Tennis no Ouji-sama © Konomi Takeshi, Shuheisha, Inc.

- Act LI -
[ Melody Of The Past ]

Lily of the Valley had always been his mother's favourite flower. Its scent alone always brought him back to the stream of memories he had with her. After putting the flower pot near the window, he smiled as the brunette lady in the photo stared back at him. The photo encapsulated Lady Victoria Elaine Beresford back in the day when she was still a world-class pianist. In the photo, she was posing while playing her beloved white grand piano, smiling at the camera in her lime-coloured dress. He then went into his gramophone to play Wagner music she always loved.

When he was asked to move to Japan, Keigo was promised an abundant life in the country, which was kept by the man he was supposed to call father and mother. It was a promise they kept, even giving him the time until his high school graduation to do everything he wanted.

Thus, he arbitrarily spent their money to let them see his rebellious side. But it turned out his very existence in Japan, carrying the Atobe surname, jacked up the company stock sky-high so that they became more prosperous than ever. His revenge meant nothing for them. He didn't even need to do anything to give them more advantage. Keigo continued to use their money as he wished. However, none of that could replace the beautiful life he had in England…

His mother was an aristocrat and was given a castle where he lived his entire life in England. Though there were only two of them in such a big castle, never once did Keigo feel alone. Despite her busy schedule, she was always there for him. Sometimes, she would bring him to teach him things he'd need to know and would call him, "My little warrior" while patting his head whenever she praised him.

"How are you doing, Mummy?" he asked in English as he rested his face on his arms, smiling at the photo. "Lovely weather today, isn't it?"

The wind was blowing his hair, gently caressing his face as if the wind was his mother.

"Recently, things are not in my favour. Unfortunately…" He closed his eyes as his eyes fell on the court he decorated every day just to welcome her back. "There's this woman I love with all my heart. It's the first time I ever want to be with someone this much. Almost the same as I want to be with you now. She's a little bit clumsy…" He chuckled. "But I believe that she's going to be a fine lady just like you one day."

Keigo drummed his fingers on the sill. "Do you think we will ever get back together?" He sighed at the thought, wondering for how long the uncertainty had to choke him like that. "I can tell that she still has feelings for me but is it enough to make her fight against all odds to be with me? Her brother is a nuisance. How different is he from Cinderella's stepmother?" He rolled his eyes in annoyance upon thinking how hard it was to meet her with the Seigaku lot who approached her every day if not the brother himself.

"I'll make this clear, Atobe. Just because your securities are around her, doesn't mean you can."

But what was more important than her safety. He could just ask her to be with him but Keigo wanted her to be with him because it was her choice.

Just like how he chose her because she was the choice his heart made…

The soft knock on his door signalled the start of the boring engagement he had to attend—the garden party in the main house. It would mean he had to meet everyone he despised in the same place. Staring at the mirror, he fixed his hair and pulled his lips into a fake smile until his face adjusted to it. Wearing the penguin tailed tuxedo, Keigo confidently walked down to the garden, politely bowed at the guests and spared one or two tattletales before moving on to the other.

"Keigo."

He inwardly rolled his eyes but knowing that all eyes were on him, he turned around and said, "You look fine today, Otō-sama and Oka-sama.…"

Atobe Sōsuke and Fumie were known as one of the most influential power couples throughout the world. Most of the story coverages would tell how perfect their wedding was—harmonious and blessed. None of them would ever cover the truth with the sum of money Sōsuke paid to silence them.

Sōsuke, despite being wealthy, was tall and skinnier than the average wealthy man due to his poor health. He inherited that beauty mark below his right eye as if it was the sign of being an 'Atobe'. His high cheekbones and square-shaped face accentuated the sharpness of his eyes that was still glimmering with ambition. Ever since Keigo entered the room, he didn't even spare a glance at Keigo. For him, Keigo was useful as far as carrying the important label of 'Atobe inheritor'.

Fumie spared a dejected look with her foxy onyx eyes at him when no one was looking before setting that false smile back on her face. Her up-do hair showed her long neck which allowed her to easily spot prominent faces that were useful for her future needs at every party. As an ex-model, the woman maintained her look and still managed to charm many even in her forties. That was if you were seeing her from her back because upfront, she looked like a wicked witch.

"Keigo." The way Fumie said his name was as if there were thorns in his name.

Not that he ever expected Fumie to treat him kindly.

Who would when he was an illegitimate child that was born in their so-called perfect marriage?

The only reason she accepted Keigo into the family was the plummeting stock price of Atobe Corp. when his great-grandfather passed away. With her grandfather's age and Sōsuke's unfit condition due to his heart problem, there was a growing distrust among the stakeholders.

Sōsuke found out about his existence in England at the same time his real mother fell into a vegetative state due to brain cancer. With her inability to attend the concert and engagement she should have, they didn't have enough income to cover her hospital fee, let alone the castle they were living in. When Sōsuke came with the offer to adopt the Atobe name, Keigo didn't have much choice but to leave the name 'Louis' in England and came to Japan as Atobe Keigo…

It amazed Keigo that his mother actually loved that man so much that she gave him a Japanese name in the first place…

Not even the nasty talks about a lady like her having a child out of marriage affected her stance on being a loving mother for Keigo. Every single day and night, she would kiss his forehead and say that he was the only thing that mattered to her in this world. "My little warrior," she would say.

It was the life he had accepted to walk in…

For the sake of his mother.

There wasn't a single second when no one was talking to him because with every step he took, people would gather around him like a cube of sugar to the ants. Ten hours of practice was nothing compared to keeping that smile up and making sure every gesture he made was perfect and proper for three hours straight.

