Chapter 11: #10 Anastasia Aurora (2/2)

 

The soft tunes of piano continued to play, as Aurora basked herself in the melody. Her eyes closed, entranced by her own thoughts. Her fingers danced along the keys as if they had life of their own, sweeping across with dexterity.

Then the complexity of the rhythm changed, and it grew faster, angrier as if it contained the feelings she had been keeping inside.

"?!"

Till the last stretch of the melody, as she was about to finish them... a sleight of hand had replaced her sliding fingers, overlapping with hers yet always a note ahead. The final few keys were played to perfection, yet Aurora was perplexed, having the satisfaction of ending the piece stolen before her very eyes.

Before long, her unoccupied fingers slowly stopped, as she became absorbed by the tune played by another.

Aurora glanced up. She must have been too focused to not realize that someone had snuck up to her like this. And this person, this boy who seemed to be the same age as her... he didn't look familiar.

A foreigner from the East? He wasn't a part of the family's servants, that's for sure.

Before she could begin to question why her caretaker Baul had let someone else in during her recreation time,

"Caprice, No. 5." The boy said coldly in a slight Asian accent.

"Eh?"

He mumbled something in a foreign language, and halfway through realized something.

Was he trying to redo his introduction?

Aurora found him a little interesting.

"It's the first time I've heard it on the piano. Did you transcribe this melody yourself?"

Ah, he can speak Russian fluently.

Although Caprice was a famous piece created by the Italian composer Niccolò Paganini, it must've still taken quite a bit of flair to complete the final few notes on his own. Not to mention the boy's remark on her own rendition of the piece, it made her efforts feel recognized for some reason.

Although she had servants who would praise her as she learnt new and difficult things meant for adults, Aurora felt a different kind of satisfaction from the unintentional approval of this boy.

... Recognition? Why did she seek recognition?

"I, uhm..."

Feeling out of her element, Aurora merely nodded meekly. She looked back up at the boy only to find that he was still observing her with a nonchalant look. The little girl blushed and looked away, quickly starting another piece to relieve herself from her own awkwardness.

The boy didn't say anything else, and listened from the side. Melody filled the room again. A lull in the summer sky. The girl felt a thrill playing a piece for a private audience.

"...D-Do you play piano too?" She stuttered amidst her flawless playing.

"Not really." The boy glared at his hands,

"Feels easy enough to learn in a day, if it's just this much."

Not knowing how to reply to that seemingly boastful statement, Aurora suddenly started to giggle.

Cocky? No, it was amusing. Confidence that exuded certainty. The boy didn't look his age at all. Aurora's interest was piqued.

She shifted to the side, and patted the seat beside her as if to accept his challenge.

"Oh really? Fufu... you're underestimating piano, you know?"

"...Yeah?"

The boy took the invitation emotionlessly.

"...!"

"Is something wrong?"

"N-No, let's begin?"

He sat down beside the girl, unaware that their shoulders had touched.

Immediately, he began to work his fingers. 

Improvising piece after piece right after he'd heard it once. Aurora felt it first hand, the unfairness and talent of a genius. If it was him, he would become someone influential in the near future.

Time passed by pleasantly for the little girl, but as she started to play slower melodies, thoughts of who the talented boy really was, filled her head. 

And why did he look at everything with such disinterested eyes?

---

A boy who had not even reached the age of ten. To think that someone this young was already a economical behemoth.

It was not surprising that Aurora had come to the same conclusion as him, that the boy was merely a substitute for the actual hands behind the company. So he simply stayed silent and kept his thoughts to himself.

Aurora frowned. How was it possible?

She too, understood how difficult this was. It wasn't simply a matter of talent anymore like the piano. This was on a whole new level, something that was surely bound by age and experience.

Aurora felt a compulsion in her heart. There was no one like him before, save for the one individual she'd always looked up upon.

Cold and smart, a reliable figure that she would always chase the back of. 

Before she'd realized it, her broken heart deep in her unconsciousness started to race.

Weird. Aurora felt that she was becoming weird. But she didn't hate this feeling. 

Perhaps, if she stayed with the boy, talked with him more, she would understand this feeling?

"Where is he now!"

Baul became startled by the girl, who'd stood up from her seat. Her eyes seemed to be filled with certain obsession.

"I-If nothing changes according to schedule, Tachibana-sama must have already begun negotiations with the mistress in the guest room... Young miss, wait!"

