The Hidden Alpha Male Doesn't Hide His Power - 5
Suddenly, a piano?
One look at Camilla’s sly expression made it plain she was up to something.
“A piano? Out here in the open like this?”
“Yes. That is where one usually plays the piano, after all.”
She wasn’t wrong. When people thought of a piano, they pictured it being played in an open space. Still, I couldn’t figure out her intent.
“Isn’t it rude to interrupt someone else’s conversation?”
The red-faced man made no effort to hide his irritation. The words themselves were perfectly reasonable; the only problem was that they came from the very man who had been itching to pick a fight with me, which rather undercut their persuasiveness.
“You were the rude one first.”
Camilla locked eyes with him and let out a short, sharp laugh. Anyone watching could tell she was openly mocking him.
“What did you just say?”
The man’s eyebrows twitched hard. He was getting so worked up he no longer seemed to care who was watching. The two men who had come with him took a discreet step back; they looked thoroughly practiced at reading the room and staying clear of trouble.
“I can be a bit rude, I admit. But so were you. We were both rude, so let’s call it even. And don’t bother saying otherwise.”
“Nngh…!”
Camilla drove the nail home. Veins stood out on the man’s forehead; even his shoulders began to tremble. He was broadcasting his rage with his entire body.
Well, that buys us a moment to breathe.
Whether it was because the one needling him was a woman, or because he had just been hit with a fact so brutal it left the back of his head ringing and his mouth empty of comebacks, I couldn’t say.
“Looks like things are more or less settled. In any case—play the piano for us.”
Camilla gave my shoulder a light tap and dropped her voice low, almost as if she were whispering right against my ear.
“Do you have something in mind?”
I tilted my head, puzzled. I wasn’t incapable of playing; I had sat down at a piano now and then even during vacations back when Janet wasn’t around. I simply couldn’t see the point.
“I do. Play, and you will understand soon enough.”
In short: do it and you’ll see. From the listener’s side it was maddeningly vague, yet this didn’t feel like the kind of moment for stubborn digging. The red-faced man was already trembling as he glared at Camilla instead of me, and the two behind him looked thoroughly sour. There was no good answer any way I sliced it.
“Understood.”
Fine. Playing would tell me. Half resigned, I walked toward the piano.
The moment Seo Ji-hyuk left his seat, Elodie took Camilla a polite distance away from the three men, offering a quiet but courteous farewell as she went.
“You stepped in to draw attention away from the humans who were picking a fight with Ji-hyuk, didn’t you?”
Elodie asked the instant they reached a corner that still afforded a view of Ji-hyuk’s back. She already seemed to have a good idea why Camilla had intervened.
“Calling them ‘humans’ like that—you must have quite the pile of resentment built up.”
A soft laugh escaped Camilla’s lips. Her eyes curved into delighted crescents.
“I do. I’m thoroughly displeased.”
“The Saintess’s wrath… If those fools understood what that truly meant, they would be terrified.”
“I wish they would. Actually, it’s not too late even now.”
Elodie’s lips pushed out in a small pout. The way she aired her grievances was almost childishly cute.
“That is precisely why I stopped you. He would have done the same. Of course, had you stepped forward the situation would have resolved more quickly—yet the resentment would only have settled deeper.”
“It’s not as if we’ll ever see them twice.”
“They have enough power to be invited here. You don’t truly believe that, do you?”
Struck squarely on the mark, Elodie pressed her lips together. At that very moment Ji-hyuk’s ten fingers began to stroke the keys with gentle ease.
“He likely stopped you for the same reason—to keep you from earning their ill will.”
“I can’t exactly deny that.”
A sigh of resignation slipped from Elodie. She knew Camilla was right.
“But what does any of that have to do with the piano? I’ve heard he can play, yet I still don’t understand.”
“It is a simple principle. A ranking contest between males.”
“A ranking contest? What do you mean by that…?”
