Valentina's footsteps echoed around the hallway she was walking down. The sound her hard heels made when they hit the white marble floor was like wealth itself.
Her brown hair swayed behind her as she hummed to the tune she was approaching.
"Liebesleid, Love's Sorrow, by Fritz Kreisler… Seems like Icarus still hasn't forgiven her."
She smiled pleasantly as she walked towards the sound.
"Beatrice is so crass, yet her playing is always so gentle and beautiful."
Listening to Beatrice play music never failed to put Valentina in a good mood. Even though as a fellow professional musician in the classical world, they should be rivals, she couldn't help but admire the unparalleled touch of 'The Siren'.
In fact, she had been the one to spread the nickname after hearing her sing.
She knew that there was a reason for Beatrice's distinct style of playing, where the melody would sound as if it were being sung, but she had yet to ask.
Valentina had heard from another girl who had slept with Beatrice that the story behind how she learnt the piano and music was a heart-wrenching tragedy.
Almost no one knew the full story behind Beatrice or where she came from apart from Icarus, Beatrice's real girlfriend who had been with her since they were younger.
She opened the old mahogany doors but didn't step inside. She also made sure to be extra quiet so as to not interrupt Beatrice's playing.
There were countless people in the world who would pay millions to hear her play, but Beatrice refused to perform after she had dominated the world of music. It was as if she had conquered the world as she placed first in every competition she applied for.
Beatrice had played 2 instruments for the public, the piano and the violin. No one was really sure if those two were the only instruments she knew how to play.
It was Valentina's dream to practice her violin to the point that it rivalled Beatrice's.
Not because she wanted to beat her, but because she thought that maybe if there was someone to challenge her, Beatrice might return to the world of music and bless the people with her genius.
Beatrice was precocious, intelligent, and capricious. But no matter how mature she was, she was still young.
She was childish and hated losing more than anything.
Beatrice's fingers swam across the ivory keys, pressing down with such gentle caresses it was akin to a mother stroking her newborn's face.
Yet the sounds she produced were dynamic. The accompaniment in her left hand blended in with the melody carried by her right hand such that it all became one mass of flowing notes.
In the same way that you couldn't help and admire a beautiful view, Beatrice's rendition of "Love's Sorrow" put Valentina into a trance.
But even before she knew it, the piece was over, and Beatrice turned to face her.
White hair and red eyes, she suffered from the rare genetic condition of albinism.
Perhaps it was a curse from the world, or maybe it was true that God made us all equal:
Beatrice's beauty was world-renown and envied by all, but because of her condition, she lived a life where she hid her skin and eyes from the Sun.
Almost like a vampire, she would cover up her stunning pale skin and wear sunglasses no matter the occasion.
"Valentina, my darling. If you had come, you should have told me," she said, her voice ringing out in a tune so beautiful that it rivalled the melodies of her piano.
"And interrupt your playing? I'm fine thanks."
Beatrice laughed at Valentina's compliment, her sweet tone melting in Valentina's ears.
"So, what brings you here?" Beatrice asked.
"No, before that, let me ask you something," Valentina said while pointing to the floor:
"What is this building? I've been to the other rooms to look for you but there's nothing here. No beds, no furniture, no art. There are only pianos everywhere, different pianos of different styles all in their separate rooms."
Valentina was confused.
Was there a need for so many pianos?
Why did they each need a separate room?
But more importantly-
"Why did you need to build an entire building for your pianos? Why not just keep them in the mansion where you live?"
Beatrice drummed her fingers on the top part of her grand piano.
"If Princess Peech can do it, so can I?" she replied as if the answer was obvious.
The answer was not, at least not to Valentina.
"What the fuck does that mean, Betty?" she asked in an exasperated tone.
"Well, it all started when some dude emailed Nontendo asking a bunch of questions about Maria 65. One of the questions he asked was why there is no furniture in Princess Peech's castle."
"…Go on."
"And the reply he received from Nontendo, therefore making it canon lore, was that she owned two castles, that wealthy stuck-up girl. One for her furniture and one for her artwork."
"And so, the conclusion and lesson you picked out from this was that-"
"Yup. I need two mansions, one for my furniture and one for my art, my pianos."
"…" Valentina was silent before sighing deeply, "and? Was building this mansion worth it?"
"No, absolutely not. It's such a hassle, I have to walk all the way here just to play some piano. Do you know how big these buildings are?"
"Yes, Betty. Yes, I do. I wandered all over your 'furniture mansion' looking for you before being redirected by your butler that you would be in what was called the 'piano mansion'. Do you know how confused I was when he told me that there was a new building called the 'piano mansion'?"
"I assume not very. The title is self-explanatory, no? The piano mansion holds?" Beatrice asked.
She took on a tone a teacher would when talking to a student. It greatly irked Valentina who was older than Beatrice.
"…" she refused Beatrice the joy of hearing a reply.
"Ahem, the p-i-a-n-o mansion holds?"
"Shut the fuck up, Beatrice. I came here to cheer you up and have a good time but clearly, you don't need that." Valentina said while rolling her eyes.
"What do you mean? Why would I need cheering up?" Beatrice asked, genuinely confused.
"You had an argument with Icarus, right? Or more like, you did something that upset her, didn't you?"
"… And how did you know it was with Icarus?" Beatrice asked.
"You put up billboards all over the city that read: I'm sorry, Your Love Beatrice."
Beatrice nodded in agreement.
She did do that.
"Betty, the whole city knows you did something wrong because of that. It's trending on social media right now, there's a ton of gossip floating about what you did," Valentina said while pulling up her phone to show her the news.
[ Big-Black-K News
Beatrice is sorry? Beatrice, more commonly known as 'The Siren' or 'The White Witch' depending on whether you are a fan of music or a fan of sports, has recently put up billboards all over the city of London, expressing her apology.
There are numerous rumours about—-
]
"Since when did the BBK become a tabloid?" Beatrice asked with her brows furrowed. She hated paparazzi and she hated tabloids.
The camera flashes from paparazzi had hurt her eyes once.
It had taken every ounce of strength of the people around her to stop Beatrice from beating the paparazzi up, then and there. Luckily, such international outrage and violence were avoided.
Beatrice, in her anger, hired all the most prestigious lawyers in the world and proceeded to sue the living shit out of them.
They were buried to death in paperwork, and all went to prison declaring bankruptcy.
No paparazzi had bothered her since.
"BBK isn't a tabloid, but it's not every day that someone buys up all the billboards just to apologize. So, tell me. What exactly did you do wrong?" Valentina asked, putting on a concerned expression.
"You don't give a shit about me, you're just curious about what I did," Beatrice harped back.
"Tsk, I came all the way here. You're going to have your way with my body one way or another, so just tell me," she said crossing her arms.
Her bosoms were lifted in doing so, and Beatrice's gorgeous eyes were immediately drawn to Valentina's impressive cleavage.
"…Fine. Icarus found out that I'm married," Beatrice said while playing with her nails.