The Harspiel Concert
I returned to the castle the day before the concert. I needed to iron out the final details with Elvira and the others, plus Ella needed to go to the castle’s kitchen so that she could mass-produce cookies as an experienced sweets chef.
While Fran and Gil were carrying my things, Monika and I headed to Ferdinand’s room to inform him of our departure. As soon as we stepped inside, he met me with a thoroughly displeased expression.
“I am not accompanying you, and I will not help to prepare the concert. Did I not say that already?”
“You did, and that is quite alright. All I need you to do is play the harspiel tomorrow.”
Given that Wilma was currently in the process of stacking illustrations of him into a carriage, I was honestly grateful that Ferdinand wasn’t coming with us. I said my farewells, then left the room with a smile.
Leading up to today, I had printed as many illustrations of Ferdinand as I could. There were three different versions, and we had a hundred of each; keeping them limited in quantity was the best way to encourage people to buy them.
...Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. I had wanted to make as many as possible since I knew that they would sell like hotcakes, but I simply didn’t have the time. If I’d been able to, I would have printed a greater variety of illustrations, too!
We made our way to the castle. Ella and Rosina were in the carriage for attendants, while my two guard knights and I got into the carriage for nobles.
“Come now, Rozemyne. We are simply out of time!”
Elvira and Florencia were already waiting for me in the castle. They brought me to the concert hall before I could even go to my room, and we started checking over everything there.
The seats for tomorrow were already prepared. I walked over to the stage where Ferdinand would be playing, checked to make sure that there was enough space around, and then took a look at the standing gallery. Despite the name “standing gallery,” the reality was that we were dealing with a group of elegant noblewomen and daughters here. For this reason, the standing gallery was made up of a number of seats placed in close proximity to one another, separated only at certain points to allow those of different factions to sit apart.
Once I had finished looking over the concert hall, I checked the sound-amplifying magic tools, ensured that the sweets were being prepared, and then discussed the matter of security. There were several doors for entering and exiting the hall—one for Ferdinand, one for the waiters, and one for attendees. I also checked the empty rooms that would serve as medical rooms, if necessary.
“I see that everything has been prepared exactly as discussed,” I said.
Once I had double-checked everything to do with the concert, I ended up being given the role of concert host. There were three reasons for this: nobody had ever hosted a concert before so we were all equally fit for the position, I was young enough that the ladies wouldn’t envy me for getting to stand on stage with Ferdinand, and I was the one who was gathering donations in the first place.
“Incidentally, Rozemyne, how did the illustration come out?” Elvira asked, leaning forward in anticipation after we had finished ironing out the details.
“Perfectly,” I responded while puffing out my chest. She would love them for sure.
“Allow me to look,” Elvira instantly replied.
“I would like to see as well,” Florencia said.
Since they both wanted to see the illustrations, we moved things to my room, where the boxes of pictures had already been carried. Elvira was able to enter the northern building with Florencia’s permission, so there was no problem with us talking there.
Rihyarda sent off an ordonnanz telling my attendants to prepare for our arrival, so tea had already been prepared by the time we reached my room.
I lined up three letter-sized boxes on the table that Lutz had prepared for the illustrations to be carried in. They were reasonably thin which made them pretty easy to carry, and were apparently used in the Gilberta Company for storing documents. I opened each one with a delicate yet deliberate movement to add to the excitement.
“My my myyy!” Elvira exclaimed, her eyes glimmering as she examined the illustrations.
Florencia seemed shocked at how many copies of the same illustration we had, and started flipping through them to make sure that they really were all the same. “I had heard about your printing before, but now that I see the results, I find myself at a complete loss for words. Is this what printing can do?”
“Yes, Florencia. I would like to build orphanages and workshops in other cities to spread printing further, and it is to that end that I am seeking donations.”
“One look at these illustrations is all I need to understand the value in what you are doing. It truly is wonderful.”
With that done, I started training both my attendants and Florencia’s attendants how to sell things during the concert. First would be the programs, and then once the concert was over we would bring in the sweets and illustrations on carts and sell those.
