Chapter 39
“Wake up, Aria.”
I opened my eyes to a familiar voice.
The first thing that came into view was the ceiling, with small patches of mold.
As I got down from the creaky bed, the floor felt cold.
‘Orphanage.’
The children who had woken up gathered one by one at the table.
Breakfast was a piece of bread and bland soup.
As soon as the director’s prayer ended, they devoured their food.
By noon, everyone would run outside to play in the yard.
But.
Aria always stayed in the corner, reading books or drawing.
There wasn’t any particular reason.
Even when she held hands and played with the other children.
Even when they laughed together, looking at each other’s faces.
Everything always felt distant, like it was someone else’s story.
It felt as if warmth reached everyone but her.
Rather than feeling that emptiness, she preferred being alone.
She had tried to think of everyone as family, but each time, a large wall blocked her heart.
This place was not home.
It was the place where she had been abandoned.
Just a place to stay temporarily.
‘Where is my real family?’
She couldn’t remember her parents’ faces.
It was impossible to guess her origins.
Aria’s past was blank.
As if she had amnesia.
She had been left at the orphanage from birth, so it was only natural.
Maybe it was better that way.
Among the children at the orphanage, there were friends who vividly remembered the day they were abandoned by their mothers.
Was it fortunate that she had nothing?
Because she didn’t have to be sad.
Because she could think of it as never having had anything.
Even so.
She couldn’t help but feel suffocated.
It was a loneliness too heavy for a young girl to bear.
Then, one day.
The director approached her and said.
“Let’s sing together.”
That was the moment when a crack finally appeared in Aria’s frozen world.
A melody that lightly touched her heart.
A strange, trembling sensation.
As she surrendered herself to the tune, the large wall slowly crumbled.
The sadness that no one had been able to heal.
It took just a single line of song to wipe away Aria’s tears.
Time passed.
“You have to go on stage with me.”
A request from the performer she admired.
‘Will I be okay…?’
She certainly enjoyed singing, but she knew not everyone felt the same way.
Singing felt like it was a part of her.
Something that seemed to exist everywhere but went unnoticed by everyone.
As she pondered over it.
“Singing well, this isn’t something just anyone is born with. The ability to put your heart into a single line. If that’s not talent, what is it?”
It was the first time she had ever heard such praise.
She was momentarily speechless.
She had always thought of it as her own private solace.
Singing was the only friend that comforted her clumsy self.
Could it have sounded beautiful enough to be called a talent in someone else’s ears?
She couldn’t believe it.
At the same time, a spark ignited within her.
‘Maybe I, too… can comfort someone?’
It felt like the greatest blessing she could ever receive.
If she could just do that.
Would her song have meaning too?
The closed door of her heart opened.
She was still afraid, but she wanted to believe.
And now.
***
The candlelight softly enveloped the stage.
Standing there was a small girl.
Aria’s eyes turned towards the audience.
She saw countless spectators.
She was scared.
‘Ugh…’
She couldn’t help but lower her head.
It felt like everyone was staring at her.
And that assumption was partly true.
“Who is that child?”
“Isn’t she up there to disrupt the performer? Shouldn’t she be taken down immediately?”
She heard the murmurs of the audience.
She wanted to run away immediately.
But at that moment.
“Aria.”
“Y-Yes…!”
“Don’t be afraid. This stage is just for you.”
“Ah…”
The performer’s voice was endlessly gentle and warm.
A gentle wave stirred in her stiff heart.
‘A stage just for me.’
When she closed her eyes, dark memories flashed through her mind.
The orphanage.
The lonely days.
The countless nights when she felt all alone.
All of it had created a huge hole in Aria’s heart.
But from now on.
She decided not to be sad.
‘No matter how empty it is, I’ll fill it myself from now on.’
Not with fear, but with her own light.
Forever, no matter how many times.
This moment was her first step.
As everyone held their breath and quietly watched her.
The music began.
The warm tones of the piano.
The gentle melody flowed, wrapping her entire body.
Aria’s lips gently parted.
She took a small breath.
From a corner of my heart, I’m still singing
I always want to dream exciting dreams
Though I can’t count the tears
I’m sure I’ll meet you beyond that place
A trembling voice.
But at the same time, she felt a strength.
Like a ray of light melting the darkness, it was warm and tender.
