Hibiren Flowers And Recital (14)

“His Majesty will soon announce the winner!”

All eyes in the Concert Hall focused on one spot. The Emperor, who had left briefly to decide the winner, was returning to the stage.

The contestants who were waiting backstage were all called to the stage.

The strange thing was that the contestants who had been in the waiting room looked limp and feeble, like sagging scarecrows.

Their breathing was rough, and their faces were pale, as if they had suffered from severe shortness of breath.

Of course, Rurin was not among them.

Rurin was already by my side.

Her condition was strange. She had no energy at all. She was just holding onto my arm.

She seemed to be deep in thought, so I left her alone for a while. Then, after a moment, she gently shook my arm.

She tightly held onto my sleeve with one hand, and finally opened her mouth after being silent.

“My dear!”

“Hmm?”

She looked so drained that I responded as kindly as possible. Then Rurin, in a creeping voice, admitted her defeat.

“I lost.”

“Did you know you wouldn’t win?”

Admitting defeat to a human.

Rurin, who had refused to acknowledge losing to me for a long time, looked so different now. It was refreshing.

Has Rurin finally grown up?

I’m deeply moved.

“It was my first time, so I couldn’t help it. So, a loss is a loss. But next time, I won’t lose!”

She suddenly stood up, clenched her fists tightly, and shouted, then, instead of sitting back in her chair, she plonked herself down on my lap with a sulky face.

“Well, I think it turned out okay. It’d be a bit of a waste to end things with your current skill, right? You should be able to play as well as Berna. If you can perform in a way that moves my heart like Berna did, I think I might fall for you even more.”

“Really?”

Her tone, which had been creeping, suddenly became louder at the mention of falling for her.

“Really.”

Well, yes.

When I see her concentrating on her performance, there’s this strange gap, and it makes me feel like I could fall for her all over again. That’s an undeniable fact.

“That’s amazing! It won’t take long! I’ll make you fall for me even more, and soon!”

I’ve noticed this before, but Rurin seems to really like the Regana. That’s a good thing.

It’s very desirable for her to take an interest in human culture and artifacts. In that case, I should bring a Regana to her lair immediately.

If she adapts to the human world step by step like this, I couldn’t be happier.

While Rurin was regaining her energy and rekindling her determination, the Emperor began a long speech, like a principal at an elementary school.

Honestly, there’s no need to hear who the winner is; it’s that obvious.

Yet, I’m still here because I want to see the pale-faced Greek boy, who is so nervous, and Berna, who looks even more tense.

I wanted to see these two smile.

Finally, the Emperor announced the winner.

“Truth be told, everyone already knows which performance was the best without me having to say it! The winner of this competition is Berna Greek of the Greek family!”

-Murmurs.

The Emperor’s announcement caused a stir in the Concert Hall.

-Clap, clap, clap!

Scattered applause could be heard.

The nobles had originally been prepared to jeer, but no one could challenge the Emperor’s decision.

There was no commotion at all.

In fact, it was only natural.

Berna’s performance was truly….

It was the kind of performance that could deeply move even those who knew nothing about music.

The fact that even the nobles, who were practically her enemies, acknowledged her skill and were silenced proves just how amazing Berna’s performance was.

Silencing the opposition is difficult for anyone, in any era, especially in matters related to politics.

I stood up and applauded with a satisfied heart.

“Mother!”

The Greek boy cheered and, not satisfied with just that, ran down to the stage. He was in such a hurry that he fell and rolled three times before reaching the stage.

“What a fool.”

Rurin muttered this after seeing him fall so many times. Nevertheless, he got up each time he fell, finally reaching the front of the stage, where he leaped into Berna’s arms.

Berna, crying, embraced the boy.

After the former Count Greek fell, the two had relied on each other so strongly that they were closer than most blood-related mother and son pairs. At this moment, they confirmed that bond even more strongly.

Berna cried, and the Greek boy cried too.

These were tears of joy. Tears that needed no one to wipe them away.

Watching this, I said to Rurin.

“Rurin, let’s go back. Our original goal was the Hibiren flower, so there’s no need to stay here any longer.”

I informed the steward of the Greek family that we were leaving first, and then we teleported.

If we got caught up with the Greek boy by delaying, we’d have to return to Greek City by land, and that would be exhausting.

The restaurant had been closed for too long, after all.

But when I suggested we go back, Rurin suddenly started throwing a tantrum.

She screamed like someone who had forgotten something important, then stopped and trembled for about five seconds before screaming again.

“Wait a momeeent! A loss is a loss, but! A loss is a loss, but! This isn’t right! Come to think of it, I didn’t achieve my goal! I didn’t lose! I didn’t loseee!”

Rurin panted and glared at Berna. Then she glared at the Emperor.

She started kicking the floor, and when it looked like she might rush the stage again, I grabbed her by the nape of her neck and dragged her out of the Hall.

She had just shown a mature side by coolly admitting defeat. I couldn’t understand why she was acting like this all of a sudden.

A Regana was installed in the lair. I wondered where to put it, and ended up setting it up in her main room.

The main room was called the main room, but Rurin never returned to her true form, so it had become a mostly unused space. Installing a Regana there made better use of the space, which was a good thing.

The Luruns looked curious, wondering what it was, and when Rurin started playing, the Luruns began trembling in fear.

