Part No. 2

    The Poem of Joy

    “Wow…” A gasp of excitement came from the little girl, her eyes sparkling as she saw the strange invention—a ‘grand piano.’

    It was a large instrument with a grand and elegant design. Its structure was both beautiful and strong. Besides, its surface was painted glossy black. When combined those features, it made the piano become even more eye-catching because of its majestic look. Even with the keyboard lid closed, its beauty remained undiminished. 

    At this moment, Gabriel’s little princess was staring at this musical instrument with sparkling eyes.  

    “Hello, Mr. Fidango.”

    The first thing they should do the moment they arrived was to greet the house owner. Gabriel sighed and quickly turned his younger sister, who kept staring at the piano before her with sparkling eyes that showed she wanted it, to the previous direction.

    “Hello! My name is Gloria Salazar, and I’m Big Brother’s younger sister.”

    Once she realized she had unintentionally forgotten her manners, the Little Gloria quickly greeted him with sweet voice.

    Mr. Fidango—whose full name was Dylan Fidango—was a middle-aged man, nearly sixty years old. He had retired to live at home with his wife. He had once been a businessman like Father, and by chance, they had become acquainted through business collaborations. Despite only working together a few times, they hit it off. The age gap played no role in their relationship.

    On the planet they lived on, the Fidango family was considered one of the great powers. Though most of his business had been handed over to his son, Mr.Fidango’s influence and prestige did not decrease at all.

    Because Mr.Fidango was one of the few businessmen from the outer planets who had the opportunity to do business with the Sagittarius group. Even if only a few times, this allowed him to become one of the few able to purchase this piano, earning the approval of businessmen—including our father. 

    “Oh! I’ve never met the youngest daughter of the Salazar family before. She’s even cuter than I imagined, and she looks exactly like her mother.”

    The middle-aged man, whose face bore the wrinkles of time, smiled joyfully. His appearance was quite ordinary, with a typical elderly man’s build, a stern demeanor, a beard, and a round belly, yet he still exuded an air of authority. 

    “My little sister was home alone with no one to keep her company, so I brought her along.”

    The boy explained with a smile.

    “Besides, I’ve never played the piano for Gloria before, so I will do that today.”

    Hearing this, Dylan let out a loud laugh out of satisfaction, his eyes twinkling with amusement. 

    “Go ahead! This little one has never heard her brother’s music before, has she? Be careful—you might end up as hooked as I am once you hear it.” 

    “It’s not just you who likes it.”

    As soon as Dylan finished his words, a gentle voice of a middle-aged woman interrupted. In that very moment, Carla Fidango, Dylan’s beloved wife, appeared. Her round face and full forehead made her look like an ideal, kind-hearted mother, and the curve of her eyes as she smiled made her seem even more approachable.

    “Hello, Madam Fidango.”

    Gabriel greeted promptly upon seeing the newcomer. 

    “Just call me Aunt Carla, dear. We’ve known each other for years now. Why would you call me so formally?”  

    “I’m just used to it.”

    The boy smiled shyly out of shyness.

    “Hello, I’m Gloria.”

    The little girl quickly introduced herself after seeing her older brother’s demeanor. 

    “Hello, dear. You’re as pretty and cute as Rebecca.”

    She smiled even wider now that she could clearly see the little girl’s face. She had heard that this family’s son looked like his father, while the daughter resembled her mother. At first, she didn’t think the resemblance of their parents can be that strong, but when she met Gabriel for the first time, she was startled—it felt like the boy before her was a miniature version of Augustin. As for the daughter, there was no need to mention it, since she seemed like a perfect replica of Rebecca. 

    “So today’s the first time little Gloria gets to see her older brother play, huh? What song will you play today? I still love My Heart Will Go On that you played the most. No song can beat it. Its romance always soothes my heart, just like when I first fell in love with Carla in my younger days.” 

    “Big Brother plays a lot of songs?”

    The little princess began to feel curious. 

    “Not too many. Mostly, I spend time practicing, so I only play a few songs. But I’m getting more used to it now, so I’ll play a special song just to welcome the princess.”

    Gabriel explained as he saw that his younger sister was curious. Although he had been coming to play music at this house for almost two years, he didn’t visit every day, which sometimes interrupted his practice. Hence, it took him longer than usual to train his body to become familiar with it, so he would be able to play it as fluidly as himself in his memories. 

    In fact, there was something else quite surprising that he had discovered after playing music for some time—he could remember every sheet of music he had ever seen and every song he had ever heard from his past. It was something that was extremely hard to believe, but as soon as he pressed his fingers onto the keyboard, he immediately and instinctively knew which note should come next. As he tried playing it for sometimes, he realized he could recall ‘every’ musical note of the songs he wanted to play, except for a few that he couldn’t perform yet due to his fingers’ muscles not being developed enough. 

    Despite this, he could already fluently play Prelude & Fugue No. 2 in C minor by Bach, after trying to practice it since the first time he touched the piano. This piece had clearly improved his fluidity in playing other songs. 

    Even though a ‘Prelude’ meant an introduction in music, but Bach’s uniqueness always had a ‘Fugue’ follow a Prelude. The Prelude serves as an introduction to the Fugue. Hence, the melody came out in a repeating style of the main melody, which required highly skilled fingerwork. For Gabriel, as well as pianists of the past, this piece was considered one of the good exercises for advanced finger technique. 

