Hibiren Flowers And Recital (11)

“Hey, runaway.”

When I returned to the palace after visiting Greek’s house, the first word that came out of my mouth was “runaway.”

Rurin was sitting quietly at the Regana, as if she had teleported back immediately. To be precise, she wasn’t exactly sitting quietly; she was swaying back and forth.

She was moving her body back and forth while sitting at the Regana.

“I’m not a runaway.”

She denied my words without even turning around.

“And why are you so late?”

“Because you left me behind, that’s why.”

“I can’t help it! I’ll endure it for a while. Endurance brings rewards, so I’ll endure.”

Rurin spouted some incomprehensible words and then placed her hands back on the Regana.

“So, how long are you going to endure?”

I approached her and brought up the topic again, but Rurin remained silent.

“I’ll tell you everything after I win this insignificant competition and give you a gift.”

Rurin turned her head to say that and then resumed playing the Regana.

The more she did, the more frustration and some unknown feeling welled up inside me. Even though I knew her actions and words weren’t out of resentment towards me.

A world where Rurin rejects me.

What if Rurin leaves me?

At that moment, I realized how terrifying and dreadful that would be.

I let out a groan without Rurin noticing.

What on earth could be the reason?

I don’t know.

But since she’s said that much, I have no choice but to endure.

There’s only a week left until the competition. Whether she knows the turmoil in my heart or not, Rurin stopped playing and turned to look at me again.

“But you.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t like any of the pieces I learned here. They feel irritating! Boring pieces. Isn’t there something else?”

Rurin outright rejected the pieces recommended by the court lady who had taught her.

“I can read the sheet music now, but it’s boring.”

“Is that so?”

Well, choosing something you want to play is important in a competition. You stand out more when you play a piece that suits you.

Especially for someone like Rurin, who is a beginner, it’s better to master one piece that suits her thoroughly.

I racked my brain.

Then I remembered how Rurin always slammed the keys with a loud bang!

Come to think of it, when I think of loud bangs, there’s that piece.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Not the official name, but it’s more famously known as “Fate”.

Despite how she appears, Rurin likes things that are quite bold, which is why she enjoys banging on the keys.

A gentle piece doesn’t suit Rurin at all.

Time flowed like a river, and soon, the day of the finals arrived.

The Concert Hall was bustling from the morning. Nobles from the provinces, who came to participate in this grand social event, as well as the great nobles who resided in the Capital, all gathered at the hall one by one.

Even the arrival times seemed to follow a hierarchy, with the lower nobles filling the seats first, and as the start time approached, the big shots began to appear.

The last to arrive, of course, was the Emperor of this country.

While the nobles were filling the concert hall, the Central Hall’s Regana was being checked several times.

Only ten participants, who had passed the fierce preliminaries, made it to the finals.

After all ten participants perform, the Emperor will announce the rankings. That was the newly established rule for this competition.

The participants were seated in the luxurious waiting room of the concert hall. Rurin was sitting in a chair with her eyes closed.

It’s annoying.

That was her impression.

She should have ignored the advice of that Red one too. A competition like this with these humans.

But even as she thought this, her determination to give El a gift surpassed even her annoyance.

Rurin was now lounging arrogantly in the chair with her legs crossed, her cheeks puffed up.

Her puffed-up cheeks only made her look even cuter.

Her cheeks were puffed up because she was frustrated by the damn rules set by that Red one.

‘Hug!

Hugggg!

Uggggghhhhh.

I want a hug.’

Rurin thought this and even pouted.

She was fighting her annoyance alone, repeatedly promising herself that if things didn’t go well, she’d really turn that Red Dragon into smoked meat and throw it to the bugs.

And, of course, other participants were also present in the waiting room.

One woman, who looked even more annoyed than Rurin, was Loriana Delian.

Beside her sat Riendal Illen of the Duke Illen family.

Both were already well-known figures in the social circles.

Two participants were from great noble families, while the rest were from families of counts or lower.

According to the family hierarchy, only Loriana and Riendal were seated.

Rurin was the only other one seated, while the rest stood.

That was the rule.

So, Loriana couldn’t stand seeing Rurin sitting so arrogantly.

In fact, she had disliked Rurin since the preliminaries, and now her anger was bubbling up inside.

“Miss Loriana, doesn’t that person over there seem so uncultured?”

Since Rurin had her eyes closed, Riendal, unable to make direct eye contact, spoke to Loriana.

As if waiting for this, Loriana began to reply loudly.

“I heard she’s from a royal family like ours, but I wonder how distant her lineage is. I really want to tell her how presumptuous she is.”

Loriana particularly emphasized the word “presumptuous”.

But since Rurin had tuned out the words of humans like background noise, Loriana remained unharmed at that moment.

Loriana couldn’t openly do anything to Rurin because of Duke Delian’s strict orders, and Rurin, due to El’s orders, was ignoring humans altogether.

The tenuous peace, like walking on thin ice, was maintained in this precarious way.

“Well, whatever. We’ll just laugh at her when she embarrasses herself in front of everyone later.”

Loriana said this to Riendal, but the more she spoke, the angrier she became. She looked around for another target to vent her anger on and spotted Berna, who was quietly meditating against the wall.

At that moment, a sinister smile appeared on Loriana’s lips.

