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“Rosa, may I ask you a favor?” Vyn suddenly spoke in a soft, gentle tone. But somehow, there is a hint of something that the girl can't seem to recognize. “Of course, you are free to decline if it makes you uncomfortable. Do not worry about offending me.”
The two are currently in Vyn's garden for their weekly afternoon tea time. In this particular afternoon, Rosa noticed that Vyn is much. The psychiatrist is as gentlemanly as ever, putting her comfort above all else. He gave her another batch of unique desserts that he made for the first time and as always, he never ceases to please her sweet tooth. However, there is an obvious change in his aura. The air he gives out is more lighthearted than usual and he seems to radiate with… excitement?
As if he is looking forward to something.
Rosa perked up at the man's words. “As long as it's within my capabilities, I'll be happy to do it, Dr. Richter. What is it?”
The psychiatrist chuckled at the woman's enthusiasm and got up from his seat. He shared his musings with the young attorney as he walked slowly towards the large bushes.
“You see, I am recently reminded of your superb performance of the violin when I dueled against Ragnar a few months ago. I apologize, I did not praise you enough that day. The music you played that day was most impressive. It is a shame that I am unable to fully immerse myself in your performance.” He reached behind the bushes and to Rosa's surprise, and slight horror, pulled out a violin case. He turned towards her with his usual gentle smile, but this time, with a hint of excitement. “Would you grant me the opportunity to listen to it once again?”
‘No way!’ Rosa internally cried.
Needless to say that she is surprised by the man’s request and she can’t say that it is a pleasant one as well. Her situation right now is reminding her of her college years; it is as if Vyn is her psychology professor who suddenly called her out for a surprise recitation that she did not study for.
She took a peak at Vyn’s face and her resolve faltered a bit. Judging by his face, he is aware of her internal turmoil but he is just standing there, patiently waiting with his signature smile as if he was not the one who is currently causing her panic.
Meanie.
She can't help but pout. “This is a bit unfair, Dr. Richter, asking me to play a musical piece out of the blue.”
“My deepest apologies.” Vyn chuckled at her childish expression.
How adorable.
Now, the thing is that Rosa would gladly play for him. But she didn’t touch the violin for years! She switched to playing the guitar when she entered college. How is she supposed to perform for him when her violin skills are rusty?
“But I stopped playing it when I entered college.”
“Yes, you told me that last time. However, you still gave a splendid performance when you played for me back then. I am sure that if you play it now, it will be just as stupendous.”
“You have too much faith in me, Dr. Richter.” She deadpanned at the man before her and saw him staring at her with his eyes filled with eagerness, his expression akin to a child asking his mother to buy him a certain toy.
Did Vyn teach Marius that puppy-eyes look?
She finds it harder to refuse because Vyn is the one making that childish expression and childish is not really the word one would associate with him.
She finally caved in after glancing at the psychiatrist's face.
“Alright, I'll play it. But I'm going to apologize in advance if I mess up later.”
“I have faith in your abilities, Rosa. Thank you for indulging me.” Before we begin, let me take you to a place far more suitable to be your stage.” He picked up the violin case and gently ushered her out of her seat, leading her deeper into his garden.
Following the man’s lead, Rosa began thinking about what she should play. Her choices are more limited than she thought. Due to her severe lack of practice, she doesn’t have enough confidence to play other musical pieces that she can think of. With a defeated sigh, she turned to Vyn.
“Any song requests, Dr. Richter?”
Vyn tilted his head, pondering over a few moments before giving her an answer. “Hm, the piece you played the last time will be a wonderful choice for our first performance.”
Salut d'Amour, a musical piece written by Edward Elgar as an engagement present for his beloved Caroline Alice Roberts. It is also the piece that Rosa played to accompany Vyn's dressage in his duel against Ragnar, his cousin.
Wait.
Our?
Rosa threw Vyn a perplexed look, her current expression akin to a shocked and helpless one, drawing out another soft laugh from the man.
“I merely thought that it would be a delight to accompany your music with my piano. After all, the piece is originally written for the violin and piano.”
