67 Sound Magic

After the events of last evening, we were able to go back home without much issues. Mom remained asleep all throughout the night, partly because of the sedating spores that permeated her bedroom that evening.

I was happy to see that the little date had achieved its intended effect because eever since then, Celine had been pretty cheerful around the house.

In Celine's eyes, I am her lover. We're not in a purely physical relationship, as I do with Mom, and I know that she has a desire for the other emotional and romantic aspects that you would naturally expect from having a relationship, and not just sex after sex.

It's a pretty great and straightforward relationship.

However, it has its drawbacks in the way that she expects us to be completely exclusive to each other—which, sadly, I am not.

Though I do feel slightly guilty about lying to my sister, how can I possibly pass up on Mom? I can only hope that she never finds out or I can somehow find a way to make them 'get along' more with each other.

Right now, I just took a warm bath after some light training and exercising with mom earlier and am currently headed down the stairs for breakfast.

"Are you really gonna go to you teacher again today?" asked Celine, tugging my shirt lightly. She prevented me from going any further down the stairs, intent on having the conversation here—away from mom's ears.

"Yes," I answer.

Celine understood my desire to hone my skills but insisted gently, "Can you not?" she answered back.

"Why?" I ask back, raising an eyebrow to her request. "There's a chance that I might perform in the royal banquet. I need to be as good as I can be for such an occasion."

Faced with such answer, Celine naturally understood but still she asked, "But why? Can't you like just..stay here and not leave? Like after four or so years, I'll finish my education, kill some humans and collect merit. If I do really well, I might even get a noble title—then we'll have all the money we need."

"There's no need for you to work so hard and interact with.. other people." Celine wanted to say 'other women' but didn't voice that out.

I looked at Celine with a somewhat amused expression. "You want me to be a loser? A jobless, no-friend bum lounging off of a woman's hard work?"

"What's wrong with that?" Celine replied, an embarrassed blush plastered on her face. Her eyes didn't dare meet mine as she fiddled with her silver hair, rolling a lost strand on her finger.

"When I'm done for the day, I'll come home to my cute bum of a husband, pampering and spoiling you. If music is your passion, you can compose wonderful melodies for me to enjoy while I take care of all the rest."

The sweetness of her words and the loving care behind them took me by surprise. I had to cover my face with my hand to hide the smile and blush that inadvertently formed in my face.

Had someone said this words to me in my previous life, I would've accepted with zero hesitation. Just look at her, a woman like her back on Earth would be set for life solely by her looks. Fair, unblemished skin paired with ink-dark irises that drew one in and lustrous silver hair—looking straight out of fairytale—and she's going out of her way to say that she'll spoil me.

However, I think I know why she's acting like this all of a sudden. Since she doesn't know about me and mom, in her eyes, only Aerin is a threat—and for good reason.

"You're so sweet, Celine. But I want to make my own way in the world. And besides, I don't want to be a bum who's completely dependent on a woman," I reply

"…" Celine turns silent at my words, the gentle smile on her face remaining. However, for a very brief moment, less than even half a second, I thought an indescribable chill was contained in her gaze. It seems that the little stunt I did had a greater effect than what I intended.

"I see, that's also respectable. Then I won't stop you, Riel." she nodded gently. "When you make it big, I will be proud knowing my dear brother's name is spoken with respect."

I ignore whatever it was that I saw earlier and put on a smile as well, replying. "Thank you, sis. One day, I will write and dedicate a song just to you~ Come on, let's not keep Mom waiting. Breakfast must've been ready ages ago."

* * *

"Riel! Focus on your lessons," Aerin snapped her fingers in front of me, "Eyes on me," scowled Aerin.

"Sorry teacher," I scratch my head apologetically. "I didn't hear the last part properly."

Earlier, I got distracted and stopped paying attention for a minute. After all, Aerin looked more scrumptious than usual. She had her blonde hair tied into a loose ponytail behind her head as she watched me play. She wore a high-necked shirt that concealed her cleavage and a long, high-waisted skirt that covered most of her legs.

She barely showed any skin and yet she's this eye-catching..

Aerin's blue eyes stared sternly into mine. "Pay attention this instant! No distractions during lessons," seemingly oblivious to the fact that she herself was the very distraction she was warning me about.

She then took a deep breath, reigning in her temper. She adjusted her ponytail as she spoke, "Now listen closely. Sound magic alters the vibrations in the air, allowing one to create illusions with the ears."

