Rage boiled hotter inside Elaine as she glared up at the man standing on the podium, Alain Lancaster, who kept a faint, composed smile as if everything below him had nothing to do with him. Elaine ground her teeth, wishing she could stuff the spiciest Nightclaw pepper right into his mouth.
Unexpectedly, when Alain offered a suggestion, the headmaster acted as if he were… delighted. His face brightened at what he perceived as a brilliant hint, and he nodded approvingly:
"For this little rascal Elaine, what she fears most is… silence."
Alain looked down at Elaine again; this time his gaze carried a seriousness that froze the entire auditorium.
"If I'm not mistaken," he said slowly, "she studies piano. Then this: first, go to the practice room and master the piece 'Illusory Impromptu.' If you can't play it well, I will propose a harsher punishment. Understood?"
Elaine felt struck by lightning.
The headmaster had heard from the Ravenhowl royal family that they intended to groom her into a gentle, refined young lady; that was why she had been made to learn piano from childhood. But… from childhood until twenty, she had never once passed the level-ten exam. And today? The headmaster had picked Chopin's hardest level-ten piece.
Elaine's eyes went wide."God! Illusory Impromptu…""So cruel…"
She whispered a plea:"Headmaster… I think running laps is still better…"
"Objection denied!" the headmaster snapped. "If you do not complete it, I will deduct extra dormitory points!"
Elaine choked inwardly, thinking, "Illusory Impromptu… cursed piece! I've practiced nearly a year and haven't improved at all!"
Chopin wrote only a handful of impromptus in his life. Among them, the Fantaisie-Impromptu is the most dazzling and fiendishly complex, its speed like demonic waves. Anyone who could play it had reached a transcendent level.
But Elaine, clever as she was, went pale at the thought of touching a piano. She'd rather climb a mountain to catch locusts or chase stray cats than sit and plunk out dry keys. So sentencing her with this level-ten piece was essentially forcing her into a kind of spiritual self-martyrdom.
Anger swelled in Elaine. She looked up with hatred at the man on the podium, the "honored guest." Did he think, because he was Alpha Lancaster, he had the right to torture people?
Alain did not shy away from that gaze. His dark eyes, cold as the night, held a hint of a smile as they met hers. Confronted by such a tempestuous little rascal, he found himself… intrigued. After all, she was technically his fiancée.
And secretly Alain felt fortunate he was the one who had come to Westbridge Haven in person. If the marriage had been arranged purely by parental decree and he'd married her without meeting her first… he dared not imagine the consequences. The entire Lancaster estate might be turned upside down by her mischief.
Having become the laughingstock of the whole auditorium, Elaine harvested a bitter truth: failed to steal a chicken, lost the bag of rice too. The level-ten piece was a nightmare; each key seemed to sneer at her while her face filled with torment. She hated the headmaster. She hated the man on the stage, smiling with hidden meaning, even more. God knew what she had done to deserve such an inhuman punishment.
She slammed at the keys with all her force. A musical catastrophe spilled from her hands, somewhere between a dying pig and an absurd melody.
The piano practice corridor was empty. Under the sickly yellow lights, a tall silhouette cast a shadow on the marble floor like the profile of an Alpha in the moonlight. Alain paused, his brows knitting when he heard the disastrous playing inside.
"Mr. Lancaster…" the bodyguard behind him started to say, but Alain signaled for silence.
"I want to cancel the headmaster's banquet," Alain said, voice low. "I will… enjoy the harbor view tonight."
"Yes, I'll report it immediately!" Adolf, Alain's long-time bodyguard, answered. He had also heard the horrific music.
Alain nodded and looked at the practice room. The corner of his mouth curved into an elegant, amused smile. Frankly, this little rascal had a full-bodied mischievousness. Especially the blaming, indignant look she had thrown at him in the auditorium, it caused a small, pleasant sting of conscience.
Walking past the piano room, Alain assumed Elaine was simply being a flirtatious troublemaker. So he decided to push the door and, on a whim, teach the "little naughty wolf" a lesson.
Later he would regret it so much he wished he could turn back time. If not for that impulsive kindness, he would not have encountered this fated little nemesis.
The door behind Elaine was gently pushed silently, almost unconsciously.
Moments later, the sharp, cursing voice of a fox-child rang out:
"You worthless man! Damn papaya girl! You papaya scum! I'll smack you all to death! I'll smack you all to death!!"
Elaine's small hands hammered the keys, each stroke violent.
She was indulging in her own "genius" form of venting, imagining each key landed on the face of Lancaster the pig and the papaya girl. The erratic pounding strangely helped her recall snippets of the melody and timing.
At the height of her chaotic "performance," a deep, low laugh sounded behind her.
The laugh seemed to seep from the very depths of a throat warm, lazy, and bearing the intoxicating aura of an Alpha, like a fine wine poured into darkness.
"Who…?" Elaine startled and spun around.
Her eyes were immediately seized by Alain's pupils black as abyssal night. That gaze flashed an unusual light as it fixed on her, making her heart skip.
Cold!Elaine slammed both hands down on the keys.
"So it's you! Haven't you done enough to me already that you come here to supervise?!" she snapped.
Enemy facing enemy; temper flaring to the sky.
Alain leaned against the door, casual, a wolf's smile at seeing prey.
"Playing… is not done like that." He tossed the remark lightly, as if on a breeze.
"What?" Elaine blinked. Had he been struck in the head by a door? She hated him, yet he showed no reaction?
"Ahem… this piano room is mine. I play how I want who asked for your supervision?! And don't act like your looks give you the right to bully others. Hmph! I'll make you see sense!" she muttered, reminding herself:
This man is clearly not harmless. If she counterattacked and failed, it would be disastrous. Her rule was always: to correct someone, first feel out their weaknesses.
Alain said nothing, he simply stepped forward. Each of his footsteps shortened the distance between them; the air in the room seemed to contract.
Elaine felt breathless. The practice room was spacious, yet his large silhouette made it feel cramped. She swallowed, pressing herself against the piano, spines of hair rising like a defensive hedgehog.
He continued approaching, his dark eyes locking on her like an Alpha locking onto prey.
"Hey! What... what do you want to do? Don't tell me you're petty enough to hit me! I'm just venting! I say that men who hit women have no integrity… are… are shameless!" Elaine backed away as she spoke, voice and stance bristling like a cornered pup.
Alain stepped until he was directly in front of her, lips curling with amusement. The sight of this panicked little girl revealed that, to some extent, his looming Alpha presence truly unnerved her. He reached out a hand, slightly bowing, his gaze darkening making Elaine even more alarmed.
"Hey, you…!!" Elaine flinched. "You really want to hit me?! I'm just a cute, capable little she-wolf! You can't...!"