Part No. 4

    The Melody of Spring

    “I’m going to play a piece inspired by the charm of Earth’s seasons. It’s part of The Four Seasons, and I’ve chosen Spring by Antonio Vivaldi.”  

    “Spring?” Gloria tilted her head in confusion. 

    “It’s one of Earth’s seasons. Because Earth has a much denser atmosphere than our planet, in some regions, a year is divided into periods of hot weather, rain, winter, and after that comes spring, in a cycle.”

    Gabriel tried to explain as best as he could. However, it seemed like his knowledge of science wasn’t enough to satisfy the curiosity of the curious child before him. 

    “How do you know so much about Earth? If I remember correctly, Earth is now heavily guarded by the space soldiers.” 

    “Because I’m someone from the Earth who reborn here.”

    The boy pretended to tell the truth while laughing a bit.

    “You really know how to tell joke, Big Brother.”

    Upon hearing it, Gloria sneered, a bit annoyed. 

    “Don’t worry about the details. Just listen to my music…” Gabriel finished his words, and then immediately began playing. 

    Originally, this piece was composed by a violinist in the past, and thus it was mostly performed with a violin. However, it didn’t mean that one couldn’t perform it using the piano. Due to its popularity, many musicians had rearranged it for various instruments. 

    “Violin… What’s that?” Gloria quickly asked out of curiosity. 

    “Umm… It’s a type of musical instrument. You’ll learn about it when you’re older…” 

    The Four Seasons by Vivaldi was one of the most frequently performed classical pieces in the past, and the piece he played was Spring. The opening melody is full of the brightness of nature, accompanied by the beautiful chirping of birds, making one feel fun and joyful.

    He thought this tune was the most perfect for Gloria, who was full of bright nature.

    But once the cute and lively melody passed, Gabriel’s left hand shifted, emphasizing the deeper notes to create the resonant sound which was like a powerful storm. This was the part where Vivaldi described an uncertainty of the nature—where even in the midst of spring, fierce storms could still strike. When the intense melody passed, the melody of the little bird returned once more, repeating like a cycle… This was the nature of the spring, which was beautifully portrayed through music that etched in one’s heart.

    In reality, the piece had three movements, but Gabriel chose to play only the first movement, as he felt its cute, bright melody of birds singing suited Gloria the most. 

    “That was such a cute song. And it was even more intricate than the last one.”

    Gloria exclaimed in surprise as soon as her older brother finished playing, rushing over to him immediately. 

    “If your skill is better, I’ll teach you this song too. No…, I’ll teach you every song you want to learn.”

    Gabriel opened his arms to embrace the small figure that rushed into his hug, swaying back and forth as he spoke. Just imagining his younger sister playing music alongside him in the future made his heart nearly overflow with joy. 

    “Sigh, no matter what song he plays, it’s always so beautiful. I’m really jealous of the Salazar family.”

    Carla turned to complain with her husband in low voice as she saw the harmonious siblings. The younger one was adorable and talkative, being clever since young ages. Meanwhile, the older one, though calm and quiet, his intellect and talent were unquestionable. 

    “Your birthday is coming up soon, isn’t it?” Dylan, who had been listening since the beginning, asked. 

    “Yes?”

    Gabriel pointed at himself in confusion. Did Mr. Fidango mean him? 

    “Yes, you. I heard that Augustin has been reaching out to several brokers trying to find a piano to give you as a birthday gift.”

    “That’s…” He didn’t know anything about it.

    “Seems like you weren’t aware. I actually bought this piano just to keep as part of my collection, never expecting that a little child from a faraway planet could play a song out of it…”

    Dylan told the story in a gentle tone. Gabriel scratched his cheek in shyness upon hearing it. 

    “It’s all thanks to the generosity of Mr. Fidango and Madam, who let me play this piano, even though it is such a rare item…”

    “No need to flatter me. The nearly two years that has passed has proven to me that you’re worthy of it.” 

