I Don’t Care About the Story, I Want a Cat ～Transmigrated into an Otome Game～ - Chapter 32

The Concert – Backstage

 

That day on the terrace, Rosalind had been dragged off to see her music teacher. It had been sudden but the request for changing her partner went smoothly.

 

In fact, her music teacher had secretly been pleased, and had whispered ‘well done’ to her when Alex wasn’t listening. Alexander’s piano skill was brilliant, and he had a well established fan base among the female students in the academy. His skill was so good, their performance could easily become the centerpiece of the show. The person in question was not very interested in music so he rarely played in public. So Rosalind, who had yet to make her debut in society, was not aware of his skill.

 

He had suggested they begin practicing immediately and Rosalind, thinking they were going to one of the practice rooms in the Academy, had agreed. But instead she was put into his carriage and found herself heading to the Duke’s mansion. She had visited the place many times in the past to see Posha, before she adopted the cat. However this time she was led past that room and dragged to the music room in the back. 

 

Bewildered and having no idea what was going on, she was told to start playing. So she played the song while her mind still struggled to come to terms with what was happening.  

 

“Hmm, overall it’s not bad. But it would be better to put some more strength into it when you play on the stage. I guess the problem is with your violin.”

 

“Is there something wrong with my violin?”

 

“It’s too cheap.”

 

Rosalind was a bit taken aback at his blunt words. It was true that the Knolls family didn’t think it imperative to invest their limited wealth in their musical instruments, since the head of the family wasn’t much interested in music.

 

The violin had been passed down to her from her mother’s aunt and it certainly was not very expensive. But there was still no need to use those words.

 

“You are actually quite skilled, so I want you to be able to play at this level. Here, try this.”

 

“Eh?”

 

Her violin was taken from her hands and, before she could react, another was put down in its place. 

 

It had an impressive texture to it and she could tell from a glance it must be of excellent quality. Even the bow was easy to hold. Alex urged her to play again so she played out a few notes. The sound slid off perfectly. 

 

“……!”

 

She was playing the same song as before but it sounded completely different. 

 

The notes flowed out of her violin with a deep resounding sound, and soon Alexander’s piani joined in with her. 

 

It sounded as if they had played together hundreds of times before. The two instruments created a beautiful melody in perfect harmony with each other. Rosalind felt like she was in a dream.

 

The door was opened as the butler stepped in. The servants outside all stopped in the middle of their tasks, mesmerised by the music. Though Rosalind didn’t notice any of it until after the song had finished. Rosalind returned back to reality, flushing in embarrassment. 

 

“Oh my, you look like you’re having fun, Young Master…. Have you finally decided to live your life to the fullest?”

 

“What are you talking about, old man? I’m always like this.”

 

“No, no, there’s something different about you today. I have to thank you, Young Lady, for this change.”

 

“Ah, um, you’re welcome?”

 

“This is enough for today. It looks like we’re keeping the servants from their tasks.”

 

At his words, the staff who had stopped to listen to their performance quickly dispersed and it was just the three of them left in the room. 

 

“…… Um, thank you for today.” Rosalind said.

 

“Yeah, I think we did pretty well. We just need to fine tune some small adjustments.” 

 

“Is that necessary?”

 

Rosalind was surprised at his words; she’d thought they were good enough that they needn’t even practice any more. Besides, Alexander rarely ever showed interest in anything and preferred not to waste time on useless things. 

 

“If we’re going to perform then let’s go all out.” He replied. 

Rosalind sighed in exasperation.

 

“Don’t you want to surprise Amy and Ed?”

 

He gave her a wink with a mischievous look on his face.

 

“Then, let’s have a break and resume practice.”

 

“Please follow me.”

 

The butler led them out to the room Rosalind was well familiar with: the cat room. She felt a rush of gratitude at the consideration he had taken to bring her here, knowing she would be too nervous to relax properly if she was led into a lavish drawing room instead. 

 

Alexander picked up a cat and moved it aside with practised ease. However, he didn’t seem like he loved cats to the same extent as the Duchess.

 

Rosalind petted the cats gathered around her with a pleased expression. 

 

“You really do like cats, huh.” Alexander said.

 

“Yes. They’re so cute and…. Ah, stop that. Return that, please.”

