Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Forever Any Number of Times 3
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“Time to get up, Aria.”
My eyes opened at the familiar voice.
The first thing I saw was the ceiling, speckled with small patches of mold.
As I climbed down from the creaky bed, the floor was cold.
‘The orphanage.’
One by one, the other children who had woken up began to gather at the tables.
Breakfast was a single slice of bread and a watery soup.
The moment the director’s prayer ended, everyone hastily devoured their food.
When lunchtime came, they were all busy running around and playing in the yard.
But.
Aria was always holed up in a corner, reading a book or drawing a picture.
There was no particular reason for it.
Even when she held hands and played with the other children.
Even when they looked at each other and laughed.
Everything always felt distant, as if it were someone else’s story.
It felt as if warmth could not reach her, and her alone.
If she was going to feel this sense of emptiness anyway, she preferred being alone.
She had tried hard to think of everyone as family, but every time, a massive wall rose from her heart and blocked her way.
This isn’t a home.
This is where I was abandoned.
A place I’m just passing through.
‘Where is my real family?’
She couldn’t remember her parents’ faces.
It was impossible to guess where she came from.
Aria’s yesterday was empty.
As if she were suffering from amnesia.
It was only natural, since she had been left at the orphanage the day she was born.
Perhaps that was for the best.
Among the children at the orphanage, there were friends who vividly remembered the day their mothers abandoned them.
Was it actually a blessing that she had nothing?
That meant she didn’t have to be sad.
She could just believe it never existed in the first place.
And yet.
She couldn't help but feel suffocated.
It was a loneliness too overwhelming for a little girl to bear.
Then, one day.
The director approached her and said.
“Let’s try singing together, my dear.”
That was the moment a crack finally appeared in Aria’s frozen world.
A melody that lightly tapped at her heart.
A strange trembling.
As she entrusted herself to the melody, the massive wall began to crumble, piece by piece.
A sorrow no one had ever dared to heal.
What wiped away Aria’s tears was nothing more than a single verse of a song.
Time passed.
“I need you to come up on stage with me.”
The request came from the performer she had admired.
‘Will I be okay...?’
She knew singing was fun, but she also knew not everyone felt the same way.
Singing was just like her.
Something that could be anywhere, yet no one paid any attention to.
As she was lost in worry.
“Being good at singing isn't something you can just learn. The ability to pour your heart into a single verse. If that isn't talent, what is?”
It was the first time she had ever received such praise.
She was at a loss for words.
She had always thought of it as her own personal comfort.
Singing was the only friend that comforted her clumsy self.
Could it be that it sounded beautiful enough to be called a talent in someone else’s ears?
She couldn’t believe it.
At the same time, a spark ignited.
‘Maybe I could... give comfort to someone else, too?’
It felt like the greatest blessing she could ever receive.
If she could do that.
Did her song have meaning, too?
The door to her heart, which had been closed, swung open.
The fear was still there, but she wanted to believe.
And now.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The light of the candles gently enveloped the stage.
Standing there was a single, small girl.
Aria’s eyes turned toward the audience.
She saw a sea of spectators.
It was terrifying.
‘Hic...’
She had no choice but to hang her head.
It felt as if everyone was glaring at her.
And that expectation was, to some extent, correct.
“Who is that child?”
“It looks like she interrupted the performer. Shouldn't we have her removed immediately?”
Murmurs from the audience reached her ears.
She wanted to run out right then and there.
But at that moment.
“Aria.”
“Y-Yes...!”
“Do not be afraid. This stage is for you, and you alone.”
“Ah...”
The performer’s voice was infinitely soft and warm.
A gentle ripple ran through her frozen heart.
‘A stage just for me.’
As she closed her eyes, a dark past flashed through her mind.
The orphanage.
Lonely days.
Numerous nights when she felt completely alone.
All of it had carved a giant hole in Aria’s heart.
But from now on.
She had decided not to be sad anymore.
‘No matter how empty it is, I will fill it myself from now on.’
With her own light, not fear.
Forever, as many times as it takes.
This moment was her first step.
Everyone held their breath, watching her intently.
And then, the music began.
The warm timbre of the piano.
A gentle melody flowed out and softly embraced her whole body.
Aria’s lips parted slightly.
She took a small breath.
From a corner of my heart, I'm still singing
>I always want to dream an exciting dream
>Though there are countless tears
>I will surely meet you on the other side
A trembling voice. But at the same time, it was powerful. Warm and poignant, like a single ray of light melting the darkness.
