"Greetings, your majesty." Pier lowered his head respectfully. The king smiled brightly after seeing how courteous his beloved child was.
"Thank you for heeding my call, Pier." King Henry then stood up from the throne and walked down the steps. The sound of his luxurious shoes stepping down the marble steps still sounded expensive in Pier's ears
Once the king reached the bottom of the stairs, he patted Pier's head. It was always the same action he did whenever Pier visited the Royal Palace. Patting Pier's head would be the norm and up until this day, it never changed.
"It's my pleasure to meet his majesty once more." He smiled and the king returned the sweet smile.
"The instructor for your performance had already arrived, my child. Let us meet him now." Pier and King Henry then headed towards the music room of the palace
When Pier arrived at the music room, even though he had already been here after practicing multiple times in his past performance, it was still different from what he had in his memory. The calmness the room gave Pier made him happier a little bit after being exhausted with all the things happening.
"Greetings, His Majesty... and Young Master Pier." An old man, which was about in his mid-fifties greeted the king but did not even look at Pier
Pier glanced at the old man and Pier was surprised to see that the old man sneered at him secretly when the king was not looking. Pier's eyebrows raised in question after seeing the old man's actions. He was Pier's musical instructor ever since Pier was a child and was going to perform in the Royal Banquet
"Sir Bart, it's nice to see you again," Pier greeted him and the old man's expression became filled with more animosity towards the young master.
Somehow, Pier understood why the old man was mad at him. The original Pier did not have any talent in instruments. Even though he was trained by the palace instructor, he did not achieve any significant development by the time he was under their training. All the instructor did was receive ridicule after Pier's embarrassing performances in the previous Royal Banquets.
'But I am not the original Pier and I do not welcome people sneering at me behind someone else's back.' Pier was irritated. Sure, the previous owner of his body was not talented, even an ounce, in music but Eliam was a prodigy. What he hated the most are people who think they were better than him or those who think poorly of him.
The king must not have noticed the secret stares they gave each other and continued to walk towards the piano that was in the middle of the room. The piano was extremely luxurious, even for Eliam who had lived in luxury in his younger years before moving out for college. He could tell that the instrument was made out of incredibly fine materials and if it were present in his previous life, it would be one of the most expensive instruments he had ever seen.
"What will you be playing today, Pier?" The king asked and Pier looked up at him. The king thought that Pier was like a child looking at his father.
'If only...' King Henry started thinking but erased such ridiculous thoughts
"Can I play the song that is to my liking, your majesty?" Pier asked him and the king nodded. The instructor named Bart did not bother speaking. He wanted to rush out of the room before hearing the horrendous performance Pier Belmiunde will do.
'My ears are going to bleed once more, my poor life!' He was already expecting what would happen next. Pier was the worst pianist he had ever come across in his life. Pier plays so bad that he even messes up the basic songs that even noble children could easily do.
He internally sighed and looked at the young master whom he hated so much. Pier did not do anything to him intentionally but he was mad at the young noble for trying so hard to impress everyone. Pier would constantly seek the crowd's approval and at the same time would continue to pursue the crown prince, the most talented student he ever handled.
Sometimes, without voicing his thought, he would question why the king would even bother assigning him to the young master when it was clear as daylight that Pier had no talent.
Pier sat at the seat and grazed his fingers at the keys of the piano.
'What should I play?' He was contemplating what he would play. He assumed that people would not even know the songs he used to play back in his original world but decided to choose from them nevertheless
'Ah, this one would be good' He was about to press the key to start the song he chose but suddenly a voice barged inside the room
"Father!" Everyone in the room looked towards the source of the voice and there they saw a young boy with a small guitar in his hand.
"Nicholas!" the king was surprised to see the young boy here.
Nicholas Lumiere, the king's second son. He was roughly eight years old but had already shown great talent in his studies, but at the same time was a sickly child that even the lightest of cold would make him suffer for days and even weeks at most.
"Prince Nicholas, please be careful with your body and do not run around too much." The King said before sitting down and scooping Nicholas up in his arms. While the king and Asher both had reddish hair, Nicholas had light ash blonde hair which he had gotten from his mother.
"Sorry, father." the young boy looked sad after being reprimanded by his father. He looked around the room and saw Pier sitting at the piano stool. The king got closer to them and Nicholas looked at Pier before asking
"Are you going to play?" Nicholas asked Pier in a very cute voice and Pier could not help but smile warmly at this. Pier had known that Asher had a younger brother but he rarely saw him because the young prince was mostly confined in the castle every day due to his weak body
Nicholas and Pier's younger brother in his previous life was at the same age. He missed his brother dearly because only he would approach Eliam without ulterior motives and he was the purest thing ever. Eliam treasured his younger brother so much and seeing another version of his younger brother made him a little bit emotional.
"Yes, your highness. I will be playing a song. Do you have a request? What should I play?" Pier asked while smiling tenderly at the young prince whose cheeks still contained a lot of baby fat.