The sound of keys being struck cut Elodie’s voice short—and seized the attention of everyone else as well. A bright, clear piano melody cut cleanly through the murmur that had filled the party hall.
Where had they heard this before?
A familiar longing rose in every mind present. Elodie was no exception. Beautiful yet familiar, and at the same time strangely new—the melody had everyone so captivated they forgot to speak while they rummaged through their memories.
“Ah.”
Then someone among them parted their lips in quiet wonder. Variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” The tune everyone knew as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” They realized with certainty that this was a sound they had heard in childhood. Once one person understood, the rest began to exclaim in soft surprise as well, belatedly recognizing that the elaborate ornamentation draped over the simple bones of the piece had made it sound like something entirely different.
“This song… I’ve heard it so many times.”
Janet murmured under her breath. The anger that had been boiling in her chest began to settle into something soft. Even the red-faced man’s fury cooled.
“Of course you have. He learned it from a great musician who lived in the same era.”
Camilla’s gaze traveled far across the room to Ji-hyuk’s fingers dancing over the keys. Even from this distance they looked large and vivid, as if they were right beside her.
“Ah…! Mozart?”
Elodie’s eyes went wide with sudden realization. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—the renowned musician who, by a curious coincidence, had lived in the same age as Marie Antoinette. It was a name one inevitably heard at least once while in school; for someone raised in a good family like Janet, even more so.
“Yes. He learned directly from that man, so ordinary skill is easily surpassed. And he received instruction from others even as a child.”
Harshly, at that. If he had learned as though under the lash, there was nothing more to say. The memory of Ji-hyuk’s past rose, and a bitter smile touched Camilla’s lips. What a strangely twisted life it had been.
“It’s clearly a fine performance. Fine enough that no one wants to open their mouth.”
“Mm. Now look at the face of the man who was so angry earlier.”
Just like that? Elodie tilted her head but obediently shifted her gaze. The bright yet lyrical piano—like a cherished memory—was filling the entire party hall.
“His anger seems to have gone, at least.”
“Mm. And? Even you can see it isn’t only that.”
“And… he looks dejected.”
Dejection. That was the single most accurate word for the red-faced man’s expression.
“Exactly. That is the answer.”
“It almost sounds as if you expected it would turn out this way.”
“Did I not say earlier? A ranking contest.”
Among beasts, male ranking contests were decided by force against force. The stronger in pure strength and violence became the superior male. Among human males, however, ranking was never so simple. Charm—including appearance—wealth that counted as power in a capitalist society, and any number of other complicated measures all came into play. Naturally, what Ji-hyuk was displaying right now was one of those powers as well. Playing as well as a professional pianist was no small charm.
“Your perspective is unusual, so you may not fully grasp it, but first he already outstripped them in appearance.”
A laugh colored Camilla’s voice. A new piece flowed from Ji-hyuk’s hands, smooth and natural.
“That was the first loss for that clueless fool—yet not enough to make him back down. He is a fairly well-known Awakened, while our man was merely ordinary.”
“So he found it hard to accept?”
“An environment that naturally weighs conditions against one another made him that way. You are hardly unaware of such things.”
Far from unaware—she knew them well. Elodie nodded silently in agreement.
“And in that situation, the fact that Ji-hyuk can play the piano made him feel powerless.”
“Mm. That face, and skill forged under the direct browbeating of a great artist. To exaggerate a little, it is a painting come to life.”
Camilla’s lips closed firmly, as if nothing more needed saying. From here on she intended to devote herself entirely to the performance. A beautiful face still thick with boyish youth. Piano playing that was soft yet deep. A reality that felt almost deliberately staged had delivered a profound sense of defeat to someone. Not in terms of conditions, but as a man—in that fundamental pull of attraction—he had realized he fell far short of Seo Ji-hyuk. A piano that sounded as though a prince were playing it. Against that powerful fantasy, the man had no weapon.
