Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Für Elise - [1]
"Boring."
Thud.
Princess Elise de Roa tossed the diamond she held onto the table.
The gem, which the empire's finest jeweler had spent three full months carving, rolled across like a common pebble before coming to a stop.
Even its dazzling sparkle was nothing more than a yawn-inducing rock to her.
A soaring ceiling, gold-leafed pillars, and carpets so luxurious they swallowed even footsteps. This opulent prison was Elise's entire world.
"I feel like I'm suffocating."
Elise buried herself deep into the sofa, her long eyelashes trembling faintly.
The nobles' fake smiles as they visited daily to fawn over her. Etiquette lessons that repeated word-for-word without fail.
Suitors swarming like flies drawn to the scent of power.
Boredom.
That sticky, heavy emotion was strangling her throat.
"Anna."
"Yes, Your Highness the Princess."
Anna, her personal maid who stood like a shadow, immediately bowed at the waist.
"Isn't there anything fun? Something to make my heart race even a little."
"Well... There's news that the Margrave of the western frontier recently hunted a rare magical beast..."
"No bloody savage stories."
Elise waved her hand dismissively. Anna bit her lip, looking troubled.
The princess's whims were harder to predict than the empire's weather. But Anna was a capable maid.
"Come to think of it... There's a strange rumor circulating lately in the workshop district on the outskirts of the capital."
"Workshop district? That noisy, stinking place full of metal?"
"Yes. It's about one of the dwarf forges there."
Elise picked up the diamond again, feigning disinterest.
Dwarves. A race skilled with their hands and stubbornly set in their ways. Dwarves had two virtues.
The strength to knead steel like dough, and the creativity to invent new weapons. Just those two.
"What's so fun about dwarves? Did they forge another legendary sword or something?"
"No, quite the opposite. Have you heard of a dwarf named Haruna, by any chance?"
Elise's hand paused.
"Haruna? Yeah, I've heard of her. The one they call the disgrace of the dwarves?"
She was famous. For all the wrong reasons.
For a dwarf, her strength was pathetically weak. And she had zero originality—no creativity whatsoever, just a rigid mindset.
A half-baked blacksmith who could only produce exactly to the given blueprints.
That was Haruna, the disgrace of the dwarves.
"Who would even go to that hack blacksmith?"
"That's the thing. They say a man visits her every single day."
"Hmm."
Elise sat up. A man going to a dwarf with no strength or creativity...
One of three types. An eccentric, a madman, or a lust-driven fool who loved without regard for race.
"Was he commissioning a weapon? A sword? Or a spear?"
"No... They say it wasn't a weapon."
Anna glanced around and lowered her voice.
"The man brought a single blueprint and commissioned something utterly bizarre. It looks like furniture, but apparently, it's a musical instrument."
"Musical instrument?"
"Yes. They say it's called... a piano."
Piano. Elise rolled the unfamiliar word around in her mouth.
"Piano... Piano..."
She'd heard of lyres, harps, lutes—but piano? First time ever. And from that clumsy dwarf's hands, no less.
She couldn't imagine it. And anything unimaginable was the ultimate entertainment for Elise.
A spark of life returned to her boredom-clouded eyes.
"That sounds fun."
Elise sprang to her feet.
"Get ready, Anna."
"Pardon? Y-You don't mean... His Majesty will have us flogged if he finds out!"
"That's why we'll go in secret. I have to see this piano with my own eyes."
A thick smile of curiosity crept across Elise's lips for the first time in ages.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ My life was ruined. Or more precisely, my life as a fantasy novel protagonist was ruined.
I opened my eyes to this world. Classic opening. No memory of getting hit by a truck, but suddenly I was staring at a medieval-style ceiling.
Even now, it's dizzying to think about. I went to sleep and woke up as an orphan boy named Aiman! And I was only seven at the time!
Luckily, no one made me die, so I grew up in an orphanage and even managed to get a job of sorts.
After fifteen years, one bone-deep truth hit me: I'm a total loser.
If there had been a status window, it probably would've looked like this.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 📛 Name: Aiman ✨ Mana Sensitivity: None ⚡ Aura Affinity: None Swords? My wrist gave out. Magic chants? My tongue tripped. Those protagonist-level encounters from novels? Nowhere to be found, even if I searched with my eyes peeled.
I grasped my place quickly. And so, fifteen years as an ordinary commoner in this world.
