Almighty Father System-Chapter 393: Media Attention.

Leo and Snow sat down in the section just in the front of the judges. This was the best zone for acoustic perception and the judges usually sat in this area to have the best sound. A host stepped on the stage and after the introductions of the judges and the applause, the competition started.

One after the other, participants stepped up on the stage and they did their best to complete the pieces they have selected, and it was very nice to hear. However, Snow would look at Leo's expressions from the side, and found that while he was holding her hand, but with his free hand he was tapping the armrest of the chair, and frowning subtly every now and then.

It was evident that he was evaluating the performances of the people with his own skill, and since he was calm, it was sure that none of the participants had yet matched up to the level of his daughter. Snow sighed and shook her head slightly as she noticed that her Daughter Slave of a husband was still going strong at worrying about the Little goblin.

One hour passed and several participants have finished playing, and finally the young man named Elliot came to take the stage. Snow looked at the brochure in her hand and said, "Lily is going to come after this. I am still wondering why they made her the last act?"

Leo shrugged and replied, "Doesn't matter where she is placed to perform, she will do her best."

Snow nodded and then the performance began. The musical notes flooded the auditorium, and even Leo could not help but nod a few times over the span of seven minutes. The participants were allowed a time span of ten minutes, and they could finish the performance when the piece came to an end. However, most of them didn't choose such big scores.

Lily herself only had a piece that was just five minutes long. It seemed to be less, but the significance of this span was rather relative because for the musician on the stage this span of time was an eternity which demanded their physical effort, mental concentration and farther more, it demanded them to keep calm under the scrutiny from all the audiences.

After seven minutes, when the performance ended, the auditorium exploded in a robust applause, and even some people were cheering as they stood up. Snow sighed, she also understood music, and wasn't dumb. She looked at Leo and asked, "Do you think, Lily would be able to handle this?"

Leo nodded calmly and patted the back of her resting palm as he said, "Don't underestimate the competitive spirit in the heart of that little girl. She is our child after all."

The young lady smiled and asked, "What gift have you planned for her?"

Leo replied, "Well, it would depend on her performance. I hope that she truly enjoys her playing and then only will she get the gift I have in mind."

Snow shook her head and replied, "You expect too much from her, she is just a child."

Leo smiled and didn't say anything and just then the host stood upon the stage and said, "Now, I would like to welcome the youngest artist among us tonight, the five years old, Miss Lily Valeria Cardinal."

They people saw a little girl dressed in a white and black gown stepping up to the stage, she walked calmly, but her gaze was focused, and her stride was confident as well. Leo mumbled beside Snow, "She has locked in."

Lily walked to the center of the stage and bowed to the judges once, as they greeted her. None of them was feeling serious about her performance because Elliot was good, and even if Lily was good, they all had a doubt in their minds, "How good could a child be?"

However, Lily wasn't fazed by their indifference, because she was looking at them with the same indifference as well. The little girl walked up to the piano, and sat down after smoothing over her gown. Her movements were all measured and fluid, this was her daily routine after all.

Then she looked towards the audience and saw a hand rising above the rest, even in the darkness she could see that hand, a faint smile emerged on her face, because she turned to look at the keys before her and took a deep breath before she raised her hand and the music started to flow.

It was the first not itself that grasped the attention of the people by a surprise. They all looked at the stage and their ears became sharper, trying to listen to all the sounds that were being produced, Lily was indeed, sticking to her plan of playing an original song and when the people heard it, they opened their eyes wide.

This song was the arrangement based on a different instrumental song, but it was crazily arranged to fit the piano and it sounded as if the song originally belonged to the Piano itself. After the opening, Lily was even more indulged in the performance and the performance began to rise.

Everyone, from the judges to the audience, from the back stage staff to the participants, all were captivated by this showcase of skill, and talent. They were all hooked on to the piece of music echoing through the entire building, and just like that, the performance came to an end.

Lily stood up, and then walked ahead to bow to the people, it was unknown who clapped first, but following this, the applause began to pour and the people began to stand up as they cheered, "Bravo! Bravo!"

Leo and Snow also stood up while clapping loudly with the other people. Lily bowed thrice before she walked off to the backstage. The standing ovation from the entire auditorium was a feat that none of her peers had achieved in the competition and Leo was sure that the media houses would come knocking to ask for the rights to record and play this arrangement, however, he already had plan for that.

A few minutes later, the judges had a final discussion and they announced the winner without any suspense. The people had expected that Elliot would win for sure, but when the judges announced Lily as the winner at the end of the scoring list, none was surprised.

The applause didn't stop, and finally the oldest man from the judges asked, "Little Miss Cardinal, can you tell us who composed that arrangement?"

Lily smiled and replied with a microphone, "It was a combined effort of my Baba and me."

The old man asked her a few more questions, they confirmed two things, one was that this track was indeed composed by Lily and Leo, and another thing was the depth of her knowledge about music. Elliot who was standing on the side, was really stunned, even he could not answer some of the questions that were being asked.

Leo watched the entire thing with a calm expression, and then the system spoke, 'Ping: Host, you have completed the task of helping your daughter achieve the status in the music society. Her status would now keep increasing with care. Reward: Holographic Communicator.'

The young man took a deep breath and understood what he needed to do. The couple reunited with Lily, and then they were headed out of the auditorium, but at the door they were surrounded by the media people. However, they were not as blatant as they were with the rest of the people when clicking pictures.

One of the reporters said, "Young Miss Cardinal, congratulations on the victory. Your piece moved me to tears."

Lily smiled sweetly and thanked the man for his praise. Then one of the lady reporters on the site asked, "Mister Cardinal, these days, the turmoil of society is growing higher, so may I have a few words from you about the actions of the Blood Eagle Group?"

Leo took a deep breath and replied, "Well, I hope what I say would not be twisted and used for fake propaganda. While as a law abiding citizen I do fear that if such an organization really have this much power then what is stopping them from gaining higher power and create trouble for the rest of the people, just because they want to do it?"

The reporter nodded and asked, "So, are you advocating that the use of violence is a condemning choice?"

Leo replied calmly, "I was not taught to use violence by my parents, and but looking at the things those who died did, if it were my child or family to be put through such heinous treatment, I might have done the same. I just hope that this incident makes our leaders to open their eyes and tighten the noose against those who are accused of such sins."

Another reporter asked, "Mister Cardinal, do you advocate for the human rights of the criminals?"

Leo replied, "I advocate for human rights for the people who are still considered humans, but people who forsake their humanity for such filthy actions and tag them as pleasure. I don't consider them equal to even animals, let alone humans. They are parasites who live in our society and corrupt it from the core for petty pleasure and gain."

That was it, his words were strong, he expressed his worries, and he also stated that he was not entirely against the violent punishment but it should come from the hands of a government organization.

Finally, one reporter managed to reach closer and asked, "Master Cardinal, what are your thoughts about the purge that is going on in the Stag Nation? Do you think it would immigrants or the geo-political dynamics?"

This question was sensitive, and Leo's words could have a huge impact in this, after all, he was someone from power now despite his reluctance to come out of his house and attend high profile gatherings.

Everyone focused their cameras at him, and Leo said, "Time will only tell about this, because we have yet to see the reasoning behind this purge. So, let us wait for a bit before we can make any speculations but I think that the innocent should not be bothered by it."