Playing the violin alone is already pressuring her enough, what more if she played with Vyn? What if she played the wrong note? What if she skipped a part? She shivered at the possibility of failure.
As always, Vyn sees through the woman and gently rests a hand on her shoulder. “Do not worry, just play the violin comfortably. The purpose of the piano accompaniment is to provide harmonic support. I will adjust to your violin's lead.” His eyes then softened. “You can always decline my request, Rosa. You do not need to force yourself.”
She shook her head and looked at him with a determined yet elated gaze. “I will play for you, Dr. Richter. I’m glad you loved my performance back then.”
With his countless encouragement and excitement to listen to her violin again, how can she bring herself to refuse?
They soon arrived at one part of Vyn's garden that has a large, open space. A black, grand piano is sitting in the middle of the space and a warm ray of sun bathes the instrument in a soft, golden glow as if it is a stagelight for their impromptu concert.
The sight is lovely to the eyes, but there's just one thing…
“Dr. Richter, why do you keep a grand piano here? Aren't you afraid that it'll get ruined by the rain?”
“I am not really worried. A certain friend suddenly dumped this in my garden, saying that she has no use for this piano. She gave me permission to treat it however I please, so I figured that placing it here would make my garden a bit more sophisticated. And playing the piano in such a relaxing and beautiful environment is quite a treat, no?” Vyn then ponders for a moment before looking back at her with a casual stare. “No matter, I can always purchase another one if it breaks.”
“W-What…” Rosa forgot that Vyn is also an insanely wealthy man; she still can't get used to rich people's mentality.
She watched Vyn elegantly take his seat on the bench and gently glide his fingers across the keys before facing her with a gentle yet elated grin. The scene before her came out straight from a fairy tale. The sun gives him an ethereal glow, making his golden eyes shine in an enticing way. His usual uniform, sans the lab coat, is enough to bring the air of dignity that pianists carry even in their finest clothing.
He looks absolutely divine.
She bets that he will look even better wearing a tuxedo.
“Rosa?” Vyn tilted his head in confusion. “Something the matter?”
Having caught staring at him, she shook her head aggressively and clumsily reached for the violin. “N-No! Nothing’s wrong!” She leaned her cheek against the instrument to her embarrassment.
The barely-contained laughter from the man does not help her regain herself.
She drew a breath and forced herself to calm down. But her muscles tensed for a different reason. She is about to play a music piece with Vyn but she didn’t manage to prepare herself. Her form stiffened, practically frozen.
“Relax yourself.” Vyn’s gentle reminder barely eased her nerves.
“But I don't want to fail you, Dr. Richter.” She let out her worries in a breath of a whisper. “Once I mess up, the entire performance is ruined. And it won't feel the same even if we try again.”
Vyn Richter is a man of perfection. He excels in everything he does and does them with ease. Treating his patients, drawing out critical clues in criminal cases through simple talk, and teaching masses of students; he is insanely good at them, his skills unrivaled by many. Hell, even something mundane such as making noodles from scratch or performing magic tricks, he does it well and the results are nothing short of perfection.
If he wants to perform a violin-piano duet with someone, then it should not be with her. As she repeatedly told him earlier, she did not play the violin ever since she entered college. Her skills are rusty and she is severely lacking in practice. Some techniques are already unfamiliar to her and she can’t remember the other music pieces she used to play. She dares not to compare her skills to the musicians who play in the concerts he faithfully goes to. But somehow, he claims that her performance that day is just as splendid. Why is that?
She already promised to perform this piece with him but as she stood there, holding the delicate violin with trembling fingers, her will started to waver once more.
“No need to overly concern yourself with failure. We are playing this piece out of our whim, purely for our enjoyment.” A low voice, full of gentle encouragement, brought her out of her spiraling anxiety.
She turned to him and saw his eyes brimming with affection and tenderness.
“It matters not if we mess up, we can always try again. But contrary to your worries, I will still enjoy playing this piece with you. What is most important to me is to experience new things with you.”