“Oh? But would things not be more orderly if we sold the illustrations before the concert?”
“No, I think it would be best to wait for Ferdinand to finish playing and leave. It is safe to assume that he will confiscate them all the moment he sees them, and that is what we need to avoid above all else.”
“That certainly would be problematic... I say we do as Rozemyne says and ensure that Lord Ferdinand does not catch sight of them,” Elvira said with a serious look on her face, before starting to iron out where the attendants would wait and where the carts would be pushed to.
I took this opportunity to ask Florencia about something exceedingly important. “Erm, Florencia... Does my dear adoptive father Sylvester know about this concert?”
“He has heard that we will be holding a large-scale tea party, but that is all. It would be best if he does not learn the details, as I am sure that he wouldn’t be able to resist coming and making a mess of things for his own amusement. That is precisely why I have had magic tools prepared to keep sounds from leaking out of the room. Take care not to mention a word of this at dinner tonight, Rozemyne.”
Florencia offered me a graceful smile, her hands firmly gripping Sylvester’s reins. I was in full agreement; it was a safe bet that Sylvester would come to crash the party as soon as he found out, so keeping quiet was the best option for all of us.
With that fear settled, I got to work writing a script that I could read as the host. I naturally included a bit about the virtues of printing, and I could imagine that a passage about Ferdinand taking part out of the goodness of his heart would likely be necessary as well. I didn’t have the time to do much else, though.
And so came the day of the concert. I looked around the room while waiting for the attendees to arrive. The sound-related magic tools were functioning without issue; the waiters had tea and sweets at the ready; Ferdinand had arrived and was waiting in a back room; and there were twenty members of the Knight’s Order, including Eckhart, stationed throughout the room at regular intervals. Most of them had apparently heard Ferdinand play the harspiel before, and were just using guard duty as an excuse to listen to him again.
“My my... Will we be able to hear the harspiel in such a sizable room?” one attendee asked.
“Look at the stage; they seem to have prepared a number of magic tools to that very end.”
“I wonder why there are knights posted around us. They aren’t just standing attendees, are they?”
Chatter filled the room as I nervously climbed the stage. I inhaled deeply, then held the voice-amplifying magic tool that Florencia had given me up to my mouth like a microphone.
“I thank you all for attending this harspiel concert starring Lord Ferdinand himself. This is a charity concert to raise donations to provide food, work, and housing to orphans in Hasse. The sales from the tickets you have purchased will all go toward the construction of an orphanage, and if you look to your side you will see that we are selling programs for today’s event. The money from these sales will be added to our donations, so I would be very grateful to all those who perform the generous and moral act of purchasing one.”
I held up a stencil illustration, and Elvira and Florencia stood up to be the first customers. They were essentially leading the way for everybody else, which seemed to have worked as the women belonging to Florencia’s faction also got up.
“My, have a look. They’re all the same illustration.”
“This artist is exceedingly talented. What a beautiful illustration this is.”
I could see Elvira sitting closer to the stage than anyone else, showing off her program to the noblewomen sitting beside her. We were charging three large silvers per copy.
“Technology that produces identical copies of text and illustrations is known as printing. I intend to give orphans work in the printing industry, which will be to both their benefit and ours. All I humbly ask for is your monetary support.”
With Rihyarda and Ottilie handling sales, the noblewomen steadily bought more and more programs.
“Goodness, she certainly is kind to go so far for the sake of orphans. If only she would direct that kindness to those who deserve it more...”
“I thought this was excessively expensive for a single piece of paper, but this illustration truly is amazing. I cannot say that I’ve ever seen this style of art before.”
“This is the first time I have ever seen an illustration copied so perfectly and so many times before.”
The standing gallery was mostly filled with laynobles, as expected, so very few of them moved to buy the programs. But they did seem interested in them; when one person bought one, the others all swarmed around her.
“We have also prepared tea and sweets that Lord Ferdinand is known to have a taste for. We have more in the kitchen so, if you like them, I would be very grateful if you bought some once the concert is over.”
