Chapter 1

Unable to hold back, she burst into a loud laugh.

What’s going on anymore.

Even at this point, I’m still second place. No, I’m below second.

Thinking back, I’ve always been below second. At best, second.

This must be my fate. There’s nothing I can do. Because this isn’t something that can be solved with effort. If it were a rival in love, I could understand the need for effort. But this is a problem before that.

I’ve served as a song maiden in the temple since I was 12, training to become a high priestess alongside girls my age. Recently, I lost in the selection for the new high priestess. I lost spectacularly.

At that time, I was in fourth place.

I thought it would be a close race, so I was hoping for third at best, but it turned out to be fourth.

I was born as the second daughter of a family that barely qualifies as a baron, the third from the top and the second from the bottom. After my talented older sister and the heir, my older brother, came me. Then came my adorable younger sister, who was a year younger than my older brother. Thanks to my older brother, I was completely ignored. I was well-behaved and skilled, but I was overshadowed by my mischievous older brother. When my younger sister, who is five years younger, was born, all the family’s interest shifted to her.

I became rebellious and difficult to handle, and decided to volunteer as a song maiden at the temple when I lost my place in the family.

I was one of the three who made it through the local temple’s selection, only because the daughter of a higher-ranking baron from the adjacent territory, who was also selected, refused to become a song maiden. If she hadn’t refused, I wouldn’t have become a song maiden.

Fortunately, I was chosen as a candidate for the high priestess and trained at the capital temple, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t become the best.

However, becoming a song maiden was very fortunate.

Because after serving as a song maiden, I could work at festivals around the country, even as a substitute for a high priestess.

I was thoroughly taught instruments and music theory, so now I can even compile and teach music, though it’s more like subcontract work.

So, I’ve acquired the skills and connections to make a living on my own.

After completing their service as song maidens, girls usually either stay at the temple to train the next generation or get married and start a family. If they don’t find a partner during their time as a song maiden, they can stay at the temple as a teacher and wait for a good match. If they don’t find one, they can stay at the temple as long as they like. They receive a one-generation noble title as a priestess but cannot enjoy the luxuries of the common people.

Noble ladies who dislike this usually find a fiancé and get married immediately after retiring, or they earn a living as tutors or in music-related jobs.

As a poor noble’s daughter, I didn’t have a fiancé. My parents didn’t bring me any proposals once I entered the temple, and even if I tried to find one on my own, I was still second place. Even when the atmosphere was good, I wondered if it was because of my unappealing personality, or if it was a lack of talent. A lack of romantic talent.

Before I knew it, I became the top of the group left at the temple. Being the best at such times felt like a curse.

But then, fortune smiled upon me.

It was a marriage proposal from the Margrave of Carving.

In this world, the goddess created everything so that humans could laugh and sing joyfully. Temples praise the goddess and offer songs to thank her for the bounty. It’s the foundation of prayer.

The jobs of retired song maidens include serving as caretakers of local temples, in any form of status, as long as they are involved with the temple and teach the people songs and music.

Ideally, a high-status lady, such as a lord’s wife, is the best, as she can provide strong protection for the temple.

There is a belief that if a land forgets songs and music, disaster will come, which is not entirely baseless.

The Carving territory lost its lord about 20 years ago, and the role of caring for the temple became thin. Few song maidens were selected from Carving, and natural disasters continued. The city of Gil-Ganzena, famous as a trading hub with neighboring countries, lost its vitality. It was thought that the young Margrave of Carving needed a song maiden as his wife.

This marriage to a song maiden was considered the perfect time for the young Margrave, who had just come of age. It was expected that he would bring back a song maiden who wasn’t chosen as a high priestess after the selection.

Fortunately, I was chosen.

Being chosen was a stroke of luck. A gift from the heavens.

Originally, a Margrave, who has the same authority as the royal family, would choose a high priestess or a higher-ranking princess. But the princesses ranked above me were not chosen due to various circumstances.

I thought the goddess was rewarding my efforts. I was floating in a dream-like state of good fortune.

A poor noble’s daughter, who would not have been able to marry into such a high status, was now on a golden path. Moreover, the Margrave of Carving was a well-known handsome young man in society.