    Of course, he didn’t intend to play such a complex piece for the little princess, since he recalled a song at this moment. It was a song that he thought everyone here would certainly like it.

    “Today, I’m going to play Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel for you. How about that?”

    “Huh?”

    Gloria unknowingly let out a weird exclamation. Hence, she quickly clapped her hands over her mouth in surprise. 

    “What song is that? I’ve never heard of it before.”

    Dylan laughed loudly upon seeing the girl’s reaction. He then explained once he saw that his wife shot him a disapproving look. “Sorry, I used to make the same expression as this little one’s.

    “It’s a piece composed by a musician from the past.”

    Gabriel tried to explain. 

    “How do you even know that?”

    “I’m not telling.”

    The reason was that even if he told them, no one here would understand. How could he say he died and transmigrated into this body? Better to just call it a secret. 

    “Boo! You behave like this again, big brother!”

    The girl scrunched her nose out of dissatisfaction, but she didn’t push the matter further. 

    Gabriel smiled at his younger sister’s adorable actions. This was one of the reasons he loved and adored this younger sister of his more than anyone. She was smart and knew how to behave. Gloria was a child that sometimes seemed different from other children, because she was perceptive and sensitive to the emotions of those around her. Besides, she always conducted herself well and rarely did anything that annoyed him. She could be considered the most intelligent child he had ever known in his life. 

    “Come here, I’ll explain.”

    Upon seeing the younger sister’s pouty face, he quicky beckoned her over. He led the little one to stand in front of the grand piano, which looked massive from a child’s perspective. 

    “Wowww, it’s so beautiful…”

    It seemed that this thing had made Gloria become so excited that she forgot her earlier irritation completely. 

    “This is a musical instrument that called ‘grand piano’.”

    Gabriel briefly explained the musical instrument.

    “It’s something humans created thousands of years ago, and back in its day, it was very popular because its sound is so beautiful…”

    Once he finished, Gabriel walked over and sat on a bench, which was placed there for one to sit while playing music. He lifted the keyboard lid. 

    “It’s so pretty inside… Do we have to press it?”

    Gloria looked admiringly at the keyboard. The girl’s expression now was identical to his own when he first saw a piano as a child—a look of someone falling completely in love with what was in front of them. 

    “That’s right.”

    Gabriel did not just say it, but he also gently placed his fingers on the keys. At that moment, the delicate sound resonated. The boy moved slowly, allowing the notes to come up in sequence and blend together into a small melody. When combined, it was a melody that was so cute and lively that it made the little girl smile joyfully. She slowly closed her eyes, letting herself be swept away by the music. 

    The melody continued for a while, and as the final note faded, the reception room fell into silence once more. 

    “This song…”

    Dylan murmured as he heard the melody he felt familiar with. 

    “Have you heard it before, Mr. Fidango?”

    Upon seeing such a reaction, Gabriel asked quickly. He knew this was the first time he had ever played this piece. 

    “I heard it once on a trip to Sagittarius, but it is something that I cannot forget.”  

    “But, what is this song called?”

    Carla also asked curiously. Even though she had never traveled to Sagittarius with her husband, she couldn’t help but be intrigued by these things. 

    “It’s called Ode to Joy by Beethoven, but I only played the part with simple notes for Gloria.” 

    “Simple notes?”

    Upon hearing it, Gloria immediately became interested. 

    “That’s right. Come, try sitting here.”

    Gebriel did not just say it, but he also moved to the side and patted the spot on the bench as a signal for Gloria’s little frame to sit with him. 

    Once the girl was seated, he began to explain once again. 

    “The piano is an instrument with very detailed sounds, which is why people love playing it the most. Look, Gloria, each key produces a different sound.”

    During his explanation, the boy played each key one by one for his younger sister to hear. 

    “They really do sound different…”

    The girl murmured. 

    “And in the song I just played, you press the keys like this…”

    Then, Gabriel started to press his fingers on them and create everyone’s familiar melody once again. 

    Ode to Joy is one of the pieces every beginner pianist learns, and in the past, most people were definitely familiar with it. The reason for that was because it was a cheerful rhythm and easy to play. More importantly, this song had much influence in the past. He hadn’t expected that even after a thousand years, people would still talk about and always remember it. 

    “...” 

    The notes that her older brother referred to must be the varying high and low tones. Even without a basic knowledge of music, Gloria could guess what were the things her older brother mentioned. These high and low notes, if arranged properly, could create beautiful songs. Each key had its own unique sound—the ones on the left produced very low notes, those in the middle were slightly higher, and the keys on the far right probably made the highest sounds. 

    What confused her the most, however, were the pedals below. Why did her older brother sometimes press them and sometimes not? And why did he mostly press the right one? What could it mean? Little Gloria was very curious, but she didn’t dare interrupt since her older brother was deeply absorbed in the sound of music. 

    “Want to give it a try?”

    Once he finished, the boy turned to ask his younger sister.

    “...?”

    Gloria turned to look at her older brother with a surprised expression. She had just listened to him play a couple of times, and now he was asking her to play already? What kind of teaching method was this?