Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Serika - [2]
Imperial border orphanage. In winter, the wind cut to the bone, and in summer, the humidity bred mold—a barren land.
For young Serika, the world was gray. Hunger, cold, and the vague fear of being abandoned at any moment.
In that gray world, there was only one being with any color.
"Serika, look here. This is read as 'flower'."
"Flower...?"
"It's written like this. Want to try copying it?"
Aiman. Even now, thinking back, her brother at the time was a very strange kid.
While other kids punched each other for an extra piece of bread, her brother wrote letters on the dirt floor with a stick.
Something about how learning to read was the way to survive... how it kept you from being looked down on...
And when the director got drunk and tried to beat them, instead of crying and running away, her brother would stare him down with calm, adult-like eyes until he calmed down.
"Why don't you cry, brother? Doesn't it hurt?"
"It hurts. But if I cry, I'll just get hungrier."
Aiman said that as he stroked Serika's head with a tired voice.
Those rough, calloused hands were, to young Serika, the embrace of parents and a comforting touch.
Then one day came. Or rather, the day the gray world flipped upside down.
Mages in white robes from the capital had made a fuss over her.
Seeing the tiny flame flicker from her fingertips, they showered her with praise: "genius," "the future of the Magic Tower."
Young Serika was overjoyed. She couldn't understand all their words, but even as a child, parts of it made sense.
She would never go hungry again. Never be cold again. Serika ran straight to Aiman.
"Brother! Did you see? They said I'm amazing! The mages called me a genius!"
Serika grabbed Aiman's sleeve and jumped up and down.
"When I become a grand mage, I'll treat you so well! I'll buy you delicious food and nice clothes!"
That was when Serika saw Aiman's expression.
Young as she was, she had assumed he'd smile brightly and pat her head.
But his lips were being pulled up slowly, forcibly, into a smile.
His mouth was smiling, but his eyes weren't... That was it. The emotions in those eyes were unforgettable even now.
Bitter eyes mixed with longing and deep resignation. Eyes that revealed inferiority at the sight of what he himself lacked.
She hadn't understood back then. She'd just felt annoyed and disappointed that he wasn't fully sharing her joy.
But now she knew. What that expression on Aiman's face had meant.
The feeling of having worked so much harder, studied so much more, yet having to watch from the sidelines because he wasn't blessed with talent.
That brilliant mind and precocious maturity, yet cursed by not being chosen by the gods.
How must it have looked to that young boy? She'd even unintentionally hurt him without realizing.
'...Back then, I just tilted my head and wondered why he couldn't do it too.'
Every time, Aiman would force a smile and tease her that maybe someday he would.
'How... hard must it have been?'
Watching his genius little sister succeed while he stood by. It would have been natural to feel jealous. To hate or resent her.
She would have, for sure. But Aiman never once got angry or showed his misery.
He even took on all sorts of dirty jobs to help pay for her academy tuition.
'He said it was just a loan.'
Don't feel burdened, he'd said... But Serika realized it anew.
Her brother, who from an even younger age than she was now had done every kind of work. Who had shouldered feelings of inferiority and deprivation alone to support her...
Throb.
A sharp ache pierced one corner of Serika's chest.
"Brother..."
Serika's eyes darkened slightly. It wasn't familial love or pity... It was a debt. Yes, a debt.
The debt of having to repay her brother's kindness.
Serika's gaze fell to Aiman's fingertips, then to the massive black furniture he was touching.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Hmm. My back was prickling. Not just stinging—more like being lasered.
'What should I say?'
I swallowed dryly. It had been a full minute since Serika entered the room. She was silently glaring back and forth between my back and the piano.
'What do I even say?'
Serika's eyes were unsettling. Not moved or emotional—more like heavy, lost in deep thought.
'It must look insanely expensive.'
From her perspective, some broke guy suddenly dumping his entire fortune into this.
And that was exactly right. My entire fortune was in this thing!
Plus, repairs and maintenance ahead would be beyond my salary!
Turning my back and blowing it all on this was a fact!
'I need to salvage this.'
The best way to turn this around? A noble cause, of course.
This extravagance wasn't for me—it was for my beloved little sister, Serika!
Serika? This piano was prepared for you from the start, you see?
"Serika."
"...Yeah, brother."
Serika startled, as if snapping out of it, and answered.
Her eyes on me were strange. Kind of dazed?
I ignored it and kept going.
"Remember? I've always loved music. I'd hum lullabies when you couldn't sleep."
"Yeah. I remember. Your lullabies were really nice."
"Right. This is like that. Just like back then."
Foundation laid.
"I made it thinking of those lullabies, Serika."
"Lullabies...?"
"Yeah. Lullabies. The ones I'd sing when you couldn't sleep."
Not wrong, right? I did think of playing for her. So it counts.
"It's called a piano."
"Piano?"
"Simply put, it's an instrument I thought up and designed."
"Instrument...? This?"
Serika tilted her head. Not doubting me, but puzzled.
Similar to the look Ria had given the piano. No need to explain further.
"Just think of it this way, Serika. I made it for you."
"...Huh?"
Serika's eyes went wide.
"I know how cutthroat the academy is for you. Competition, jealousy, assignments... It must be so tough. So when you come home, I wanted you to relax and listen to my playing."
Total lie, of course. Purely for me. But hey, good is good, right?
Saying it out loud even made it feel true.
"By the way, the piece I'm about to play... I made it for you too. Want to hear it?"
"For... me?"
"Yeah. For you, Serika."
Serika's lips trembled. Good reaction. I sat on the piano bench and got into position.
'Hmm... What to play.'
Tons of songs came to mind. Plenty I could play.
'That one.'
Come to think of it, Serika would graduate someday too. And there was a perfect piece for that.
"The title is..."
I placed my hands on the keys and murmured softly.
"'Salut d'Amour'."
"...!!"
The moment "love" came out, Serika's pupils shook like there was an earthquake.
Too much with "love"? Between siblings, it's practically taboo. Yeah, overkill.
"The title might sound weird..."
"No."
"?"
"It's not weird at all."
"Uh... okay?"
The title must've hit hard. Her saying so seriously that it's good...
Anyway, crisis averted. And with crisis past comes opportunity.
"Want to hear it?"
I prepared to press the keys. Right then, a memory flashed in my mind.
[Next time you play, call me for sure.]
The dwarf in her oil-stained work clothes, Haruna, with her blazing eyes.
[I'll hear my creation weep... If you don't call, I don't know what I'll do.]
Oh, right. Haruna told me to call her.
I hesitated. Should I call her now?
But in this mood? With Serika right here, eyes burning like she wants it now?
'It'll be fine.'
Haruna didn't bug the place or anything. Just one song—what's the harm? I can play dumb later.
It's my house. I'll play what I want. I raised my right index finger. Then gently pressed the first key.