Chapter 18 – 1. The Man Who Comes Back to Life Even After Dying (8)
It took me a long time to get my emotions under control. Still, Elizabeth’s bosom was very warm, and it was not too difficult to change her mood because it even had the cool scent of mint.
“There is a saying that is joked about between husband and wife. It’s a defensive battle that’s a duty or something. I foresaw that it would be something like that.”
“It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry again. I sincerely apologize.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
I received a lot of comfort from Elizabeth. Thus, he erased the humiliation deeply engraved in his bones, and went down the stairs with her, who bowed his head and apologized. To sit in front of the piano in the drawing room, which was the original purpose.
“…… Oh, this is embarrassing. The man’s son is held by the woman and squeezed.”
“You didn’t cry. Even if you were to cry, how would you feel? Anyone can do that when they are having a hard time. What you should truly be ashamed of is not crying when you are sad, but not crying.”
“Thanks. It’s a very kind consolation.”
Elisabeth and I exchanged such conversations until we arrived at the place where the lights were off. Strictly speaking, after apologizing and consoling her, there was no reason to continue our company, but I wanted this sweet dreamer to stay by my side, and since she had no intention of leaving yet, we were able to continue our relationship.
“Elizabeth.”
“Yes, Jungwoo-kun.”
“Is there any song you want to hear?”
For instance, pianists who are proud of themselves rarely ask listeners what they want to hear. Moreover, I was once a performer who even won a prize at the Chopin International Piano Competition, and thanks to that, I still had a self-confident ego, which was obviously rare.
“I’ll do my best to the best of my knowledge.”
Even here in the world, there were greats like Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. It’s because I didn’t study well because I let go of my artistic passion.
I left Elizabeth with her eyes wide open and sat down in front of the piano. As a demonstration, he struck the keyboard elegantly, and when he had a good feeling, he was happy to ask again.
“I am lacking in studying Bernhard’s classical music, but I would like to repay the consolation with this.”
“Is anything okay?”
“Sure. Say anything.”
“Then I would like to hear the song from Gong’s hometown.”
It was an unexpected request. Embarrassingly, I wanted to ask for a popular song these days, so I slapped myself in self-reflection. Then, like a pianist preparing for a contest, he introduced the song he was going to play by loosening his fingers.
“Good. Then come on and have a seat. I’ll play you my favorite song. You can look forward to it.”
“Well!”
Elizabeth dragged a nearby chair to the side of the piano. Soon after, he sat down in a posture that could not have been more upright. I put my hands on my knees and finished my preparations as a desirable spectator.
“Shall we go?”
A refreshing start with the 2 octave la so la solo. I tapped the keys with more earnestness than I wanted to impress the contest judges. After the prelude, I sang the adapted lyrics with a voice I had prepared in advance, and I arranged them on the spot and even added my own colors.
‘Try to use magic!’
Come to think of it, some philosopher did that.
‘My mother said so.’
Music and rhythm penetrate the most secret places of the soul.
‘All you want is to dream.’
I feel it every time, but it really touches me so much.
‘Every day of ours will be like a legend!’
I dare say that I believe in it.
‘That’s what he said.’
It was because of those words that I chose pianist among the many careers that I had spent my childhood in misfortune. Because what sustained me in a family full of discord and intolerance was music and rhythm, as the saying goes.
‘If this is the only life given to us.’
In the past, I was young and innocent. Even if they were deeply hostile, they thought that if they were given an opportunity to do so, they would be able to open up and reconcile. He believed that if he continued to live up to his parents’ expectations, he would be rewarded one day.
It was a really stupid idea.
‘In this adventure, then I am.’
It was never a pure intention to choose the piano out of countless musical instruments. It was the calculation of a modest fifteen-year-old boy. I chose this piano because it was the instrument most closely related to classical music.
‘I want to share it with you.’
As long as I carry authority and honor on my back, I think I will definitely be able to draw attention and harmony from the two people I love.
‘With you, only with you.’
