PMZ 040 – Sometimes, it’s okay to behave like a lady.

The ordination ceremony was to be held a month after Hayato’s formal wear is finished.  

It was originally supposed to take two months to complete, but considering the time when he would be admitted to the Academy, it would be better to finish it as soon as possible, so we made it a rush job.  

In return, we ordered three dresses, one for my mother, me, and Lav in total, without setting a deadline, and the tailor was happy with it.  

We’ll be living in the Duke’s residence until we graduate from the Academy, leaving 15th Street house for a while for the sake of Hayato’s lesson and suit fitting. Until then, we can only return here on Saturday or Sunday when the school is closed.  

“It’s going to be busy from now on.”  

“Yeah… Before we move to the nobleman’s district, I should drop by and say hello to all of our friends.”  

“About that… Alice, do you mind if you join me for a few errands today?”  

“Of course. Where do you want to go?”  

“To the orphanage.”  

The orphanage on 15th Avenue Street where he comes from is connected to a church, and I’ve visited it before with Hayato.  

But I’ve never had a proper conversation with them because he was in such a hurry to give some of the money he earned to the priest and leave immediately.  

And it’s not just that one, we go around several places.  

It goes without saying that the donation that Lav was doing, also done by Hayato, and now I’ve become a part of it, and it always takes quite a bit of time to visit the orphanages scattered throughout the Capital.  

So this would be the first time I’ve come to visit them properly. This is also the first time I met directly with the orphanage’s children.  

When I opened the church door, I was greeted with warm smiles by Father Thomas and Sister Mary; they gave the impression of someone’s grandparents.  

“Oh! Isn’t that Hayato! Miss Alice. It’s good to have you here.”  

“Hello. I’m glad to see you are well.”  

“Thanks for that, except for small pain in my legs, I’m doing good… by the way, I’ve heard some rumors that you are getting married?”  

“Oh? It reached here already?”  

Then Sister Mary, who was listening beside me, rounded her eyes and held her mouth in her hands.  

“Oh, my goodness ……! It was true! I didn’t think it was possible, but I thought it would be nice if it was. Congratulations.”  

“Thank you.”  

“So you want to report it to the goddess today?”  

Sister Mary had her eyes sparkling, but today we’ve come to visit the orphanage.   

Instead of me, Hayato answered.  

“I came to see the children today. I might not be able to come for a while for some reason… I just wanted to see how they were doing.”  

“I understand. Okay. Go ahead and make yourself at home.  

Also …thanks for all your help you have given us to this day. You don’t need to push yourself too hard, you know?”  

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”  

“Is that so? It’s good then,  this may be a good time to let children know that you have been supporting us so much, they always rude towards you because they don’t know it, right?”  

“It’s okay. …I want them to think that someone, somewhere, cares about them, not just me.”  

If they grow up thinking that some people of this world still care about them, and not just limited to their relatives when the time comes for them to leave the nest, it might give them some peace of mind.  

That’s what he thinks, as he once told me before.  

I thought that knowing that Hayato was the one who supports me would also give me courage, but I didn’t say it.  

It’s also true that support from strangers can be a powerful thing.  

The sisters led me once outside the church and around to the backside.  

There was a small field where some children, about 7 or 8 years old, were weeding.  

One of them noticed us and shouted out, “Oh!”  

“Ah! That’s Hayato! Welcome back!”  

“Huh? Oh, you’re right. Huh? She’s not Lav-sis! Hey, look! Hayato brought a woman who isn’t Lav!”  

Children came out of the building, and we were quickly surrounded by them.  

“Whoo are you big sisss?”  

“Are you going out with this guy?”  

“You know, Lav-sis is going to be a princess. So, I drew a picture of the prince and sister Lav. Look, Look.”  

Overwhelmed by the children’s enthusiasm, I looked at the sketchbook that the little girl held out, and there was a cute picture of a princess with light brown hair that looked like a Lav and a sparkling prince holding hands.  

Unfortunately, my brother isn’t a prince, much less a sparkling prince, but she’s very good at it, I smiled, and the girl smiled back and hugged the sketchbook.  

“I want to be a princess when I grow up.”  

Then Hayato bent down a little and patted the girl on the head and said to her,   

“Then you have to learn to read a lot of books.  

You have your sisters to teach you to read, and also, if someday a prince really appears, you must not follow him right away.  

Definitely talk to the priest or sister first. If you don’t, I will not forgive you.”  

“Okay! I understand!”  

The girl who seemed satisfied with showing the picture nodded and ran off to play.  

The other girls also scattered to play, following her suit.  

Hayato muttered quietly as he watched them.  

“… Today, you know, I just wanted to come to say something like what I just said.”  

“Does that mean that you shouldn’t trust nobles so easily?”  

