Chapter Twenty-One: The Harpsichord

  Victor was very satisfied, Lucien's learning speed was still as fast as in the past few days, and it took less than fifty minutes to completely remember the remaining part of the grammar rules. It seems that apart from being very smart and having a language talent, his memory is also astonishing.

  As soon as Viktor's mood improved, he had an inspiration and hummed a short melody. He then clapped his hands gently and smiled warmly: "Ladies and gentlemen, you must be very tired after studying for so long. Why don't we have some afternoon tea, eat some fruit, and relax?"

  After finishing speaking, he went upstairs to record this melody.

  Holding a delicate and beautiful pale white porcelain cup, Lucien lightly sipped the red tea, finding himself sadly getting used to this strange taste, and rubbed his temples, relieving the brain swelling caused by high-intensity studying over the past few days.

  "Phyllis, when are you going to invite us out to your estate for a hunt? I miss the enchanting freshness of the place and the rabbits and fawns skipping about,"

  Another noble girl, Annie, suddenly smiled and spoke up. She had beautiful golden long hair and emerald-like eyes, but her facial features were not good, very ordinary. Moreover, her family situation was not good either. Her father was just one of the many children of a baron, with no hope of inheriting the title or territory, and it seemed that he couldn't even inherit an estate or property, and could only barely maintain his dignity by relying on his income as a city court clerk and the annual allowance from the baron's house.

  In comparison, as a member of the Hain family, one of the several major families in the Principality of Vaulierre, Phyllis's father, although he ultimately failed to inherit the earldom and hereditary territory, was still left with an estate outside Altor City by the old earl before his death. The estate had forests, orchards, vineyards, and even a quarry for flower-patterned rocks, as well as a house in Altor City.

  So Phyllis's family background was the best among all the noble children present.

  In the sweltering summer, one can go to a suburban manor to hunt and escape the heat, enjoying their home-brewed delicious wine. This is what ordinary noble youths without a manor of their own, including Lott, envy the most. Thus, Annie was secretly trying to curry favor with Phyllis.

  "Really? Miss Phyllis, your estate has cute rabbits and beautiful little deer?" asked Renie, a commoner girl, with a curious and admiring expression.

  On Lucien's first day of school, Renni tried to get close to Phyllis, Lott and Annie by talking about music, which had a very good effect.

  Inspired, she somehow managed to pick up some music theory knowledge over the past few days and then, feigning inquiry and confusion, asked Phyllis or Annie for guidance. After much effort, she finally became familiar with them and was able to join their circle of conversation.

  With her as a model, Colin and David, two ordinary young men, also found topics from this aspect to get close to the noble students, with the same obvious effect. Only Lucien was focused on his studies and didn't say an extra word.

  Since Lucien didn't take the initiative to get close, neither the noble students like Lott and Phyllis nor the commoner students like Renny and Colin would lower themselves to talk to him, maintaining their cold and distant attitude.

  Phillis maintained a demure posture, smiling politely and responding in standard tones: "I also miss those lovely animals, but with Viktor-sensei's symphony concert still over three months away, every weekend during this period, Lotte, Hirodoro and I will have to come here or the musicians' association to help Viktor-sensei rehearse his pieces and practice our own instruments. There really isn't any time for us to go hunting in the suburbs."

  As for Annie's flattery, Renee's admiration and envy, as well as her fawning, Phyllis was actually very pleased and happy in her heart. Who doesn't like this feeling?

  Lucien, who was standing by, listened to their conversation and naturally had some yearning for his own estate. However, the most important thing at present is how to ask Mr. Victor to borrow a universal dictionary and how to flip through such a thick book in the hall and store it in the Soul Library.

  In the midst of Phyllis, Lotte, Annie, Colin, and Renny's reserved or deliberate interactions, Victor walked down with a faint smile still visible at the corner of his mouth, apparently very satisfied with the previous melody.

  Just as Viktor was about to continue his lesson, the butler Eis opened the door and walked in, saying quietly to Viktor: "Master, your expected guest has arrived."

  "Oh dear, I forgot again, damn it, got absorbed in music this morning." Viktor flicked his right hand, looking somewhat annoyed. "Quickly invite them in."

  After Ais left with a respectful and elegant demeanor, Viktor turned to Lucien and the others, spread his hands, and apologized with a face full of regret: "I'm sorry, dear gentlemen and ladies. I forgot that we had guests scheduled for today. You can make up for the remaining lessons tomorrow at 2 pm, okay?"

  Victor was so polite, Lott, Phyllis, Annie and Lucien wouldn't be unkind either, but Lucien decided to take advantage of Mr. Victor's apologetic mood and borrow his universal dictionary for a few days.

  Just as Lucien was about to speak, Ace had already led the guests in. One was a handsome silver-haired man wearing a red shirt and black jacket, and the other was an old white-haired man carrying two wooden boxes with both hands.

  "Mr. Rhein..." Lucien and Phyllis chimed in unison.

  Phyllis had a faint blush on her face, while Lucien was completely astonished that Laine, who was just a wandering poet, became an important guest of Mr. Victor, the musician.

  "Hey Phyllis, hey Lucien." Rynn smiled, waving elegantly.

  Phyllis smiled shyly and then came to her senses, looking at Lucien in surprise along with Lott and the others. Did he know Mr. Rhein?

  "Lucien, do you know Mr. Rhein?" Viktor asked with a smile.

  Lucien nodded: "I once met Mr. Rhein, I didn't expect to meet Mr. Rhein again in your house, Mr. Victor."

