Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Whispers of the White Flame
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Mayches hurriedly patted the conductor's shoulder to wrap things up.
“Once again... I enjoyed your splendid performance.”
“I appreciate you saying that... again...”
“If the chance arises, I'd love to hear it once more... Grenji? See to it that the orchestra receives their fee.”
Grenji chuckled lightly with a “Yes,” before saying to the conductor,
“Please follow me. The musicians are waiting.”
‘Is he really just going to let us go like this?’
The conductor stood there blankly clutching his handkerchief until Grenji called out, at which point he scurried out of the study in a fluster.
Grenji bowed quietly to Mayches and Aiel before closing the study door.
As Grenji turned and the conductor's back receded, a faint murmur of conversation drifted in.
Even in the study of the famously wealthy Count Rudelriz, the design somehow offered zero soundproofing.
“But it's a shame~. I wanted to hear the Imperial Orchestra too.”
“Huh? You wanted to hear it?”
“Yeah. They say it was amazing?”
“...Yeah! It was amazing!”
“If I hadn't dozed off, I could've listened too, but I had no choice—I needed to conserve my energy... I wonder if I'll get another chance someday?”
“Wait. Should we ask them to play once more right now?”
“They already... poured their souls into that performance—how could they...? Once I'm well enough to leave the estate, I'll go listen as much as I want. It doesn't even have to be the Imperial Orchestra, so you'll come with me, right?”
“...Yeah. Of course. I definitely will, Aiel.”
The corridor Grenji led them through was quiet.
The conductor felt like he was walking a thorny path. Mustering his courage, he asked,
“Will I... really get to live?”
“The Count said to give you your fee. Didn't you hear him?”
“H-Ha, but...”
“He must have examined the magical device, so he knows whether you were involved or not. As you know, he's the Count Rudelriz.”
“......”
Grenji glanced at the conductor, who still looked anxious.
Grenji chuckled lightly.
“At the very least, no one dies in this house. True to its name, there's always a savior who steps in whenever the mood gets too grave.”
There was unmistakable pride in his words.
The two arrived at the waiting room provided for the orchestra.
Opening the door, they found the musicians enjoying a lavish meal.
Spotting the conductor, the musicians immediately seated him at the head of the table and bombarded him with questions about what he and the Count had discussed.
The conductor couldn't answer and barely managed to chew down two bites of steak throughout the meal.
After the meal, they were politely escorted out of the estate, each clutching a hefty fee.
The conductor looked up at the sky.
‘Did I really make it out alive? Even if I didn't know, installing a listening device in a noble's home and getting caught—how did I...?’
The sky was clear blue. He'd thought he'd never see it again, but now it moved him to tears with its brilliant beauty.
As the tension eased, blood seemed to flow back into his stiffened scalp.
His brain belatedly began processing what he'd witnessed.
“W-Well, what happened was...”
Then, the conductor's lips, which he'd thought sealed forever, began to twitch.
As he walked in a daze, he suddenly shuddered like he'd been struck by lightning.
Whirling around, tears welling in his eyes, he shouted at the musicians.
The musicians hurriedly clamped their hands over his mouth.
“Conductor?! Why are you saying this outside?!”
“Whatever you're about to say, what if someone hears? We swore a secret oath!”
“Tell us later, when it's just us! Just us!”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
In the end, the conductor failed to spread the seed of truth and was dragged away by the orchestra members.
Their judgment was spot on.
In fact, the eyes of a few passersby who happened to be strolling naturally near the Rudelriz estate lit up.
[“W-Well, what happened was, the White Flame held the Count so tightly...”]
The conductor's cry spread across the continent.
People who had been casually mocking Count Rudelriz's aloofness latched onto that half-finished sentence.
“Tightly...! What comes after tightly? Tightly...!”
But no matter how they chewed it over, their background knowledge wasn't enough to guess the rest.
Not everyone was like that, though. Amid the confusion of those mumbling “tightly, tightly,” some understood the meaning.
Namely, the young ladies who had fallen for the Count after glimpsing his smile by chance; those who had nearly gone mad over the gap between his usual cynical demeanor and how he spoke of his sister; and so on.
Contrary to the rumors in Ileneias's social circles, a few people knew Mayches had a sister complex.
Even when people buzzed after the imperial party that “the Count hates his sister,” they scoffed.
They had guessed that Mayches's stiff expression at the imperial party stemmed from the fact that the one who'd brought up his sister was Countess Alita, desperate to pair her worthless son with someone suitable.
But they didn't bother correcting the rumor that Aiel and Mayches's relationship was distant.
They were all thinking the same thing.
“The Count is working so hard, so the young lady will soon recover and step out of the estate. He has to treat her amazingly well then. They have to get super close.”
They were all eagerly awaiting the day the future young lady would recover and make her debutante.
But now the conductor had ignited interest in Aiel's existence, which had been hushed up until then.
Those in the know bit their nails, praying it would just be a passing breeze.
Yet they couldn't shake their unease.
They, immersed in the rumor-mill of high society, knew all too well.
The more precious something was buried, the more uncontrollably it shone the moment it emerged into the world.
The sun was beginning to set. Sensing the time had come, I crawled under the table.
Glancing around, I spotted the paper bag Doria had snuck in under the meal trolley on the far opposite end of the table.
Ah, wrong entrance... I crawled over there waddlingly.
My sudden belly-crawl training left my abs, shoulders, elbows, knees... not a spot unhurt, but I diligently crawled to the bag.
By the time I emerged from under the table with it, Mayches and his five friends were all staring at me with eyes witnessing bizarre behavior.
“......”
“...Ta-da?”
I held up the paper bag.
Mayches rushed over immediately to check on me.
“Aiel, what were you doing? Why'd you go under the table?”
“To get this paper bag...”
“You crawled around inside? Look at your red elbows... You okay?”
“No, look at the paper bag...”
Only then did Mayches notice the paper bag in my hand.
It was getting heavy, so I quickly shoved it at Mayches. He accepted it reflexively.
“It's a gift. Happy birthday, brother.”
“A gift? I already got a card from Doria.”
“That was just a card...”
Of course, I knew he was the type who often received card-like things as gifts.
Those who often gave him card-like gifts as presents swarmed around the dazed Mayches.
“Oh, Mayches, lucky you! Wonder what gift you got.”
“What's this? It makes a weird noise.”
*Boing-boing-*
“And this... Jen? Don't you already have Jen, bro?”
Daluh took the Boing Hammer Yan had been swinging and gave it a try.
No sound in the air, so he whacked Yan's shoulder.
After taking a few hits, Yan got annoyed but then grew intrigued by the *boing-boing* noise and snatched the Boing Hammer back from Daluh.
“Our Aiel prepared a gift...”
Mayches hugged the transparent case of colorful Jen blocks tightly, his eyes glistening as they shook wildly.
I suddenly felt embarrassed.
“Actually, it was made with your money, so it's kinda self-sufficient.”
“...Ah-heh-heh.”
Mayches burst into laughter.
Everyone dodging Calipan's swung Boing Hammer with all their might froze solid.