Chapter 19: Music That Hides
The night had deepened.
One by one, the lamps of Silencia went out.
Empty streets…
and a strange chill floating in the air.
Noen was alone.
Everyone in the caravan had gone to sleep.
Before leaving, Sera had said,
"Don't stay out too long… this place feels strange."
But Noen stayed.
His guitar hung over his shoulder,
and he quietly walked to that same corner…
where he had seen her.
---
The same window.
The same silence.
But this time, Noen was hidden.
Behind an old broken bench.
From there, he gently took his guitar…
and without saying a single word —
he played a note.
Not too loud.
Not too soft.
A sound that wouldn't disturb anyone,
but could still touch someone's heart.
---
From his chords, a story began to rise.
Like a pain someone had buried deep inside,
and now… it was finally escaping through sound.
And then…
the wooden shutters moved.
She appeared again.
This time, she was holding a small wooden flute.
She didn't say a word.
No smile.
No signal from her eyes.
She simply brought the flute to her lips,
and played a note in reply.
A soft answer.
---
Noen's guitar… her flute…
No words.
But a conversation.
Two different people…
two different sounds…
tied in one emotion.
Time stood still.
---
Suddenly… a door slammed shut.
The girl panicked.
Her flute slipped from her hands.
And she quickly closed the window —
again.
Noen said nothing.
He picked up his guitar…
and gently placed her flute under her window —
without knocking, without a word.
And then,
he walked back into the night's silence.
---
That night,
he wrote a new song.
He called it:
"Sounds that no one can see…
but tell someone's whole story."
---
End of Chapter 4