Devil’s Music

Chapter 244: Begin Again

Blinking slowly, Leonthin Price turned her head away from her guitar and locked eyes with Sharon sitting opposite her. Seeing Sharon nod solemnly, she then cast her gaze out the window. The damp smell that muddled memories brought into focus the shower pouring down from the Irish sky outside.

The rain, seeming to have torn a hole in the sky to descend, felt more humid and damp than the refreshing showers back in the States. Inside the ballroom of Slane Castle, the echoing sound of the rain burrowed into her heart, and both Sharon and Gun, who had been gazing at her with persuasive eyes, turned to watch the rain spilling outside the window. After a moment, Leonthin Price looked up at Gun again. His steadfast, trusting gaze prompted her to speak in a slightly cracked voice.

"I have already announced my retirement, Kay."

Gun looked down at her with serious eyes, his mouth twitching. After chewing over his words for a while, Gun carefully opened his mouth that he had been holding back.

"What was the reason for your retirement, Professor Price?"

Sitting down, Leonthin Price neatly placed her hands together and lifted one of her wrinkled hands.

"It's because I've aged. In opera, the harmony between actors and staff is crucial. Forcing them to practice to match my stamina is a burden. The same goes for my life as a professor. Standing to lecture for two hours a day has become too much for me."

She finished speaking and gazed out the window with regret in her eyes. After a moment of silence swept through the ballroom, Sharon's guitar filled the room with music again. Sharon played quietly, Gun opened his mouth, feeling the round room's resonance.

"Don't use youth as an excuse for your shortcomings,

The greatest enemy of dreams is fear,

The biggest mistake you make in life is,

Being too afraid to make a mistake,

That you don't dare to challenge."

Caught off guard by Gun's beautiful voice, Siara stepped back in surprise. Leonthin Price trembled slightly at Gun's song. After finishing, Gun spoke softly.

"You remember this song, right? It's the last message you delivered to the world at your last performance."

Leonthin Price chuckled self-deprecatingly and nodded slightly.

"Yes, I remember. I sang it."

Though Sharon stopped playing, Gun began to sing again.

The last song I want to convey to you

Is only that you dream,

Whether young students or older adults,

If there are dreams yet unfulfilled, confront them.

That's the last word

I want to convey to you.

As Gun recited the last song from Leonthin Price's performance, her trembling hands became more pronounced. Noticing her change, Gun said in a deep, clear voice.

"An elder has lived a life with music. Never stepping away from music throughout life, but never bound by it either."

Leonthin Price looked up at Gun's resonant voice. Sharon, watching them, placed her hands on the guitar strings again and played quietly, murmuring in a low voice.

Age is a sneaky communicator,

Secretly revealing its thorns.

How splendid is life as communication,

For you to protect yourself,

Even if you bleed into the muscles draped over your thorns,

It's all for you to be pricked painfully,

I extend my hand to you again.

As if divided into black and white on the keyboard,

Fate's semitones are intertwined.

Don't be bound by the resonance of capital,

Until the blood that survives you flows,

Breathe deeply.

After Sharon's lengthy monologue, resembling a song or a soliloquy, she put down her guitar and looked directly at Leonthin Price.

"Do you remember, Professor? When Professor Richard, Professor Corigliano's teacher, passed away, you told us in front of his coffin. I can never forget those words."

Leonthin Price, looking back and forth between the two with a bewildered gaze, sighed and looked out the window again. The rain seemed like strings of a guitar from heaven to earth, and the leaves fluttering in the wind and rain looked like piano keys. The wind playing those strings and keys continued its performance from left to right, top to bottom. After a while, she sighed deeply again.

"I've already retired. Ho ho..."

Watching her elongate a self-deprecating laugh, Gun turned his head to Sharon.

"Professor Sharon, do you know Phil Collins?"

Catching on to what Gun was implying, Sharon smirked.

"Of course, a drummer and singer-songwriter from England."

Gun nodded at Leonthin Price.

"Phil Collins was a world-renowned musician like you, Professor. He announced his retirement in 2010 after his cover album 'Going Back' due to complications from spine surgery that made it impossible for him to play. However, he returned five years later. He wanted to show his children him performing on stage, but he toured in

East Asia and Australia without his children. So, what was it for that he overturned his retirement?"

Leonthin Price massaged her face and bowed her head. Gun placed his hand on her shoulder and knelt on one knee.

