Chapter 50: Moonlight

***

The wind stopped.

People also fell silent.

I didn’t know what happened.

Perhaps because I was leaving, or perhaps because the long yearning tormented his heart, the strong emotional appeal for his daughter received no proper response from me, so he spoke such words of reminiscence.

But I didn’t know how to respond.

Although I understood in my heart that this body probably belonged to Peylo.

But… to just call a stranger… well, he can’t really be considered a stranger anymore. I admit he’s been very good to me, and I’ll keep this gratitude in my heart, but if I were to just call him father like this…

I’m sorry, I can’t say it.

But what else can I do for him… how can I make him happy…

Suddenly, I remembered what the Duke had said to me before.

【Miss Sylvia, do you like music?】

【…In the past, whenever I felt troubled, she would always drag me over to play some pleasant tunes…】

Then let’s do this.

“Uncle Duke.”

The soft and sweet voice, I don’t know if it was the taste he remembered.

I held his hand.

Due to years of dedication to metallurgical research, the Duke’s finger joints were large, and his palm felt quite dry, somewhat like aged citrus peel — but it was warm enough.

He looked at me with surprised eyes.

“Come with me.”

“…What’s wrong?”

“Let’s go back.”

Then I pulled him quickly towards the castle.

The hunters in the distance were calling out.

“Oh~ Are you leaving!”

“Little Peipei, you worked hard today too!”

“Don’t eat too many sweets, or you’ll get fat!”

I rolled my eyes, feeling quite bored, and halfheartedly waved at them.

“Shut your bird mouths, have you all completed today’s training quota!”

The Duke’s shout suddenly startled the hunters, and they hurriedly began to pretend to train, making the Duke shake his head repeatedly.

“I think that old Hoover wants to get scolded. Look at how he’s managing people, it’s not right…”

Though the words were reproachful, the tone was quite pleased.

I laughed.

The sunlight was warm, shining on our faces as always even in this winter.

A graceful young lady holding an old man’s hand, passing through the majestic fortress, walking through the exquisite corridors, past countless hunters’ tiptoeing gazes.

Finally arriving at the piano room on the fourth floor of the castle.

Creeeeak——

Pushing open the slightly closed door, stepping onto the soft carpet.

The wooden tripod piano covered with a cloth was just ahead.

It seemed no one had used it for a long time.

I let go of the Duke’s hand and turned around to speak to him.

“Uncle Duke…”

“I’ll sit here.”

“…Mm.”

The Duke sat down in a nearby chair with a smile on his lips. I walked over, lifted the piano cloth, fully opened the top lid, lifted my skirt and sat down gently on the piano bench.

After adjusting the bench height and opening the keyboard cover, a familiar smell wafted up.

Actually, I had confirmed before that the piano in this world was exactly the same as in my previous life. The 88 black and white alternating keys were clearly reflected in my eyes.

I glanced at the Duke and saw him looking expectant, nodding slightly to me.

I took a deep breath, having already decided what to play.

Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” a piece I knew more than familiar with.

Actually, this piece should be played when it’s late at night… but never mind.

Slowly raising both arms above the keys, after flexing my fingers in the air a few times, they suddenly fell.

The first chord rang out.

The gentle, lyrical melody began unhurriedly, and the Duke lightly tapped the rhythm with his hands and legs, enjoying the intimate whispers.

I closed my eyes, as if immersed under the bright moon, hearing the sound of birds singing.

Images formed in my mind.

In a quiet room, a girl in pure white, with breath like orchids and skin like jade. She sat elegantly at the piano, playing quietly with flowing moonlight.

The girl’s lips held a faint smile, her body swaying gently with the melody.

I wanted to go to her side, touch her fragile back, but she suddenly raised her head and gave me a sweet smile.

It was a face identical to mine, but slightly more childish.

The piano notes began to slowly ascend like flowing water, and my vision suddenly turned white. Those images buried deep in my heart came sweeping in as musical notes.

I saw white hibiscus, and among them was a little girl’s radiant smile.

“Dad, Dad! Look at me, quick, look at me!”

Behind the little girl, a young man with a glowing face was walking slowly.

“Be careful.”

“Look at me! I’m going to fly!”

“Run slower, don’t fall.”

“Wah~”

The tiny body fell to the ground.

“Haha, told you to go slower but you wouldn’t listen… let me see, did it hurt?”

“My bottom hurts… don’t laugh at me!”

“Not laughing, Dad’s not laughing… pfft… don’t be angry! Let Dad rub it better.”

“I don’t want to, I’m a big girl now…”

“What nonsense, little one.”

“I’m grown up! Look, I’m not even crying!”

“Alright, alright, our little Peipei has grown up!”

“Hehe~”

……

I saw in the huge castle, a little girl with pigtails was rubbing her eyes and crying loudly, and a young noblewoman hurried over.

“Waaah——, waah——!”

“What’s wrong, who bullied you?”

“I… brother and them, they went… to the snow… mountain to play, they wouldn’t… wouldn’t take me! Waaah——, they, didn’t take me!”

