Chapter 27: No Way

“I’ll be looking forward to a wonderful performance.”

“I will do my best.”

Pablo bowed politely to Dorothy, who responded with a bright smile.

As Pablo turned away from them, his eyes briefly swept past Dien’s face. Their gazes met for a fleeting second.

‘Hm? What was that?’

Pablo was having the same thought as Dien. The face was certainly familiar, but he couldn’t figure out why it felt so close.

He couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling and tried to turn back toward Dien, but an orchestra member rushed over to inform him that it was time for the concert to begin. Pablo had no choice but to turn his heavy footsteps toward the stage.

‘He definitely looks familiar…’

The image of Dien’s face kept popping up, troubling him. He tried his best to erase the face from his mind to focus on the performance.

***

Pablo took hold of his baton and stepped onto the stage. The members of the orchestra rose from their seats in synchronization with his appearance, and a thunderous round of applause erupted from the audience.

*Clap, clap, clap!*

The performance began with a short bow from Pablo. The harmony of the instruments commenced with the grand sound of the brass section.

‘Wow, this is more impressive than I expected.’

Dien marveled at the beautiful harmony produced by the orchestra. The synergy of various instruments coming together provided an indescribable pleasure that made his heart swell.

“It’s truly wonderful.”

“Pardon?”

Dien spoke to Dorothy, who was sitting next to him, wanting to share the emotion he felt. However, perhaps the overwhelming moved feeling didn’t reach her. Unlike him, Dorothy’s expression remained indifferent.

‘It’s boring…’

Even while watching the orchestra perform, Dorothy was thinking about the street performer’s show. To her, the street performer’s performance was far more moving than that of the orchestra.

Unaware of this, Dien could only give an awkward smile at Dorothy’s reaction.

‘She’s a difficult person to deal with.’

Dorothy still wasn’t looking at him. He had anticipated this kind of situation and had mentioned wanting to see the performance with Zalz, but Persian Cherbil had insisted that he sit next to Dorothy.

Dien had wanted to refuse the suggestion, but Dorothy herself hadn’t rejected Persian’s words and sat with him.

Looking at the situation now, it wasn’t that she wanted to watch the concert with him; she simply hadn’t argued against Persian’s words.

Dien glanced at Dorothy’s face. He tried to strike up a conversation several times to break the awkward atmosphere, but she kept a sad expression and wouldn’t even give him a passing glance.

‘I should have just sat with someone else…’

Misunderstanding that she found him uncomfortable, Dien decided to focus solely on the concert. In a way, it was for the best. Since his first experience watching an orchestra was so mesmerizing, he could immerse himself in the performance without worrying about her.

Thus, the performance moved toward its end, tugging at the heartstrings of the audience.

“Thank you all so much for coming to see my performance today.”

Pablo, having put down his baton, turned toward the audience and spoke. He was giving his closing remarks before the final piece.

The audience listened intently, welcoming his greeting with loud applause.

“For the final piece, I intend to play a new song I recently released. But before that, there is a story I wish to share with you all.”

Pablo spoke with a deep smile, and the audience looked on with curiosity.

“A short while ago, there was someone who gave me great inspiration. Just watching that person’s performance made me feel as if I were going on an adventure into a new musical world.”

Pablo continued in a calm tone.

“Thanks to that person’s music, my blocked vision was cleared, and I realized that there is still an endless world in music, like a horizon. That is right. Before I knew it, that person became a mentor and a benefactor who expanded my musical world.”

The crowd began to buzz at Pablo’s words. To think there was someone who inspired Pablo, the Court Musician and the premier musical authority of Delos. The audience’s attention focused even more intensely on Pablo’s lips.

“Unfortunately, I can no longer hear his songs and music. He hasn’t shown himself for some time now. Therefore, this piece is a song I created to remember him forever in my heart. Please understand my lacking performance skills and listen.”

The people began to clap at Pablo’s explanation of the song. To think that Pablo, who was conducting today, would play an instrument himself. Since the audience knew he was a master of the violin, they expected to hear a violin solo.

However.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the instrument Pablo brought out was one the audience had never seen before.

“Huh!?”

Dien and Dorothy’s eyes widened at the instrument Pablo held. The instrument he had hidden behind the stage was a guitar, the very instrument the street performer used to play.

“Some of you may recognize this instrument. Those people probably know who the benefactor I mentioned is.”

At Pablo’s final words, the murmuring of the people who saw the instrument grew even louder.

Before the performance, Pablo had scoured workshops on his days off to get information about the street performer. During his search, he found a workshop near the Central Plaza. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get information about the street performer himself, but he was able to obtain the blueprints of the instrument he played.

Thus, Pablo had a custom instrument made exactly like the blueprints and finally held the same instrument as the street performer.

The audience realized that Pablo’s benefactor was the street performer, and some began to cheer loudly for the guitar performance they would hear after so long.

The street performer was already famous among the commoners. Even some nobles had seen his performance after hearing rumors about him.

“Oh my god…”

The person most surprised by Pablo’s actions was Dorothy. Unlike the other audience members, her body was visibly trembling.