So that’s why she told him to play the piano.
I would never have thought of it. Living as a noble lady must have made such ideas come naturally. Elodie closed her eyes and turned the surprise over in her mind. As her heart eased, the piano seemed to sink into her even more wistfully.
Clap, clap. When the performance—more than thirty minutes long—finally ended, thunderous applause rolled through the hall. Everyone looked deeply moved. Even the men who had picked the fight with Seo Ji-hyuk.
Ah, I’m exhausted.
Ji-hyuk, by contrast, rose slowly while cold sweat beaded on his skin. Throughout the entire performance, Mozart’s voice and face had been hounding him.
“How can you pound the keys so hard?! At that rate a stray mutt on the street would have a softer touch. Do it again!”
“Good heavens! The playing is so revolutionary the keys will dance right off the board and stage a revolt! If you ever need to dispose of an old piano, your hands alone would do the job!”
Exactly like Remy delivering a scathing review of a bad dish.
Once I finished the performance as ordered, endless requests for handshakes poured in—especially from the women.
“Where did you learn to play? It was so wonderful I was completely enchanted. Did the Association hire you as their pianist?”
Hired… well, not exactly, yet in a way I had been. It was all rather ambiguous, so I simply nodded.
“That’s far too much praise—I’m embarrassed. But thank you for the kind words.”
Every time I spoke with them, the women in their dresses flushed with pleasure. They did the same when they brushed hair from their cheeks.
“Ah, excuse me. I’ll have to take my leave now.”
Spotting Janet in the distance, I offered occasional greetings as I made my way over. Surprise, recognition—the dense interest was a far cry from earlier, and it left me tired.
Ah.
Then my eyes met those of the man who had so openly vented his dissatisfaction at me. The instant our gazes locked, he looked away—almost as if he were afraid. Now I understood. Only after seeing his reaction did I finally grasp why she had made me play the piano.
“You were magnificent. Good enough to debut as a pianist this very moment.”
As I drew near, Janet’s hand gently stroked my cheek. The way she smiled with her eyes half-closed was endlessly charming.
“Do you understand now?”
Camilla, standing beside her, gave a short laugh. She looked as proud as if she were watching a child who had finally grasped a lesson.
I met Camilla’s eyes and nodded.
“Looking at his face, I got the idea.”
“When someone is overwhelmed in charm and atmosphere, that is what happens. Human power is not merely a matter of force, is it?”
“You’re right, of course—but in the end, power still matters.”
I twisted the corner of my mouth lightly in reply; Camilla answered with a matching sneer. Even Janet only colored a little in the cheeks. Having all grown old and died once already, their threshold for embarrassment seemed remarkably high.
“Yes. A fair point. As the party concerned, what do you think?”
Camilla’s gaze swung to Janet. Being asked so bluntly left me feeling a touch awkward.
“I feel as though I’ve been asked something like this before… but I think I’m more than happy enough.”
“I am glad to hear it. Function is important, after all.”
It was important. I hadn’t said so, yet I was hardly unaware of just how important. It even helped fill out one’s self-esteem.
“They are starting to gather. Avoiding the bother by stepping out for a while does not sound like a bad idea.”
Camilla jerked her chin toward the space behind us. Following her gaze, I saw several people sidling closer.
“Then how about we just go home? We’ve stayed long enough—heading back sounds good to me.”
“Fine by me. Camilla?”
“I have no objection either. I have already enjoyed myself thoroughly enough.”
“Then I’ll just say goodbye to the Association President and join you. You two go on ahead to the elevator and wait.”
Janet volunteered to take the lead and left first. After a moment of reading the room, I slipped out of the party hall with Camilla. Playing the piano at length after so long had left me completely empty inside.
I’m starving… maybe I should pick something up on the way…
As I walked down the corridor mulling it over, the phone in my pocket buzzed. A game notification? I took it out slowly—and there on the screen, bold as anything, was a text from Marie.