Now, it’s all a dirty old story. Unfortunately, I no longer believe in the power of music. At least I don’t think I have the capacity to lead it.
‘I want to.’
But, yes.
I still believe in the fact that that rhythm burrows into the most secret place of the soul. So I believe we can heal it with this happy song.
“…… I couldn’t give up on that.”
The song ended with five extended notes. Taking my hands off the keyboard, I turned to see Elizabeth. He looked up at her with a blush on her face and asked her how she felt.
“How was it?”
“You knew how to sing too.”
“I was a minor in college. Actually, my dream was to become a singer rather than a pianist.”
“Even as an outsider, it was a great performance and song.”
I’m glad that’s the case. I laughed and expressed my impressions of this small performance.
“I have dealt with audiences many times, but you are the first to perform for only one person.”
“It is an honor. May I ask for the title?”
“This is an adventure of a lifetime, I guess.”
“The adventure of a lifetime…….”
Elizabeth silently repeated the title I had given her. Seeing that, it seemed like the correct answer was to play refreshing popular music instead of old-fashioned classical music.
“I felt like a master of the first generation.”
I burst out laughing.
“The orchestra that sang this song was a popular singer. If I had to compare him, he would be a popular bard.”
“But it was a very warm song. It made me feel happy just listening to it. It could be because I’m a demon, but I felt the energy of a master.”
“Indeed, it is. Because it was very famous. He was full of skills as well. As Elizabeth said, they were loved for their warm and happy songs.”
Maybe she’s right. It may be the logic of some narrow-minded snobbery to limit the title of master to only the so-called visible fields.
“Thank you. You learn a lot today.”
“Is that so?”
“If you think about it, you were also a victim who was called out unexpectedly. It’s embarrassing, but it must have been all the same…… “
Not that it wasn’t, it really was. I sang and played her songs because it was for her sake. But Elizabeth, on the contrary, was turning that comfort to me. It was encouraging me without even realizing it myself.
“I would have been lying if I hadn’t been ashamed. But the sight of His Excellency teasing her at balls was more intolerable than the fact that she had to be naked.”
“Why?”
She suddenly grabbed the back of her neck and mumbled. I was embarrassed that I had been holding on to it for too long until late, but it was not unusual for me to avoid my gaze in a strange way.
“So…….”
A sun-drenched drawing room.
“That’s it, I mean…….”
The light that leaked through the neat curtains grew brighter and brighter. Although she is dressed so casually, she beautifully illuminates the face of a woman who is more shy than anyone else. Soon, he induced her to confess what she had been unable to say.
“As for why…….”
Whoops! Elizabeth slapped my cheek at the same time. Surprised that it happened without warning, I was taken aback by her actions as she grabbed my shoulder.
“Please let me become your concubine too!”
“Yes?”
“If something like yesterday happens again, I, as an employee, will have to helplessly follow through. However, if it is a concubine, as long as it becomes the concubine of the public, you can preoccupy the bed. There will be a cause to protect you from such shame and insult.”
“I’m sure it is, but why are you so far?”
“I like.”
Only then did I realize
“No, I love you!”
It was a humble confession.
“It’s embarrassing, but I adore it.”
Confession of love of a woman who was shunned by a demon called Elisabeth Mittemeyer.
“Gong was the first to treat me equally, regardless of race. It was the first time that I was teased for being unnecessarily big, but they looked at me as a woman. Even more so, if even that appearance is the ideal type I longed for, how could I not want to keep it?”
I was really at a loss as to what to answer. It’s been a long time since I’ve faced such raw emotions.
“Will you accept my confession?”
It wasn’t that I didn’t feel suspicious at all. But those eyes mixed with courage and fear, these two hands trembling in fear of being rejected told me everything.
She was sincere
“Should I answer right now?”
“It would be nice if you would.”
“Well…….”
I felt remorse later. Anyway, it was because I doubted his sincerity. Nonetheless, I needed to discern who was approaching me with nefarious intentions. Because this was an iron rule that could never be yielded, and that must be adhered to in the future.