Fading memories
>The shattered mirror of recollection
>I'll fill my empty heart with the scenery of a new morning
Aria opened her eyes and cautiously faced the world before her. The light she had created was dyeing the audience. Her voice, which stretched to the very end of the theater, held a handful of hope. Her stiff expression, as if embarrassed, held a bit of excitement. Her small, wriggling hand gestures held anticipation for tomorrow.
The shining moment is right now
>Always here, inside my heart
Her song became a story, seeping into everyone’s ears. And then. The final key of the piano was pressed lightly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Silence fell.
The surprise was only temporary.
The heads of the audience, who were encountering the unfamiliar art of song for the first time, tilted in confusion.
Some started to clap, then stopped, and only exchanged awkward glances, unsure of what to do.
“...How are we supposed to react to this?”
“The song was certainly good, but...”
The seats were filled with uncertain expressions.
At that moment.
One person rose from the darkness.
And began to clap with a light, cheerful sound.
Long, flowing black hair.
Every time she moved her arms, her elegant white silk dress fluttered up and down.
Elise Flovitz, Crown Princess of the Flovia Empire.
Her lively eyes were fixed straight ahead, on the girl on the stage.
The sound of her clapping continued.
It was like the tolling of a bell heralding the dawn of a new era.
Elise’s applause.
It didn't just have one meaning.
It was thanks for the performance Aria had shown.
And one other thing.
It was a declaration, of sorts, that she would accept the sincerity contained within the art of song, an art looked down upon by the nobility.
A crack formed in the silence that had settled over the theater.
Since Her Highness the Crown Princess had started it, there was no need to hesitate any longer.
The audience rose one by one, crying out in cheers.
“Woooooah!”
The sound of applause, which had begun to fill the entire seating area, became a massive wave, crashing violently onto the stage.
A bright smile bloomed on Aria’s face.
It was brighter and more radiant than ever before.
‘My song reached everyone.’
Amidst the shouts and applause that filled the theater, perhaps she felt it.
The final empty space in her heart, which nothing had been able to fill until now, had finally been filled by the warm courage from everyone in this space.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
One week later.
Somewhere in the Imperial Palace.
“From a corner of my heart... I'm still singing...”
Therese covered her ears at Elise’s singing.
“I always want to dream an exciting dream...”
She had been singing the same part over and over for hours now.
Even if she admired her older sister, this was beyond what she could endure.
‘This is torture.’
Not long ago, she had gone with Elise to see the performance of that commoner girl, Aria.
Therese had also been deeply moved.
That was undeniable.
It was the first time she had ever experienced goosebumps all over her body and tears welling up from just a song.
But.
Shouldn't one or two times be enough?
She was going crazy from Elise singing it non-stop for days.
She couldn't stand it anymore and was about to leave when—
“Where are you going, Therese?”
She grabbed her as if she were a ghost.
“Ah... I'm going on a brief inspection tour of the capital. It's an order from Father.”
“I see. Be careful.”
It was a lie.
Even if she was a princess, she wouldn't be tasked with an inspection tour.
There was Prince Ruhan, and if the goal was a covert inspection, Eins would do. Why would she go?
She had blurted it out in frustration, thinking she'd go crazy if she stayed with Elise any longer.
“Haaaaa...”
She let out a sigh as she walked down the corridor.
Just then.
“From a corner of my heart~ I'm still singing~”
What was that?
A singing voice suddenly reached her.
A chill ran down her spine, and she looked around, but her sister was nowhere to be seen.
‘Am I hearing things?’
She had only thought that for a moment.
“I always want to dream an exciting dream~”
She hadn't misheard it.
A maid who happened to be passing by the corridor was singing the exact same song.
“Hey, you!”
“...Yes!”
She called out to the maid urgently.
“T-that song...! Where on earth did you...!”
“Ah! I'm so sorry! It's become so famous in the capital lately, so I listened to it a few times and it got stuck in my head, I just...! I'm truly sorry!”
“F-famous in the capital...? What on earth is...”
As Therese’s mind was growing hazy.
The theater, Rune Moon.
“‘Forever, as many times as it takes.’ The 5,000 jukeboxes we recorded this time are all sold out.”
“In a week? Let's print 5,000 more, and this time, let's bundle 10 limited editions with Aria’s voice message inside.”
“It’s certainly easier to mass-produce since we’re using the duplication spell. By the way, did you get Aria's permission?”
“Nope.”
“...Is that okay?”
“Do you think it's okay, Aria?”
“Yep! It's fine!”
“She says it's fine.”
There were three people who had started rowing against a tide that showed no signs of stopping.