With waiters serving tea and sweets to the tables, it did feel very much like a tea party. The sight of so many high-class ladies discussing the songs they weren’t familiar with while poring over the artistry of the illustrations made it unlike any concert that I was familiar with. But as they only ever listened to music during tea parties, a whole concert centered around music was a new experience for them.
“Now then—Lord Ferdinand shall begin,” I said, before leaving the stage and speed-walking to Ferdinand’s waiting room.
“Ferdinand, are you ready to play?” I asked, and Ferdinand, wearing the long-sleeved robes of a noble, stood up with his harspiel.
The moment we stepped into the concert hall, I noticed Ferdinand freeze in place. He resumed walking a split second later, but I heard him quietly murmur “Why are there so many...?”
“Everybody here has donated money to me,” I said. That wasn’t a lie, since just buying a ticket counted as donating money.
“Still, there are too many. This is simply a ridiculous number of people.”
“I merely waited in the temple while Mother and Florencia prepared the concert, so I assumed this was a normal turnout for a noble event. Is that not the case?” I asked, playing dumb as I guided Ferdinand to his seat in the middle of the stage.
Once there, I again colorfully expressed my gratitude to him to the audience, talking about how he pitied the suffering orphans and was helping spread printing for their sake. Ferdinand’s face twisted into a momentary grimace, but he was a skilled noble (unlike me) and was thus able to quickly read the room. Wearing a plastered-on smile, he looked over the audience.
“I shall now play the harspiel as an expression of my gratitude to all of you who have donated in support of our efforts,” Ferdinand said, before sitting down in his seat and readying his harspiel. The anger in his eyes screamed “I will remember this,” but I didn’t let that bother me.
Light streamed in through the windows, beaming down onto Ferdinand from his right and making his harspiel gleam. He lowered his head a little, causing his light-blue hair to fall and cast a shadow across his face, and as his fingers touched the strings, a few notes poured forth. A deep bwong came from his left hand, a sharp ting from his right; it seemed that he was checking the sounds.
Ferdinand raised his head and looked at me. He was ready.
I looked around the audience and saw that the archnoble ladies and daughters who had paid top dollar to sit in the front row were already giving Ferdinand heated, sensual looks.
“Ferdinand has prepared new songs to play for you all. This first is one dedicated to Leidenschaft the God of Fire.”
Ferdinand looked down at his harspiel, then began to smoothly strum it. He supported the neck of the instrument with his left hand while playing with his middle finger. His left hand made low sounds reverberate through the air, while his right produced sharper, clearer sounds.
A moment later, Ferdinand’s usually expressionless face softened. The furrows that were always present between his brows disappeared, and the sharp edges in his golden eyes smoothed over. It was hard to tell from a distance, but his lips were also curved ever so slightly into a natural smile.
That alone was enough to dramatically change how the audience saw him, and the customers in the front row were all trembling with their hands over their mouths.
I’m glad to see Elvira’s having a good time.
Ferdinand’s long fingers with visible knuckles practically caressed the harspiel as he strummed its strings. He played note after note, masterfully melding them together to form music so gentle that it almost seemed to melt into the air; it was as beautiful as ever. The man himself was always being mean or giving dark, evil smiles, but when the songs he played were so sweet and tender, it was like he was someone else entirely.
I had assumed that there would be a big fuss, with Elvira’s throbbing heart taking over as soon as Ferdinand started playing. But perhaps due to their good upbringings, everybody was just quietly listening to the music, looking flushed and spellbound.
When Ferdinand started to sing in his low, beautiful, reverberating voice, I felt a shiver run down my spine. The sound-amplifying magic tools were no doubt playing a part in this, but it felt as though I were wearing headphones and he was whispering right into my ears.
“Haaah...”
“Ohoooh...”
And then came the heavy, sensual sighs. Elvira was normally full of bubbly excitement when it came to Ferdinand, but all things considered, she knew him pretty well. She was listening with glittering eyes and a hand on her cheek, but the younger daughters who had never had a chance to see Ferdinand before were blushing bright red with tear-filled eyes, their hands either pressing against their hearts or covering their faces. Some were resting their heads against the table to try and hide their expressions, while others struggled to remain calm so as to not attract any unnecessary attention. But one thing was for sure: a storm was raging in all of their hearts.
