Winning Him Over

An hour later.

Joshua arrived at the castle's dining hall and sat beside a long table laden with all kinds of food.

It was hard to imagine that a castle inhabited mainly by Undead Creatures would have so many fresh ingredients.

Joshua poked the roasted meat in front of him with his fork, always feeling as though there might be a few maggots crawling inside. After all, a Zombie Servant standing beside him had rotting flesh hanging from its body.

Ciri, seated beside Joshua, was not so particular. She had just lost too much energy and needed to replenish it quickly, so she unceremoniously began eating the delicacies on the table.

"Your Highness, a toast to you."

Bone Duke raised the goblet in his hand. The crystal-clear liquid inside swayed like blood. Of course, it was red wine. After Bone Duke drained it in one gulp, Joshua watched the wine leak from beneath his jawbone and drip onto the dining table.

Could a skeleton really taste anything when it drank?

"Duke, if you have something to say, please say it directly."

Joshua saw through Bone Duke's intentions. He certainly had not thrown such a lavish banquet merely because of Joshua's identity.

"Then I will not stand on ceremony, Your Highness... I hope to obtain the score for the piece you played earlier."

Bone Duke set down his glass. The Soul Fire in his eye sockets flickered, and he could no longer maintain the same calmness as before. His desire was obvious.

"You can, but... there is a condition."

Joshua had come with this as his bargaining chip. From the Third Prince's memories, this Duke possessed an extreme and bizarre obsession with music. Rumor had it that, to learn the whereabouts of an ancient score from a human, he had even helped that human destroy a small kingdom.

Leaving aside whether liches possessed any evil means of peering into another person's memories through their souls, that rumor alone was enough to reveal Bone Duke's obsession with music.

He himself had no talent for composing music. What cells could a skeleton possibly have?

And after this encounter, Joshua understood why Bone Duke was so obsessed with music. It was because of that strange piano!

"If I am not mistaken, Duke, you cannot taste anything when you drink wine, can you?"

Joshua glanced at the red wine that had dripped onto the table. Drinking like that truly would not allow him to taste anything. Skeletons had no taste buds, no sense of touch, and no hearing.

Bone Duke's means of perceiving the outside world was the Soul Fire flickering in his eye sockets. It was both his eyes and his ears.

"Your Highness saw through me? That is right. In the centuries since I became a lich, I have indeed gained incomparable power, but I have nearly forgotten even the taste of my beloved red wine."

Bone Duke poured another glass of wine into his empty goblet. He watched the liquid sway within it. If he still had flesh on his face, he would surely have worn an extremely self-mocking smile.

"Only that piano... my old friend, can let me recall what it felt like to be human. Even the coldness frozen by Frost and Snow is far more wonderful than the emptiness of this skeletal body, which feels nothing at all!"

After saying that, Bone Duke placed the glass back on the table, and his Soul Fire turned toward Joshua once more.

"And that piece you played just now! It made me feel sunlight again! Heavens... I had nearly forgotten what it felt like to sit beneath the sun. It was truly wonderful..."

As Bone Duke spoke, he leaned back in his chair somewhat wearily.

Power was indeed intoxicating. By sacrificing his life, he had gained supreme power... At first, he had truly been enthralled by that vast, unparalleled strength, addicted to the thrill of controlling life and death.

But once the novelty brought by power faded, what could Bone Duke feel anymore?

That powerful body would never feel tired, so he could not enjoy the comfort of sleep. Nor could it be harmed by heat, so he could no longer feel the warmth of sunlight.

Having lost his tongue, he had nearly forgotten how delicious Roasted Meat tasted.

If not for that piano, which allowed him to reclaim some human sensations through his soul while playing, he might have gone mad long ago because of this body!

It could be said that when Bone Duke gained everything, he also lost everything.

"Your Highness, speak... My little tricks with souls are useless against Chaos Demons like you, so I accept this transaction. What must I pay to obtain the score for that piece?"

This time, Bone Duke desperately wished to play the "Canon" Joshua had performed earlier.

He longed to feel the warmth of sunlight again.

"You do not need to pay anything."

Joshua shook his head. Bone Duke had many things he could offer Joshua—treasures, money, powerful Undead Servants—but those were all too shortsighted! Joshua was far greedier than anyone imagined...

"I want you to pledge allegiance to me!"

Joshua spoke each word with utmost seriousness and sincerity.

Bone Duke fell silent for several seconds after hearing Joshua's words, then let out a piercing laugh.

"I heard that the Third Prince had abandoned the struggle for succession. I thought you were not interested in something like power, but it seems you were merely concealing the truth."

Bone Duke quickly misunderstood Joshua's intentions. Coming all this way specifically to recruit him could only be preparation for the Imperial Power Struggle two years from now. With the aid of one of the Four Dukes, even the most useless Third Prince would have a chance to contend.

"No, I truly have no interest in the throne. Governing a nation is too troublesome. I am not recruiting you for your identity as one of the Four Dukes or as the Lich Lord, but as a performer and a musician," Joshua said.

"A performer?" Bone Duke was indeed deeply interested in music, because music allowed him to truly feel that he was still alive.

"That is right, Duke. Are you satisfied with performing alone in such a deserted place? Your performance is truly excellent; it should not be buried here! More people should hear your music—thousands upon thousands of people, in a theater," Joshua said.

"This is also the treatment the scores I know deserve. Believe me, I possess countless works by Music Masters from various nations. These works should not rot away in a place like this; more people should hear them! And I believe having them take the world stage through your performance, Duke, would be an appropriate choice."

There were countless classic pieces of music on Earth. To spread them through this world, Joshua needed an exceptional musician proficient in all kinds of instruments. Wasn't Bone Duke before him the perfect candidate?

"You mean... there is more than one score of the same caliber as the one just now?" This time, it was Bone Duke's turn to be shocked.

"More than one. They are works by Music Masters from another country, a place very far away."

When describing Earth, Joshua could only use the vague concept of a place very far away.

The Soul Fire in Bone Duke's eye sockets flickered rapidly several times. Then, a pitch-black box and a tattered contract floated out of thin air.

That black box contained powerful corrosive energy. Joshua did not even need to ask to know what it was—the lifeblood of liches.

"A contract. I will give you one-quarter of my soul, and you will give me all your scores to perform. I will not disappoint the masters you speak of," Bone Duke said.

Souls could not be divided. Giving one-quarter of his soul was equivalent to giving Joshua half of Bone Duke's life.

Damn it... this lich really was insane. She was willing to give up her life just to regain her human sensations.

But if someone lived for thousands of years in a tiny dark room with no light, no food, and no water, they would surely find life worse than death, wouldn't they?

Bone Duke was probably living just such a life.

"Of course. I accept."

There was nothing wrong with that contract. After all, it had been written in the name of Chaos, and Joshua's perception of this kind of magic was far sharper than Bone Duke's!

A drop of blood seeped from Joshua's fingertip and floated before the contract. Then, a great amount of black translucent mist overflowed from the black box and surged into that drop of blood.

The blood condensed into an object resembling a black gemstone, fell into Joshua's palm, and melted away. In the end, a strange mark appeared on his palm.

Through that mark, Joshua felt a faint connection with the undead beings around him.

"To the future Music Master Shu Luoni Ka—wait..."

Joshua had also learned Bone Duke's true name. He froze slightly. Shu Luoni Ka... why did that name not sound like a man's?

She let out another piercing laugh and simply raised the wine-filled glass in her hand.

"Cheers," said the lich lady named Shu Luoni Ka.