Vol. 16 Ch. 16: One Year Later, at the Royal Palace

Beneath a cloudless summer sky, the sound of an orchestra and solo piano performance rang out from within the castle of the Ridill Kingdom.

It was "Piano Concerto No. 5," composed by the up-and-coming court musician Benjamin Molding.

The first movement featured a somewhat brisk melody, giving the impression that the solo piano and the orchestra's instruments were competing with each other.

In the second movement, it became a slower melody, before blossoming into a brilliant rondo in the final movement, as if flowers had suddenly burst into bloom.

The solo piano and orchestra that had competed in the first movement instead raised one another up in the third, changing so that they seemed to chase a single melody. The melody they played was rich yet brilliant, and it stirred the hearts of the audience.

Both the King of the Ridill Kingdom and the Emperor of the Schvargalt Empire, a state guest, seemed thoroughly pleased by the young genius's performance. They were giving the stage an enthusiastic round of applause.

While everyone else basked in the afterglow of the magnificent performance, Elliot Howard applauded with a vaguely uncomfortable expression.

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When Elliot hurriedly left the concert hall, he made eye contact with a woman walking toward him from the opposite end of the corridor.

Even in the practical indigo uniform she wore, the beautiful woman had a strikingly glamorous appearance. She was Elliot's former classmate, Bridget Graham...