Chapter 39: Blood Scandal (1)
This was supposed to be the night we, the students of the Academy, should cherish as the most memorable and one of the most precious moments of our lives. Graduating from the First Royal Academy meant so much to many people: success, honor, prestige, and the start of our metamorphosis into adult and professional lives.
Some of us had their weddings planned right after that event, some of us were going to be dispatched to other parts of the world to establish our own names, and some of us just wanted to embrace our loved ones and dance for our last night as children, for tomorrow we will wake up as the men and women who carry the future on their backs.
Yet evil resides within every soul, and in some, it takes away most of the good they can do and turns it into eldritch malice and impure maleficence.
That night in the academy, I watched two lives get destroyed. A student was murdered and a girl’s life was shattered to ruin. I was on the sidelines, watching how it unfolded in disgust while fully realizing that I knew nothing before.
This so-called noble high society is just another construct of man, and such things can be flawed and filled with evil.
***
—Earlier that Night—
It wasn’t as expected for certain characters how the day would pass.
Like many, the performance of Prince Liam and Lady Matilda has captivated many with its celestial theme and holy aura. And while Vivian wasn’t expected to live up to the challenge of being the following performer of those two talented individuals, her performance alone swooped the crowd off their feet and left them dazzled by her charm.
Her vocal skills weren’t in any way, shape, or form superior to those of Matilda, and her piano skills —while they could rival the best pianists— were slightly above the Prince’s skill. Regarding skill, she is right there among her peers, standing out only a little.
But her performance was truly remarkable, and the combination of her singing, playing, and emotive delivery was nothing short of flawless. She took a masterpiece from a legendary musician —a cultural atomic bomb so to speak— and reinterpreted it in a way that resonated with her own personal narrative.