“I will be honest.”
But yes, aside from that, my suspicions were mean. It was a way of thinking that even a dirty male prostitute could not do. So I made up my mind and started apologizing for it.
“I cannot accept your confession. And it’s never because I don’t like your race or your looks or your background.”
“Then why…….”
“You were a knight, right? When this country was still a kingdom.”
“Yes, he belonged to the Millennium Wolf Knights.”
Elizabeth cautiously added.
“Is it because of my past?”
I shook my head with a single knife and denied it.
“I heard that the chief wolf you followed was very talented.”
“You mean Captain Erich?”
“Yes.”
“Certainly he was a gag. If it hadn’t been for the unfortunate incident on the day the civil war ended, His Excellency would still be fighting a war against the royalists.”
Apart from her own dignity, Beatrix’s strength was not widely known. So he would have snorted if I had said that a wolf’s strength could be compared to that of a queen in an ordinary person.
“Tell me more.”
“As much as I was a knight, I had enemies in the royalist faction, so I was in prison until I was pardoned by Your Excellency. And before he freed me, he put me in a sword fight to test my skills.”
But here Elizabeth was a knight. And even when Beatrix was still only the leader, a knight who directly faced the sword in the midst of that chaotic civil war!
“So what happened?”
“I dropped the knife in just two counts. But His Excellency noticed something interesting. Because he was a master indeed. He praised my skills, saying that it was the first time I received two sums at a time.”
All those who know Erich Wolf, the wolf of the kingdom speak in unison.
“The deceased captain, that is to say, Erich-san, took a similar test when he enlisted me into the Knights. It was a wooden sword, not a real sword, but even then, there were only two cases of missing the sword.”
He is the master of swords He is truly on the verge of unification. If it had not been for the disaster that occurred on the day the civil war ended, Bernhard would still be suffering from factional strife.
“Elisabeth, I actually saw a wolf swordsmanship once.”
“Were you acquainted with the captain?”
“No, but I knew another wolf.”
The kingdom’s wolves were not one. In my previous life, I knew another man called a wolf. He was one of the talents selected by the three great eagle owls. Like Erich Wolf, he was strong enough to be compared to that queen in terms of swordsmanship.
Even though at the time of her uprising I had decapitated her within ten seconds, the fact that I had bought her a little time against her inspired me.
“I heard from him that for all millennia, the wolf knights passed on the wolf swordsmanship.”
“Yes, the captain personally guided us one by one.”
What I need at this moment is force. He is the one who will fill this vacuum of power that has nothing to do with it right now. And I was thinking of Elizabeth as one of the right people. If there was a chance, I might have used it.
“Actually, I was going to enlist you.”
“Are you saying embrace?”
But no more. I no longer wanted a relationship full of lies and deceit.
“Yes, because I needed force.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t keep up with your words.”
Okay. I will be able to follow you soon.
“Elizabeth.”
“Yes, Lord Jungwoo.”
“You were a royalist. He doesn’t seem very loyal, seeing as he’s defected, but he probably won’t like Beatrix’s way either.”
Elizabeth hesitated for a moment, then nodded. That would be natural What would a dreamer, who is already discriminated against, do in prison? If I hadn’t climbed up holding on to the rope that the enemy leader had lowered, I would have met a miserable situation, a miserable death.
“You didn’t have a choice, did you?”
“…… Yes.”
“I did too.”
I don’t know, but we’re in the same situation.
“Since you have confessed your honest feelings to me, I will tell you all about it.”
So take it.
“I am a traitor to the Führer.”
I’ll throw myself into your heart, just like I did with Adele there.
“My true identity is not the prince of the East, but the Eagle Owl of the Black Orchestra.”
Moving on, I will reveal all of me to you.
“Elizabeth Mittemeyer.”
I will atone for such meanness and approach with the truth, not deceit.
“Would you like to kill Beatrix with me?”
It will reflect like a clear mirror and permeate calmly like still water.
“Please be my comrade, not my lover.”
Because that is my Seo Jung-woo method.