  Rein smiled with a hint of charm and chimed in, "Although I've only met him once, Lucien left a deep impression on me. Hehe, you're actually starting to learn how to read and write! Ah, I have the utmost admiration for young people with ambition and dreams."

  It seems like Rhein is a ladies' man and Lucien can't help but feel a chill run down his spine as he watches him being admired by everyone.

  "Mr. Rhein is the concertmaster of the symphony orchestra I work with, and he has an extraordinary understanding of music. It was through my conversations with him that I was able to write a satisfying piano concerto full of inspiration."

  "How did he end up as the concertmaster of the symphony orchestra?! Lucien was almost stunned, just a few days ago, Rhein was still living in the Copper Crown Tavern in the slums."

  These days, from Phyllis, Lotte and others' conversations, Lucien learned from several books in the library that the composition of this world's symphony orchestra is roughly the same as on Earth. He also gained a lot of knowledge and understood the position of the concertmaster in the symphony orchestra, who is the first violinist and also responsible for conducting coordination when there is no conductor. How could such an important position be given to a stranger who just arrived at Alto and had basically no cooperation with the band?

  Apparently noticing Lucien's surprise, Rein smiled wryly and said, "Because the previous band leader fell in love with a noble lady and eloped with her to the Kingdom of Syracuse a few days ago, there was no other way, so I reluctantly took his place."

  "Felice couldn't help but interject, 'Even if the former concertmaster were still here, Mr. Rhein's abilities would be enough to make him the first violinist, and with practice a few more times, he would blend in with the orchestra just fine.'"

  "Yes, Mr. Rhein is one of the best violinists I've ever seen, with his own unique insights into the music." Viktor praised similarly, "Meeting him has been my greatest gain in this period of time."

  Lucien looked at the smiling, enigmatic Laine and still felt a strong sense of unease, as if it was all too coincidental. A wandering minstrel from the Kingdom of Syracuse, with a lyre in hand, had become the first violinist of a symphony orchestra in just a few days - it was hard to believe, shrouded in an inexplicable eeriness.

  Rhein bowed slightly with his right hand on his left chest, thanking Viktor for the compliment. Then he introduced the white-haired old man beside him: "This is Mr. Xavier, one of Altor's finest harpsichord makers, who should be able to help you complete the modification of your harpsichord."

  "Welcome, Mr. Xavier, I've come to see you because the current pianoforte is unable to meet the requirements of my new piano concerto, and I hope you can make some modifications." Viktor said enthusiastically as he led Rhein and Xavier upstairs, not giving Lucien a chance to ask to borrow the dictionary.

  However, he seemed to have forgotten to let Lucien, Annie, Colin and others leave. On the other hand, the butler Ace was not sure about the relationship between Lucien and Laine, so it was inconvenient for him to ask them to leave directly. Therefore, curious Annie, Colin and others quietly and quietly followed Phyllis and others to the stairs.

  Lucien hadn't borrowed a dictionary yet and wasn't willing to leave just like that, so he followed him as well.

  Upstairs on the second floor, Viktor led Rhein and Xavier into his music room.

  "Mr. Xavier, I hope the harpsichord can be freely and accurately controlled in terms of volume through the pressure of my fingers, with a wider range, more sonorous and richer, as well as more delicate and clearer." Viktor said while watching Mr. Xavier open the harpsichord, revealing its complex mechanical device, quill plectra, and strings.

  Since the invention of the pipe organ, its shortcomings have been very obvious. It is difficult to achieve changes in volume through changes in key pressure, thereby controlling the intensity and strong-weak contrast of music. However, many musicians and producers have also made attempts and modifications to this end, by adding other devices such as stops, swell pedals, and coupler keyboards to achieve similar effects, finally making it an instrument that can barely control volume changes while playing. It was precisely because of these precedents that Victor thought of modifying the pipe organ to meet his own requirements.

  Xavier frowned: "Such a requirement, can't be completed. After more than 300 years of development, the modification of the harpsichord has reached its limit, and at most, there is only a slight improvement based on experience."

  Victor and Rhein didn't expect Xavier to respond so absolutely, both of them fell silent instantly, especially Victor, whose face turned pale. If the pipe organ couldn't meet his requirements, then his newly composed piano concerto wouldn't be perfectly presented. For him, who was going to perform for the first time in the Sanctus Hall, it meant failure before he even started, and having to rewrite or recompose the piece was unacceptable.

  This silent stillness lasted for a good while, giving Phyllis and others a suffocating feeling.

  "Why not change the pipe organ to a stringed instrument?" Lucien thought for a long time, weighing the pros and cons and whether it would reveal his secret, before suddenly speaking up in the silence.

  It seems that the world has not yet truly given birth to the modern piano, known as the "king of instruments", and is still in the stage of two ancient pianos. If I can help Mr. Viktor complete the transformation from ancient piano to modern piano, my tuition fees seem to be saved, and borrowing dictionaries will no longer be difficult.

  In the Lucien Soul Library, from Viktor's request, Lucien opened "Piano Making and Tuning" and "Modern Piano Mechanics Principles", hastily scanning through the first dozen or so pages to get a general impression.

  Xavier looked at Lucien sternly, "What's the difference between this and playing a harp? Although you can control the volume with finger strength now, and the contrast of changes is richer, but the sound is too weak, too soft, too delicate, only suitable for playing in a home room, not in a grand hall like the Sanctus Hall."

  Lucien, as a native of Altos, the city of music and hymns, neither Xavier nor Rhein nor Victor found it strange or suspicious that he would roughly know the difference between two pianos.