“That’s right, I know that they might be tempted to think it’s easy since Lav has done it. So they might feel that they can have a similar fate. If so, then It’s definitely a dangerous thought.  

I’d like the priest to let me know in case something like that really happens.”  

“Yes, Lav case is… special, but it’s good to have a dream, though.”  

While talking, Hayato was being pulled by a group of boys and given a toy sword made of wooden planks.  

It seems that they are going to start playing fight.  

“I’m going to register as an adventurer! And after that, I will beat Hayato and get his S-rank!”  

“I’m not a monster, so you can’t get promoted by defeating me. Before that,… have you learned how to read and write? You always say that’s more useful than power, don’t you?”  

“Shut up! I can at least write my name!”  

There was the dry sound of wooden swords clashing with a clank.  

As I was smiling at the scene, Sister Mary stood beside me, smiled kindly, and said   

“To the kids here, Hayato was the wonder child. Alisha-sama.”  

“Yes, I know. Even now, I’m not sure how much further he can go…”  

“Yeah.  

By the way, it shames me to admit this, but I’m the one who first taught him about magic, though I only use a little bit of recovery magic because he got a light injury.  

But the next day, he was playing with fire, water, and wind magic, and no one had ever taught him how to do that.  

I was so surprised at that time that I can only laugh. I wondered how that could happen.”  

Well. It’s just like him.  

“I’ve put my thought about this… I’m sure he was born with a mission from the goddess.  

I’m sure that meeting Alisha is one of those fates.”  

I’m quite sure that the mission was to be conquered by Maria, but I didn’t want to think about that, so I shook it out of my head.  

Then, as if remembering, Sister Mary clapped her hand and showed a bright smile on her face.  

“Oh, yes! Alisha-sama, can you play an instrument?”  

“Huh? Yes, … I’ve learned to do that in my education.”  

“Then can you teach me how to use the violin? Thanks to a donation from Hayato and others, I buy a lot of things for the children’s education, but I’ve been troubled with the violin because I bought it even though there’s no one who can play it.”   

“Well, that’s a waste.”  

“That’s right. So how about ……? Could you play one song? I want our girls to think that being a musician is still more realistic than being a princess.”  

…Indeed.  

You can’t just ‘become’ a princess even if you want to be one…  

“… I understand. My skill is average, but I will do my best.”  

“Thank you.”  

It was sudden, but when it comes to noble’s society, playing an instrument is an integral part of it, so I agreed.  

When I entered the building with the sisters, there is a fine hall, well-cleaned and maintained, with a piano installed.  

I was handed a shiny violin and its bow.  

Then I tuned it up and played a simple nursery rhyme to familiarize myself with it.  

“…… Oh, my goodness, my hand remembers it surprisingly well.”  

Since the breakup of my engagement with His Highness, I’ve been completely away from the instrument, but I haven’t forgotten as much as I thought I would.  

As I played a few songs to check my habits and recall my senses, a group of girls began to gradually gather to hear the sound.  

“The violin! Awesome, cool.”  

“Hey, play the princess song! Let’s pretend it’s a dance party!”  

What is the princess song?  

A waltz?  

But I think it’s more fun to listen to the song that you already know.  

With that in mind, I chose a 3-beat version of a familiar song in this world and played it in a waltz style.  

The girls cackled and twirled around happily, holding each other’s hands.  

But eventually, they said, “It’s so boring with just girls. Someone calls the boys,” said a voice, and an exceptionally energetic girl pulled the boys from outside.  

“What is it?”  

“We’re in the middle of play.”  

A small duo of kids playing horseplay on Hayato’s back also comes in from behind the sulky-faced boys.  

The moment I saw Hayato being used as a horse on all fours, my eyeballs almost popped out, but I pulled myself together and spoke to the boys.  

“The girls, they want you to be their prince. Would you like to join the dance party?”  

“Huh? Oh no. I’ve never been to a dance before.”  

“It’s okay. I’ll make it simple and teach you how to do it so that anyone can understand it. You will be able to do it right away.”  

Then a dark-haired, mature-looking boy stepped forward, squirming.  

“I’d like to try ……. teach me.”  

Ugh. Cute.  

“Yes. Then stand here. Can one girl volunteer to be his partner, please?”  

“I, I’ll do it!”  

Saying that the one who came running out was the spirited girl who had gone to call for boys earlier.  

The dark-haired boy turned red and slumped over, looking up at me fearfully for help.  

Suddenly motivated by the prospect of a little romance, I put my heart and soul to teach this pair.  

“Thank you. Now, first of all, when you ask them to dance, the boy should take the girl’s hand and lead her into the open space. Don’t force them.  

