Aux Diamants Hymn

. . .

After their tight conversation, Zeirenne was led back inside her room. She decided to take a shower.

In the middle of unwinding her bandage off, something clinked and upon surveying the floor, a twinkling thing caught her eyes. She crouched down to pickup the necklace she dropped on the marbled bathroom floor.

It was the butterfly necklace Jin gave her.

She immediately focused her hand on unwinding the bandage. After taking it off completely, a note revealed itself. She opened it to read the contents written in Jin's penmanship.

"I already took the GPS tracker off of your necklace. I'll find you at all cost from this moment on—with my own efforts. So please, don't take it off anymore. I'll be waiting for your reply."

She caressed the butterfly pendant while shaking her head.

As the evening grew deeper that night, Zeirenne found herself staring out of her window. With curtains drawn, and the glass slid open, she stepped out of the balcony to breathe the fresh air on that cold evening.

Her face was flushed from the slight chill lingering around the air with the moon barely illuminating the view she was gazing into.

Floors below her, a sparkling fountain was gleaming from the nightlight. She leaned her arms on the balcony to admire the neatly lined cypresses and palm trees.

At the same time, her necklace shimmered in the darkness.

It was another sleepless night for her, she could guess. Once again, she felt empty without even knowing why. Clueless enough to not know the question was a 'who'.

She raised her necklace up before wearing it around her neck.

As the cold metal touched her skin, her forefinger gently tapped on it with an uncanny sequence of beats. In a matter of seconds, she felt subtle vibrations that translated to: Good Night.

There she was spending some quality time inside her enemy's mansion.

Contrary to what's considered as normal though, she was not feeling even a slight panic. For someone who's been taken as a hostage, she had no other worries in mind—only the feeling of emptiness accompanying her for this evening.

'Emptiness' as she coined it... without even knowing it was the feeling of missing someone.

As the night grew deeper, she stepped inside her room. She tucked herself under the comfortable sheets that were changed by some of the maids during dinner. Somehow, Miura Takumi was nice enough to provide comfort before sending her to her demise. She sighed.

After a long rally of tossing and turning, she sat on her bed before jumping out of it. She looked at Mona Lisa before striking another conversation, "You can't sleep too? Hmm. Same."

She rounded the whole room while gaping at dozens of famous artworks on display. In the middle of checking another masterpiece, she stubbed her toe on a heavy mass.

"Ouch," she hissed before eyeing the huge object in front of her.

It was sitting on the corner; covered with a black cloth that was just as dusty as when she first found her bed. She covered her nose before wringing the cloth off. As it fell on the floor, the dust flew around the air. When they finally settled down, a grand piano revealed itself.

"Oh would you look at this," she exclaimed before lifting the cover up.

She ran her fingers on the keys and the entire room echoed the sound back, "I guess I'll have to play myself some lullabies for tonight."

Underneath the keys, she pulled a small stool out; stretched her fingers, neck, arms, and back with some crunchy pops before fixing her posture.

The moment she pressed her fingers on the keys, Miura Takumi stirred in his sleep.

All the men who were guarding both their doors almost popped their eyes out. What kind of hostage would dare to play the piano in the middle of the night?!

They all fidgeted on their tough stances, "Somebody stop that woman before Miura-dono wakes up!" one of them hissed in a shush.

"How about you try doing it? I don't know how to handle stubborn women," another one replied.

In their worst nightmares, the inevitable happened.

Zeirenne, who was playing some lively concerto as her 'lullabye', eventually reached the worst audience. Just when she started playing the climax, Miura Takumi sat straight up—gripping the sheets beside him.

"Willy!" he growled, "Kill that woman!"

"As you wish Miura Taku-"

"Tsk. Nevermind. I'll make sure she'll suffer the worst fate tomorrow!" he slumped back down on his pillows—grabbing another one to cover his ears with, "Damn woman!"

An hour later... Miura Takumi found himself staring at the ceiling.

His glares were enough to puncture a hole on the roof—as he mumbled on repeat, "I'm gonna kill this woman... I'm gonna f*cking kill this woman..."

Already formulating hundreds of ways to make Zeirenne suffer, his whole body froze when she started playing her eight song for this evening.

His body stiffened, eyes widened.

"Miura-do-!" resembling a lightning bolt, his men jumped out in shock as his figured went past them.

In a matter of second, Zeirenne's door swung open and she aggressively turned her head to face the imbecile who dared to barge inside her room.

Her intruder, however, had a more ferocious expression than her.

"Excuse me!" she stood out of her seat to collide with another storm, "I know this is your house but-"

"How do you know that song?!" Miura Takumi bellowed in anger—frustration and surprise apparent in his voice.

Zeirenne furrowed her brows from his question.

"I'm supposed to be the one asking you that. You know this song?"

Miura Takumi took a step closer, grabbing her on both arms, "Answer me!"

Zeirenne felt his grip tightening on her shot. If it was not sewed the way it was, she was sure her wound would have reopened. Thankfully, it was Jin who stitched it up.

With her ears still ringing from the intensity of his voice, she flinched while slightly inching her face away from his, "You're not in any position to know what that song is."

"I bet I am."

. . .