The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

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 melody would still emerge in his ears.

As one of the greatest piano composers in the world, Beethoven’s story of becoming deaf is written in elementary 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 tormented him, but he still longed for love.

Approaching his forties, he fell in love with one of his female students, a young girl named Therese Malfatti.

In a moment of impulse, he composed a small piece titled “A Minor Bagatelle” for Therese. Later, someone 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 melody, 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 time,

Li Si Te’s fingers were still clumsy, with many mistakes made, which wasn’t very perfect. But by the time he started playing for the second time, he had already mastered each note and largely restored “For Alice”.

After playing it three times in a row,

He concluded his first piano performance.

Just like Meioubao, he stood up, bowed slightly to the noblemen and noblewomen 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 Meioubao had received for playing “Yuri Ely by the River”. Most of the people there had heard Meioubao 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 excitement, Meioubao said, “Li Si Te, you must teach me this piece, I want to learn it!”

“No problem, I will take the time 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 Meioubao circling around him; many other nobles also came up to him, inquiring about the piano piece “For Alice”.

A male noble exclaimed, “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 me how to play this piece, by the way, does it have a name?”

“‘For Alice’, I will organize the score and give it to Cousin Meioubao; 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 immersed 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 remember 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, handsome 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, some parts weren’t smooth.”

“Yes, I don’t play the piano often, and I’ve forgotten some of the fingerings.”

“I play the piano every day. I love music, especially this piece, “To Alice”. It’s a simple melody, 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 melody.”

Such a comment.

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 Meioubao, 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 excitement, “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 moment of passion.”