Throne of Magical Arcana

The rhythm, the tone and the accents falling on the beats gripped everyone’s heart. No one could hide from the trials of life. The theme of the symphony was revealed directly, without any foreshadowing or implication.

The horns took place before a second theme was introduced, symbolizing the fierce struggling between fate and will. As the first and the second theme interweaved with each other, the audience experienced great tension and pressure, as if they were personally on the battlefield, although they were only sitting in their seats.

The reactions of the audience varied. Grabbing the armrests, the nobles such as the grand duke and Wolf who had never experienced the cruelty of war in person almost couldn’t stand the fear in their hearts, while Knight Venn became very engulfed by the memories of the deep fear and horror that he suffered back in the days when he was fighting against the evil creatures and the heretics.

Sard remained relatively calm, but his eyes were open. This time his eyes were no longer dull, instead, they were bright and sharp. He was associating the music work with his own stories back in the day.

Facing the tension and the great pressure coming from the symphony, younger nobles, such as Verdi and Natasha, showed their rising fighting will. Clenching his right fist, Verdi tightened every muscle in his body to be ready for fronting the blows of fate, showing the spirit of the Violet family as the Shield of Truth. Natasha’s body was leaning forward, and her face looked serious but also excited. She wanted a good fight to beat the darkness and the so-called fate.

Victor devoted his heart and soul to the conducting. Compared with Lucien’s original work, now the symphony was much better developed and even more thrilling. The combination of viola, cello and woodwind in the second movement gave the audience a short break from the intensity, and soon the third movement again threw them back to the front, encountering the overwhelming fear of darkness.

Pain, hope, fear, anger and so many other feelings mixed together. When the light finally beat the darkness, when the final movement of great victory was played in the Psalm Hall, many of the audience spontaneously stood up and cheered with thunderous applause.

The grand duke gave a long sigh of relief and raised his hand to wave, as if he was cheering for his brave knights and soldiers returning home in triumph. With great excitement as well as satisfaction, Natasha left her seat and walked close to the handrail, staring at the orchestra as if she was still immersed in her own world of music.

Leaning comfortably against the back of the seat, Silvia and the other musicians spontaneously exchanged a look. They could tell the great surprise and admiration in each other’s eyes.

“This young man… He’s probably another genius after Gesu and Twal,” Silvia murmured to herself.

Joel’s family and Elena were cheering and applauding. Although they did not know a lot about music, they felt from the bottom of their hearts that Lucien’s work was truly shocking and touching. They had tears in their eyes.

Joel was tingling with excitement, feeling that his dream was accomplished by Lucien. He was more than proud, regarding Lucien’s success and honor as his own.

Grabbing his father’s shoulder, John’s face flushed with gratification, “Dad, Lucien is such a genius, isn’t he?!”

“From now on, we can call him ‘Mr. Lucien’…” Elena couldn’t believe what just happened in the hall. After all, when she first met Lucien several months ago, this young man was carrying bags of garbage.

Wolf’s face turned deathly pale, knowing that he could never deny the greatness of this symphony. And now he finally realized why Victor was willing to have such a pauper as his music student—this poor guy was indeed a genius.

Turning his head restlessly in the tumultuous applause, Wolf relied his last bit of hope on the picky nobles and musicians, wishing that at least a couple of them who always preferred religious music would show their dislike toward the theme of the symphony.

The grand duke joined his daughter, walking toward the front of the balcony to applaud warmly. Being led by the grand duke and the princess, the second round of wild applause with the tumultuous ovation burst out, reverberating through the Psalm Hall.

Without any doubt, the concert was a great success!

After saluting the grand duke and the rest of the audience, Victor trotted back and pulled Lucien out from the backstage. Lucien was prepared, so he calmly followed Victor and came to stand in front of all the audience.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please let me introduce you my student, Lucien Evans. It is Lucien Evans who composed this great piece of symphony,” said Victor loudly to all of the balconies.

“What a talent!” The applause from the nobles and the musicians became even louder, showing their great recognition toward this young musician.

“Great music. Great young man.” Earl Hayne nodded, “Even a person who knows nothing about music can feel the greatness of his work.”

The grand duke commented in a loud voice, “Unparalleled! This young man will grow into a great musician!”

Natasha’s mind was full of emotional thoughts, “I was almost speechless. I felt something… very unique. I know it’s something that I’ve been always looking for. Lucien, you’re the innovator in the history of music!”

Even Verdi couldn’t say anything to refute her at this point.

“You got the soul that never yields. God bless you, young man.” Slowly, Sard stood up. He looked at Lucien with a loving smile on his face.

Among all the people, Wolf was the only one who remained slouching in his seat. He felt too weak to even talk.

“Thanks God. This is the gift of God.” Lucien saluted the balconies in a gentleman manner, playing his role as a believer with great piety. The great success of the concert would bring him lots of benefits, and one of them would be a higher social status which was very helpful for him to hide his identity. The guards from the church and the sheriffs of the city would not dare to casually arrest or investigate a musician who had received the recognition from the grand duke, the cardinal and the princess.

The cardinal nodded and said to the grand duke, “I’m very glad that I attended the concert tonight. All of the music works tonight are great, and Symphony of Fate is especially the most impressive one. Light conquers darkness. The God of Truth empowers us to fight against difficulties. God bless us all.”

“God bless us all.” Orvarit lowered his head, putting his palm on his chest.

On the stage, Victor’s eyes were wet with tears. How he wished that Winnie could see all of this in heaven.

“How do you feel now, my cousin?” Natasha looked at Verdi and asked pleasantly.

“This piece of work belongs to Lucien, not you, Natasha. And unfortunately, his talent can never be yours as well.” Verdi did not answer directly.

“Well… actually the unique theme of his work inspired me a lot. Maybe I should have him to be my music consultant to produce my own music work,” said Natasha, tilting her head on one side.

“His success comes from both of his talent and his life experience. And the accumulation of inspiration and good ideas takes time. I don’t think it will work, Natasha.” Verdi shrugged his shoulders disapprovingly.

“Still worth a shot.” Lifting her brows, Natasha chuckled.

…

When the nobles were leaving the Psalm Hall in order, Victor and Lucien came to the backstage. The orchestra members there were still feeling excited.

“Mr. Victor, Mr. Evans, this is the best concert we’ve ever attended!”