Without waiting for him, the girl kicked off her chair and exited the dining hall, her face filled with a certain... expectation.

And as she reached the doorstep, Aurora leaned in and peeked.

Her mother was seated on a leather couch, with a few bodyguards in tow.

The boy too, had two female escorts. He was wearing a business suit, unlike the casuals he wore earlier.

This person looked so much different.

The boy, whom she'd seen his cold, expressionless demeanor in the afternoon, was now smiling and exchanging pleasantries with her mother. And her mother too, seemed infatuated with his sweet talk, and was already giving in to her side of negotiations on the sale of firearms.

Her mind was blank, unable to understand, unwilling to understand the change.

She should have been able to understand, if she'd thought with a clear head. Business was like a dance, and the boy was merely putting on a mask for his own gains. But Aurora wasn't able to follow her head well at this moment.

Her heart felt crushed and sour. It was to the extent that she even felt a small urge to pull out the handgun hidden underneath her dress.

When she came to her senses, Aurora's shoulders drooped down.

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...What did she expect anyway. Chasing after him all the way here. What did she want from this?

Unable to understand the growing void in her heart, Aurora left. Wherever her feet took her, she walked and walked.

Before she knew it, the girl was already outside of the mansion.

She stood before a pile of gravestones.

Why was she here?

"Aah... Why am I feeling like this."

She didn't understand herself. Was this the result of an imperfect education? She had been learning to become the perfect adult, too quickly for her mind to cope.

Aurora was still a child after all. Emotions, control over her own emotions was something she lacked.

Her eyes darted away from the names inscribed in stone, feeling like she wasn't supposed to be here.

The crows in the night startled her, and her legs slowly froze in fear. She realized then.

How far had she left from the mansion. In this island, there existed wild animals dangerous enough for a child like her.

And she was all alone.

But, it's alright. Someone will come save her once they realized that she was missing.

That's right, she just needed to hold out until then.

Hold... out... hold out...

How long has it been? Is anyone coming...?

...I... I'm scared...

 It wasn't supposed to be like this. [|||||||] was supposed to be here for me...

Words blurred out of her thoughts, but she knew who it was she was expecting to save her.

Aurora's heart throbbed painfully at that moment. For some inexplicable reason, tears had started falling out of her eyes.

A deep pit of despair slowly sunk in, almost as if to fill in a deep cavity in her mind.

The soulless void that only grew with each day as she sought for a figure that no longer exists. Surely, her mind had clearly erased such inconvenient thoughts to keep herself sane. She had the duties as the successor of the Anastasia family. She shouldn't break nor show weakness. That is what her [|||||||] had taught her.

But despite that.

Aurora alone wasn't enough to handle everything.

She had her insecurities, and she desired the warmth of family.

Aurora was just a little girl who wanted to be pampered.

Reach out. Reach out to someone who's no longer in this world.

Please save me.

"—So you're here."

A clear voice entered her ears.

"?!!!" 

Aurora opened her eyes in shock. And it was in that momentary shock that the girl had experienced 'imprinting' for the second time in her life. The first time had been when she was born, and she was cradled in the strong arms of her father. 

And the second one, this time sought to overwrite that experience. It burnt away the unpleasant feelings and replaced them with a newer, obsessive one.

"Ana-sama? Is there something wrong?"

The girl twitched as her name was called again. 

It was him.

It was him. It's him. It's him. It's him. It's him.

"Your mother's worried about you. You shouldn't wander around like this at night, look... there's already a sprain on your ankle. I've heard that there's wolves around this island. Who knows what will happen if one of them pick up on your trail... ummph!!"

Aurora hugged the boy tightly.

"..."

"...What are you..."

"...Папуля." She whispered softly, a faint blush on her cheeks.

The boy let out a troubled look with his arms left dangling in the air, unable to make out the situation.

When she finally let go, he finally continued,

"...Come, get on my back."

Without hesitation, Aurora climbed on and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"...Let's go home."

Her eyes glistened with moisture. Those words overlapped with what was said in the past.

What was this feeling?

This familiar warmth...

Even though she'd only met him for a day, while the boy looked just as emotionless as ever, Aurora felt like she could feel something hiding underneath.

She wanted to unearth it, as she desired to unearth her own feelings.

But she no longer thought much further, as the bliss of being carried by a reliable figure made her heart feel at ease.

The night seemed to turn just a little bit brighter.

And in her mind, she spoke these words,

"Yes... let's go back home, father."

 

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