"Illusions?" my eyes widen in shock. My expectations regarding sound magic were very different from what is currently being taught to me right now.

Seeing my surprise, Aerin smiled softly. "Yes, it can create illusions. However, I'll only teach you the lighter parts of it, okay?"

"When you use other types of magic, their effects on the physical world are usually immediate and tangible. Fire magic conjures flames that can burn objects, producing bright light and heat. Water, wind, earth, and lightning magic all leave their visible marks. There's moisture, a gust of wind, a tangible rock, or even the smell of smoke. These provide evidence of the magic's manifestation," she patiently explained in her gentle voice.

"When I hurl a fireball at someone's arm, it is rather obvious which part is being targeted – which portion of his body is being scorched by the flames. But when I strum these strings," Aerin paused, her fingers gracefully moving across the harp, "which part of the physical world do you think it affects? What trace does it leave behind?"

What part of the world does it impact? I tried thinking about it. From what I remember in class, sound travels through a medium—usually air—and then picked up by the eardrums. This is transmitted to the brain through a nerve which then interprets it.

However, I realized that these concepts were rooted in scientific understanding from my world. Do the people of this world even know about the nervous system? Let alone the complicated physics behind the properties of sound.

Regardless, I still give her my answer, "The mind?"

"Wow..you actually got it right," Aerin said, visibly surprised. However, she continued her explanation, "But yes, it's the mind that is being affected. When I strum these strings, while you perceive sounds, there is no definitive proof that anything actually happened in reality. The illusions that sound magic creates only affect the mind of the listener – the perceptions, sensations and emotions of the target."

"Now you might wonder why is that?"

"It's actually pretty difficult to explain but basically, everything that you see, hear, touch, smell, and taste, isn't an exact representation of reality. It's just the way your brain interprets the sensations it receives" Aerin clarified.

I never expected I'd hear such from the people of this world. For someone to actually delve into the complexities of perception and cognition, I realize that I might have underestimated the people of this world.

It's one of those things that got me thinking back then. Like, how did people discover color blindness? How did someone eventually notice that the 'red' a person is seeing, might actually be different from the 'red' that everyone else sees?

If a person had been seeing red as blue their entire life, how would he even know he's seeing wrongly? All his life red has been blue, but he knows it as red. All his life the normal color of apples is blue and he never found it strange. The same goes for blood, roses, and other red things.

However, Aerin mistook my silence as me not being able to understand the concept. "I know it's kind of wonky to think about and it may be a new concept to you, but I'm here to teach you. That's why you come to my lessons after all."

Aerin reached out a hand to squeeze mine with reassurance. "Don't worry so much. We'll start simple and work our way up. I'll be here to guide you through it all." She then spent the next few hours educating me about the foundations I needed to understand without really doing any of the actual magic stuff yet.

After that, we started practicing for the royal banquet. I pulled out a couple more of classic works back from Earth—though I had to improvise a little bit on some of them, due to me having forgotten some of the details.

Good thing is, Aerin couldn't possibly know that these pieces had been modified because she'd never even heard of the original.

"I really don't know how you can just come up with all these compositions so quickly," Aerin said with a hand covering her mouth.

"Is it bad?" I asked and she firmly shook her head against it, "No, they're good," she replied.

I feigned humility, though my ego reveled in the praise. "Well, when you have plenty of inspiration, the music just flows naturally," I shamelessly replied. Deep down, I knew the accusations of plagiarism that would reverberate across Earth if my secret were ever revealed. Schubert would surely spin in his grave at the thought of his compositions being used to impress an elven chick in another world.

Aerin raised an eyebrow, questioning my claim. "And where, in this city, do you find such inspiration?" she inquired.

I leaned back, adopting an air of poetic wisdom as I made up bullshit on the fly. "Inspiration can be found in every corner if you approach things with an open mind," I spun my tale. "The flight of pigeons, the tender bond between a father and child. Even the less beautiful aspects of life like the struggles of the destitute on the streets or the sorrowful lament of a widow mourning her lost love. Each holds a story that can be beautifully expressed through music."

"Okay now you're just trying to sound sophisticated," Aerin said with a laugh.

"But it is true," replied me playfully.

We exchanged playful banter for a couple more minutes as I play out some of the musical pieces that I had stockpiled. With every composition, Aerin became more impressed and sure of our chances of success to play in the banquet.

