The Inescapable Celibate Heir Chapter 53: Salut d'Amour

A sweet harp melody started playing, and Victoria slowly got lost in it. Flora, who was curled up on her lap, lay there quietly, its big round eyes fixed on Ethan.

The intro was light and soothing, like a young girl wandering by a stream, the valley dreamy and free. 

Gradually, it turned more lingering, like someone tossing and turning, missing their love. The tune grew more intense and high-pitched, like crashing waves, howling winds, passionate lovers.

Victoria was moved by the deep emotion and romance in the music, her eyes welling up. She had once loved someone like that. It was clear she couldn't control her longing, even though she had to hide her feelings and act indifferent.

When the piece ended, there was a moment of silence. 

Nick broke it with applause. "Just as I expected, Ethan, your harp playing is absolutely mesmerizing. It got me all excited!"

Ethan had been watching Victoria after finishing his performance. Seeing her eyes redden, he wanted to comfort her but worried he might be overthinking it. He thought, 'Could she understand my feelings?'

Victoria snapped out of her memories and hesitantly asked, "Is this Salut d'Amour?" She had heard the famous piece before but wasn't sure until the climax. Was Ethan hinting at something by playing this?

Ethan looked away and smoothed the wrinkles on his sleeve nonchalantly, "Yes."

Eric laughed and said, "Victoria wanted to hear the harp, and Ethan played this piece. Isn't this a love confession?" His eyes darted between the two of them.

Victoria lowered her head, her face flushing, and stayed silent for a long time. With her solid piano background, she could easily relate to Ethan's emotions. Besides, music could move people even without a background in it.

However, Victoria didn't know how to react. Since her rebirth, the most important thing was to manage her studies and life well, to defeat Ella and take back everything that belonged to her. 

She welcomed true friends, but she wasn't ready to consider love for now. Loving someone made it too easy to get hurt. 

Thinking of this, Victoria lowered her eyes.

Ethan cleared his throat, "Not speaking doesn't make you mute."

Eric mimed zipping his lips, indicating he wouldn't speak.

Roy tried to lighten the mood. "Ethan's harp skills have improved. Look, even Meteor and Goldie are captivated by his playing!"

Victoria looked in the direction he pointed and saw two dogs, one large and one small, standing at the door. 

Meteor was a Border Collie with a unique coat, mixed with blue and white, with a gradient effect like a blue meteor. 

Goldie was a Pomeranian with fluffy fur that shone golden in the sunlight, round and very cute.

"Meteor, Goldie, come." Ethan called them over. 

Meteor seemed to understand the command and ran over, while Goldie was slower, bouncing along on its short legs.

Victoria picked up Flora, shaking its front paw. "Is this a Border Collie? So handsome! Flora, when will you grow to be this handsome?"

Ethan nodded, rubbing Meteor's smooth head, and took a meat strip from a tray held by a servant to feed it. 

He glanced at Flora and said, "Five months." At five months, a leopard cub's size could match an adult Border Collie.

Nick excitedly said, "Yeah, Victoria, Samuel gave you this leopard. I checked, and it can grow up to 6 feet as an adult. So cool!"

Victoria rubbed Flora's soft head, "Our Flora has a lot of potential; just looks like a kitten now. But your dogs are so obedient, they come when called. At home, when I call Flora, it ignores me and just runs around with my socks."

Roy laughed, "Not only that, they can be even more obedient."

Eric also reached out to pet Meteor. "Yeah, Ethan's Border Collie is smarter than my three-year-old cousin."

Meteor turned its head to avoid his hand, looking visibly displeased.

Nick laughed, "Meteor is looking down on you; it really seems to understand!"

Eric shot him a glare and lunged, the two of them playfully wrestling.

Victoria, curious, asked, "Meteor, right? What commands can it understand?"

Ethan said, "Sit."

Meteor stopped wagging its tail and obediently sat down, crossing its front paws in front of its chest.

Victoria said in a surprised voice, "It really understands, and it's so noble and elegant. Truly, pets resemble their owners."

"Victoria, are you complimenting Ethan or calling him a dog?" Nick suddenly blurted out.

Ethan shot him a cold look, "Who's a dog?"

Nick quickly backpedaled, "I'm a dog, okay?"

Not wanting any trouble, Nick instantly surrendered. Everyone laughed.

Ethan brought the two dogs over and sat next to Victoria. She cautiously asked, "Can I pet them?"

"Sure," Ethan nodded.

Victoria put down Flora and gently petted the two dogs' heads, Meteor smooth, Goldie fluffy, both felt great!

Witnessing this, Flora got angry. She growled furiously and tried to bite Goldie. 

Goldie, slightly bigger than Flora but naturally gentle, retreated in fear. Meteor intervened, flipping Flora over with a paw. Flora rolled on the ground, got up, and barked at Meteor, not even reaching its knee but full of spirit.

Ethan picked a thin meat strip and called Flora over. Flora was quickly pacified with the thin strip of meat. Flora eagerly tore at it, though it was still a bit clumsy as it had just started eating meat. Everyone laughed heartily.

Ethan asked Victoria, "Want to shake hands with it?"

She was delighted, "Really?"

Ethan gestured for Meteor to come over, pointed at Victoria, and made a hand gesture, "Shake."

Meteor obediently squatted and extended its right paw to Victoria. Victoria carefully shook its paw three times, feeling the softness and coolness of its paw pad.

After shaking hands, Victoria's eyes sparkled as she looked at Ethan. "It's so well-behaved! Can Goldie do it too?"

Ethan shook his head, "It can't; its legs are too short."

Victoria giggled, rubbing the round Goldie. "Your owner is dissing you."

Goldie didn't understand, just smiling cutely at her.

Victoria asked again, "Can Flora be trained to learn this too?"

Ethan nodded without hesitation, "I can teach you, or help train it."

Victoria looked at Flora, messy from gnawing on the meat strip, "Okay, you teach me."

She loved her pet dearly and feared Flora might be scared by Ethan.

Seeing Victoria freely playing with the dogs, Nick was unconvinced. Ethan usually didn't let them touch the dogs, but now he let Victoria play and even performed tricks for her. 

But he dared not express his displeasure.

Roy, enjoying his snacks, was accustomed to Ethan's preoccupation with Victoria, which often led him to disregard their friends. "Ethan doesn't just have these two; he also has Rottweilers and Bullmastiffs."

Victoria covered her mouth in surprise, looking at Ethan. He nodded lightly, "Yes, they're at the vet today, I'll introduce you next time, but you can't touch them casually."

Victoria nodded earnestly, "I'll follow instructions."

After enjoying the scenery and playing with the dogs, they had lunch together and prepared to leave. 

Before leaving, Ethan took Victoria to his private collection room, letting her choose a gift herself.

The collection room was very tidy, the owner seemingly obsessive-compulsive, with everything neatly arranged, even the boxes perfectly centered. 

Victoria casually browsed, mostly antiques, planning to choose something small and easy to carry.

A simple wooden box caught her eye, and she opened it. Inside was a piece of amber, but instead of an insect, it contained a grass-woven dragonfly, strung on a hand-woven red cord, made into a necklace.

Victoria curiously took it out to examine. "Ethan, what's the story behind this?"

She observed that the items in the collection room were all valuable, but this piece of amber was clearly artificial, crudely made, and not worth much.

Ethan, holding a crystal ornament, turned around. "A crystal vase, Mrs. Hamilton would probably like it."

Noticing the necklace in her hand, he said, "Why did you choose that?"