At long last, the venue for Amelia’s performance was completed. I made my way out of the city and to the newly constructed venue for the final checks. I tried to be thorough—going up the stage, walking around the audience area, testing the sound quality from different positions with magic—and soon, I confirmed there were no standout issues.
“We can finally hold the concert,” I said to myself with a hand on my chest, relieved that the construction was finally over.
“Your Majesty...”
Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me and spun around—Amelia was standing right there with an apologetic expression.
“Amelia?! How long have you been there?”
“Reina contacted me earlier...”
“She did?”
Lardon chuckled. “Thoughtful as ever, that elf.”
Among my three executives, Reina was certainly the most prudent. She must’ve known that I’d want to inform Amelia of the venue’s completion after checking things myself.
“Perfect timing,” I said. “Take a look, Amelia—the venue’s all ready. I’ve looked over everything and it all looks good to go, but don’t hesitate to tell me if it’s lacking in any way for you.”
Amelia fell silent, just staring right at me. The guilt on her face grew more prominent.
“Amelia?”
“You had to do all this for me...”
“No, I did all this for myself,” I assured her. “I want to show you off to everyone. That’s all.”
“Show me off...?”
“You see, after living with monsters for a while, I realized that they don’t have a lot of entertainment,” I explained. “Now, I wouldn’t call myself an expert in recreation, but they’re far worse than me. They never had any such culture to begin with. They know that humans sing, but they only have the vaguest idea of what a song is. So, I want to show them—through you.”
“But even so, it didn’t have to be such a grand undertaking...” Amelia muttered guiltily.
“Hmm... I met Lardon at a fairly early stage,” I began. “Oh, I suppose I could say the same for my teacher...”
“Er... What do you mean?”
“I’m not quite sure how to put it into words... Truth be told, I can use magic the way I do now thanks to all the talented people I met earlier on. They showed me how marvelous it can be. Without them, I might not have been as impressed. I might’ve even dropped it altogether eventually.”
Amelia’s eyes grew wide. “Are you saying...you want me to fulfill that role?”
I nodded firmly. “Exactly. Amelia, you’re an incredible songstress—the best person I can ask of this favor.”
“But—”
“I mean it!” I insisted, speaking over her yet again. “You’re incredible. Really, you are. You must know that the monsters of this country, through their Familia contracts with me, have become rather humanlike. So, I want you to be their introduction to songs and music... Please.”
Amelia solemnly closed her eyes. All the guilt finally faded from her expression. “I understand,” she said quietly.
“Thank you!”
“Your wise words have resounded deeply in my heart. If I can be of any help, then I shall gladly cooperate.”
She was putting herself down again, but she said loud and clear that she would cooperate. With that, all our boxes were finally checked.
I’d set up over ten traps and measures to prevent any intervention from human nations. Scarlet had the diplomacy side all covered. The venue was built, sounds were all set with my magic, and we’d even prepared the best instrument for Amelia. And most importantly, Amelia herself was ready to give her all.
I’d been spending my days stacking up brick after brick for this performance, and finally every piece was snugly in place. All that was left was to hold the concert—and I had a feeling that everything was gonna turn out just fine.
I can’t wait!
As excitement came over me, I noticed that Amelia had been staring at me this entire time. The look on her face was...new. I wasn’t quite sure how to interpret it. She was silent, but her gaze was firm. “Is something the matter, Amelia?”
Slowly, she opened her mouth and said, “I wish I could have met you earlier too, Your Majesty.”
Her words left me incredibly bashful.
✦ ✦ ✦
Concert day was finally upon us.
My entire morning was spent patrolling our border along the Redline in several laps through the sky. By the time noon had come and the sun was directly overhead, Lardon finally asked me, “How long do you plan to keep this up?”
“Until everyone’s settled in the venue,” I answered without skipping a beat. I’d already decided to see this through to the end.
“All the monsters, hmm?”
“Yeah. Our human residents too, plus Dyphon and Paithon... All our citizens, basically.”
“Then you will enter last?”
“Yep.” I’d already prepared tons of traps and countermeasures along the Redline, but I was still patrolling just to be safe. “Think of this as my last measure. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something slipped past me at the last minute.”
Lardon chuckled. She sounded rather pleased, even a little playful.
“What is it?”
“Oh, I was just wondering... If I could go back in time, then there is something I would have liked to try.”
“And that is...?”
“Destroying everything you prepared and rendering all your preparation for naught.”
“Oh...” Well, that explained the mischievous undertone to her voice. I gave the hypothetical scenario some thought. “Hmm... It probably won’t turn out the way you’re expecting.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“Well, you must be expecting me to react the way I did when I first found out about what Tristan did to Amelia, right?”
“I am,” Lardon replied swiftly.
When I first met Amelia, I learned that Tristan had his subordinates coerce her into seducing me. I could understand their line of logic, but they’d chosen the worst person to take advantage of. Naturally, I was enraged—but Lardon ruining the concert wouldn’t be quite the same thing as that.
“I got mad back then because they forced Amelia to do something so absurd, and against her will too. But this concert is something I asked her to do. A favor, basically. If you ruined it, I’d be the only victim here.”
“Hmm... I suppose that makes sense.”
“Right? So, sure, I’d probably get a little mad...but that’s all.”
“I understand now.” Lardon huffed. “It seems I truly am dull to the intricacies of the human heart... Perhaps even prone to misunderstanding completely.”
“Are you now?”
“It has been very evident to me as of late.”
“Ohh...” Honestly, I was more curious about the intricacies of Lardon’s heart. She said that she could hardly understand humans, but far from being frustrated, she seemed rather amused by that realization.
My aerial patrol continued for a while longer. I circled the border from the sky, over and over, until finally I received a message via the Liamnet. I slowed to a halt and hovered in the air as I opened it up.
“Master,” came Reina’s calm voice, “our entire population has settled into the venue.”
“Everyone’s there,” I told Lardon. “It’s time to go.”
“Are you not going to prepare one last measure?” she asked.
“Oh...” That was an option. I’d already prepared so much, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.
After giving it some more thought, I asked Lardon, “What do you think?”
“Hmm? Although I am none the wiser as to how humans think...you’ve already prepared plenty, so I suppose I will be the contrarian and say there is no need.”
“All right. Then I won’t.”
“Are you certain?”
“Your judgment is sounder than mine, even if you are just being a contrarian.”
Lardon chuckled. “Ah, now you make me feel responsible for the choice.”
I flew back toward the city then zoomed straight past it, making a beeline for the venue on the outskirts. The air was hot with excitement, even from the outside. Instead of landing back on the ground, I flew directly into the entrance, through the hallway, and emerged into the large concert hall. Then, I made my way to the VIP seat right in front of the stage. It was only there that my feet finally touched the ground.
Amelia’s eighty-eight-string zither was ready on the stage. All that was left was for her to step up beside it.
“WHOAAAAA!!!”
Before I could take my seat, however, the venue suddenly erupted into cheers.
But why? Amelia hasn’t even gone up on the stage yet...
It didn’t take long for me to realize that this venue was filled almost entirely with monsters, and they were cheering for me. I appreciated the sentiment, of course, but Amelia could never get onstage if they kept making all this ruckus.
I raised my hand, gesturing for them to quiet down.
Will this suffice? I wondered for a second, but it was a needless worry—the entire venue turned deathly silent the next moment. I could hardly believe that there were over ten thousand monsters—plus a few humans—in this venue. My ears were even ringing now.
For some reason, Lardon chuckled.
Before I could even ask her what was so funny, Amelia quietly walked up the stairs and stepped onto the stage.