabella's annoyance, Lucrezia promised steadfastly to stay at a distance and not interfere, and so she ended up tagging along to Isabella's social gathering.

Arabella, who desperately wanted to see her own composition being rehearsed, begged to go with her mother and was allowed to come along.

Isabella's friends were gradually gathering at the Grand Cathedral. Among them, Lady Giulia of Marquis Valdesal was the daughter of the most prominent family, while Camelia from the baronial House of Castiglione, three years her senior, was a “friend” selected to fulfill various roles. She had been the most beautiful young lady in society before Isabella's arrival, and because Baron Castiglione had significant income from his silk business in addition to his fief's revenue, she had a promising fiancé despite her relatively low status.

Camelia, with her lower status, was only welcomed by Isabella when she brought along her fiancé, Ottavio, the young lord of Count Contarini, and his friends—unless it was an occasion where Isabella was merely displaying her beautiful “friends” like a bouquet of flowers. Today was another such occasion, with Ottavio and his friends having been invited through Camelia.

Among them was Count Cesare de Como, the biggest catch in society who garnered the most attention from the young ladies of San Carlo, second only to Prince Alfonso.

The people on the guest list were arriving one by one. Isabella, who had arranged flower decorations and a refreshment table in the front row of the Grand Cathedral and was leisurely awaiting her guests, brightened at the sight of Camelia, the first to arrive.

“Camelia! You've arrived early.”

“Not at all, Lady de Mare. Thank you for the invitation.”

“Oh, please, speak comfortably. For my first composition, who else would I invite but our Camelia, who has such a deep appreciation for music?”

Isabella greeted Camelia warmly and sat down to chat about this and that. When Isabella made eye contact and focused her attention on someone, she was so charming that even other women could be captivated by her.

In the meantime, Lady Giulia of Marquis Valdesal arrived, as did Camelia's fiancé, Ottavio, and his friends. The reserved seats in the front row of the Grand Cathedral began to fill up.

“Ottavio, you're as amusing as ever.”

Isabella praised Camelia's fiancé with a charming smile that made her eyes crinkle. Camelia's expression instantly hardened, but she didn't dare protest to Isabella. Calling another woman's fiancé, with whom she was not close, by his first name instead of “Young Lord Contarini” or the honorific “Signor Ottavio” was a clear breach of etiquette. But this was what Isabella did best, and it was an act that men, while feigning ignorance, secretly enjoyed.

“By the way, Count Cesare is late, isn't he?”

Isabella did her best to hide her impatience as she casually posed the question she was most curious about to Ottavio.

“Have you ever seen Count Cesare show up on time? He's probably just now waking up late and getting ready. He's not the type to be a no-show, so let's proceed without him for now.”

Isabella nodded with a smile, and the musicians positioned behind the dais began to warm up their hands and prepare. The conductor raised his hand, and the piece began with the strings sounding in unison.

Various sounds intertwined, creating a single melody. At the conductor's gesture, the melody would intensify or soften to a whisper.

Isabella felt a thrill of euphoria.

So many people moving in perfect order, obeying the commands of a piece I wrote! Perhaps I should take up conducting as a hobby?

It wasn't a piece she had actually written, of course, but the rationalization was already complete in her mind.

As the beautiful piece progressed and neared its end, all the other instruments suddenly fell silent, and a pipe organ solo began. The transition was so abrupt that it was embarrassing to even discuss its musical beauty. The pipe organ played solo for about sixteen bars before the rest of the strings suddenly rejoined without any context.

It was an event that made even Isabella, who knew little of music and had been about to yawn from boredom as the piece neared its end, widen her eyes and lift her head in surprise.

From a dark corner, Arabella rested her chin on her hand, watching with mixed feelings as her composition was performed for the first time in the real world. Her ears were delighted, but her heart was not. She was the one who should have been sitting in the front row. She tried to brush it aside, thinking it was a fair trade since she had received the pipe organ in return, but her mood remained heavy.

Then, suddenly, the pipe organ solo began.