Once you’ve chosen a place to dance, take your hands away from each other at eye level and bow facing each other. For girls, you do it like this.”  

I show her how to do a curtsy greeting.  

“oooh,” they exclaimed. Is it really so unexpected if I’m doing something proper and ladylike?  

Next, I did a bow and moved next to the boy.  

By this time, besides the dark-haired boy, some boys started imitating us, and a large number of little gentlemen and ladies began to emerge.  

“Then take each other’s hands and shift your bodies by half and stick to each other. Place your free hand on the boy’s body and for the boy on the girl’s shoulder.”  

I can observe some embarrassed smiles here and there from the mimicking pair.  

“Keep your hands at the same height as your shoulders, please.  

Now, let’s do it all in three beats. The boy walks three steps with his left leg behind him, and the girl walks three steps with her right leg in front of her.  

After three steps, take another three steps in the arm’s direction, and the girl will walk in a circular motion with the boy on the axis. The boy should walk in a small circle with it.  

Match each other’s feet, so they don’t step on each other. …… This time the girl takes three steps with her right foot behind her, and the boy takes three steps with his left foot in front of her.  

Make one set now and repeat three times.  

That’s correct, you are good at it. You are all good at it.  

Then let go of the body, keeping your hands together, and the girls spin around in a rhythm of 1, 2, 3. Once more, this time reconnects with the other hand and turn around in the opposite direction and return to the original position.”  

“It’s hard.” “How should I do it?” but some say, “It’s so easy!” and then the audience clapped their hands to the beat, as the violin was played and everyone form began to take shape little by little.  

It feels like a dance party already, and I can feel the tension is rising rapidly.  

…Next time I’ll bring a child-sized dress as a souvenir.  

I made that secret decision, finished playing one song, and when I lowered the bow, applause arose from everyone.  

It was good.  

They seemed to have enjoyed it.  

“Everyone was terrific. That was lovely.”  

“That was so much fun! Hey, can you do it again?”  

“I want to do it again! Get it done! Yes, Hayato can play the piano next time!”  

Eh.  

You can play?  

“you can play the piano?”  

“Hmm …Just a little bit, as you can see, we have one in the church? Sister taught me how to play it.  

After that, she promised me an allowance if I played it during mass, so I worked hard to learn it. But I can only remember the songs we use in church.”  

Glancing at the sister, she chuckled and whispered, “When he plays, the donations go up,” she said in a whisper.  

What a clergyman.  

“…So, would you like to join us?”  

“Okay, but just give me a few minutes. I haven’t done it recently, so it might take me a while to remember.”  

“Okay, I’ll do some—”  

As I was about to say this, Hayato, sit at the piano and prepare his wrist, then he first began to play a basic chord progression.  

It took me an instant to understand.  

—He is good.  

The transparency of the sound. I can sense the bold touch of the pins and the use of the pedal.  

As I watched, he seemed to remember, the chords became more and more complicated, and then the melody I had just played was added, and a solemn chant began to be played.  

Is it the sisters’ teaching or his own doing that the arrangement was added in a way I’ve never heard before?  

It’s amazing.  

The sound speaks to me. Scenes emerge in the chords. I could see the images of the song.  

Hayato’s hair began to turn silver, perhaps in response to the sacred magic of the church.  

It is the first time to see his silver hair in the daytime, and I was a little surprised, but the timing of the change of color is so divine as if God was waiting for this moment to possess him.  

As I watched, I thought to myself, “I’m glad it wasn’t the time of the horse,” and then, as I looked at him, I saw that he had finished getting used to the basic chords, arpeggiated back and forth across the keyboard a few times, and then put his hand down.  

“I’m ready. What to do now? use the song from earlier?”  

“That will do, but… I want to play something else.”  

“What about [Amaryllis]?”  

“Okay.”  

Amaryllis is treated as a symbolic flower of Minerva; it is often used at wedding songs.  

The song has a sweet melody, similar to [Someday my prince will come]. {Walt Disney’s snow white OST}  

“Alice, will you play the main melody?”  

“Sure, but I’d like to hear it on the piano as well… You’ll be in charge of the second verse. I’ll play the bass part when you do.”  

“Roger that.”  

The second part of the dance party, which began with Hayato joining, ended with the story of a dark-haired boy and spirited girl saying, “we will start changing diary.” With their cheeks dyed red.  

TL note:  

Japanese version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2HhFEy1NBE  

Original song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLQ2sYxktMQ  

Okay, this chapter…. Is long. 

Moral of the story, don’t buy a violin on a whim. That thing cost more rtx3080. Donate it to me so I can use Ray Tracing in 2077. And yeah, this delay is because of 2077, despite its flaw, I love that game(pc), should you buy it? Nah, wait for a month or so. Its bugs are ridiculous right now.