Tour and Royal Performance
"Then, once again. the Royal Navy welcomes you to the headquarters lady Sophia"
London took us to the main entrance of the Royal Navy Headquarters. We could have started from the side entrance near the Royal Gardens, but they said we would be bothering the maids if we did.
Following closely behind us, is a maid with light blonde hair and a pair of uninterested amber colored eyes
"Sheffield, aren't you supposed to be with Enterprise and the others?" Andrew asked.
"Her Majesty's orders"
"Um, I'm pretty sure we're safe inside the building"
"Her Majesty's orders"
"Do they know----"
"Her Majesty's orders"
Andrew tried to ask something once again, but...
"HER. MAJESTY'S. ORDERS"
A surreal sight is in front of me, something that barely resembled a conversation started between the expressionless maid and Andrew. It's like something straight from an anime.
First time I've seen this in real life
Sheffield looked at me for a good few seconds then said in a soft voice. "It seems there won't be any problems"
I looked at Andrew hoping he knows what Sheffield's doing for the Queen and to my disappointment, he is also looking at me with the same expression
Why are you looking at me? I'm the visitor here remember? I thought to myself.
"Should we start? London asked smiling.
"Yes, we should" Sheffield answered. "So we can finish this quickly" She added, implying through her tone that something troublesome will happen should the tour get longer.
"Y-you're right" London's smile turned awkward "Then Lady Sophia, Your Excellency"
London opened the doors, and what greeted us is the Queen standing in front of us with her arms folded across her chest. She has pretty much a pretty much slightly displeased expression.
"Your Majesty? Why are you here?" London asked.
"I thought it's rude for a queen to just to leave touring their guest to others" She said, obviously making an excuse, although to be fair it is unbecoming for a host to leave touring guests around their house to others.
I hear Sheffield behind us sighing
"W-well, then I'll be taking my leave" London bowed, but is stopped by Andrew
"London, can you stop by my office and find the thing sent by Matteo?
"Understood Your Excellency" London once again bowed then left our group.
"Is she your secretary?" I asked
"Yeah, she is quite dependable you see"
"She does look the part"
"Shall we start then?" Queen Elizabeth asked.
Queen Elizabeth then led us through the the headquarters. Despite her looks, she actually does pretty well in being the tour guide, explaining very well the functions of each area, with additional information given by Warspite, and Andrew.
She brought us to the important areas of the headquarters like the command center which literally looks like the throne room, fit only for a few number of people. She showed this room with a proud look as this is where they command the operations from.
The other one being the conference hall which would like like a ballroom without the chairs and tables. Then the halls leading to the dining area, and the shipgirls' rooms, which I assume is also very elegant.
The next we went to is Andrew's office, due to his request, and as expected it looks like it's made for royalty and looks extremely comfortable to be in. My office may pale in comparison in terms of elegance, but it's superior in terms of technology.
"I'll be finishing some work first so I'll leave her to you, Your Majesty" Andrew said. "Sheffield, please give me a hand"
"Very well" Queen Elizabeth said then pulled me out of the room.
She led me to what they called the leisure area where the shipgirls go to relax, or kill some time when they are not assigned to training, commissions, or exercises.
We entered the lobby where a few of the Royal Navy shipgirls are having some light conversations over tea.
"We can wait here for the two in the meantime" Queen Elizabeth said.
"Uh to our right is the library and , and to our left is the music hall, you can go wherever you like" Warspite said gesturing with her hands.
"Ah! Your Majesty, Madam Warspite, good afternoon" One of the girls near the entrance noticed our group and greeted the two.
Meanwhile, I proceeded to walk towards their music hall, curious to what kind of instruments they have, also to avoid a potential small talk.
As I neared the door to the area, I expected someone to be playing something, but it's quiet, or maybe the room is sound proof.
I opened the door and peeked in the room. "There's no one here"
This should be the piano room. I thought as I looked inside the white oval shaped room with a black grand piano in the middle. A chandelier hung above the piano, and curved sofas line the walls divided by large windows draped over by light blue curtains.
I walked inside and surveyed the room.
"They are at war, right?" I said to myself as how can they maintain these kinds of things in the middle of a war. Almost half of the world is even in enemy hands.
I hope their populace isn't starving, or else.... "Ahh!"
I find a violin beside a silver harp. in one "corner" of the room, sitting atop a wooden stand with the bow hanging next to it.
"This looks expensive"
After a bit of hesitation since I didn't want to accidentally break it, I picked up the bow and violin and started by playing each string to make sure they're properly tuned.
Yup they're tuned. Alright let's have fun. I smiled and started with the song I like playing the most.
