Chapter 263: To Alice in the Waltz Ballroom (The third update, an additional chapter for 1400 monthly votes)
Alright.
Actually, Li Si Te did not play “Two Tigers”, nor did he sing “runs fast”; in fact, he played the piano piece he was most familiar with.
It was Beethoven’s piano bagatelle, “For Alice”.
The reason he chose to play this piece was naturally because it was very simple and widely recognizable. In his childhood, he owned a music box, which, whenever wound up, would tinkle out the tune of “For Alice”. So much so that now, when he closed his eyes, the overly familiar lody would still erge in his ears.
As one of the greatest piano composers in the world, Beethoven’s story of becoming deaf is written in elentary school textbooks.
But few people know that Beethoven was never married.
He yearned for love; at 16, he fell for a noble lady but was separated by their vast difference in social status, nearly driving him to suicide. At 20, he fell in love with a widow, and yet again, due to the disparity in their statuses, he missed out on the relationship. His lifelong ear condition tornted him, but he still longed for love.
Approaching his forties, he fell in love with one of his female students, a young girl nad Therese Malfatti.
In a mont of impulse, he composed a small piece titled “A Minor Bagatelle” for Therese. Later, soone writing a biography for Beethoven found this small piece among Therese’s belongings, but when it was published, the original title “For Therese” was mistakenly written as “For Alice”.
Henceforth, this piano bagatelle began to spread widely across the world.
Because of its simple monophonic lody, even the music box market was nearly dominated by “For Alice”—the other half taken by “Castle in the Sky” and “Canon”.
Playing for the first ti,
Li Si Te’s fingers were still clumsy, with many mistakes made, which wasn’t very perfect. But by the ti he started playing for the second ti, he had already mastered each note and largely restored “For Alice”.
After playing it three tis in a row,
He concluded his first piano performance.
Just like ioubao, he stood up, bowed slightly to the noblen and noblewon in the dance floor who had stopped dancing to quietly enjoy “For Alice”, showing his etiquette.
When he turned around and left the piano,
A round of enthusiastic applause erupted from below, more than what ioubao had received for playing “Yuri Ely by the River”. Most of the people there had heard ioubao play “Yuri Ely by the River”, but none had ever heard the short but evocative piece “For Alice”.
“For Alice” was able to be passed down on Earth, its charm goes without saying, and even though Li Si Te’s performance was at a beginner’s level, it still moved many people.
“Fantastic!”
Unable to contain his excitent, ioubao said, “Li Si Te, you must teach this piece, I want to learn it!”
“No problem, I will take the ti to write out the score,” Li Si Te replied without any conceit, though he greatly enjoyed the applause after the performance.
It wasn’t just ioubao circling around him; many other nobles also ca up to him, inquiring about the piano piece “For Alice”.
A male noble exclaid, “I’ve never heard it before, it might be short, but it’s exceptionally charming.”
“I heard it by chance as well.”
A noble lady of ordinary looks, with big blinking eyes, said, “Sir Li Si Te, would you teach how to play this piece, by the way, does it have a na?”
“‘For Alice’, I will organize the score and give it to Cousin ioubao; he will send you a copy.”
“I love this piano piece, I felt that sweet touch, the deep understanding beyond the worldliness, and the entire song’s sorrowful love, as well as the unwavering yearning for love!” said the noble lady, with her hands clasped to her heart, as though she was imrsed in the sadness of not “Two Tigers”, but “For Alice”.
Li Si Te expressed his regret, “Yes, it’s a sad story. I can only rember this lighter part of the piece; the truly sad part wasn’t able to be played.” In fact, he himself hadn’t been able to discern whether this piece had any tinge of sadness at all.
A rendition of “For Alice” suited for beginners.
It had successfully made Li Si Te, who wanted to keep a low profile, the center of attention at the ball.
Even though the pianist had returned to the stage and begun a high-level performance, there was still a large group of nobles gathered around Li Si Te, discussing the piano piece.
“Hey, handso pianist, may I have a dance with you?” A tall noble lady suddenly squeezed past a few others surrounding Li Si Te and extended her hand to him.
Her appearance made it easy for Li Si Te to think of Elizabeth Olsen—yes, the Scarlet Witch from “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
Only her hair was golden yellow, and her pupils were a deep blue.
If ten points were perfect, she could probably score an 8.5 from Li Si Te, which was a lot higher than the 8 points Asina Salmon received before.
“How could I refuse an invitation from Miss Duniko?” Li Si Te took her hand and followed her onto the dance floor.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and, to the slow piano music, took steps resembling the slow waltz.
Li Si Te could feel her pressing very close to him as if their hearts were connected, warming each other.
“I like this piece, “To Alice”.”
“So do I.”
“But when you played it, so parts weren’t smooth.”
“Yes, I don’t play the piano often, and I’ve forgotten so of the fingerings.”
“I play the piano every day. I love music, especially this piece, “To Alice”. It’s a simple lody, but it has a unique beauty. I heard the murmurs between lovers, the deep confessions and the fullness of love, and I was enraptured.”
As she spoke, she brought her mouth close to Li Si Te’s ear, and gently blew a stream of warm breath.
This action made him feel respect, and he had to hold back not to show it: “Miss Duniko really understands music. It’s a pity I can’t recreate the original “To Alice”, so you could feel the story of sorrowful love it tells.”
“No, perhaps the incomplete is the most beautiful. It’s short, it’s light, but it’s the best piano piece, with no need to add any more lody.”
Such a comnt.
Li Si Te looked at Miss Duniko with new esteem.
“To Alice” was originally an independent piano piece. After hearing his made-up story, many felt regret for not hearing the complete piece, but only Duniko felt the incomplete part was already perfect.
This was a woman who truly understood music.
Perhaps this is what the upbringing of the great nobles produces.
Duniko Hyacinth, the daughter of Durant Hyacinth, one of the two Earls on Red Crab Island. According to the information provided by Cousin ioubao, the seventeen-year-old Duniko, also known as the Thorny Rose of Red Crab Island, didn’t have a very good reputation. She was proactive and passionate, surrounded by countless admirers, yet none had truly won her heart.
He held her slim yet strong waist.
Feeling the soft yet firm sensation against his chest and the eye contact as they glanced up and down, he suddenly felt a surge of excitent, “Actually, the story was made up on the spot. This piece was always an independent piano piece. It was created by a pianist who was infatuated with a noble lady, composed in a mont of passion.”
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