Aah... If I strain my ears just a little, I can hear their inner voices wailing and writhing.
The noble daughters were having a huge moment, but since they weren’t causing any problems, the knights stayed at their posts and kept their eyes on Ferdinand. For a moment, I thought that we wouldn’t be needing their help after all, but that was when it happened... He started playing the love song where the God of Life doted on the Goddess of Earth, and a woman fainted.
Things were bad enough already given that we were using a magic tool to amplify his voice so that those sitting near the back could hear. What would happen when they heard Ferdinand sweetly pleading for their love in his beautiful voice? It was a song that managed to take even my breath away, and I already knew what the lyrics were. From what I could see, it was enough to make the noble daughters’ hearts throb, pounding so hard that they couldn’t even control themselves.
...This is a popular anime song aimed at kids, you know!
It was a lengthy song that had proven powerful enough to make Wilma’s fear of men temporarily melt away, and naturally, it was having a huge effect on these noblewomen. One let out a sweet, heavy sigh before collapsing onto the table in front of her.
“Angelica, please direct the knights to take that woman to the infirmary,” I instructed in a quiet voice, and Angelica vanished from behind me without making a sound. It was only a matter of moments before several other women started to collapse, and the knights had to start hurriedly carrying them out of the hall.
Meanwhile, Elvira was trembling in place. She was no doubt fighting as hard as she could to stop herself from passing out, given that she had previously said she would never be so foolish as to fall unconscious and miss the rare opportunity to hear Ferdinand playing the harspiel.
Good luck, Mother.
Angelica slid back into place behind me while the Knight’s Order continued working wonders, and informed me that Eckhart wanted to see me. I exited the concert hall midway through Ferdinand’s performance, where I found that Eckhart wasn’t the only one waiting for me.
“Looks like you’ve been having a lotta fun without me, huh, Rozemyne?”
“Sylvester...”
He was standing in the hallway beaming a crude grin, while Karstedt was standing beside him cradling his head. According to Eckhart, Sylvester had passed by the concert hall just as some of the noble ladies were being carried out.
Sylvester’s dark-green eyes gleamed. “I don’t think you informed me of this, Rozemyne.”
“Goodness. I thought for sure that Florencia would have said something...”
“Don’t think you can fool me.”
I glanced at the door to the concert hall with cold sweat running down my back. It was all going so well. I had to avoid him messing it up, no matter the cost.
“I did not believe you had any interest in gathering donations, Sylvester. But if you wish to assist as Aub Ehrenfest, I would find nothing more encouraging,” I said.
Sylvester simply raised a dubious eyebrow in response, so I racked my brain as hard as I could to find a peaceful solution to all of this.
“I would like to entrust you with the valuable position of concluding the concert with one final song. If you go and retrieve your harspiel now, then I am sure you can still make it in time. The true protagonist of a story is always late, after all!”
“Y’know, I like the way you put that. Karstedt, fetch my harspiel!” he ordered.
Karstedt shot me an extremely worried look. “Are you sure about this, Rozemyne?”
“It is better than him ruining everything,” I replied.
Once Karstedt had gone to get the harspiel, I asked Sylvester for a song that he could play without needing to discuss things with Ferdinand first, then noted it down on my diptych. Karstedt came back with the harspiel in no time at all.
“Lady Rozemyne, the concert has concluded,” Brigitte said quietly after exiting the concert hall. I hurriedly went back inside and climbed onto the stage.
“I shall now introduce a special visitor. Aub Ehrenfest, please come in.”
The door was opened by the knights stationed by it, and in came Sylvester carrying his harspiel. Damuel followed behind carrying a chair, which he set on the stage beside Ferdinand.
Sylvester’s sudden appearance was a surprise even to me, which of course meant a stir ran through the audience. Nobody had expected a standard tea party to be extended without warning by a visit from the archduke. The attendees started to flounder, and I had to hold back the urge to yell that I was feeling the exact same way.
