FMV 15

Chapter: 15

“I’ll be back.”

Despite having spent the entire night copying sheet music, Aurelia’s face showed not the slightest trace of fatigue. Instead, it was filled with determined resolve.

Her heart was the same.

Whenever she thought of that gaze that had looked at her as though she were worth less than a dog passing by, she was filled with such fury that she could barely stand it.

“I will never acknowledge someone like that, even if I die and come back to life. No, I won’t.”

Remembering Leonard’s expression as he had looked down at her as though she were beneath him, Aurelia clenched her fists tightly.

She felt that she would probably never forget those eyes that seemed to say, What could someone like you possibly know?

‘I absolutely won’t be swayed. No matter what kind of performance I hear. Never.’

After repeating the same words to herself several times and making up her mind, Aurelia walked along dressed a little more formally than usual—in other words, dressed in a way that made her look unusually aristocratic—breathing in the crisp, settled air.

Inside her somewhat worn-looking bag was a recital ticket made of stiff paper, its lettering embossed in gold.

“I really have to go inside now.”

The standalone hall, which had been created by completely remodeling one of the palaces once used by the royal family before the revolution, was far too grand for Aurelia, who had only just graduated from the conservatory.

Because of that, until just before the entrance time, Aurelia could only stand quietly outside the building and stare at the noblewomen entering the symphony hall.

At the Zerphium Conservatory, listening to other musicians perform was considered just as important as performing music oneself, so they practically gave away tickets to other musicians’ concerts.

“It’s not like this is only my first or second time.”

So there was nothing particularly unfamiliar about this kind of opportunity for Aurelia.

But there was a sense of tension and anxiety that perhaps, once this recital was over, she would truly have to let go of all the pride she had held onto in her own way.

Even though she had never heard him play, Aurelia already knew.

Leonard Deimus’s performance would be perfect.

‘They wouldn’t praise just anyone with the title of virtuoso.’

All those complicated emotions came together and created fear.

There was nothing Aurelia could do about the fact that this fear made her feel even more insignificant.

“What brings you here?”

“I was invited.”

No matter how well she dressed, Aurelia was still only a commoner.

Unlike those who continued to live luxurious lives even after the abolition of the class system, she was moderately poor and had no ability to suddenly make a fortune.

Perhaps that was why she felt like a thin film of oil floating on the surface of a fish tank.

She wasn’t even a tiny creature like a fish, but merely a film of oil that gave off a sour smell created by their food or waste.

“Please enter. You can use the stairs on the upper level.”

The man who had given Aurelia a suspicious look only smiled kindly after she presented her ticket.

That alone showed just how much Aurelia did not belong here.

Even though she was wearing the neatest and most expensive clothes she owned, she looked incomparably shabby next to the noblewomen passing beside her with their clear, cheerful laughter.

Perhaps that arrogant man had invited her here simply to make her feel this sense of defeat.

‘No. Don’t let yourself be intimidated. Someday, I’ll be the one standing on that stage. Yes. Just think about that.’

She tightly grasped the skirt she had bought but never had a chance to wear, its fabric still almost as crisp as new, and took several deep breaths before finally beginning to climb the stairs.

But contrary to the determination she had made just before entering, by the time she reached the seat written in gold on her ticket, she was almost on the verge of tears.

“I hate this so much.”

By the time the number of elegantly dressed noblewomen around her began to increase, Aurelia had already realized that the ticket Leonard had given her was not merely an ordinary recital ticket.

Unlike her, who felt awkward and uncomfortable in this place, everyone else seemed completely accustomed to it.

For people who had probably never had to get their hands wet even once in their lives, these box seats prepared for distinguished guests must have felt as familiar as their own homes.

‘Unlike me.’

There was still no one on the stage, where only a grand piano had been placed.

But Aurelia could already be certain.

Once she sat here, just as whenever she attended a concert, she wouldn’t have to crane her neck to see every expression on the performers’ faces and every movement of their fingertips.