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I noticed Sophia walk away from the group towards the music hall as Glorious and her companions greeted us.
"Um, who is that person?" Glorious asked.
"Right, you girls haven't met her yet" Her Majesty said. "She's Sophia, the Eagle Union's new commander"
"What kind of person is she?"
"Hmm, I guess I can tell you a bit"
Her Majesty then turned to me "Warspite, can you follow Sophia and help her with anything in that area?"
"Yes Your Majesty" I replied.
I then followed Sophia and walked towards the music hall.
When I entered I heard the sound of a violin, not like someone playing a piece , but someone testing it out.
I looked towards the area around the grand piano where the sound came from and saw Sophia in possession of Aurora's violin, smiling with satisfaction.
Ahh please don't break it. Aurora will cry if you do. I thought.
She then started playing a piece very different from the ones Aurora usually plays. It felt like she's making the violin sing a song.
Seconds into her piece, she stopped, putting down her hand holding the bow. Did she forget the piece? I thought, but I see that she's nodding her head, and tapping her right foot to a beat I don't hear.
After a few seconds she started playing again with her eyes now focused on the violin.
One could see how she enjoys playing the piece, much like how Aurora is when she comes here to practice. Every time she hits a high note, she closes her eyes feeling the sound coming from the instrument.
Seeing her play an upbeat music made me smile as I can't help but tap my foot to the music.
Watching her more make it seem like she's dancing through her movements, although she pretty much stayed on the same spot.
After a few minutes of enjoying the music, I observed that she's now playing a different piece. I didn't notice when she transitioned to the new one.
I just also noticed that I have now moved closer to where Sophia is, I probably did it subconsciously.
I know I'm using the word repeatedly, but I also noticed that there are now more people in the room, Her Majesty is now also beside me, enjoying Sophia play.
Sophia also didn't seem to notice the growing number of people in her audience and continued to play like she's in a concert or an orchestra. Completely focused on the instrument and the music it produced as the number of curious people increased
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Ahh It feels really good playing the songs. I thought to myself as I wrap up the last song I'm currently playing.
This one I picked up from a Youtuber, and I really loved her version of this cover and immediately bought the music sheet and practiced a lot.
I finished the last whole note then put my hand, holding the bow, down. I looked to my front and realized that there are quite a lot of people in the room now. I saw a lot of the people I was talking to earlier, including Andrew, and Sheffield who was supposed to be in the office.
I was dazed momentarily before their claps pulled me out of it. I can feel my face flush, not by embarrassment, but the sheer amount of attention I just got. I don't really mind playing in front of family or friends, but playing in front of strangers is very different.
I held both the violin and bow with my left hand. I don't really know what words to say so I just bowed.
"That was quite a performance" Queen Elizabeth said with a smile that says that she enjoyed my little fun.
Warspite nodded, then sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes.
Did she get moved to tears!? I thought and saw that some of the girls in the room also had the same reaction.
I cleared my throat and faked a smile. "U-um. W-well. Uh I appreciate that you liked my performance"
"That was beautiful, Lady Sophia" One of the girls said to which the others agreed.
A blonde girl with green eyes approached me and asked. "What were those pieces?"
"Umm, they were---"
"Ah!, my apologies, where are my manners?, I'm Aurora. I also play the violin" She apologized and quickly introduced herself, although I didn't even find her actions even remotely rude.
"Is this yours? Sorry for using it without permission"
"Ah No, they belong to the Royal Navy"
Ahh so it's shared property. "They're covers of songs I picked up in my world. I can try to write the sheet for you if you want.
Her eyes sparkled after I said that, then she grabbed my hand. "Is it alright with you?!"
"Y-yeah, I should be able to write them down"
"Thank you very much!" She said with glee, shaking my hand.
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After Sheffield and I arrived at the leisure area, we saw a commotion inside the music hall.
Curious, we decided to take a look. From the inside of the hall, I hear familiar songs being played through a violin, and thought that Aurora probably learned these and decided to play them. To my surprise, it was Sophia.
I got mesmerized the more I watched her play. She seemed to sparkle right until the end of the last song.
I pulled myself together as I remembered that I needed to give this bracelet Matteo made and started to walk towards her then stopped after Aurora quickly approached Sophia.
This gave me time to think that giving this black box to her in front of everybody would definitely give the wrong impression.
"Did you just chicken out, master?" Sheffield pretty much stabbed me with the truth.
"I-I just don't want any weird rumors to start flying around"
I don't want anyone hearing those rumors, especially Akira, and Matteo. They'll tease me until they're satisfied.
"I'll just give this to Enterprise or Cleveland" I said then walked out of the hall towards where they're holding the exercise.