Pablo sat on the floor in the same posture the street performer used to play and began to pluck the strings.

He might not have professionally learned the guitar, but he was producing a fairly decent melody. It was a display of genius befitting a musical prodigy.

‘So it was him…’

Dien, sitting in the middle of the audience, had a surprised smile on his face.

The overzealous audience member who had tried to jump onto the stage several times during his street performances. He had wondered why such a normal-looking man was acting that way, but to think he was Pablo, the Court Musician of Delos.

If that was the case, the musician Pablo spoke of was himself. He felt a sense of pride knowing that the busking he started as a mere hobby had musically influenced the Court Musician.

And just then, Dien saw Dorothy shedding tears beside him.

‘Ah, right. It’s that kid.’

It felt like finding a lost piece of a puzzle. The little lady who watched his busking until late at night. He had once joked from the stage that he was worried about her getting home late. Dien finally remembered that Dorothy had been his audience.

As Pablo’s fairly listenable guitar performance ended, Dien was the first to cheer and clap.

Hearing the cheers, Pablo looked toward Dien.

Despite the performance not being perfect, there was a man clapping harder than anyone else. His expression showed that he was truly moved by the performance. He even held up a thumb with a bright smile. Pablo hadn’t realized it when seeing him up close, but from a distance, it became clear.

‘That gesture…’

Goosebumps broke out over Pablo’s back. His mouth fell open, and his hands trembled. His breath came in short gasps, and his heart pounded.

‘Why didn’t I recognize him at a glance!’

It was the street performer he had longed for even in his dreams. It was the person he had prayed to encounter even by chance on the street.

Pablo had finally recognized him from the same distance he used to watch the street performer. Seeing him dressed neatly, unlike back then, it was understandable why he hadn’t recognized him. Pablo couldn’t even stand up properly after the performance ended. He kept rubbing his eyes to check if it was really him, as if the street performer appearing was a dream.

And,

The moment he became certain that Dien, sitting in his seat, was the street performer.

“Wait!”

A loud shout erupted from Pablo’s mouth. The audience, startled by his cry, stopped their applause.

“You… stay right there!”

Soon, Pablo threw himself from the stage into the audience. With eyes wide with grim determination, Pablo’s gaze was fixed solely on Dien. He was afraid Dien would vanish like smoke again and wanted to catch him even in this manner.

“What is it?”

“Is it someone he knows?”

The audience was in an uproar at Pablo’s sudden behavior.

Pablo was a man who had never performed an unexpected action during a concert. In fact, no Court Musician in history had ever done such a thing. Yet, the man praised as the greatest musician in Delos had shouted and jumped into the audience seats without warning.

The orchestra members all stared at Pablo in shock while holding their instruments, and the confused audience rose from their seats to watch him run.

And at that moment.

Pablo approached Dien’s side with an overwhelmed expression.

*Huff… huff…*

Pablo took ragged breaths to catch his wind. Then, he lifted his head with a determined look in his eyes.

Seeing this, Dien spoke before Pablo could.

“It was a wonderful performance, Court Musician. And… I apologize. I misunderstood you as a nuisance of an audience member all this time.”

Dien bowed politely to Pablo and apologized. At that apology, Pablo’s lips began to tremble as if caught in a violent storm.

“I am so glad… that I could see you like this…”

Pablo’s voice shook as he faced Dien. He thought he would never meet him again due to the rumors surrounding Dien, but the current situation felt like a dream.

He had many things he wanted to say to Dien. Recruiting him as an orchestra member was secondary. He wanted to share his own musical history with the street performer first. While listening to his musical history as well, of course.

However, Pablo knew that the concert was still in progress. It was a situation where idle chatter was not permitted, and his actions could even become a problem.

Having finished his thoughts, Pablo handed the guitar he was holding to Dien.

“Everyone!”

Once Dien took the guitar, Pablo raised his voice toward the audience.

“I introduce to you the owner of the song I played… and the musician who inspired me!”

The murmuring of the audience grew even louder at Pablo’s words. Furthermore, those who knew the rumors of the street performer moved busily to get a better look at his face.

“It’s the street performer…”

“Right! It really is that street performer!”

“To think he came to the concert hall! Which family is he from?”

The concert hall was noisy for quite some time due to the appearance of the street performer. But Pablo’s eyes never left Dien.

As the chaotic atmosphere finally began to die down, Pablo bowed politely to Dien and spoke.

“May I take this opportunity to ask for a performance from you? It is an earnest request from someone who has waited for you for a very long time…”

“Master Pablo…”

Dien was startled by his words. He bit his lip as if troubled, but soon gave a faint nod.

Following his agreement, Pablo raised his voice again.

“Everyone! I wish to request a performance from this musician here!”

The audience’s murmuring grew louder at the endless series of unexpected events. However, the crowd soon began to pour out loud applause for Dien. The musician who inspired Pablo. Moreover, as the word spread that he was the street performer from the Central Plaza, the audience’s applause grew as large as their expectations.

And.

Watching this scene, Dorothy froze in her seat with her eyes wide. She finally began to really look at Dien’s face.

“No… No way…”

With that, Dorothy felt as if her heart were dropping into her stomach.