David glanced at Hamya, leaned back in his rocking chair, and started to sway leisurely. "You don't understand! There's a reason behind my actions."

"Oh?"

Hamya looked intrigued, asking curiously, "What's your purpose?"

"Heh heh..."

David chuckled smugly, "You know Nancy, she's quite the novice, completely clueless. The competition rules allow for solo or duet performances, but everyone knows that solo performances best showcase one's skill. And yet, she insists on choosing a duet!"

"What?"

Hamya's eyes widened in shock, "She chose a duet?"

"Yeah."

David shook his head in frustration, "Not only a duet, but she also chose a folk piece from their country, Henriana. Tell me, what good pieces could possibly come from Henriana? Who's even heard of them? It's ridiculous. Her teacher and Linda are there, and I didn’t want to criticize her openly."

"This..."

Not just David, even Hamya felt Nancy's choice was inappropriate.

One should play to their strengths. All his team members were performing solos, as no one wanted to be dragged down by a partner.

Plus, duets are significantly more challenging than solos.

"David, haven't you talked to Nancy about this?"

"Forget it."

David waved his hand dismissively, "I'm just letting her be for now. I’ll see their performance on the last day. I believe they'll give up on the duet by then. With Nancy's piano skills, one day is enough to prepare!"

Hamya, who genuinely liked Nancy, wasn't going to sabotage her just because she was in David's group. He pondered for a moment, his brows knitting together.

"What if she insists on it?"

"Insist!?"

David hadn't even considered this possibility and gritted his teeth, "If she insists, then let her. Regardless of their performance, I'll give her high scores. Even if the rest of you score low, she'll likely make it to the next round. Young people need to face setbacks to learn, right?"

Hamya nodded, finding David's logic sound.

"Alright, we'll see. But suddenly, I'm kind of hoping she sticks to it."

"You!"

David kicked the coffee table in frustration, "You're just a troublemaker, always against me!"

Time flew, and soon it was the last day.

Everyone was training hard on the final day, as no one wanted to be eliminated in the first public competition.

Nancy and Linda arrived early at the practice room. Nancy's hand had fully healed, and they began practicing immediately.

David, too, got up early that day. He had been visiting other training rooms every morning except for Nancy and Linda's, but today he headed straight to their room.

Just reaching the door, he stopped in amazement.

"What the...!"

He couldn't believe his eyes as he entered, "Since when did you get a second piano in this practice room?"

Indeed, all the other rooms had only one piano, but theirs had two!

Nancy turned around, stood up politely, and replied, "Linda and I are doing a duet, so a few days ago I spoke to Smith about it, and he arranged for another piano for us."

"What!?"

This time, David was utterly astounded, "You just talked to Smith and he brought in another piano for you?"