 

One of the cats had pulled out a letter from her bag; she must have forgotten to close it. Rosalind snatched it back and quickly shoved it inside her bag, not caring about wrinkling it. 

 

“Is that a letter from home?”

 

“Yes. My parents have been pestering me about getting married.”

 

“You don’t want to?”

 

“It’s a hassle, to be completely honest.”

 

Alexander let out a snort in reply to her mournful sigh.

 

“Haha, you’re being too honest… by the way, may I ask who your parents have in mind?”

 

“Yeah, I don’t mind. They’re currently considering Baron Beaton, Viscount Charlton and Baron Carlton.”

 

“Eh? Wai-wait a minute.”

 

“Oh, their names are very similar, right?”

 

“I don’t care about their names. I just want to confirm but, the candidates your parents are looking at are their sons or younger brothers right?”Alexander asked disconcertedly. 

 

“No, it’s the Lords themselves.” Rosalind replied without batting an eye. 

 

“What!? Aren’t they all too old! Baron Carlton is even older than my father. He’s old enough to be a grandfather, I’m sure he can give our butler a run for his money when it comes to his age.”

 

The butler had been standing silently a few feet away. Seeing his name mentioned, he gave a small bow and spoke up.

 

“Allow me to interrupt. The Baron is two years older than me.”

 

“Are you serious….”

 

It’s no wonder Alexander forgot his manners and let his surprise show. Yes, it wasn’t uncommon for political marriages to have an age gap but this was too much considering Rosalind wasn’t even of age yet. 

 

“Isn’t an age gap like this common?” Rosalind asked at his surprised reaction. 

 

“It’s not like he’s Royalty. An age gap like this isn’t heard of that often. Rather than that, are you really okay with this?”

 

“Even if you say that…… The heir of my family is my younger brother. These candidates will not hinder his succession to the family head when he’s older, and they will also benefit our territory.”

 

Her family wanted to avoid marrying her into a family that could end up causing trouble for when her brother would inherit the title from her father. It would be a problem if her future husband was a greedy man after her family’s title or land. To avoid this they had decided to marry her off to an older gentleman since they wouldn’t be much trouble. 

 

Furthermore, they had wanted to narrow the candidates down to people who could benefit the Knolls family, even in a little way. Rosalind took pride in the high quality of milk and dairy produced at her family’s territory, and she wanted to expand them. So it would help to marry into a family that could help with sales links or transportation.

 

“I mean, if I really have to get married I would prefer it be with a man who gives the least amount of restrictions as possible.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Actually, I don’t really want to get married at all. If it was up to me, I would  become a librarian. I really like books, you see. But if I was to remain a spinster then it would affect the marriage prospects of my brother so I can’t really do that. So if I have to pick, I’d rather pick someone who’s not overbearing.”

 

“……I see. So you don’t think of marriage as a favourable thing?”

 

“No. After all, there are many men who place reading restrictions on their wives, or forbid them from seeing anyone just because they have conflicting political views. Besides, I want to be able to see my friends whenever I want.”

 

It wasn’t an overstatement to say so. Rosalind personally knew some cousins of hers who hadn’t talked to their friends for years simply because their husbands were of differing political opinions. Rosaind wanted to at least be able to read newspapers freely, without restrictions, for even those with differing views than her family’s were interesting to read. As were publications from other Kingdoms. 

 

If she couldn’t be a librarian and had no choice but to marry, then she wanted it to be on her own terms. And what she prioritized above everything, such as age, looks, money or even love, was the ability to be able to live freely. 

 

“If anything I feel sorry for whoever ends up being stuck with me. I’m not pretty, and my only redeeming qualities are my youth and my health.” She said.

 

“No…. I think you’re quite pretty. You shouldn’t say that in front of other people.” 

 

“I don’t really go about sharing my troubles like this. I’ve only ever talked about this with Amy before.”

 

It was expected of young ladies to make a match that would be advantageous to their families. Marriage was considered a rite of passage so people like Rosalind, who viewed it as unnecessary, were incredibly rare. This was why she had never talked about this with anyone else before; she didn’t think other young ladies would share her views about marriage. However, Amy was different; Rosalind had felt like the other girl would be able to understand her. 