Becoming a song maiden and serving my term was a good thing.

For the first time in my life, I truly thanked the gods from the bottom of my heart.

But then.

At the temple, the High Priest looked pale as he told me.

I was to go to the Carving territory, not as a wife, but as a priestess.

The marriage that had been promised to me was suddenly canceled.

The reason was the "various circumstances" that occurred behind the scenes of this selection.

It seems that for the past three years, a passionate love drama has been unfolding around Alicia, who was chosen as the high priestess.

I’ve never seen it, so I only know from rumors.

Because I wasn’t of high enough status to attend evening parties at the palace as a noble lady, and no one invited me.

I didn’t have the financial means to go to the city or the theater on my days off.

Alicia was courted by high-ranking young men one after another. On her days off, she was invited out by someone every time, and she attended the palace evening parties and the capital’s social events as a partner of the young men.

The battle for Alicia was the hottest topic in the social scene for the past one or two years.

And the Margrave of Carving was, as expected, one of Alicia’s admirers.

When Alicia was chosen as the high priestess, it was thought that the admirers would disband, but they didn’t.

The young men said they would wait until Alicia stepped down as high priestess and postponed their own marriages.

And I was caught up in this.

The Margrave of Carving might not have realized he was involving me, but the situation lifted me up, made me hopeful, and then dropped me. It was incredibly sad.

What bad luck. To be treated like this.

I cried for three days straight.

But no one worried about me.

I had returned to my family home from the temple, and my family gave me their condolences, once each over the three days. After that, they didn’t seem to care if I skipped meals or stayed in my room.

Then, just now, my father offered his second consolation.

It was unfortunate that I couldn’t become the Margrave’s wife, but as a song maiden, I could still be respected and live a good life. He told me to stop crying and do my job well. He would give me the dowry he had prepared for my marriage, so I could live freely and enjoy myself after the hard times.

On the surface, it was a loving message to a daughter who had lost hope of marriage, but there was something off about it. I didn’t realize the cause at the time, but I did after I returned to my room.

“Hahaha...”

Live freely and enjoy yourself? Give me the dowry?

That means I’m not welcome back home.

I realized I had been abandoned by my family.

When I realized this, laughter escaped me instead of tears.

I was the only one who felt sorry for being second place. The only one who pitied not being chosen or not being the best. No one else cared. Whether I was second, third, or just another face in the crowd, no one cared.

“Hahaha! Haha!”

How ridiculous. How ridiculous!

I must have wanted to be praised. I must have wanted to be called a proud daughter. I must have wanted to be praised as a beautiful song maiden, a song maiden who would save the country. I must have wanted to be told that I had worked hard and done well.

But I couldn’t get that.

I couldn’t get such praise unless I was the best. I couldn’t be respected for my existence.

“Hahaha! Ahahaha!”

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. I hadn’t laughed this loudly since my teenage years.

Wanting something I couldn’t have was so ridiculous and silly. I wasn’t even a cute age anymore.

I had known since I was at the temple that my family didn’t care much about me.

There was no way I could be respected by a Margrave I had never even seen.

If I looked at reality clearly, it was obvious. I had been thinking of it as something I already had. The audacity of it made me laugh again.

“Haha... Hahaha... Ah...”

Exhausted from laughing, I fell onto my bed. The pity I had for myself was blown away by the laughter, but the emptiness remained.

But it’s fine now.

Objectively, I’m quite fortunate and quite interesting.

A girl of a certain status was caught up in some love drama and dreamed of marriage, only to be rejected before she even saw the face of the man she dreamed of marrying. But she was still taken to the territory, for the sake of the temple. A pitiful song maiden whose dignity and love were trampled.

“A tragedy, huh.”

If I had talent, I might write a play.

Thinking of this, I suddenly remembered and got up.

I had taken on a job that I needed to finish before leaving the capital.

In five years, when a new high priestess is chosen, I will step down as the priestess of the Carving territory. I will need money to enjoy the rest of my life. I can’t afford to lose this job.

I sighed deeply. A smile still lingered on my cheeks. This smile wouldn’t disappear quickly.

I wouldn’t pity myself anymore.

I washed my face with water, took the score I had been entrusted with, and went downstairs to borrow the piano.