“I made that by recalling a song I heard when I was a child,” I said.
“Oh? Where’s it from? What’s it called?”
“I don’t recall.”
A boldfaced lie. That song was from my previous life. It came from a certain game’s soundtrack, which even featured a music box that played it in game. I was very fond of this song, so I used it in my magic tools. I definitely hadn’t thought it would get brought up in a place like this.
Even after denying any recollection and going as far as saying I didn’t know the song’s name, the third prince still hadn’t given up. “If you heard it as a child, then maybe it’s a song from Peylon? Or not? You wouldn’t remember, would you? Do you think Lord Peylon might?”
Please, spaaare me.
Everyone had gradually shifted their attention to us. Bear was grinning.
Stop looking at us.
At the end of it, the third prince hit me with a truly insane idea. “It’s such a lovely song though. I say we play it at the festival.”
“No, no, I must disagree. That song is too brief to be suitable for a performance.”
For starters, I didn’t see how we could all perform the song when we didn’t even have the music sheets. Not to mention it really was short—I had made the music box play a small section on loop.
“If it’s short, then we can simply arrange it into something longer. What do you think?” the third prince said to the chairman.
The Humerson boy thought about it. In my head I told him to stop. That there was no need to think about it. That we should just go with something famous.
That was when some upperclassmen offered opinions they definitely could’ve kept to themselves.
“Perhaps we should listen to this song first?”
“Then let’s borrow the box from the magic tools classroom.”
“Surely it must be a wonderful song if His Highness is vouching for it, no?”
That last one was unnecessary, Fifth Son of House Whatever. Don’t make this a factional thing just because you’re losing to your rival.
Before I knew what was happening, my music box from the magic tools was brought before us. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t submitted that for the exam. What an idiot I am. Like a public execution, my music box was set up in the center of the classroom, where it began to play. Where a normal music box would work using gears and springs, this one was mana-powered.
A slightly poignant tune emanated from it.
“Ohh.”
“Isn’t it a little dull?”
“I think it’s quite nice.”
“But doesn’t it feel a little lonely?”
“That’s a good thing.”
“It sounds dull to me.”
We were split pretty evenly. Personally, I thought we should go for something more uplifting since this was for the academy festival. Like a marching song maybe. As much as I wanted to say something, I just didn’t feel like I could. My past life in Japan had made me sensitive to social cues, so I ended up keeping my thoughts to myself.
Damn.
Selecting our songs took several more meetings after that. In the end, we settled on composing a medley of a number of shorter songs, and of course one of those just had to be the piece from my music box. I tried to stop them. Besides, Ozeria was a monarchy, I didn’t see why we were taking a democratic solution in the first place. However, leaving this to the royals would’ve meant letting the third prince decide, so I wasn’t escaping either way.
“What’s the matter, Lowell?” Lanmia said. “You look down.”
We were in the dorm, eating dinner together.
“It’s nothing much, just one of my electives...”
“Oh, right, I heard about that! General magic is doing a music performance, and they’ll be putting on a song of yours?”
Wait. Why do you know what general magic decided on? And what do you mean by a song of mine? If you mean the music box, then I didn’t make that.
“A song of mine, you said?”
“Hm? I was told you would be playing a song you made for magic tools?”
Told by who? Oh, from a club member? No, never mind that.
“I didn’t make it, so calling it a song of mine is inaccurate.”
“Is it now? Well, I’m not going to fuss over details.”
“No, I think you should. I wouldn’t exactly call that a detail, but still.”
No matter what I said, Lanmia remained stubbornly unconcerned. As I continued to press on, Luchirs tapped me on the shoulder.
“Lowell, I think you should save yourself the trouble.”
“Luchirs...”
“When she gets like this, there’s no changing Mia’s mind.”
You’re telling me to give up? How could you?
After multiple meetings, we had five short songs selected. We planned to take the climaxes of each piece and arrange them into one medley. As for the images, we had complete support from the art club, and all its members were pitching in. Apparently the idea of making illustrations to go with songs really struck a chord with them.
In today’s meeting, we were going to listen to our songs and get a sense of their flow. Besides my music box piece, I was a complete stranger to our selection, so I was a little excited.
I should mention that we would be listening through a playback device developed by the institute. While it didn’t have any recording functions, it could playback audio contained on storage media. It had small speakers built in, saving us the trouble of preparing those. This device was my idea, of course, so I earned royalties on the sales.
As for our storage medium, we used a record. Mana crystals were easier to use, but those were expensive. The record itself was made of a monster material—a sort of bone that would normally get thrown out otherwise. Both in terms of weight and durability, these bones were optimal for this purpose.
The other songs we settled on were all opera compositions currently enjoying immense popularity, so much so that they were known by pretty much everyone in Ozeria. Though they were a bit old, being opera pieces meant they’d harmonize well. Once we listened to my music box song, it was time for the last on the list.
“This was made around a century ago, but music lovers will recognize it,” the Humerson boy said before putting on his record. I thought I deserved some praise for keeping my cool when I heard what came from the device.
Which one of you did this?! Who was reborn here a century ago?! Who tried to pass off a certain dragon slaying game’s opening as their own work?!
The day following that shocking event, Ribbons once again got in my hair. I was headed to my electives when she grabbed me on a staircase that saw little traffic. I wondered why she knew so many of the academy’s out of the way places?
“One moment, you! You better learn your place, or you’ll be in trouble!”
And what trouble could she put me in? Physical? Magical? Or that thing that happened to nobles? That last one aside, I didn’t know where she was getting these ideas considering she had less muscle and mana than I did.
“Hey! Are you listening to me?!”
“What? No?”
That made her screech. “Don’t get any closer to Fezgahn if you know what’s good for you!”
Fezgahn. Oh, the black knight. Wait, Ribbons...
“I thought you were set on the third prince. Weren’t you?”
“H-How did you know?!”
How could I not? Actually, how did you think anyone didn’t know? That would be more surprising.
“Hmph! Very well. If it’s come to this, I suppose I can let you in on my master plan.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Listen to me!”
Ohhh, so you did want me to listen?
“Now pay attention. Soon enough, I’ll be Prince Shenille’s princess consort. Then I’ll place Fezgahn at my side by making him part of the royal guard. Perfect, isn’t it?”
“That made me stupider.”
“WHAT WAS THAT?!”
I didn’t see any way the illegitimate child of an earl could become princess consort, all the more so when said earl’s house had a pretty nasty reputation. That would take an actual miracle. I couldn’t tell if making the black knight part of the royal guard was because she wanted a handsome man at her side, or if she wanted something more.
Either way, I was pretty sure being the third prince meant he would eventually lose his status as a royal anyway. If that were to happen, she wouldn’t be getting near anyone in the royal guard. But before any of that, there was a nearly zero percent chance of Ribbons marrying the third prince.
Leaving her behind while she yelled about this and that, I headed to class. Today I had mystic-jockeying.