Keigo glanced up at the high ceiling in his room, then to the chandelier that was sparkling with the dim light coming from the window, missing that little light to shed upon his life once more.

Putting her handkerchief at the side of the bed where she used to sleep, Keigo smiled as he imagined her being there by his side. He put his hand over the pillow as if he was caressing her face.

"I told you the truth in my disguise, thinking that you'd despise that side of me… Who would've thought that you chose to love that pitiful side of me instead…"

And made him fall even deeper to her…

The club activity was his way to run away from his distress. He had tried to act tough all those weeks since they broke up but Keigo had reached his limit. Never in his life had he felt so weak. He had survived the darkness called loneliness all those years. Who would've thought that once he was pampered by the little light that once shed upon him, he could no longer live without it.

In his study room, Keigo played their favourite song for the umpteenth time, imagining the feeling of her small palm against his calloused hand, his other hand on her waist as the scent of her hair completely roamed his senses when she rested her head against his chest. He clenched his fists at the void of her, wishing nothing but her very existence in his arms.

Michael prepared some refreshments to cheer him up but Keigo didn't have any appetite so he ended up just staring at it, before shifting his eyes to the box at the end of his table. It was something he specially prepared for his queen and he had been waiting for her to come to give her that. However, he hated the suffocation of waiting without certainty more than anything in the world.

Would it be easier to just go back to life without her?

A sudden knock in his room startled him. He looked up to see Yūshi, followed by the rest of the regulars coming into his room.

"What do you want, rabble?"

"We're curious to see what kind of engagement you have."

"Can I have that, Atobe?" Gakuto pointed at his snack.

"Go to the kitchen and ask the chef for it," Keigo flatly responded.

"Oh, yes! I have a feeling that we're gonna get something if we come!" With that, Gakuto disappeared to the kitchen.

"What was that? We're not here for that, Gakuto! How lame!" Ryō scratched his head in irritation.

"Uhm, are you okay, Atobe-san?"

"Ahn? Of course, I am. What kind of question is that?" Keigo rose from his seat. "If you don't have anything important, I'll take my leave now."

"Actually, I have a proposal for you."

"Proposal? For the team?"

"No. This is called the 'Glass Slipper Operation' or GSO." Yūshi proudly put the roll of paper he brought and spread it on his table.

"Glass Slipper Operation?" Somehow, he had an idea of what it'd lead them to. He wondered who the hell was drawing a glass slipper that looked like a blue chilly near the title.

When Yūshi flipped the title, he revealed a crappy drawing of Cinderella with fangs. The blonde hair was looking like yellow faeces on top of an upside-down wine glass that was meant to be the blue dress.

"May I ask who drew these crappy drawings? It's such a disgrace to know someone in my team actually drew these."

"W-well… I've said that we didn't need one but—"

"How could you say that?! I've worked so hard for it! It's for the sake of good presentation!" Gakuto happened to come back at the same time they were talking about the shitty drawings.

"You'd done a better job leaving the paper blank, Mukahi," he nonchalantly remarked, ignoring Gakuto's incorrigible protest. "Then, back to the plan. Does this have anything to do with my queen?"

Yūshi pushed his glasses with his ring finger. "We're going to get your Cinderella back to you. I've heard that you can't get near her even when your security guards are around her. You've wasted such a good chance to win her back from the match, Atobe. That's so unlike you."

"And make her go through a forced relationship?" Keigo shoved his hands into his pockets. "She has to make the choice. Not because I want her to."

"Hm. What's this? I never knew you're such a gentleman." There was an amusement interlacing Yūshi's words.

"I've… done enough casualties in her life. Do you want her to hate me even more?"

"Atobe-san…" Munehiro muttered.

"Oh, come on, Atobe! We were almost getting kil—" Ryō clamped Gakuto's mouth.

"What's that?"

"Nothing, Buchō," Wakashi flatly replied.

"I appreciate your hard work, rabble. But I've decided that her protection is my priority right now." He walked to the window to see the court, resting his arm on the window sill. "I'll wait until she returns."

"Uhm… I'm sorry, Atobe-san."

He cocked his head towards Munehiro. "What is it, Kabaji?"

"…Tezuka-san came here yesterday."

"Tezuka? What did he want from me, ahn?"

"Not him. Her."

Silence fell into the room. Keigo widened his eyes disbelievingly at Munehiro, trying to see deep into his mind if Munehiro lied to him, which was impossible.

"She came?"

"Usu."

"When? Why didn't she come in? Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I'm sorry, Atobe-san. She suddenly cried upon hearing the song you played yesterday. So, I brought her to the park to calm her down."

She cried to their song…

Keigo craned his head towards Yūshi, who knowingly smiled at him. He approached his table to see the plan papers, twitching upon seeing Gakuto's crappy drawing again. He took a deep breath and put his hands on the table.

"I'm going to reclaim my queen back."

AN: Louis means 'famous warrior' (thus his mother's nickname) but actually the reason I chose Louis as his name is based on King Louis XIV is that he is known as the Sun King. The funny fact is that it was the name he gave himself and that reminds me so much of Atobe calling himself 'King'. LOL~ But he did have every reason to call himself so as he was the one who brought the French monarchy to its peak of absolute power and made France the dominant power in Europe.

Four more chapters and I can finally close this book down! I still have the draft for the sequel but I'm not sure about continuing because I don't feel like the fandom is still alive and the responses I received from this story have been declining so… please tell me what you think. XD

Favorite, follow, and most importantly—review are gold for me! As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the story is also posted on Wattpad. Since the site allows me to post videos and images, I might be able to pamper your eyes there. Check my account in ReikaNanatsuki!

Thank you for reading and have a nice day!