"This is your room, ma'am. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm always available."
Auntie Yi led Ru Yin Yue to her room, showing her around. The room was spacious and only had a single bed, but it was a king-sized bed with curtains, an exaggerated frame and all those luxurious stuff that made it look like something only used by royalty.
There were pink dressers and wardrobes, a mirror, furniture that Ru Yin Yue recognized was catered to Zhou Ni Yao's taste. Evidently, Si Zha Nan had prepared this room for his beloved, having arranged everything exactly the way she wanted.
And now, another woman was taking over this room. Ru Yin Yue tried not to think about it too much.
"Thank you very much, auntie Yi. I really appreciate it." pushing her luggage into the room, Ru Yin Yue smiled and bowed. Auntie Yi waved her gratitude away.
"Not at all, not at all! There's no need to be so reserved. It's my job."
"Even so…" Ru Yin Yue smiled helplessly. She was not used to being treated so courteously. Normally she would be the one serving others. When overseas, she had worked as a waitress in a café before, in order to make some supplementary income while learning music. Though the scholarship covered her tuition fees, she needed living expenses.
"Ma'am, if you need me, call for me, okay?" Auntie Yi turned to leave. "I'll prepare dinner. Since this is ma'am's first day here, I'll have to make a sumptuous feast to celebrate!"
"That will be great. If your daughter can come back and join us, I would love to dine with all of you."
"How can we be so presumptuous?!" Auntie Yi looked shocked. "We can't possibly dine with the madam and young master at the same table!"
"I don't really care about these things," Ru Yin Yue assured her. "We can dispense with the formalities."
"Rules are rules, ma'am." Auntie Yi shook her head stubbornly. "Besides, young master will never allow that."
"Well…if he doesn't come for dinner, then that's his fault. I won't tell him if you won't." Ru Yin Yue winked at the older lady conspiratorially. Auntie Yi couldn't help but giggle.
"Fine. We'll see." She was about to turn away, but something caught Ru Yin Yue's eye and she stopped the caretaker before she could leave.
"Auntie Yi, that room…that isn't Zha Nan's room, is it?" Earlier, auntie Yi had told Ru Yin Yue which was Si Zha Nan's room, as part of the tour around the house. But she neglected to mention that room opposite the madam's.
"Oh? That's the music room." Auntie Yi paused for a moment, pondering. "It hasn't been touched for years. Ms. Zhou never stepped inside because she wasn't interested. I almost forgot about it…the young master used to frequent it when he was younger, but he hasn't been there for years. If ma'am is interested, you can check it out. I don't know if you like music."
Ru Yin Yue smiled. "I love music."
Auntie Yi laughed. "That's good to hear. You should play a song sometime for me to hear."
"I will, auntie Yi. That's a promise. I need an audience."
"Yes. For now, I'll have to cook, so maybe tell me more about it later?"
Ru Yin Yue watched the caretaker leave, and then she stepped inside the room. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but her jaw dropped when she saw the interior.
She had expected dust and neglect, but it was clear that auntie Yi had regularly cleaned the place and kept it nice. A piano stood by the corner, the type of luxurious ones that she only got to play during concerts. It was very different from the old, secondhanded one she owned in her apartment, elegantly shaped and made of expensive mahogany wood. The dark, grainy surface had been polished to perfection.
Shelves of music books lined another wall, folders of musical sheets and books of compositions ranging from those penned by the likes of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to Frederic Francois Chopin. Sonatas composed by Ludwig van Beethoven filled an entire space, and these were the ones she was drawn to. Ru Yin Yue approached them, trailing the spines of the folders and books with her fingers.
None of them looked touched or had been in any use for years, despite being clean. Ru Yin Yue felt a little sadness.
She glanced up and saw a bust of Beethoven in the middle, which made her chuckle. Circling it, she then examined the violin case by the corner. She immediately recognized it as the one Si Zha Nan used to carry around when he was in high school.
Closing her eyes, Ru Yin Yue reminisced about the past. The first time she fell in love with Si Zha Nan was when she saw him playing the violin in the music room. She had seen him before, of course, and just like any girl, she had crushed on him because of how handsome he was…and his reputation.
But it was when she heard him play the violin soulfully that she truly fell in love with him.
That tall, lean figure in the twilight, evening light streaming through the windows of the music room in high school. A violin held in one hand and resting on his shoulder, and a bow held in his other hand. He looked sorrowful, yet passionate, his eyes narrowed in determination as he plucked the strings with his bow, playing a heartfelt melody that tugged at her chest.
