Chapter Fifty Composition

  Discordant, unpleasant melodies came out from the piano under Lucien's hands, and Lucien, who was still at the stage of being able to play only simple tunes, had a playing skill that completely failed to match the high-difficulty melody he wanted. One note after another burst forth, like a blacksmith in an ironworks shop hammering away with his iron mallet, striking again and again at Lott, Phyllis, and Hierodeus's hearts, making them feel a maddening sensation, as if they would have liked to go up and tear Lucien apart.

  "That's enough!" Herodotus and Lott shouted out in unison, somewhat losing their noble composure.

  Lucien turned around, looking at them with a "clear" gaze: "Lotte, Phyllis, Hierode, aren't you practicing your instruments? Mr. Victor has ordered us to practice well."

  "YOU!" Hierode's hands clenched into fists, his face reddening with rage, but his slender body betrayed a natural fear of fighting, one that he had never overcome despite his bravado. He measured himself against Lucien, and found himself wanting: [He's half a head taller than me, around 173 cm, from a poor background, makes a living by helping people move things, must be very strong, and has a friend who's a knight-in-training, so he probably knows basic swordsmanship too. I don't stand a chance against him.]

  "Never mind, hitting my own classmate would get me expelled by Mr. Viktor anyway." Herodotus looked at his slender figure and found an excuse for himself, "I don't want to see you, nor do I want this poor man to dirty my hands, I'll go practice in another music room."

  After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the door.

  Lucien asked "innocently", "What's wrong with Hierodotus?" Being able to drive them away one by one is the only way to cover up his own unreasonable and jerky progress in writing melodies.

  Just as Hierodotus was about to open the door of the music room, he heard Lucien's words and his hand slipped, almost falling down. He turned back and glared at Lucien fiercely, this bastard must have done it on purpose!

  Heirodotos gritted his teeth and rushed out of the music room once again measuring the physical gap between them.

  Lucien turned around, picked up his pen and wrote down the melody he had just played on the white paper. It contained a negligible fragment of the Destiny Symphony, but mostly consisted of notes that Lucien had scribbled down randomly according to his own feelings. Any musician with musical training would not be able to help but shake their head at this melody, which was only slightly better than garbage.

  Lucien was seen intently writing on the staff, Lott looked up at the ceiling of the music room and then rubbed his forehead, making a final confirmation: "Are you really going to compose a piece?"

  "Of course, I'm writing." Lucien replied without turning his head, "Yeah, I've got a bit of inspiration again."

  Lucien put down his pen and the discordant noise echoed through the music room once again.

  Phyllis got up, muttering weakly: "Lotte, I think I'll go to the back garden for a bit, I'm going crazy."

  Luo Tuo sighed: "I'll go to other piano rooms too."

  After they left, Lucien quietly let out a breath, locked the door of the piano room, made some modifications to the two sections of melody he had written earlier, making them contain more fate symphony melodies. Then, as he thought and wrote randomly, he filled several pages with trash-like melodies.

  This is the method Lucien just thought of, using a gradual process to complete this matter. First, let them accept the fact that they are composing music, then use trashy melodies to cover up, and make progress day by day, and such progress must be reflected in the draft score as evidence for future questioning. When they subconsciously feel that there are many beautiful melodies in their composition, they can invite Victor to listen to his own piano version of the defective Destiny Symphony, let him correct the defects, perfect the music, and adapt it into a real symphony.

  A genius who, under the eyes of everyone, rapidly progresses and gradually reveals his previously hidden musical talent is much more easily accepted than a freak who suddenly produces a shocking symphony that can be passed down for hundreds or thousands of years and claims it to be their own composition.

  Of course, during this period of time, Lucien also needs to put all the practice time for other instruments on practicing the piano version of the Destiny Symphony, so as not to disappoint Viktor, Lott and Felice with his poor playing skills, and let this famous piece known as the "Crown of Symphonies" be looked down upon.

  This was not without precedent, Beethoven's Symphony of Destiny had its first performance marred by a single rehearsal beforehand and cold weather, playing poorly and receiving a lukewarm reception from the audience until a year and a half later when it received an unprecedented enthusiastic response at another concert.

  Having confirmed the progress of today's music, Lucien made some modifications to the score and began his arduous practice, attempting to play the Symphony of Fate. Slowly and disjointedly, he played a beautiful and heart-wrenching melody as if it were noise. In fact, even if Lucien hadn't locked himself in the piano room, being heard by others wouldn't have bothered him at all.

  This afternoon, neither Viktor, Rhein nor Lotte came to find Lucien, allowing Lucien to slowly play the over thirty-minute symphony three times.

  …………

  As the sky began to darken, Lucien tidied up his musical composition and carried a thick stack of papers to the fifth-floor concert hall.

  Inside the concert hall, the symphony orchestra was still rehearsing, and Viktor was conducting with great concentration. After a brief rest, he seemed to have temporarily shaken off his gloom and immersed himself in the music wholeheartedly.