"You know, Professor. Why he came back."

When she raised her head, two streams of tears were flowing down her cheeks. After wiping the tears with her hands, she took a deep breath.

"He must have wanted to make music as long as he could breathe."

Gun wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks with his hand.

"That's right, Professor. You know better than anyone. Unlike me, who only knows in theory, you are experiencing it in the present. Reversing retirement isn't shameful."

Leonthin Price, facing Gun, chuckled softly.

"But as I said earlier, what I've done involves coordinating with others. I can't just think of myself and cause harm to others, Kay."

Gun shook his head vigorously.

"Have you been doing opera all your life, Professor? Or have you been doing music?"

Her eyes widened at Gun's words. It took a while for the focus to return to her eyes, which had momentarily lost their sharpness. Noticing her changed gaze, Gun quietly left her side and sat next to Sharon. Sharon gave him a thumbs-up as if to say 'well done.' Gun wrapped his smiling face around her raised thumb and sat down, listening to the rain with Leonthin Price.

'Revered Professor. You already know. What decision is right.'

Noticing Leonthin Price's slight movement after a long silence with Sharon, her expression was now full of vitality. Alternating her gaze between Sharon and Gun, she smiled brightly.

"I'm the professor, but I've learned from my student, Kay. Yes, I did music, not opera. Music isn't just about opera."

Gun stood up abruptly and rushed over.

"That's right, Professor!"

Sharon also stood up and approached Leonthin Price, hugging her from behind.

"If the conditions aren't right, then we do music that fits the conditions, Professor."

Leonthin Price smiled softly at the two.

"Would pop music suit my voice?"

Gun wiggled his index finger and laughed.

"There's also a genre called popera. I don't know much, but if Professor tries that genre, existing popera singers might not even dare to present their business cards in front of you. Haha."

Leonthin Price covered her mouth with her hand and lightly slapped Gun's back with the other.

"Ha ha, flattering. But thank you, I feel good."

Sharon, hugging Leonthin Price from behind, pressed her cheek against hers.

"I'll help you, Professor."

Leonthin Price, holding Sharon's arm around her neck, smiled sweetly and shook her head.

"No, I'll try it on my own."

Sharon was about to retort but ended up smiling lightly, respecting her decision. As the atmosphere lightened, Siara approached with a puzzled look, having received a whisper from a staff member.

"Is that true?"

The staff member nodded several times.

"Yes, Director. What should we do?"

Siara rushed to the three and looked at Gun.

"Uh, Kay! Does anyone else know you're here today besides us?"

Gun tilted his head in confusion.

"Huh? Why?"

Siara quickly approached the window and looked outside, then turned and shouted.

"Outside! Thousands of people are gathering!"

"Really?"

At Siara's words, Gun ran to the window and saw thousands of people cheering at the sight of Gun through the window, braving the rain.

"Wow! It's really Kay!"

"We did well to believe!"

"Woohoo!!!"

Gun covered his eyes with one hand and muttered softly.

"My goodness... Lizzie and Daniela were there yesterday..."

Siara, also looking outside, asked.

"What should we do? According to the staff, it seems people are surrounding the entire castle. There's no way out."

Gun sighed deeply and stood in front of Leonthin Price and Sharon with an apologetic expression.

"Actually... It seems that the people I was with when I was introduced to this place yesterday spread the word that I would be here today. There are so many people gathered, what should we do? Will you go out first? I'll find another way out."

Sharon, peering out from the window sill, chuckled and shook her head.

"Thanks to my popular student, I'm having a unique experience. Hmm... What should we do..."

Leonthin Price, always smiling gently, looked at the two.

"What do people want? Just to see Kay's face, did they brave this rain and come all this way from the city?"

Sharon, leaning against the wall next to the window frame and crossing her arms, replied.

"I wonder, do they want to hear Kay's music?"

Leonthin Price clapped her hands and nodded.

"If we

know what people want, we can give it to them and find a way out."

Gun looked at her in surprise.

"Professor? Are you suggesting we busk here?"

Leonthin Price winked at him.

"Is there a reason not to?"

Gun looked at Sharon, who was already picking up her guitar.

"Let's give them what they want and leave. Ha ha, Siara? Can we borrow an amp?"

As Gun turned to Siara, she was already instructing her staff to move the amp outside, her face bright with excitement.

>

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