Vanishing memories
The mirror of fragmented memories
Filling the empty heart with the scenery of a new morning
Aria opened her eyes, carefully facing the world before her.
The light she had created was colouring the audience.
Her voice, reaching beyond the stage to the far end of the theatre, carried a glimmer of hope.
In her slightly stiff expression, there was a hint of excitement.
Her subtly trembling hands held a bit of anticipation for tomorrow.
The shining moment is right now
It is always here, in my heart
Her song became a story, embedding itself in everyone’s ears.
Eventually.
The last piano key was gently pressed.
***
Silence flowed.
The astonishment was brief.
The audience, encountering the unfamiliar art of singing for the first time, tilted their heads.
Some started to clap but stopped, exchanging awkward glances, unsure of what to do.
“…How should we react to this?”
“The song was good, but…”
Faces filled with uncertainty filled the audience.
At that moment.
In the darkness, someone stood up suddenly.
And began clapping cheerfully.
Long, flowing black hair.
With every movement of her arms, the luxurious white silk dress swayed.
Crown Princess of the Flovitz Empire, Elize Flovitz.
Her lively eyes were fixed directly on the girl on the stage.
The sound of clapping continued.
Like the bell announcing the dawn of a new era.
Elize’s applause.
It was not just a simple gesture.
It was a gesture of gratitude for the performance Aria had shown.
And one more thing.
A declaration to accept the heartfelt emotion embedded within a once-disdained art form.
Song.
The silence that had settled over the theatre began to crack.
With the Crown Princess starting it, there was no more hesitation.
One by one, the audience stood up and shouted cheers.
“Wooaahhh!”
Before they knew it, the applause resonated throughout the entire audience, becoming a powerful wave that rushed toward the stage.
A bright smile spread across Aria’s face.
It was brighter and more radiant than ever before.
‘My song reached everyone.’
Amid the roaring cheers and applause that filled the theatre, perhaps she realized it.
That the final empty space in her heart, which nothing could ever fill before, had now been filled with the warm courage that everyone in this space had given her.
***
One week later.
Somewhere in the Imperial Palace.
“In the corner of my heart… still singing…”
Therese covered her ears at Elize’s singing.
“I always want to dream an exciting dream…”
She had been singing the same part for hours now.
No matter how much she admired her sister, this was beyond her endurance.
‘This is too much.’
The performance of the commoner girl Aria, which she had recently attended with Elize.
Even Therese was deeply moved.
There was no denying that.
It was the first time she had experienced something that made her body tingle and brought her to the verge of tears with just a song.
But.
Shouldn’t it have been enough after a few times?
She had been singing non-stop for several days, driving Therese to the brink of madness.
Just as she could no longer bear it and was about to flee.
“Where are you going, Therese?”
Her sister caught her like a ghost.
“Ah… I’m just going to inspect the capital. It’s a mission from Father.”
“I see. Take care.”
It was a lie.
Even as a princess, she would never be tasked with an inspection mission.
There was Luhan, and if it was about undercover inspection, Ainz was there too, so why would she need to?
She had blurted out the lie, fearing that if she stayed with Elize any longer, she would lose her mind.
“Huuuuu…”
She let out a sigh and walked down the corridor.
But then.
“In the corner of my heart~ still singing~”
What was that?
A song suddenly echoed.
She shuddered and looked around, but her sister was nowhere in sight.
‘Is this a hallucination?’
She thought so, but only for a moment.
“I always want to dream an exciting dream~”
It wasn’t a mistake.
A maid passing through the corridor was singing the exact same song.
“Wait!”
“…Yes!”
She hurriedly called out to the maid.
“Th-that song…! Where did you hear it…!”
“Oh! I’m sorry! I heard it’s a popular song in the capital these days, and I happened to hear it a few times, so I just ended up singing it! I’m really sorry!”
“P-popular in the capital…? What do you mean…”
As Therese’s mind started to go blank, over at the theatre, Lunemoon.
“‘Forever, Again and Again’ sold out all 5000 copies of the Jubel we recorded this time.”
“In just a week? Let’s make 5000 more, and this time, include 10 limited editions with Aria’s voice message.”
“With duplication magic, mass production is definitely easier. By the way, did you get Aria’s permission?”
“No.”
“…Is that okay?”
“Will that be alright, Aria?”
“Yes! I like it!”
“She says it’s okay.”
Three people had started rowing the boat amidst an unstoppable wave.
—
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