It wasn’t really a performance; it was more like another bang bang boom! causing noise.

Honestly, I wondered if she liked making noise rather than actually enjoying the performance.

The Regana was one thing, but we had another issue to deal with. Maybe because of that, Rurin had been acting shy since we returned.

Mostly in the bedroom before going to sleep.

Or whenever we were alone together here and there.

Even today, as I came out of the shower and was drying my hair with a towel, Rurin sat quietly at the edge of the bed, staring at me intently.

So, I decided to go for it.

Today, I’ll get to the bottom of this.

I pulled Rurin to me and pushed her against the wall, trying a kabedon.

“My dear?”

“Forget ‘my dear’. You said you’d tell me why you rejected me if you won, right? You didn’t win, but the competition is over, so tell me the reason now. If you don’t convince me, there will be no kisses or hugs for a while, got it?”

Rurin, who had been nervously rubbing her legs together with her eyes closed, made a face as if she had heard the world was ending, and protested.

“That…that doesn’t count! I didn’t win, so it’s all ruined!”

“Oh, really?”

“That’s right. So!”

“So what?”

“……”

“So, what? Where’s that proud Rurin who avoided my lips so boldly?”

“Aaaah! You’re being mean to me. You’re so bad.”

“But you’re not crying? You could at least put in some eye drops and pretend.”

“Eye drops? Is there such a thing? Would that make tears flow?”

Rurin started to deflect.

I was speechless.

Surely there must have been a reason. If she rejected me for no reason, that’s a serious problem in itself.

“Is that so?”

I released my kabedon stance, turned around, and walked to the bed.

“My dear?”

Sensing that something was off, Rurin hurriedly ran up to me and grabbed my arm, trying to explain.

“Ugh, it’s the Red one! It’s all because of that Red one!”

Red one?

Is she talking about Sereina?

She seemed like she was about to confess something, so I stopped. Then, Rurin lowered her head and spoke with a face like a defeated soldier.

“I…I wanted to give you a present. You always give me presents on my birthday, you even gave me your lair as a gift… And you yourself are a gift to me! But I’ve never given you anything. I didn’t like that….”

She lowered her head and started spinning her foot on the floor.

She looked so frustrated.

“A present?”

She nodded.

“You wanted to give me the Hibiren flower as a present?”

“I endured it and entered a competition held by mere humans just for that, but I lost. So I’m nothing. I’ve become a fool.”

“That’s foolish.”

“I’m not foolish!”

She called herself foolish, but when I agreed, she got defensive. Still, a present is a present. But that alone doesn’t explain why she rejected me.

“So you rejected me because of that present? That doesn’t add up.”

“That…!”

I removed Rurin’s hand and walked over to the bed, sitting down. My actions were firm, but my heart felt a bit soft.

She had been so focused on learning the Regana, and it was all because she wanted to give me a gift.

That’s…

Adorable.

But that’s that, and rejection is rejection.

I had to find out the reason.

So I lay down on the bed. I continued to pretend to sulk, and Rurin didn’t seem to move from her spot.

“Bad, bad, bad, it’s all because of that Red one, this happened because of that damn Red one, the Red one said to reject him because it seemed like I was giving too much, and that would make you realize how precious I am, but why didn’t it work? That Red one deserves to be stomped into the ground, but before that, the Red one said to reject the kiss and then give you a present…”

After a moment of silence, I heard what sounded like rap coming from where Rurin was standing. It was so fast that I couldn’t make out what she was saying.

I had no idea what she was muttering about, so I continued lying on the bed without moving.

I had to show I was sulking. That was important.

It hurt that Rurin rejected me. It hurt a lot.

My feelings had become very complicated.

Moreover, that action made me realize something unnecessary.

If Rurin truly rejected me?

I realized that if Rurin ever left me, the sense of loss I would feel would be greater than the size of the world.

I realized this as I saw those lips that had rejected me.

-Ah.

Rurin always says she’ll die if I’m not there.

But more than that, I realized how much I love her.

Those two rejections made me realize that for sure. So I had an obligation to find out the reason. That’s why I was pretending to sulk.

Hearing the sound of Rurin walking closer, I knew she had sensed that something was wrong.

It wasn’t the usual light, feather-like steps.

There was a heavy weight to each step. I wanted to sneak a peek to see what she was up to, but I managed to resist.

Rurin came right up to me.

Rurin’s hand touched the back of my head, where I lay turned away.

“My dear….”

Her voice calling me.

It was a deeper tone than usual. But I didn’t respond.

Then I felt Rurin’s hair on the nape of my neck. That meant her face was getting closer.

No, it wasn’t her face that came closer. It was Rurin’s lips.

Smooch.

Rurin’s lips left a smooch on the side of my face and then pulled away.

“Huh?”

That was the first time shy Rurin, who usually only receives affection, had initiated a kiss on her own.

“It-it’s a present…! My dear!”

Saying that, Rurin quickly ran and hid under the blankets.

I couldn’t just leave her like that.

I followed her into the blankets.

“Kyahh! My dear! That tickles! Heehee.”

As we tickled each other and rolled around, suddenly, something strange happened.

The Hibiren flower that Berna had given me, which was placed in a vase by the bedside, emitted a bright light.

And in that brief moment, the glowing Hibiren flower returned to its original color as if nothing had happened.