“…These two rascals, sneaking up to the mountain again… Peipei be good, don’t cry, don’t cry, just wait and see how I’ll deal with them.”

“Mom, will you, will you make them stand in punishment?”

“Mm! Make them stand all night!”

“And… spank them, spank them hard.”

“Yes, I will!”

“Then you promise… to spank them really hard, and I’ll stop crying…”

The little tear-stained face looked very serious.

“Yes, whatever our Peipei says~”

“Mm!”

……

I saw three young figures sneaking around in the snow-covered mountains with towering rocks.

“Brr… brr… Peipei, aren’t you cold… hehe…”

“Not cold… achoo!… sniff—, keep your voice down!”

“Let’s go back? There are no silver foxes here.”

“There are! Wait a bit longer.”

“Any later… and the old man… brr… will find out.”

“Parsifal, are you scared?”

“…No, you don’t want to, don’t want to be punished either, right?”

“I won’t be punished.”

“Why?”

“Because you two tricked me into coming up here.”

“?? Wasn’t it you who said there were silver foxes here and insisted we come catch one for you?!”

“I don’t care.”

“You…”

“Peipei, who told you there were silver foxes here?”

“…Uncle Hoover.”

“…Well then, let’s go back.”

“Why? Brother, you haven’t caught me a silver fox yet, you promised!”

“There are no silver foxes here.”

“But Uncle Hoover said there were.”

“That was when he was young. Since Shanter Castle was expanded, most of the animals here have migrated.”

“…Eh, how could that be…”

“Let’s go back.”

“…Oh… but maybe we could wait a bit longer…”

“I’m leaving.”

“Wait for me!”

……

On the ramparts of Shanter Castle, Hoover looked puzzled towards the castle behind him.

“Huh, have you heard this piece before?”

Several hunters beside him showed thoughtful expressions.

“Hmm… I don’t think so?”

“No… the style doesn’t seem like it’s from here.”

“Must be something Miss Peipei learned elsewhere.”

“Hmm… I just think it all sounds good.”

“What do you know about music, this is probably called that… what’s it called…”

“Captain Hoover, I reckon we should stop pretending to be refined, just knowing it sounds good is enough.”

“…Shut up.”

“The captain’s angry!”

“Hahaha!”

……

In the piano room, on the piano keys.

White slender fingers raced across the keys, after four consecutive glissandos the piece entered its climax, the tone cascading down like flowing water.

The style turned abruptly.

The warm scenes before my eyes began to distort, shatter, until they completely disappeared.

The air began to grow gloomy and cold.

In the darkness, a blood-covered young girl lay on a protruding cliff, her body trembling constantly.

“…uh… ugh…”

The pure white snow beneath her was stained with large patches of crimson.

She struggled to move her body, but just slightly moving her arm caused an extremely pained expression on her face.

“Cough cough… cough cough…”

Blood flowed from her mouth, the young girl breathed weakly, clearly feeling her body temperature rapidly dropping.

Her whole body was so painful it began to go numb.

“Ugh… uh… is, is anyone there…”

Such faint whispers could not possibly be heard by anyone.

The young girl painfully took a breath.

“Ugh cough cough… is, is anyone there! Help me…”

“Is anyone there… I… I’m here… I can’t move…”

“Edward——!”

“Edward! Cough cough! Can you… can you hear me!”

“Edward! I’m fine, I don’t blame you… don’t go… I can’t move… it hurts so much… I can’t move…”

No response.

After a while, the young girl endured the intensifying pain and once again tried to call out with her hoarse voice.

“Edward… come back… come back…”

“Quick, save me… it hurts so much… think of something, save me…”

The bitter cold wind penetrated to the bone.

Gradually, the young girl lost feeling in her hands and feet. Her once rosy lovely lips had now turned purple-blue.

Her body trembled violently beyond her control.

“…ugh ugh… Ed-Edward… I’m… still alive… ugh…”

“Uuu…”

“Uuu… uu…”

“Edward——”

The suppressed crying disappeared into the darkness, without even an echo.

Soon after, she finally could no longer make any sounds calling for help, only continuously muttering humble and timid whispers.

“Edward… I… won’t… tell father and mother… please save me…”

“I will, listen to… your words… it was… it was… my fault… I was wrong… I’ll do anything… please save me… I’m about to die… please, save me…”

“I don’t want to die… I’m scared… it’s so dark here… I’m so scared… not here… I want to go home… I want to go home…”

Time passed, who knows how long, no one came to save her.

But slowly, the young girl felt she wasn’t in pain anymore.

But she was so sleepy.

“…Dad… Mom… I’m sorry…”

“Uuu——”

“Why… why… I was wrong… uu… I was wrong… I’m sorry… uuu…”

“Why… kill me… don’t kill me… why…”

“I’m sorry…”

“Why…”

In the last scene of memory, in the boundless darkness of the night, a glimmer of firelight seemed to appear.

The final note fell.

I slowly opened my eyes.

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