April third, Aalto Music Festival.
Music was everywhere on the streets. Today, Lucien was dressing less formally, with a simple brown coat, white shirt and black trousers. Wandering on the streets, he was accompanied by Iven, who also dressed like a little gentleman, since Joel and Alisa decided to go out on a date to revive the passion and love that they had when they were young.
Victor was busy with meeting different musicians and nobles from other cities and countries, and so were Felicia, Lott and Herodotus. Natasha was feeling overwhelmed by the royal guests coming from all over the continent, and she spent all her spare time supporting Silvia’s upcoming concert. Rhine was invited to be the first violin for several concerts, and Lucien heard that he didn’t even have time to eat.
Even John could not find any time to hang out with Lucien. He needed to maintain the order on the festival.
"Hey, John!" Lucien waved to his buddy, who was patrolling on the streets.
"Hey, Lucien!" John grinned, "How’s everything going?"
"Well… Can’t be any better." Lucien shrugged his shoulders, "Is there anything better in the world than being a babysitter during the music festival?" Lucien pointed at Iven, who was focused on chewing the huge hotdog in his hand.
John laughed so loud that several pedestrians on the street turned to look at them.
"Come on! I’m taking care of your younger brother!" Lucien complained in a joking way.
"Well… I heard that several noble ladies invited you to their manors during the festival." John patted on Lucien’s shoulder, "Say… Miss Yvette Hill."
"I prefer to take care of your brother," answered Lucien honestly.
After talking to John, Lucien continued to stroll around the streets. Since he might be leaving soon after the music festival, Lucien wanted to feel Aalto more and cherish the time when he was still here.
While Lucien was quite interested in listening to the street artists playing, Iven paid more attention to the assorted food trucks which were selling grilled cheese, fruit pie, fried potatoes, desserts and so on.
Finishing his hotdog, Iven started to stare at the candy store on the other side of the street.
Lucien and Iven easily spent the whole morning walking around to enjoy the festival atmosphere, and walking into some random small music halls to appreciate the music that the bands played.
During the music festival, except for the Psalm Hall, tickets for any music performance were very cheap, and some of them were even free. Thus, Aalto Music Festival was genuinely a music feast for everyone.
It was close to lunch time. Lucien took Iven to a restaurant.
"Look!" Iven was pointing at the sign standing in front of the restaurant, "Play music and earn your free meal!"
Iven could already read some words under Lucien and John’s teaching.
"This restaurant seems to be quite awesome." Lucien smiled.
The restaurant was super busy. When Lucien and Iven were waiting to be seated, they saw an old gentleman who was playing piano in the front. The old gentleman was not playing really well, and every of his key-pressing movement seemed to be a big challenging for him.
But he played in a very devoted way, as if he was having his own concert.
When the old gentleman finished playing, the whole restaurant bursted out a warm applause for him. The guests were applauding for his courage and passion.
"Free lunch for this gentleman!" cheered the owner of the restaurant, "Who wants to be the next!?"
Lucien and Iven were led to a small table for two, close to the window. They ordered two steaks for lunch.
A few more guests performed. The atmosphere of the restaurant was very nice. Everyone here was enjoying their time.
More and more people came into the restaurant. Some of them could not find any seat, so they just stood beside the bar section, holding their food, and that included Piola, Sharon and the other band members.
After playing for the whole morning, they were starving. A free lunch was definitely great.
Piola’s playing seized everyone’s attention. The festive atmosphere in the restaurant climaxed.
"Free lunch for this young lad!" the owner of the restaurant announced, "And for his friends!"
Lilith and Sala were attracted by the restaurant as well.
...
Putting down his knife and fork, Lucien smiled at Iven, who was too full to sit up straight on his seat, "Told you. Don’t eat too much."
"I can’t control myself…" Iven was still staring at the rest of the steak on the plate and then he ask the waiter to take it to go. Then he turned to Lucien, "If you’re willing to play, Lucien, for sure we don’t need to pay!"
Being touched by the friendly, warm atmosphere, Lucien wanted to give it a shot as well. Lucien wanted to see whether his own music, the one he didn’t copy from any masterpieces, could receive some appreciation among the people.
So he nodded to Iven and walked toward the piano.
"Another young lad!" said the restaurant owner.
"Mr. Evans!?" Lilith could not believe her eyes.
"Yes, it is Mr. Evans." Sala looked a bit confused but also excited, "I thought he was preparing for his concert."
"We’re so lucky!" Lilith’s face flushed, "We can listen to Mr. Evans’ playing here, in a random restaurant!"
Piola recognized Lucien as well, and he turned to his friends, "That’s the gentleman we talked to the other day. I wonder how well he can play!"
Placing his hands on the keyboard, Lucien quickly went through the small piece of serenade he wrote before in his mind, without referring to any music books in his spirit library.
Lucien’s playing was like a cool breeze coming in through the window, gentling touching every listener’s heart. The busy restaurant slowly calmed down. Everyone stopped talking and listened to the music carefully.
Moving his hands smoothly on the keyboard, Lucien closed his eyes and started to enjoy.
In sharp contrast to the bustling atmosphere just now, the beautiful melody refreshed people’s mind like a limpid brook.
The piece of melody was very short. When Lucien left the small stage and came back to Iven, the whole restaurant remained very quiet, since the guests were still immersed in the beauty of the melody.
Lucien was satisfied. Leaving a Nar on the table, Lucien and Iven quickly left.
As soon as Lucien stepped out of the restaurant, he heard a great mix of people cheering and applauding.
...
"He left!" Piola looked disappointed, "We didn’t ask his name! Again!"
"I wonder why we never heard the melody before. Full of music surprises, Aalto is such an amazing place!" said Sharon. She did not know that it was that gentleman himself who composed the melody.
...
"Mr. Evans!" Lucien heard someone calling him from behind.
Turning around, he saw that it was the brother and sister who visited him the other day.
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