Hidden talent

Tristan took the hit and fell on the ground, helpless.

Lady Eleanor brought a hand to her mouth, shocked. A servant instantly stepped in between to cover her and the group’s view.

“Lord Edward said to go back inside” he said.

Natsuo raised an eyebrow.

“No way, I can’t pretend I didn’t see anything.”

“These are orders of The Honourable” replied the servant and tried to push them away.

“The Honourable my ass” said Gregory. He looked angrily at him. “Let us pass, friend, I’m saying this for your own good.”

The servant hesitated, but didn’t give in.

“I can’t disattend the orders—”

“Shut up! Let us pass!” Eleanor shouted.

Everyone turned to her, startled. She looked very angry.

The servant reflected for a moment, then moved to one side.

“As you wish, my lady.”

Tristan and Lord Edward weren’t to be seen, but Eleanor ran toward the entrance of the house, followed by the group.

The duke’s voice could be heard from behind a door and they immediately went through it.

They found themselves in front of a long staircase leading down the basement. The room was narrow and poorly illuminated by the dim light of oil lamps. In the air, Natsuo sensed the same musty smell of Tristan’s hair.

They went down the stairs and, when they reached the basement, they found Lord Edward and Tristan.

“Now you’d better stay locked in your room for the rest of the day!” exclaimed Edward.

He grabbed Tristan by his hair and pushed him inside a dark room.

Eleanor’s eyes widened. “His… room?” she mumbled, shocked.

When Edward was about to close the door, she stepped up.

“Father! What are you doing?” she asked with a broken voice.

Lord Edward turned to her, frozen. How could she be there? He ordered his servant to take the guests away, why were they all reunited there instead?

“Eleanor, my dear, what are you doing here?” he asked, faking a smile.

“Why did you want to lock Tristan in that room?” Eleanor asked, concerned.

Lord Edward’s smile immediately faded away. In his face was now depicted an angry grimace.

“You too, on top of everything else! You want to defend that hideous brat instead of obeying your own father’s orders? What an ungrateful daughter I have!”

He approached her and was about to slap her, but Tristan suddenly got in the way, taking the hit in her place.

Tristan looked at his father directly in his eyes.

“Do whatever you want to me, but don’t touch Eleanor” he said.

Lord Edward looked like he was about to have a tantrum. Tristan never dared to talk to him while making eye contact.

“How dare you give me orders? Don’t forget you’re just a mistake. The worst mistake I ever made” he said through gritted teeth.

Tristan lowered his gaze. “Yes, father, I know” he mumbled.

“If you know, then go into your room and don’t exit for the rest of the day. You’re disgusting, trying to act as a hero!”

Edward raised his arm to grab Tristan, but someone blocked him.

Gregory was holding him in a tight grip with an extremely angry expression.

“How can you be so cruel? Don’t you have an ounce of respect for your son?” he said.

“It’s none of your business what I do with him, and I refuse to call this filthy brat my son” replied Edward.

Natsuo snapped his tongue, annoyed.

“Filthy brat, uh? You should stop talking before wasting too much oxygen with your nonsense.”

Lord Edward frowned. “Excuse me?” he said with disdain.

Natsuo approached Tristan.

“You heard me perfectly. I’m afraid you’re just too slow to understand that your son is a genius.”

Lord Edward glanced at him, in disbelief.

“What do you mean? He’s just a weird and depressed brat, how can he possibly be a genius?”

Natsuo smirked. “You know, sometimes you need to be a little quirky to have success.”

Natsuo handed Tristan his guitar.

“Try playing that song” he said.

Tristan shifted his gaze from Natsuo to the guitar. He wanted to try it, but he felt himself being pulled back.

What playing that instrument would have changed in his life? He was useless, there was nothing that could save him from his condition.

He reached out his hands to take the guitar, but immediately pulled them back, his eyes locked on the ground.

“You don’t want to try it?” Natsuo asked.

“I… I’m not good at anything, I already know it. There’s no point in trying it” Tristan replied.

Natsuo hung the guitar around his neck.

“And what if you’re good at it? You’ll never know if you don’t try. Believe in yourself, I know you can do it” he encouraged him.

Hearing those words, Tristan looked up, surprised. Did that guy just say that he believed in him? Was that even possible? Someone who thought he could be good at something… That was new.

“Don’t waste your hopes on me” Tristan said.

Natsuo smiled. “I have a feeling that my hopes won’t be wasted and my intuition is never wrong.”

Tristan lowered his gaze on the guitar hanging from his neck, then looked back at Natsuo. The latter nodded to him to encourage him.

Tristan stared at the instrument with an insecure expression. He felt a strange desire to play it, as if he was drawn to it by a mysterious force.

But, the more he desired to try it, the more he was frightened of failure. Nevertheless, the guitar's attraction was too strong. It was like a bright light: even if it blinded you, you couldn’t help but dive into it.

Tristan held the guitar in his hands as he had seen that boy do and plucked the strings.

His eyes sparkled. Finally he could hear that irresistible sound again!

He positioned the fingers on the fretboard and, slowly, tried to reproduce the song.

Gregory and Olive stared at him blankly: how could he be already so good?