Snowflake Rhapsody was a famous piano piece. Its composer was not well known and had not even left behind many surviving works.
But that did not prevent Count Merlin from loving Snowflake Rhapsody.
"This piece describes an Ice Age in which Snow Demons invaded the male and female leads' hometown. The male lead had no choice but to take up arms and battle Snow Ghosts, and he never returned... Many years later, the female lead set out across the snowfields with a merchant caravan and saw a Snow Ghost there."
Cousin Mel was recounting the story depicted by Snowflake Rhapsody.
Russell then asked, "So the Snow Ghost the female lead saw was what the male lead had turned into?"
"Yes and no."
"Hm?"
"That Snow Ghost was not the male lead. The female lead merely imagined it was him, then threw herself into the Snow Ghost's embrace amid the falling snow... She killed herself for love of the male lead. It was a very sorrowful story," Mel said with a sigh.
"The story is quite sad, but the music seems rather cheerful?" Russell said as he listened carefully to the piano piece.
"Because the whole piece is filled with the female lead's fantasies about the male lead."
"I see." Russell nodded. His musical taste was not particularly refined; he listened to music mostly for the lively atmosphere.
Watching the middle-aged and elderly men and women dancing gracefully across the floor, he could not help asking, "Why is Grandfather so devoted to Snowflake Rhapsody?"
He had not expected an answer.
But Mel explained why. "When Grandfather was young, he did not like Grandmother... You can probably tell, too. The Monochoria Family and the Water Willow Family have harbored grievances against each other since Grandfather's generation."
Count Merlin's wife had been born