Arabella bit her right thumb.

‘Oh!’

The sheet music must have been submitted incorrectly. The original version of the Missa Brevis that Arabella had written contained no pipe organ solo.

‘The sheet music for the original lute solo, before the arrangement, must have been mistakenly inserted into the score for the Missa Brevis!’

While Arabella chewed her nails, the conductor on the dais appeared to be asking Isabella a question.

“Lady de Mare, the rehearsal is over. Did you enjoy it? There was a part we didn't quite understand while playing. Why was the pipe organ solo included in the middle?”

Without a hint of panic, Isabella calmly deflected.

“I wanted to emphasize the melody in that section.”

“Ah… A bold musical choice.”

It was the conductor who was taken aback. To anyone with even a little knowledge of music, it clearly sounded like an error in the transcription process. Even Lady Giulia of Marquis Valdesal, a skilled harpist, tilted her head and whispered to the young lord seated beside her.

The conductor, who had naturally assumed Isabella would fill in the gaps, stammered out a request.

“The score…. As it is now, the beginning of the pipe organ solo is very awkward. It jumps from a C scale to an A scale. Most musicians can't cover that transition with one hand. Even if it was intentional, it's difficult to perform…. Would you mind playing it with me to see if there's any room for revision?”

Only then did Isabella finally panic.

“You want me to play?”

She couldn't properly read sheet music. Isabella was a novice organist who needed several days of practice just to barely play a single piece. She had assumed she only needed to submit Arabella's Missa Brevis, so she hadn't even bothered to look at it. If she had just glanced at the score, she would have noticed the extra page and avoided this mess. But she hadn't practiced it at all, and now, even if her life depended on it, Isabella couldn't play the piece.

“A professional musician can't play that scale? Are you really a professional?”

Isabella lashed out instead, her panicked eyes searching for Arabella in the corner of the Grand Cathedral. It was a silent rebuke, demanding a solution.

But the moment their eyes met, Arabella, interpreting it as a different kind of permission, shot forward like a bullet.

“No, that's not it! Does anyone have a graphite pencil?”

A priest brought her a pencil and staff paper, and Arabella began filling in the score without hesitation.

“The string parts were omitted from the full score. It wasn't left blank on purpose.”

Writing with the fluid grace of a master, Arabella filled five sheets of staff paper as if possessed, skillfully correcting the introduction to the pipe organ solo as well.

“The jump in scale wasn't intentional. How could human hands play that? It's because this section was missing.”

Handing the five completed sheets to the conductor and pointing out where the corrected music should be inserted, Arabella finally looked around at the uneasy atmosphere. Isabella was biting her lip, and the guests were whispering heatedly.

- ‘What? So she wasn't the composer?’

- ‘I knew it. I'd never heard that Isabella de Mare was good at music, so I was shocked when she said she was dedicating a composition, not just a performance, to the consecration mass.’

- ‘To steal from her own sister, of all people. She has no conscience.’

As Isabella's friends whispered amongst themselves, Camelia de Castiglione's face seemed to glow as she joined in the gossip.

“Enough!”

Lucrezia, who had been observing the situation from a corner, stepped forward.

“There seems to have been a misunderstanding.”

Rising from the shadows and striding to the center of the dais, Lucrezia cut an imposing figure, thanks to her height and elegant attire. She looked around at the young lords and ladies and admonished them.

“This piece was composed by my eldest and youngest daughters together. The main musical ideas came from my eldest, while my youngest handled the details.”

Lucrezia chose her words carefully, her gaze fixed primarily on a few who had been chattering excitedly.

“Isabella certainly contributed. No, it's correct to say that Isabella was the primary creator. I trust no false rumors will be spread.”

At Lucrezia's firm words, a man who had been leaning against a pillar in the cathedral's nave approached with a smile.

“Is that how it is? My beautiful Lucrezia.”

It was Count Cesare de Como, dressed impeccably in green deerskin boots, matching gloves, and a hat adorned with kingfisher feathers.