At that moment, she decided that she would become a musician just like him…worthy of standing by his side and playing a duet with him. Even better, they would marry and perform as a couple to audiences worldwide, enrapturing them with their music.
Ru Yin Yue's smile turned sour. How naïve she had been back then. Now she realized what a farfetched dream that was. It would never come true. She was struggling as a solo pianist, and for some reason, Si Zha Nan had stopped playing the violin. She didn't know why, but he had dropped the violin shortly after high school.
After that incident.
"Ma'am? Dinner is ready."
Ru Yin Yue started at the sound of auntie Yi's voice. She must have completely lost track of time. Glancing out of the window, she saw that it had already turned into evening…the sky the same color as the twilight when she first saw Si Zha Nan playing the violin.
For a second, she thought she caught sight of a ghost…of Si Zha Nan's silhouette in the middle of the music room in the villa, playing the violin with all of his heart. Then the image disappeared. The phantom flickered away, leaving nothing but an abandoned room.
Lowering her head, Ru Yin Yue turned away and left the room.
As it turned out, Si Zha Nan did not return home for dinner. Auntie Yi had called her daughter, but she wasn't able to make it back from school for dinner, and would be staying in the dormitory for today. Not wanting to feel alone, Ru Yin Yue persuaded auntie Yi to eat with her at the same table.
"Meals taste better when you have company," she explained. "I'll only have an appetite if there's someone eating with me."
Auntie Yi looked helpless for a moment, and then she gave in.
"All right, but you had best not tell young master about this, or we'll be in trouble."
"I won't if you won't. And even if he does find out, I'll take responsibility for everything. I'm the one who ordered you to dine with me, after all."
"How can I let you do that?"
Both women laughed and conversed freely. After dinner, Ru Yin Yue tried to help auntie Yi with the dishes, but the latter protested and was stubborn.
"This is my job. I'm getting paid for it. Madam should just do madam's job and wait for young master to return."
"…I understand."
In the end, Si Zha Nan didn't return. Even as it turned to eleven at night, there was no sign of him at all. Ru Yin Yue sat at the couch, wondering where everything went wrong. Perhaps Si Zha Nan would never come here. Of course he wouldn't. He detested the very sight of her. There was no way he could accept that another woman had been living in the villa that he prepared for his beloved.
Sighing, Ru Yin Yue rose and returned to her room. On her way back, however, she caught sight of the music room once more.
"This…"
She paused and took a deep breath. A smile crept across her face and she pushed the door open, strolling toward the piano.
Placing her hand on the polished wooden surface, she stroked it. Then she sat down in front of the piano and flipped the cover up. Folding the baroque cloth that protected the keys, she then placed a foot on the pedals and her fingers on the white and black keys.
Closing her eyes, she brought to mind one of the songs she had learned by heart. One of the symphonies by Beethoven, her favorite composer. The Ninth Symphony.
The musical notes floated across the house. If auntie Yi had been awake, she would have been amazed to hear them. Such was the emotion poured into them, the gentleness and skill with which they were executed, the restraint yet simultaneous outpouring of emotions…
For a short moment, Ru Yin Yue forgot all of her troubles. She felt free for the first time, unrestrained and happy. Lost in her music, she continued to play, absorbed in her own little world and expressing her emotions, her anxieties, her sorrow and fears through her music.
So focused on playing was Ru Yin Yue that she didn't notice the door opening.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Ru Yin Yue jumped when Si Zha Nan roared at her. He was striding forward, his face a mask of fury and his eyes gleaming with hatred and rage.
"Who gave you permission to come into this room?!"
"I…I'm sorry…I didn't know…I thought…" Ru Yin Yue stammered, withdrawing her hands from the piano.
"Get out!" Si Zha Nan bellowed. "This is not a place for you! Get out, right now!"
Confused and afraid, Ru Yin Yue rose from her seat and fled the room, escaping to her own room nearby. She didn't even have the courage to put the piano back the way she found it, cover the keys with the baroque cloth and close it. All she saw was Si Zha Nan's ferocious expression. He remained standing in the middle, glowering at nothing in particular with his back turned to her, even when she left. Fear stabbed into her heart, especially when she imagined the sort of punishment her husband had in mind for her intrusion into what was apparently forbidden territory.
Fortunately, that was the last and only time she saw him that night.