The room was empty...or so Leor thought.
He closed the door behind him quietly, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead as his glasses slipped slightly down his nose.
His hands trembled, clutching a small folded piece of sheet music he'd copied during lunch.
It was quiet here.
No bustling hallways, no stares from nobles judging a commoner in uniform.
Just a piano and the moon.
Leor took a slow breath and sat before the instrument, fingers hovering nervously above the keys.
"Just for a few minutes…"
He murmured to himself.
"Then I'll leave."
The first notes he played were soft and hesitant.
Like footsteps testing the ground before stepping fully onto it.
The melody was a simple one.
Nothing like the grand concertos nobles admired.
But it calmed him.
Until the sound of a violin string broke the silence behind him.
—*Ting!
He froze.
His heart skipped.
Someone else was here.
When he turned, his entire body stiffened.