 

As she’d thought, Amy didn’t disapprove of her views. She had seemed troubled at the list of candidates for Rosalind’s marriage and had simply stated that it would be nice if she could find a person who was good enough for her. Rosalind had been deeply  relieved that she didn’t push her. 

 

Alexander looked thoughtful at Rosalind’s reply while she stroked the cat that was sitting on her lap. 

 

“Are you fine with talking to me about this?”

 

“Yes. Because I don’t care if I make a good impression on you.”

 

“Eh, what do you mean by that?”

 

“Because we both like the same person.”

 

Rosalind stated bluntly and then lifted the cat up with an inquisitive look in her eyes. Alexander sat wide eyed as she handed the cat over to him. 

 

Rosalind guessed the reason Alexander was behaving so friendly with her was probably because she was close to Amy and Leticia. After all, even though they were classmates, she knew that as the daughter of a mere Count she couldn’t just talk so bluntly with the son of a (much more superior) Duke. 

 

However, this was something she just had to say. 

 

“I am not going to hand over my position of Amy’s ‘best friend’ to you.” She declared with her arms folded across her chest. 

 

Instead of Alexander, it was the cat that replied with a meow from among Alexander’s arms. 

 

“You can go ahead and think me weird, if you want. I’m fine with it. Because Amy likes me even when I act like this. You, Alex, are my rival.” 

 

After Rosalind had finished declaring him her rival, Alexander brought the cat up to his neck and buried his face in its fur. Silence settled over them. Rosalind, satisfied after saying what she needed to say, settled back in her chair and took a sip of her tea pretending as if she hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary.

 

“…… Interesting. You really are very interesting, Lady Rosalind.”

 

Alexander’s shoulders shook as he broke out in laughter. Looking like he had come to some sort of decision, he put down the cat and got to his feet. 

 

“Ok, let’s resume practice.”

 

He grabbed Rosalind’s hand and pulled her to her feet. While she was distracted, he took the letter from her bag and handed it over to his butler to throw it away. 

 

“Get rid of this letter, old man.”

 

“Eh? You can’t take away my letter!”

 

“Why? Do you want to get married to an old man?”

 

“I don’t want to but still_”

 

“Then there shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

 

He took hold of Rosalind’s hand, stopping her from taking back her letter. He grinned down at her, his face incredibly close to her own. Rosalind’s eyes widened before a fierce blush broke out on her face.  

 

Even though she didn’t like him in that way, his handsome face really was dangerous for her heart! Alexander seemed to be aware of this which made her even more peeved at him. 

 

“Come now.”

 

“Uh, geez I’m coming, let go of my hand!”

 

The two made their way back to the music room leaving behind the butler who watched them leave with a warm smile on his face. 

 

＊　＊　＊

 

The song ended and was followed by a loud applause from the audience. It was finally their turn to perform. 

 

Rosalind let out a deep breath to calm herself. It’s fine, she told herself, you practised so much for this. 

 

Alexander had dragged her to practice at every opportunity: between classes, after school, etc. They had practiced together every day.

 

She had been so busy with practice, she hadn’t even had any time to hang out with Amy and Leticia. If it wasn’t for her cat Posha to destress her every day, and the letters and gifts Amy sent her for encouragement, Rosalind would have given up long ago. Alexander was like a devil disguised as an angel. His teaching was even more strict than Sir Dion. 

 

Rosalind got up to make her way to the stage when a warm hand placed itself on her back. She looked up to see Alexander standing beside her, his lips lifted up in a smile. 

 

“Don’t worry too much. Isn’t your dress the same colour as your beloved Posha?”

 

He had been the one who picked this dress after all. The lady she had been staying with had been very surprised when the dress had suddenly arrived. She’d have to talk to Alexander about that later. 

 

“Let’s go, Rosa.”

 

“Don’t call me with that nickname.”

 

“Then should I call you Rose? Or would you prefer Rosalie?”

 

“……. You’re not going to give up, are you.” She said with resignation. 

 

Looks like this was nother thing she’d have to talk to him about, but it could wait until after the performance. 

 

Alexander smiled as he saw Rosalind’s shoulders finally relaxed. The warmth of his hand on her back was reassuring. Clad in the orange dress, Rosalind stepped out onto the glittering stage, ready to face the audience.