"You can play whatever you want! I will listen!" The young prince smiled cutely and Pier wanted to hug the small prince but decided not to
"Father, can you please let me down. I want to sit beside him" Nicholas pointed at Pier and the king could only sigh before putting down his son. Nicholas' small steps reached Pier and Pier grabbed his hands while helping him up the piano stool which was pretty high in contrast with the young prince's small frame.
"Then I shall play a song that I made when I was reading a very beautiful story from a book." Pier softly said while looking at Nicholas. The small prince's eyes sparkled at what Pier said and the young master could not help but smile at the young kid.
The instructor was prepared to experience another dreadful performance from the young master and closed his eyes. He did not want to see any of the mistakes with his eyes and was contented with his ears suffering. He had already taught Pier everything but the young master could never learn any of them.
Pier pressed the key and started playing.
Pier played one of his favorite songs from his past life. It was about the story of a beautiful maiden who wished to experience something new. The young maiden then met the beast who was confined in a castle. They were not on good terms at first. They had many misunderstandings with each other but soon got attached to the other person. There, in the beast's castle, their love grew and the beast's curse was lifted when he finally gained the love of the beautiful maiden. Then they lived happily ever after.
The story for children swayed Pier's heart. It might seem a little bit immature for him but he loved the concept where someone was dreaming of experiencing something new in their life. He simply related himself to that maiden's situation. He wanted to experience something new.
Pier had all of his life pleasing others and making a bigger name for his family and never got to do what he wanted. He desired an adventure that would awake his long-deprived self. He did not desire to meet a beast and become that beast's love interest, however, what he wanted was to simply meet new things in his life. Explore like what the maiden wanted and fulfill his desires until the very end. Sure, he might encounter challenges along his way but he will persevere through all of them.
Pier was like the beast as well. He was trapped. His real identity is hidden under the disguise of another creature. Sure, the prince in the story was cold-hearted and was cursed because of it, but Pier aligned himself with the fact that both the beast and he lived for years by covering who they truly were.
A sad yet beautiful story with a happy ending. Pier liked the ending where they got together and achieved lifelong happiness. He wished to get that as well. Was it the reason why Pier transferred to this world, more specifically in this body? He did not have a clue about it but the day Eliam was transferred to his body, he immediately thought of one thing.
Another chance.
It was another chance for the lonely boy who lived for others. Now he will live for himself and be happy. That's what Pier desired the most right now. After fixing all of the original Pier's mistakes, he will live this life happily without any worries.
As Pier played the keys of the piano, he poured his heart out through the song. Longing, desire, sadness, and hope. Those feelings resonated throughout the music room. He wanted to let out some of the frustration he had kept hidden all these years. He wanted to be free.
As Pier pressed the last key of the song he was playing, he closed his eyes and smiled. He wanted to cry, he wanted to pour his heart out without stopping but he simply smiled.
'That's relaxing.' He thought as the heavy burden on his shoulders lessened. Even though it was just a little bit, Pier was happy that the heavy weight on his shoulders was lessened.
Pier opened his eyes and stared at his fingers that were still above the keys. He was not happy, but he was relaxed this time.
He then heard a sniff from beside him. Pier looked at the person beside him and saw Prince Nicholas sniffing. The young prince's nose was red and his cheeks were dampened with the tears that were silently flowing out of his eyes.
Pier became alerted at the crying child's face. Prince Nicholas rubbed his eyes and stared at Pier.
"I... I will cry for you!" He said in between sniffs. Pier felt his heartstrings tug at the young prince's words.
"Thank you, Prince Nicholas. Thank you for crying on my behalf," He said as he patted Nicholas' head. Nicholas then continued crying and hugged Pier's side. The scenario was heartbreaking enough that the king, who was simply staring as Pier played on the piano felt his heart become heavy.
Pier then heard another sniff and saw that the instructor, Bart, was crying as well. He had his eyeglasses off his eyes and was instead replaced with a handkerchief that was drying off the tears that flowed out of them during Pier's performance
"Are you okay, Sir?" Pier asked him. Bart took one last sniff and immediately approached Pier
"Y-Young master, that was the best performance I have seen in my entire life!" He exclaimed with all of his feelings
"Never have I ever heard a piece that was so heartbreaking to the point where I could not hide my sorrow! Oh, such a beautiful piece that you have made, young master!" He continued to praise Pier even though he was just sneering at him minutes ago.
"I also think of the same, my child." The king who was silently watching them spoke up
"That was ... beautiful" he complimented. It was indeed one of the most beautiful performances he had ever seen. Sure, it was not on a stage nor in a theatre room for performances, but the place did not matter. The most significant aspect that made Pier's performance so amazing was Pier himself.
'This child is still so young but it seems like he had gone through some serious problems' The king thought. He wanted nothing else right now but to protect the child that poured his sorrows out while playing the piano.
"Thank you, your majesty" Pier thanked King Henry for the compliment
---
Right outside the music room, Raphael was clenching his chest as his other hand covered his mouth.