    “What do you mean?...” Gabriel wore a confuse expression on his face. 

    “I mean, I’m giving this piano to you as your birthday gift.” 

    “What!?”

    The boy loudly exclaimed out of shock. He turned to look at the couple with a shock expression. Had he misheard that Mr. Fidango was giving him the piano? It wasn’t a cheap instrument, easy to find like in the past. Besides, its price was so steep it could buy an entire low-tier planet! 

    “Don’t be so surprised. We’ve already talked it over. If the piano stays here with us, it would just go to waste. Besides, it’s inconvenient for you to keep traveling between our house and yours. You wouldn’t be able to practice as much as needed anyway.” 

    Upon seeing the shock demeanor of the boy, Carla explained further.

    “The music you’ve played for us over these two years is worth more than you realize.” 

    “I… I… thank you so much…”

    Gabriel murmured out of mixed emotions. He even thought he was dreaming. The piano he had played since the very first time in this life was about to become truly his. The fear that had always clung to his heart quickly vanished. The reason for the fear was that he had once thought about what he would do if Mr. Fidango ever decided to stop letting him play this piano. 

    Because playing music was everything to his life, and it was the only thing that had remained in his memory from his previous life. If it were to happen, he didn’t dare to imagine the pain that would occur in his heart. 

    “Big brother! Why are you crying?!”

    Gloria, still in Gabriel’s embrace, cried out in alarm when she saw tears rolling down from those brown eyes. She hurriedly used her small hands to wipe away her older brother’s tears. 

    “There, there. Don’t cry… Don’t cry…” 

    “I’m just happy. I’m fine…”

    Seeing his younger sister’s worried expression, Gabriel tried to take a deep breath to calm himself. He didn’t want to show weakness in front of his little sister. As a man, he should never cry! 

    “Do you really love playing music that much, big brother?” Gloria asked. 

    “It’s the reason I’m alive…”

    A life that he couldn’t play music was lonely, empty, and terrifying—so much so that he wouldn’t want to live it. 

    “Your love for music must be something very special. It’s unbelievable that there is a child from a distant planet who has such a deep passion for playing music.”

    Dylan said with a gentle smile. Both he and his wife had felt the depth of the boy’s emotions through his music over the past two years. 

    “Thank you both so much. I promise that when your birthdays come around, I’ll play a special song just for you,” Gabriel made a promise out of gratitude. 

    “This year’s birthday celebration seems like it’s going to be even more special than last year, darling,” Carla turned to her husband and laughed happily. 

    “I’m looking forward to it too.”  

    “It’s getting late now. You two should hurry home. Tomorrow, we’ll have the piano delivered to the Salazar’s house.”

    Madam Fidango glanced out the window. She was surprised as she saw that the light began to move below the horizon.

    “Oh, I forgot to check the time.”

    Upon seeing that, the boy was alarmed. He had brought his little sister with him, and if they got home late, they might miss dinner. He would be fine with it, but his younger sister couldn’t afford to skip a meal. 

    “You two should hurry back.”

    Upon seeing Gabriel’s uneasy expression, the couple didn’t dare to engage him in further conversation.

    “Then, we’ll be excusing ourselves.”

    Gabriel quickly led his younger sister by her hand, leading her to bid the house owners farewell before hurrying to their family car. 

    “Big Brother, I had so much fun today.”

    Gloria said in the quiet. The siblings were getting ready for bed after finishing their personal matters. Since their parents were away, beside the little princess was the older brother who tried to help his little sister sleep, even though he was just as drowsy because of sleepiness. 

    “Tomorrow, I’ll teach you lots of beautiful songs.”

    Gabriel mumbled in response as he heard his younger sibling’s voice, even though his voice were getting much softer. 

    “Big Brother, you’re really sleepy, aren’t you?”

    Gloria asked in low voice. How could she don’t know how exhausted her brother was? He had watched over her at Mr. Fidango’s house, played so many songs for her, and once they got home, he helped her bathe and eat. It could be said that her older brother took care of her the same way a parent did. No… For her, Big Brother was more valuable than that.

