Performance

"Forgive my presumptuousness, Duke, but are all the pieces you will play next of the same mood?"

For the sake of his own life and Ciri's, Joshua had to confirm this before listening to the rest of the performance.

If the following pieces were also dominated by this icy atmosphere, Joshua might become the first Chaos Demon in history to freeze to death while listening to music.

As for Ciri... well, even if the Bone Duke stopped playing now, she would not last much longer without a heater or a pile of firewood.

Zennas had not been permitted by the Bone Duke to enter this place. Otherwise, with Zennas's portable heater here, Ciri would certainly feel much better.

"That is correct. These pieces all come from this score. It is the only score I possess."

The Bone Duke picked up a music score whose cover was already badly damaged. Judging by the age marks all over it, the score had been in the Bone Duke's possession for many years.

So he was an excellent performer, but not a composer?

"Then... Duke, may I play a piece?"

Joshua made another rash suggestion, yet the Bone Duke was not angered by Joshua's attempt to steal the stage. Instead, within his flickering Soul Fire, Joshua sensed a look of amusement.

"Your Highness, this piano is an old friend of mine. Its temper is far worse than mine. If it is dissatisfied with your performance, it will devour your soul! Even I will have no way to save you then."

The Bone Duke rested a hand on the piano. As if responding to his words, the piano sounded several notes, seemingly mocking Joshua for overestimating himself.

"I am willing to try."

Even Joshua himself found it hard to believe. His father had hoped to train him into a pianist from childhood, so he had begun learning the piano at six years old.

He practiced for only half a year. In the end, he had not even passed a grading exam before choosing to give up.

The main reason... was the same as for many children: he had become hopelessly addicted to games.

He had not touched a piano in so many years that he should have forgotten everything long ago. But after merging with the Third Prince's memories, Joshua's own memories had become frighteningly clear.

He had even recovered the muscle memory he had developed while practicing piano as a child.

So Joshua believed playing one piece should not be a problem.

"Are you certain? The last person to challenge it was a renowned composer from the human world."

The Bone Duke did not recall the Third Prince having any achievements in music. In the Demon Realm, "despicable human" was absolutely not a flattering nickname.

"My piece will satisfy your friend."

Renowned? Could he be more impressive than Beethoven, Mozart, or Chopin? Joshua refused to believe that if he played the Moonlight Sonata, this piano would not obediently applaud and cheer.

Oh... Joshua had forgotten. A piano had no hands.

With countless masters of Classical Music from Earth backing him, Joshua truly feared no one when it came to competing in Classical Music on the spot.

The Bone Duke said nothing more. He stepped down from the stage and went to a corner of the room where a table stood. He picked up a goblet filled with red wine, looking completely ready to watch a good show.

"Keep your body temperature up. Do not fall asleep."

Joshua used his still somewhat warm hand to rub Ciri's cheek, wiping away the frost that had formed on her eyelashes.

Her body temperature still showed no sign of recovering. Combined with her drowsy state, once Ciri fell asleep, she would never wake again.

There was no heater in this room. Zennas could not enter because of the Bone Duke's order, and Ciri could only rely on herself to regain the warmth she had lost.

But her clothes were already soaked from the melting frost, and Joshua's clothes were the same. In this state, it was nearly impossible for her to recover her body temperature through her own strength.

"Dying while listening to a performance would be far too humiliating. I will not die that easily."

Ciri shook off Joshua's hand from her cheek, apparently displeased by his intimate gesture.

"Then please hold on for another ten seconds, Miss Mage."

Joshua withdrew his hand and walked toward the piano.

It had been nearly eighteen years since he had touched a piano. Even with the familiarity he had recovered through his memories, Joshua did not know whether he could play it properly.

Joshua pressed the first key on the piano, and then felt a part of his soul being torn from his body...

This piano really was strange!

But Joshua did not feel afraid because of it. Very quickly, he placed both hands on the piano and began to play.

It was a piece that made one feel as though they were standing beneath the sun, bathing in a spring breeze. Then... Joshua truly felt sunlight!

It was not an illusion. He felt the warm sensation of sunlight shining on his body, along with a gentle breeze passing by.

It was as warm as lying in a flower-filled meadow beneath the afternoon sun!

When Ciri, who had been suffering in the cold nearby, heard the notes Joshua played, she froze.

A faint warmth instantly drove away all the cold from Ciri's body. It was as if a pair of hands had slowly embraced her, bringing a comfort so soothing that it moved her deeply.

Ciri could not describe this warm feeling at all. She just... wanted to cry a little, and her nose began to sting.

She thought of many things: the days when she had run away from home at a young age and lived alone, constantly telling herself that she had to stay strong, yet feeling unbearably wronged by loneliness and helplessness with nowhere to vent it.

Then her gaze fell upon Joshua as he played the piano. She gently touched her cheek, and the warmth Joshua had left there when he covered it seemed to remain.

Everyone present was immersed in the notes flowing from Joshua's fingertips, in that gentle and warm melody.

Even the Bone Duke was no exception. He stood there without noticing that the goblet in his hand had fallen to the floor.

Music truly could awaken many things within a person. Unlike films, novels, or paintings, which needed a long time to move someone, music only needed an instant, a single note, to stir a person's emotions.

But just as the gentle melody was about to build toward its climax, it abruptly stopped.

The Bone Duke also snapped out of the warm atmosphere.

"Continue! Why did you stop?" the Bone Duke demanded loudly.

"Uh... I do not know how to play the rest."

Joshua removed his hands from the piano. Although he had never taken a grading exam, his piano skill was only around Grade Three or Four. The latter part of this piece might be simple—extremely simple—for piano masters, but it was beyond Joshua.

"You cannot play it anymore?! You!"

After all these years, the Bone Duke finally tasted frustration again. The suffocating feeling of a piece ending abruptly just as it was getting good made him so angry that he wanted to hit someone!

"What is this piece called?"

More than anything else, the Bone Duke wanted to know the name of the piece.

"Canon in D Major. Its original meaning is melody. Its composer was Johann Pachelbel, a great composer," Joshua said.