"I forgot to inform you beforehand, but there's actually a person that I'd like you to meet today," said Aerin.

Curiosity danced in my eyes as I leaned forward, eager for more details. "Who is it?"

Aerin further explained. "She's part of the Royal Court, and one of the people overseeing the royal banquet. If you want to be able to play in the banquet, then she must approve of you first."

Wait, isn't that kind of a big deal? Had I known about it, I would've prepared some of the better classical pieces rather than album 'fillers'. I couldn't help but wonder why Aerin had chosen to reveal this now, rather than earlier.

Sensing my bewilderment, Aerin's expression softened with remorse. "I'm sorry, I should have informed you sooner. But please understand, I have full confidence in your abilities. I genuinely believe you're more talented than the current musicians in line for the performance."

Seeing that I remained silent, Aerin said. "You can practice for a few more hours if you're feeling nervous, but keep in mind that today is her only available time this week."

Taking a deep breath, I thanked Aerin and requested a few minutes to gather my thoughts. During that brief couple of minutes, I mentally sifted through the well-known compositions I had mastered over time: the enchanting Moonlight Sonata, the timeless Canon in D, the emotive River Flows in You, and even the heartfelt melody I had dedicated to Aerin, Salut d'Amour. These were the pieces that resonated with casual listeners, easy to grasp and appeals to very specific emotions.

Once I said that I was ready, Aerin nodded and went out of the living room. She went upstairs to call someone however she didn't return for quite some time. Eventually, I heard voices resound from the floor above me.

Though they tried to keep it low, my heightened sense were still able to pick up what seemed to be an argument.

"Why are you dressed like that?!" Aerin's familiar voice could be heard, sounding angrier than usual. "At least try to look decent for crying out loud!"

Then another voice replied, much more relaxed—maybe even lazy. "What does it matter? I'm just here to listen to some brat's music aren't I? Let's get this over with, I was having such a good nap."

Aerin's frustration bubbled to the surface as she shot back, her words tinged with annoyance, "You could at least try to maintain some level of decorum. If you come out looking like that, you're going to drag me down with you!"

"It's not like we're not meeting some executive or noble…"

The two of them went at it verbally upstairs until I could hear footsteps coming down and Aerin finally came back, her frustrations well hidden on her face. She tried to laugh it off as she introduced the woman walking behind her, "Well, here she is. You've seen her in the painting before—my sister Laurel. Just ignore it if she looks a little...unconventional."

As Aerin spoke, I turned my attention to Laurel, who stepped forward and immediately I understood why Aerin was arguing with her earlier.

Laurel was wearing an unbuttoned blouse without even a bra underneath, revealing a tantalizing amount of her milky white chest, paired with baggy pajama pants. Her hair was a mess, straight out of a comfortable nap, tied behind her head via a loose ponytail. She looked completely different to how I met her that day back at the cathedral.

She was yawning, but paused when she saw me, "Aren't you that lass's younger br–?"

I totally forgot about her. But now that she's here, I do recall her saying that she wanted to meet me again, about a month after the last time we met. That time period coincided with the royal banquet that's about to happen.

Laurel looked like she fell deep in thought for a second before she continued, "So you're the actually one Aerin has been raving about. I see now."

Laurel's head tilted back as she yawned a couple more times, her nipples protruding the thin fabric of her unbuttoned blouse. Her cleavage was already laid bare for all to see, combine that with her nipples, the shape of her breasts could be visualized in one's imagination.

Her crimson eyes, unique from Aerin's sapphire blue, gave off a completely different energy as it lazily stared at me.

From the side, though Aerin maintained a benign smile on her face, there were daggers in her gaze as she stared at her younger sister. Laurel, either oblivious to or feigning ignorance of her sister's subtle hostility, nonchalantly made herself comfortable on the sofa, deliberately choosing a considerable distance between us.

If looks could kill, then Laurel might've just died several times over in the short span that she's been here.

I felt the awkwardness in the air as I greeted Laurel with a polite nod. "Yes, that's me. It's a pleasure to… see you, Ms. Laurel." I said, choosing my words carefully. After all, we'd already met before and she knows it.

Laurel's eyes narrowed for a moment as if contemplating something, then she spoke again, her words laced with a hint of curiosity. "Well, let's see if you live up to all the hype."