“Let’s succeed. If I succeed, I’ll be able to come into box seats like this every day.”

Only after steeling herself once again did Aurelia realize that she was still awkwardly standing by the entrance of the box seat.

The distance to the stiff chair, barely a step or two away, felt impossibly far, but she couldn’t simply hide here and watch the performance.

“Let’s just sit down first. I can think once I’m sitting. It’s not as though I entered through some improper means.”

Once she sat down and began absentmindedly touching the edge of the program she couldn’t bring herself to open, the lights gradually dimmed and darkness descended.

As the world grew dark, even the small noises created by the appropriate murmuring of the audience died away, and silence settled over the hall.

Then, the moment the spotlight suddenly illuminated the stage—

Leonard appeared with a suitably languid smile.

‘They say there are people who actually pay money just to see that face.’

The moment she saw the dangerously beautiful man, with Aiden following behind him so completely hidden from view that she could barely notice him, even the faint sounds of people breathing seemed to disappear.

It was the beginning of the most beautiful yet painful punishment inside the prison created by that arrogant man.

[A Demon’s Talent Too Beautiful to Be Described as Merely Beautiful]

It was a title Aurelia had once seen in a newspaper.

The subject of that title was Leonard, and he truly suited those words.

His fingertips were precise, his expression serious, yet he never lost his smile.

‘Don’t be fooled. He’s that Leonard Deimus—the arrogant man who only thinks about himself, the one who treated me, Father, and the Bernhard Instrument Workshop as nothing more than an ordinary workshop.’

When the performance began, Aurelia closed her eyes and tapped her slender finger against the table in front of her.

As she tapped out each note of the piano, which gently yet firmly supported the thin, light melody, the table that had been nothing more than wood somehow transformed into a keyboard.

Her fingers moved freely between the white and black keys, but naturally, the piano made from a table could produce no sound.

It merely created the illusion that the melodies Aurelia was playing on the table were being transmitted directly onto the stage, because her movements were so remarkably similar to those of Aiden, who was playing the piano there.

“Encore! Encore!”

Once all the prepared pieces of the recital had ended, cries for an encore began.

Even though she had vowed that she would succeed, seeing him already successful and sitting in the very place she so desperately wanted made her feel strangely even sadder.

‘Could I become like that too?’

Even as people began leaving one by one, their hurried footsteps and bustling noises filling the hall, she found it difficult to stand.

There had not been a single flaw in his performance.

She had never heard a performance so perfect, one that reached so deeply into her heart, in her entire life.

The title of virtuoso given to Leonard Deimus was not excessive.

“I hate it. It makes me uncomfortable. But….”

But she thought she understood why he had given her such an expensive box-seat ticket.

He had been certain.

“He knew. He knew that eventually I would have no choice but to acknowledge him.”

The commotion that had arisen after the recital gradually began to die down.

Everyone who had been in the hall must have already left, yet Aurelia still couldn’t bring herself to get up from the box seat where Leonard had placed her, simply staring blankly at the stage.

The cleaners would probably enter soon to clean the hall, so it was truly time for her to leave.

There seemed to be no need to go all the way to the dressing room. She had been invited, but they weren’t anything to each other, and she had never intended to congratulate him in the first place.

Just as Aurelia made up her mind and stood from her seat, someone stepped onto the stage again, which was still brightly illuminated.

It was Leonard.

Perhaps to make sure there was no one else around, Leonard looked around several times before his gaze turned toward the box seat where she was.

Aurelia, who had been staring at the stage, had no way to avoid meeting his eyes.

His blue eyes seemed to shine an intense blue.

At the hottest possible temperature, as though they could strip away everything she had.

‘Why did he come back onto the stage?’

The moment the question flashed through her mind, Aurelia realized that the violin Leonard was holding was different from the one he had used during the recital.

It was her violin.