I gave up on magic. Gave up on knighthood. But I still had a dream, an unbearable thirst.
'I want to play.'
Memories of my past life. My one hobby in the modern world. Fingers dancing over keys. The resonance of strings vibrating the heart.
Piano. This damn fantasy world has no piano!
Lutes plucked ding-ding by bards or harps for nobles' elegant airs? No way that satisfies!
I miss that overwhelming range of 88 keys and the key touch like crazy!
So I commissioned one. With every penny I'd saved. Not a huge sum, but still.
"Hoo."
I stopped in front of the rundown forge. No sign, just a dented door. Outskirts of the capital, the dingiest alley corner no one visits.
[Haruna's Forge]
Haruna, the owner, was an outcast in dwarf society. Zero originality, just a machine-like blacksmith who made exactly what was ordered.
But isn't making exactly to order the best? Why is Haruna a disgrace? I really don't get it.
Creeeak.
I pushed open the rusty-hinged door. A rush of metal and sawdust smells hit me.
"You're here."
Someone emerged from the back of the workshop. Oil-stained work clothes, towel over her head.
The face beneath didn't match the typical dwarf image at all.
Skin pale as if she'd never seen sunlight.
Soft arms suited for brushstrokes, not hammer blows. And curves too voluptuous to hide under work clothes.
Of course, dwarf-sized, shorter than a normal human.
"Is it done?"
Haruna wiped sweat from her forehead with a glove and nodded.
"It's done. Exactly to that bizarre blueprint you gave me, Aiman."
She let out a deep sigh.
"I don't know if it's really functional. I just carved and assembled to your specs."
"That's all I needed. That's plenty."
I turned to where Haruna pointed.
In the messy corner of the workshop. Amid scrap metal and wood shavings, a black object emanated an alien presence.
Smooth curves. Glossy black finish sucking in all light. Keyboard cover neatly closed.
There it was. The piano.
"Ah..."
A sigh escaped me. Drawn like a moth, I approached and reached out. Cool, smooth texture traveled up my fingertips.
Wood and varnish scents assaulted my nose, but even that felt sweet.
"How is it? Match what you wanted?"
Haruna asked with anxious eyes.
"Perfect. Beyond my imagination."
I answered sincerely. No doubt about it—Haruna was a genius.
Let me say it again: I have no idea why she's an outcast.
I've seen a few dwarves, and she seems the best by far.
That's when it happened.
"Um..."
Someone stood in the shadowy corner of the workshop.
A small figure in a deep brown robe. Face hidden in shadow, but the clear, refined voice marked her as female.
"Who are you?"
Haruna shrugged and answered for her.
"Oh, I let her in. She was peeking outside. Said she heard the rumors."
"Rumors?"
"Yeah. About the madman coming every day to make weird furniture."
I scratched the back of my head sheepishly and looked at the robed woman.
She approached the piano cautiously. Violet eyes sparkled with curiosity from under the hood.
She scanned it like an extraterrestrial artifact.
"This... is the piano?"
"Yes, that's right."
"I heard it's a musical instrument... No strings, no holes. Does it really make sound?"
Half doubt, half curiosity. Yeah... To people here, it probably looks like a giant coffin or dining table.
"Of course. It'll make the most beautiful sound in the world."
"Hoo."
The woman's eyes narrowed.
"Quite confident. Then let's hear it. That world's most beautiful sound. If it satisfies, I'll reward you."
She crossed her arms and sat primly on a rickety workshop chair. Her natural poise and dignity made me flinch.
Noble? Nah, couldn't be. Commoners like me drop dead the day they meet nobles, or so they say...
Plus, something seemed to squirm in the shadows behind her. Hallucination?
Whatever. What matters now isn't that.
I took a deep breath and sat on the piano bench.
The hard wood against my butt. Knee height, pedal position. All unfamiliar yet familiar.
Slide. I opened the keyboard cover.
Black and white. Eighty-eight keys lined up neatly, as if waiting for me, faintly glowing.
What to play? Flashy Liszt? Grand Rachmaninoff? Nah... Something familiar, the one I've played most.
Masterpieces of the era never fade.
I placed my hands on the keys. The watching woman couldn't hold back.
"What piece?"
Staring at the keys, a faint smile on my lips, I replied. My mind blank for now.
"Für Elise."
"...!"
"Then, I'll begin."
I pressed the first key without hesitation.