Loriana stood up abruptly, feeling like she had found prey caught in a spider’s web, and walked over to Berna.

The other participants, who had been holding back because they heard Rurin was from a royal family, realized Loriana’s intentions and followed behind her.

“Aren’t you ashamed? Showing up here when you can’t even play properly. Do you enjoy being humiliated?”

“Miss Loriana is speaking to you, and that’s the expression you make!”

A participant in her thirties, who appeared to be around Berna’s age, chimed in with Loriana’s words.

“Miss Loriana is right. If I had the name Dedran, I’d be too ashamed to even show up here. You really are shameless.”

One by one, the other participants started chiming in, trying to curry favor with Loriana.

Even though they were determined to win this time in a competition purely based on skill, in the social circles, it wouldn’t do them any good to get on Loriana Delian’s bad side.

Of course, Berna didn’t respond at all.

“Are you ignoring us? Say something, won’t you?”

Loriana started to pick on Berna again, but Berna just nodded. Loriana found her mature demeanor even more annoying.

“You don’t even make sense?”

One of the participants, prompted by Loriana’s signal, grabbed Berna by the hair and shoved her forcefully.

Berna, who had skipped several meals while practicing, rolled helplessly to the floor.

Even so, Berna was the mother of the lord in Greek, someone everyone respected. Being treated like this was absurd, but she followed the social hierarchy in this concert hall, where the Emperor and great nobles were present.

Berna tumbled over with the chair with a thud!

Unfortunately, Berna ended up falling right next to Rurin’s feet.

Rurin, who had her eyes closed, opened them and shouted.

“That hurts!”

Already irritated by the lack of physical affection, Rurin rubbed her foot and looked at Berna.

Already annoyed by the buzzing of mosquitoes, now that she herself had been touched, it was self-defense. She was ready to kill them all.

As she was thinking this, Berna, who hadn’t spoken a word while being harassed by Loriana, suddenly called out Rurin’s name.

“Ru, Miss Rurin? Why are you here…?”

Rurin frowned. El had said she was participating under a different name, so she wasn’t “Rurin” right now.

“Who said I’m Rurin! I am Rurin, but I’m not.”

“You’re Mr. El’s…wife, right?”

“Huh?”

Rurin’s angry face softened in an instant, and she finally took a good look at Berna.

Now that she thought about it, it was a face she’d seen somewhere before. That was Rurin’s impression, but she couldn’t quite place where she’d seen it.

“You know me? Who are you?”

Berna knew that El was a powerful sorcerer, and she also knew that Rurin wasn’t ordinary. She had heard a lot about them, so she naturally answered Rurin’s informal question.

“I am Greek’s mother… We’ve met a few times at the Lord’s castle. Do you not remember?”

“Hmm? Oh, you’re that kid’s mother? Well, whatever. Since you called me his wife, I’ll let it slide. Hehe. Sit here.”

Rurin pulled Berna to sit next to her and then started yawning loudly.

As she waited, she started feeling sleepy, annoyed, and irritated all at once.

Loriana, who had been watching all this, was dumbfounded.

“What on earth are you doing… You!”

Loriana, irritated beyond measure, approached Rurin, disregarding her Uncle’s instructions.

“Who are you calling ‘you’?”

Rurin glared at Loriana with sharp eyes. Loriana met Rurin’s gaze, and at the same time, a faint aura of fear enveloped her.

Loriana, startled by the aura, instinctively stepped back.

She didn’t even know why she had backed away, but she no longer felt like approaching Rurin again.

And the other participants felt the same thing at the same time.

In an instant, the waiting room was filled with silence.

“This Concert has become unnecessarily complicated, and it’s annoying.”

Duke Sergei, seated in the VIP section of the Concert Hall, grumbled.

“Well, it’s just this one time, so what can we do? With such a Great Being involved… But isn’t it tempting that the winner gets a one-year exemption from taxes to His Majesty? And military authority too. It’s like killing two birds with one stone, isn’t it?”

The one aiming for that two-for-one deal was none other than Duke Delian. But the one talking was Duke Illen, seated right next to Duke Delian.

Duke Sergei’s family didn’t have anyone with the skill to aim for the win. On the other hand, Duke Illen was determined that this time, Riendal would defeat Loriana.

And Duke Taemuran, sitting on the outermost edge, had been unusually quiet since hearing that El was involved in this matter.

The other dukes didn’t know why, but Duke Taemuran had a reason why he absolutely couldn’t act out.

There was only one thing he wanted.

That neither Duke Delian’s family nor Duke Illen’s family would produce the winner.

“So, are you certain that this Great Being’s skill is terrible?”

So, this was what Duke Taemuran was most curious about.

“It’s terrible.”

Duke Delian answered absentmindedly. Duke Taemuran snorted and turned his head.

“Your Grace Illen, have you heard about the participant from the Greek family?”

Count Michel, sensing the chilly atmosphere, tactfully interjected and asked Duke Illen.

“Ah, that one. Yes, he was quite an insolent fellow.”

Following Duke Illen’s reaction, Count Michel started talking about how they should completely humiliate the Greek family in social circles so they wouldn’t dare set foot there again.

Of course, he was conveying Duke Delian’s intentions.

Duke Delian despised making such petty comments directly.