Chapter 12: Flora Kocco"s Realization
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"I think the Callum twins came?" Flora went back to the dressing room with the Azure Nightingale and told her as she seemed to be unaware of it.
"I heard they weren"t coming though. But despite the fact that the lights were dimmed during the performance, you spotted them well."
"I was focused on playing the piano so there"s no way I"d have seen them."
Moreover, she used a bit of light to be able to see the sheet music so her surroundings was quite darker than normal. From Flora"s location, other than Nora and her sheet music, she"s only able to see the customers in the front row.
"Then how did you know?"
"Because the female staff were mumbling noisily as they went out of the restaurant."
If you"re a member of the n.o.bility, you surely would have heard of the unexpected cancellation of the engagement between the Callum twins and Nora, and would have kept your distance from them.
But for commoners, they just see them as nothing but the dashing sons of the marquis. There"s no way they wouldn"t make a ruckus upon seeing them.
"Indeed, they"re good-looking. Those two." She nodded as though she was a complete stranger to them.
They came to listen to Nora"s songs. In other words, they came to see Nora.
It was good that Nora and Elias became "friends" but they"ve been progressing slow.
They get along well and Elias still pursues Nora but it doesn"t seem like his feelings have been fully transmitted to her yet.
As Flora had been watching them closely, she hoped for their relationship to step up a bit.
"That reminds me, I wanted to talk about something."
"Oh, how unusual."
Nora"s actively seeking guidance, does she perhaps want to take a step forward?
"It"s about the compensation money." Flora regretted getting excited by herself.
As expected, there"s no progress today as well.
Feeling relieved, bored, and all sorts of complex emotions, she took the files she left behind.
Flora"s the heiress to Baron Kocco and currently studying Management. Since her father"s business was large, it"s not enough to just inherit the t.i.tle.
First and foremost, she had to manage the cash flow of the restaurant.
"Are you still studying today? You"re awesome, Flora, thinking about the future."
"Don"t you think about the future, Nora?"
Since they were on the topic, Flora decided to pry and return the question as she placed her hand on lip as if to contemplate.
"The Kranz family will be succeeded by my brother, Perre, and I will probably get married into another household."
"What about Elias?"
Caught off guard, Nora blinked several times in shock.
"But we"re just friends. Our family status is also different. He"s handsome, got long legs…"
She didn"t quite hear everything but she was sure Nora didn"t hate Elias.
"I don"t think Elias cares about that. In the first place, he had already tried to get engaged to you, right? But of course you were unaware."
"Yes, but it had already ended up like that so won"t it be difficult? Besides…"
"Besides what?"
"Besides, if I marry such an upper-ranked n.o.bility, won"t I have to quit singing? That"d make me sad. It"s my only redeeming talent and I enjoy it very much."
So that"s her reason for turning him down, huh.
For Nora, singing was both a way to earn money and a hobby she enjoyed.
Indeed, the wife of an upper-ranked n.o.bility singing in front of the public and even serving alcohol at a restaurant has been unheard of. Such behavior would normally be frowned upon.
"If the Azure Nightingale stops singing, everyone would surely be sad. But well, you can discuss that matter with Elias."
"Yeah… Huh? No, whether I discuss it with him or not, it has nothing to do with him…"
"Uh huh."
From her perspective, they were more than friends but less than lovers. But Nora didn"t seem to be aware of it.
Which son of a marquis would come and listen to the performance of a baron"s daughter and even pick her up every time if she"s just a friend?
Nora"s too focused on her part-time job and has little experience in love so she thinks what Elias does is nothing out of the ordinary and just a consequence of the messy cancellation of the engagement.
Even though she wanted to explain to her how different it is, she also wanted to continue watching over them as Elias tried his best to pursue the oblivious Nora.
It"s not just because it"s interesting. Probably.
"Well, a wealthy commoner would be the best choice after all. You"d be able to continue singing as it is."
"Huh?"
"There would be no need for an intermediary and you"d be free to choose whoever you want. If it were me, I"d at least choose someone with a handsome face. It"d be easier to get along with him that way. I suppose this really would be the best option."
"What are you saying…"
Nora wasn"t quite a beauty. She"s not objectively beautiful but between the pretty and unpretty category, she"d definitely fall into the pretty category. And when she"s singing on stage, her attractiveness increases by 30% so she has garnered quite a lot of male fans.
However, Nora"s self-esteem was rather low. She"s always felt inferior because her mother and brother were both good-looking. Her lack of self-confidence was also due to her financial situation and therefore inability to invest in high-end fashion clothing.
And to make it worse, the handsome twins have been hanging out with her a lot recently.
One time, she wanted to give her a full body makeover. Surely, she must be able to outshine other women when dressed up. However, Flora couldn"t help but feel shaken by the end result.
Nora even just fixed her old dress and continued using it when she performs as the Azure Nightingale. Perhaps because the restaurant was dimly lit, she thought the damage was hardly noticeable so long as she fixed it.
…Hold on, that"s not what we should be talking about now.
"I think you"re also lovely, Nora. But do you think you can choose your marriage partner just like that?"
"That was originally my plan for the sake of our household. Even though I"m also a n.o.bility, I never dreamed of marrying someone I like. After all, we have nothing but the t.i.tle, and we"re also poor and deep in debt. I"d be grateful if anyone can pay for our debts."
Flora furrowed her brows. Even in the face of problems, she doesn"t fail to remember her status as a n.o.bility.
"Then, aside from paying for your debts, you"d be fine with someone who will let you continue singing?"
"Anyone"s fine. But preferably someone not older than my father."
That"s too low a standard for a guy. Won"t everyone be acceptable then?
"Hmm, so that"s your requirement. Got it."
"Also um, I feel bad for Perre, but I want to leave home. If I can continue singing and live independently, that"d be perfect. I know it"s difficult though…" Nora noticed something in Flora"s tone and started explaining in a hurry.
But that"s not where the problem lies.
"…I got it. I"ll let him know for sure."
"Let him know?"
"Don"t you have to talk to the twins? Go on."
"Ah, yeah." Giving her a smile, Nora left the dressing room.
It wasn"t like Nora hated Elias. But more like, she wasn"t aware of her feelings nor the feeling of being liked.
Even if she was, she might want to continue being friends because of the difference in their social status and her lack of self-confidence.
This may not be interesting anymore if she only kept watching.
If a wealthy merchant proposes to her tomorrow, there is a high likelihood that she would accept it right away.
She needed to tell him about this problem.
"I really never get bored of watching Nora." Flora laid the files on her desk and heaved a sigh before drinking her tea.
Author"s Note (A/N):
Due to popular demand, this chapter marks the start of the sequel arc of "My Engagement Got Broken, But I Don"t Remember Getting Engaged in the First Place".
It will be like a series of short stories written from the perspective of characters other than the protagonist, Nora.
If you like it, please continue reading.
T/N:
So, this series originally ended in the last chapter (too short, I know), but because of the request of the readers, the author decided to extend it with a few more chapters which will be written from the other character"s POV. Did you like Flora"s POV?