He’s right. The most important thing is that they are doing this because they want to, because they just want to have fun. Failing once does not mean that they can’t enjoy playing together anymore. Somehow, she is reminded of that one time she helped regain his confidence to perform a magic trick for her.
“I’m sorry I keep acting like this.” With a deep sigh, she summons her confidence once more. “Let’s do this, Dr. Richter.”
Seeing her determination, his gaze softens even more. “Whenever you are ready, my lady.”
At her signal, Vyn pressed his fingers against the keys, starting the song with a sound heavy with mellow timbre. The soft yet rich tone of her violin soon followed, slowly intertwining into a perfect fit. The piece is overflowing with unconditional love; the composer truly poured all of his feelings into the music sheet.
The atmosphere around them is charged with something ambiguous. Normally, Rosa would immediately try to break it in a stutter but this time she let herself bask in it, losing herself in the romantic tune of the song.
Pianists usually have their eyebrows furrowed, pouring all of their concentration on the violinist’s lead. But Vyn is different, his expression is as serene as ever, not worry etched in his face. There are no errors committed so far as they play the song, perhaps it is because of that. She thought that Vyn playing the piano would not really improve his handsome features that much but his charm enhanced even more than she thought. His refined elegance shined even more in this performance; his eyes hastily scanned across the piano keys but his fingers took their time to hit the notes, waiting patiently for the violin as if he knew how she would play the next notes.
It is like they are waltzing through music.
Growing more confident, Rosa freely moved her body to the alluring sound of her violin. With stolen glances, Vyn watched her slowly relax and become one with the music.
What an enticing sight.
He thought that his garden was already beautiful enough but somehow, the woman beside him exceeded his expectations once again. With her presence alone, his garden became livelier and the flowers gave a more vibrant glow. That red blazer of hers reminds him of the most exquisite roses, standing firm despite enduring the harshest storms.
Truly, she is the rose that brought miracles to his life.
Rosa’s playing started to dominate his piano, taking the lead of the song and Vyn couldn’t be more happier.
Vyn desires to be in control for if everything is within his control, anything is expected. And if anything is expected, then there is nothing that can cause him to lose his composure. It sounds like a dull life but Vyn couldn’t care less. But love is a violent tempest, bringing chaos to his carefully crafted walls he built between himself and others. No matter what he does, he cannot escape the raging storm, his desires becoming more uncontrollable each day.
In this new emotion called love, Vyn is helpless. Despite being well-versed into the psychology of love, he is inexperienced with this feeling. Witnessing the fallout of his parents’ relationship, he grew to despise love at first sight.
How ironic it is that it happened to him as well.
Did he inherit this foolish trait from his father?
But somehow, he feels that his situation is different. The woman who captured his heart cares for. She is fearless, kind and possesses a defiant sense of justice. Everyone around him dones pleasant masks that hide their true, rotten selves. But she is different, she is the same inside and out. She is honest with herself and stays firm to her principles.
He finds himself always bending to her whims but strangely, he does not mind it one bit. In fact, he relishes in the fact that she is allowing him to help her in certain situations, to be in her service. When it comes to her, he is simply helpless.
Just like how the piano accompanies the violin, he too will support her unconditionally.
Still immersed in playing, Rosa looks back at him with a vibrant grin. He is absolutely stunned; he can't find it in him to look away. He finds himself returning her smile with his own, his chest warm with an unmistakable, fuzzy feeling.
As the song gradually nears its end, the two kept their eyes locked on each other, searing the other's tired yet elated smiles into their memories. They let their muscle memory take cover and guide their fingers to hit the right notes for the sight before the person before them is a dazzling image that needs to be treasured.
They finally reached the end of the music piece and played the song’s final notes. Despite playing such a calming musical piece, their hearts pounded against their chests loudly.
Vyn locks his gaze to the woman before him and he finds himself enchanted for the umpteenth time. He takes in the relieved smile decorating her features as her eyes sparkled in unrestrained delight. As he expected, he falls deeper in love with her.
Hidden behind the notes he played is his confession of love, reserved to the rose shining brightly in his garden.