    “Now my little princess should sleep…”

    Gabriel replied, his voice was unclear. He patted his younger sister’s back softly, intending to lull the little child to sleep, but it seemed that the one doing the lulling had fallen asleep before the one who was being lulled. 

    “Big Brother?” Gloria turned to call the other softly when she felt his hand, which used to stroke her back, become completely still. 

    “…” However, the only response was the steady sound of the breathing. 

    Seeing the one beside her fall asleep, the girl smiled fondly. She raised her chubby hand and stroked his light brown hair with care. Her big brother, the one she once questioned why he had left her so quickly…

    The dark eyes flashed with a hint of vengeance for a split second before returning to their usual calm expression. She pressed her small lips together in worry as she gazed at the peacefully sleeping boy. This was her older brother, whom she had no memories of him at all. Since the moment she opened her eyes to face the fact that she had returned to the past when she was just a four-year-old child, the matter of her older brother had been the only thing that surprised her.

    That’s right… she wasn’t just an ordinary eight-year-old child. Inside her was the soul of someone who had already died once. 

    General Gloria Salazar—that was her name and rank before she died. Thanks to her powerful energy, she had rapidly ascended to a high-ranking position at a young age.

    In her previous life, her family had been cold and distant. The death of their eldest son when she was three years old left her mother heartbroken, leading to her having depression until she eventually succumbed to illness, dying from a broken heart. Then there were only her and her father, who was also in an abnormal mental state. He became a workaholic who worked day and night, never coming home and leaving her to the care of a babysitter robot alone. However, he tried to fulfill his responsibilities as a father and took care of her without missing anything... 

    Except for the love she craved most. 

    Hence, to Gloria, home had never felt like a home since the beginning. She had to struggle to join the Sagittarius faction, so she could earn more recognition. Fortunately, her power was strong. It allowed her to walk over those weaker than her, leading her to a high position. She worked close to ‘Marshal Jacquel Fine’, the highest authority in the galaxy. 

    At that time, her life was considered the pinnacle that all people dreamed of—if only the darkness that hid in the rotting circle hadn’t slowly crept in to destroy her… 

    Because of her high rank, combined with her confident and uncompromising nature, even though her strength was so powerful that it was second only to the Marshall’s, the sources of significant power wouldn’t let her stay and obstruct them so easily.

    Those power factions that hid their wrongdoings tried to pull her down by any means, both overt and covert. 

    Fortunately, the Marshal wasn’t one to be easily swayed by those people. This helped her gain the time to find out who her enemies, who aimed to attack her in the dark, were and who held conflicting interests with them. 

    In the end, she managed to possess all the evidence. But it seemed they were aware of it too. That was why they had secretly won over the close associate she trusted most. 

    In the end, she was betrayed by her close subordinate, which led to her death before she could reveal the crimes of those scumbags! 

    Thinking about it now, the little child clenched her fists and took deep breaths. She couldn’t let herself get angry…, since her powers were not stable enough at the moment, and she might hurt her older brother.

    Gloria laid down next to him, inching closer to the one who was still lost in slumber. The little one tried to nestle as close to the boy’s embrace as possible. 

    Was her resentment still there? Gloria could immediately answer that it was burning fiercely within her heart. But the love she had for her older brother, this significant person before her, was greater than the vengeance awaiting its reckoning by many folds.

    The older brother she had always called for, asking why he had left her so quickly, abandoning her to face this harsh world alone. 

    The second she opened her eyes and saw that the person in front of her was her older brother, still alive, it shocked her deeply. He was the only close person she had absolutely no memory of. Initially, she regarded her older brother with suspicion. But all the love and care slowly melted the heart full of resentment with that gentleness.

    Hence, her current self, which gained much love from her older brother—something she had never experienced in her previous life—made Gloria wholeheartedly believe that this future would certainly change…