  Down in the stalls, Lotte, Phyllis and Hierodotus were already waiting there, listening intently to the music and observing Viktor's conducting style. When Lucien arrived, they merely gave him a cold glance, not wanting to bother with this arrogant, uncommunicative and incomprehensible madman.

  Lucien didn't mind their performance and instead smiled back at them one by one, causing Phyllis to reveal a helpless expression.

  Sitting in the soft audience chair, Lucien closed his eyes, listening to the music being played while thinking about how much he should improve his violin skills tomorrow.

  In the beautiful music, half an hour passed quickly. Viktor and Rhein walked down together with a faint smile, asking their students: "How was your instrument practice this afternoon? Any questions about fingering or techniques?"

  "Mr. Viktor," Herodotus complained indignantly, "Lucien has the audacity to want to compose music! Good heavens, how long has he been studying music? His clumsy, noisy, and unpleasant music sounds like the devil's wailing, driving us out of other practice rooms."

  Lucien smiled at Herodotus, grateful in his heart for the accusation: "Thank you, thank you for spreading this out. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to open my mouth."

  Seeing his own accusation only brought Lucien's smile, Hierod said: "Mr. Victor, you'd better dispel this unrealistic and unclear idea of his ability, I don't want to hear noise every day."

  Victor looked at Lucien in confusion: "Are you trying to compose a piece of music?"

  Rein, who was standing beside him, slightly raised his silver eyebrows and looked at the music sheet in Lucien's hand with a smile.

  Lucien nodded solemnly and seriously: "Today's events, as well as past experiences, suddenly inspired me, so I tried to write them down."

  Receiving Lucien's affirmative answer, the gentle Viktor didn't scold him directly but instead asked: "Lucien, is this the melody you wrote? Can I take a look?"

  "No problem." Lucien said it so obviously to let Viktor take a look, that a musician proved his progress, and only then had authority in the music field.

  "May I have a look too?" Rain asked curiously with a smile.

  A beginner who has only learned music for about two months is actually claiming to compose a piece of music, which always makes people very curious.

  Lucien naturally did not refuse, and one more witness would certainly be better, so he divided the score into two parts and handed them to Victor and Rhein.

  Leaning in for a closer look, her thin lips twitched slightly, as if she was about to burst out laughing.

  Victor furrowed his brow, looked for a while, and then said in a heavy and gentle voice: "Lucien, I understand your intention and thank you very much, but you are just a beginner in music. What's most important now is to lay a solid foundation, learn to play the instrument well, and try composing after one or two years, which won't be too late."

  Combining today's encounter, Viktor was able to guess why Lucien wanted to compose the song, so he didn't scold or reprimand him. Instead, a comforting and delightful emotion emerged.

  As for the evaluation of the music written by Lucien, does this thing have any evaluative value?

  Victor's emotions, Lottie, Phyllis and others could all hear it, so they suddenly realized and produced similar thoughts: "It turns out that Lucien, this rascal, his real purpose is not to write music, but to make a move to please Mr. Victor by sharing his troubles! How did we not think of it? Ah, we are too honest, simple-minded, and well-educated, unable to compare with such a sinister guy!"

  Their gaze at Lucien suddenly became complicated.

  Lein, with a curious mindset, scanned through the score written by Lucien from start to finish. He smiled and commented in an evaluative yet comforting tone: "Although this score clearly shows your immaturity and naivety, Lucien, and can't even be called a real song, there are still many bright spots within, such as these two beats... they're not bad."

  As he spoke, he hummed out the two beats, which were indeed part of the Symphony of Fate, making Lucien feel that his eyes were venomous.

  "But wanting to write a real song, just having one or two bright spots is not enough. Lucien, don't just gaze into the distance and forget to look at the road beneath your feet."

  "Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Rhein." Lucien thanked him politely and then said to Viktor, "Mr. Viktor, my composing won't interfere with my piano practice, I'm really inspired."

  "You..." Viktor wanted to say something, but recent events had left him extremely annoyed and exhausted, both physically and mentally. He was too tired to talk much, so he decided to wait until the concert was over to have a good conversation with Lucien. After all, one month wasn't a long time. He shook his head, "Okay, as long as you don't neglect your piano practice, you can try it out. It's also a kind of exercise."

  Lotte, Phyllis and others looked at Lucien with a very strange gaze. This guy actually really wants to compose music?! How absurd!

  …………

  With Viktor's consent, Lucien went on with his life as a "noise maker", making progress bit by bit, hidden in the endless noise.

  Although Lucien's symphony started to get more dissonant later on, Lott, Phyllis and Hierodotus, who had always been averse to noise, would either leave or play their instruments even louder whenever Lucien began to play. Given that Lucien himself was also paying attention to the mixed garbage melody and his own poor playing skills, they didn't really pay much attention to the changes in Lucien's music except for being slightly worried that their musical talents might be worn down by noise - "After getting used to it, the noise doesn't seem so scary after all".

  As the last Sunday was approaching, Lucien finally managed to barely play through the Symphony of Fate after repeated and prolonged practice, although many technical parts still couldn't be completed, but the entire melody could no longer be concealed.