Chapter 46

Always thank you.

[Today's Lady Dearna]

Today, Lady Dearna was practicing embroidery with her lady. It seems that her lady was imitating Lord Cain's method and letting Lady Dearna embroider freely instead of practicing basic patterns. She was enjoying embroidery.

Lady Dearna and her lady cooperated with my tea serving practice, and I received strict comments from her lady. I must improve. Lady Dearna said, "It's delicious!" During embroidery, she pricked her finger with a needle, so I healed it with a healing spell. Lady Dearna looked at me with wide eyes and praised me, saying, "You're amazing, Il!"

For lunch, her lady had it in the garden. I had my meal in the servants' room, so I don't know how it went.

Ilvaleno

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Cain crumpled the paper in his hand and cast a dark glance at Ilvaleno.

"……………………"

"Don't look at me like a patron fan whose favorite stage actress announced her retirement, Lord Cain."

"Only Ilvaleno gets praised by Dearna, which is so unfair! I want to be praised by Dearna too! I want to hear, 'Big brother, you're amazing! Big brother, you're cool! Big brother, you're great!' I want to heal Dearna's injuries myself! Healing magic can't be improved with effort, which is really frustrating! Having lunch in the garden must have been so much fun! Dearna loves flowers! She must have looked incredibly cute eating while looking at the flowers! Why wasn't I there? What was I doing during that wonderful time? I was having lunch with Prince Al! That guy doesn't eat tomatoes! I was struggling to make him eat tomatoes! Ahhhh! There weren't enough tomatoes for Dearna!"

"Lord Cain, please compose yourself. Calling him 'that guy' is disrespectful. We are moving to the music room for today's music lesson."

Prompted by Ilvaleno, Cain trudged down the corridor.

Is it piano day today? Or violin day? I think I played both to a good point. I also remember him saying he would bring new sheet music. He is learning as part of his education, but Cain is not particularly interested in music.

When Dearna started having a tutor, he no longer intruded on her lessons to dance to his music.

"Intrude...?"

Cain suddenly stopped, and Ilvaleno looked at him suspiciously. "Lord Cain?" he called, but received no response.

"I've had a great idea!"

"Ah!"

Ilvaleno, who was about to pat Cain's shoulder, was startled by Cain's sudden loud voice and let out a strange sound. After a cough to regain his composure, he turned to Cain with a troubled look.

"What did you come up with?"

I know it's probably not a good idea. Even though I know I'll likely hear some ridiculous excuse to spend time with Dearna, as a servant, I can't help but ask. It's part of my job to be a listener for my master.

"Art lessons can be combined for Dearna and me! We can't learn factorization and addition together, but we can learn how to play instruments, even with a four-year age difference. We can also learn how to draw and write together, right? Right?"

"Wh-What? I don't know... We should ask the teacher..."

"Let's go to the music room and talk to Mr. Kries!"

Before he finished speaking, Cain was already running down the corridor. Ilvaleno hesitated about whether to tell him not to run in the corridor but decided it wouldn't do any good and hurried after him.

When Ilvaleno entered the music room, Cain was already cornering Kries, the music teacher. Kries is the third son of a viscount and a viola player in the royal orchestra.

He performs at royal balls, tea parties, and garden parties. He can also be hired for private performances in salons or gardens. Recently, he even participated in a popular theater opera as a guest performer. Although his specialty is the viola, he is skilled in playing various string instruments.

"By having Dearna and me take music lessons together, you can save time on your lessons. This way, you can use the saved time for your own practice. Of course, the contract to teach two people remains the same, so the salary should not change! By taking lessons together, we can also challenge duet pieces. We can even perform trio pieces with you. We could even include Ilvaleno for a string quartet."

"Please don't include me!"

"First, let's start with Dearna and me. You said that music is most enjoyable when it's fun, didn't you?"

"Umm..."

Cain pressed Kries, who was backing away, making a wall with his hands. Finally, his back hit the grand piano, and he couldn't back away any further.

"Wouldn't you like to see Dearna dance to my music?"

"That was indeed cute... but..."

"Or, I could dance to Dearna's music."

"Umm..."

"Surely it would be cute?"

"You're saying it yourself..."

"Even Ilvaleno can dance. He would look cute."

"I'll pass."

The conversation between Cain and Ilvaleno had started in the middle.

"Playing an instrument is different from arithmetic. Once you learn how to play, you can do different things. It might be possible... But the practice pieces would be too simple, which would be a waste..."

"Then, I'll start a different instrument. How about that?"

"Even if we teach different instruments, separate lessons would be more efficient, wouldn't they?"

"Does it have to be completely different? What about the viola?"

Cain's words made Kries serious. Switching from the violin to the viola might seem like a simple change in size, but it had significant meaning for Kries.

"I've grown a bit. Until now, there were no child-sized violas, but I think I can play one now."

Kries fell silent.

"I've always admired the viola because I respect you, Mr. Kries. The deep, resonant sound is incredibly cool. I want to start playing the viola from now on, Mr. Kries."

Kries closed his eyes and furrowed his brow.

"If I can play the viola, I'll perform it at tea parties at our house and at student recitals after I start school. The heir of the leading ducal family playing the viola at a magic academy recital—don't you think that would be cool?"

"Understood. If the duke gives his permission, I will start lessons with Lady Dearna from next time. However, I need to adjust the schedule with other teachers."

Finally, Mr. Kries gave in.

Cain knew that viola players are weak when praised for their instrument.

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