Ferdinand glared at me and murmured “I was not informed of this,” to which I whispered back “He found us just a second ago.” Meanwhile, I could see Florencia shrugging her shoulders a bit, worried but no doubt unsurprised to have been found out.
The noblewomen and daughters who had been quietly listening to the music before were now chattering about Sylvester’s appearance, so I held up the voice-amplifying magic tool to my mouth and started making excuses.
“Aub Ehrenfest has said that he would like to put his full weight behind the printing industry, and thus is taking it upon himself to show his gratitude to all of you who have donated to help our cause. To that end, he has taken time out of his busy schedule to rush over and assist our humble concert,” I said, knowing that anyone would believe Sylvester’s appearance had been planned from the start when they saw how confidently he was holding his harspiel. “The song that Lord Ferdinand and Aub Ehrenfest are going to play for you today is one that you are all very familiar with.”
I announced the song—namely the one that Sylvester had played during Spring Prayer—and signaled Ferdinand with my eyes. He let out a small sigh and played a few test notes on his harspiel once again.
Perhaps due to it being a song that everyone here was familiar with, or perhaps due to Sylvester loudly declaring that everyone was to sing along with him, this performance had become the most exciting one of all. It truly was a spectacular finale to the concert, with everyone singing along and feeling like a part of something greater than themselves.
When the song was over, the hall broke out in a spontaneous round of applause. The attendees made their shining wands appear and raised them high into the air in a show of respect and praise while Ferdinand and Sylvester exited the room.
“I believe we can all agree that this has been a spectacular concert. Now, might I suggest buying some of our products as a way of remembering this day? The profits made from them will also go toward our donations. For the sake of a good cause—for the sake of donating—please strongly consider purchasing them.”
Now that Ferdinand and Sylvester were gone, it was time for business. Attendants entered the room with carts and traveled from the most expensive seats to the least, selling illustrations and cookies. Of course, the carts also carried the leftover programs.
Cookies were being sold at a price of one small silver for ten, but the illustrations were five large silvers each. The programs were still a more comfortable three large silvers each, so I had assumed the extra-fancy illustrations would only be bought by the more affluent nobles like Elvira. In reality, however, everyone was clawing to buy a ton of them.
Seeing other people spend money must have been a surefire way to loosen one’s purse strings, as I saw more than a few ladies reach for cookies after much deep thought, and others glaring at their purses for a while before picking up an illustration and gazing at the art. Even those in the standing gallery looked eager to spend.
Ferdinand’s love song had been enough to make them pass out, and their hearts seemed to have no way of resisting Wilma’s beautiful illustrations. The noble daughters who purchased them gazed at them longingly, then rolled them up to keep them from creasing and hugged them to their chests. Apparently, the illustrations were a literal treasure to them.
...And so the illustrations have sold out. Thank you all very much for your patronage.
“Thank you ever so much for attending today. I shall report the total amount of money that we have gathered today and where it was spent later in the winter. Everyone, please watch your step and carefully exit the concert hall.”
I saw the noblewomen off as they stumbled out of the room, their legs wavering like they were in the middle of a dream. It was safe to say that Ferdinand’s charity concert had been an overwhelming success. I let out a sigh of relief, and saw Elvira joyously smiling over the full set of illustrations she had purchased.
“I shall hear your excuses.”
It was several days after the concert, and Ferdinand had summoned me to his lecture room just like in the old days. His light-golden eyes were filled with wrath, and his voice was chilly to the point where I was sure it was freezing the air.
Three illustrations were laid out before him. I had thought that I had managed to sell them without him finding out, but seeing him in possession of all three made me want to pass out where I stood.
“Sylvester showed these to me while guffawing about how he saw a knight with them. Given that the name of the author was so kindly written on the back, I discovered the culprit with little issue.”
NOOOOOO! I know it’s a printing tradition and all, but I can’t believe I included publishing information! What was I thinking?!
Ferdinand gave me a harsh scolding and made me swear that I’d never sell them again.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login