Chapter 77: Chapter 77

Turning around, Felicia noticed that Annie, Colin and some other students were all standing around and trying to talk to Lucien. She slightly smiled and took a step forward.

“Ladies and gentlemen, in order to celebrate the great success of the concert and the achievement Lucien made with his Symphony of Fate, I want to invite everyone to the ball on Friday evening in my family’s house. Mr. Victor agreed, and now I want to see how many of us want to attend the ball.”

Although Felicia was not willing to let other of her classmates have a close relationship with Lucien like she already did, she understood that purposefully excluding the other classmates was not a good way to leave a favorable impression on Lucien.

“Really? I’d love to!” Renee put a big smile on her face, “It’s my great pleasure!”

All of the other students promised to go as well.

“What about you, Lucien?” Felicia smiled.

An idea suddenly flashed through Lucien’s mind. He nodded and answered, “Of course, Felicia.”

The other students looked even more excited hearing that Lucien would attend the ball as well.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s save the excitement for the Friday.” Mr. Victor walked downstairs with books under his arm, looking rather energized, “Now we have to start studying.”

Lucien was about to find a seat to sit down when Lott stopped him. Lott whispered in Lucien’s ear, “I heard that Mekanzi doesn’t like you at all. Be careful when you’re in the palace.”

“Thank you, Lott. I will,” replied Lucien politely. However, his mind was fully focused on how to save Joel and his family. Lucien knew clearly that the longer he waited, the less chances he would have to save them. He was really not in the mood to consider how to deal with Mekanzi.

Meanwhile, Lucien was also aware of the fact that he also had to be very patient. Unwisely rushing would put Joel and his family in great danger.

At that moment, Lucien felt like he was tightrope walking over a cliff. He had to find his balance between being patient and being ready to seize the chance. Leaning too much toward either side would instantly throw him off the wire.

With the outstanding memory and proper ways of studying, now Lucien could read most of the materials with ease. Immersing himself in the world of music, for a moment Lucien was distracted from his anxiety.

And a bold plan was gradually taking shape in his mind.

Finishing today’s study, Lucien went back to his shack, wrapped some stuff up and brought them to his rented house.

Everything seemed to be quite normal. Thus, when Lucien took out the letter at night, there were only a few simple sentences on it:

“Be careful tomorrow. Don’t do stupid things. We’re watching.”

……

Lucien had a sound sleep last night, and he felt rather revitalized when he woke up.

“Today is very important. I can’t make any mistake.” Lucien thought to himself.

Nothing new was on the letter. After having breakfast, Lucien came to the association and found a practicing room. He started playing the piano to reduce his anxiety.

Lucien was still not skilled enough to perfectly play Symphony of Fate. After reviewing the basic fingering, Lucien started to play Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, commonly known as Sonata Pathétique.

He did not know why he found special affection in Beethoven’s music works. Maybe it was because he could understand the sufferings and the pain Beethoven went through, and he appreciated the music master’s perseverance and heroic spirit.

Since Lucien never practiced Sonata Pathétique before, his playing was pretty horrible. However, playing this piece of music over and over again became a good way for Lucien to exhaust himself and thus to release the pressure.

Later Lucien took a break in his office.

Someone knocked at the door of Lucien’s office at ten thirty. It was Elena.

“Lucien. The princess’s coach is waiting for you in the front.”

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“I’ll be right there. Thanks, Elena,” replied Lucien.

He slowly stood up from the couch and walked toward the mirror. Staring at himself in the mirror for thirty seconds, Lucien took a deep breath and walked out of his office.

……

Sitting straight inside of the dark purple coach decorated with the coat of arms of the Violet family, Lucien felt the movement of the coach was rather smooth. The dark yellow carpet made in Tria was thick and comfy, and the wine on the small table had a nice deep ruby red color. However, Lucien did not feel like having a drink at all, since he had to make sure he would stay sober and calm in the palace.

A bit more than ten minutes later, the coach arrived at Ratacia Palace on time. The magnificent front gate of the palace was made of stone and was engraved with relief sculptures of many famous heroes in history. A dozen of guards led by a mighty and muscular knight were standing in front of the gate.

After a security check of Lucien’s personal belongings, the knight waved his hand and let the coach pass.

As soon as Lucien entered the huge gate, he sensed the solemn and mighty divine power enveloping the whole palace.

This light golden-colored palace was the most spectacular and magnificent structure in Aalto. Besides its great momentum, the details of Ratacia Palace were also created with exquisite handcraft. The symmetrical architecture showed the majesty of the grand duke house. The two castle-like palaces in both western and eastern wings were connected by a grand palace complex in the center.

In front of the main palace there was a large square with fine spray fountains, covered with rare and beautiful trees and flowers.

A broad artificial river ran through the square, in which a few boats were floating by the river bank.

The coach which Lucien was sitting in followed the avenue going through the garden and crossed the long bridge over the artificial river, and it finally stopped right in front of the main palace. Two beautiful maids were already waiting there.

“Mr. Evans, please follow us to the princess’ music practicing room.” The two blond-haired girls looked like twins. They greeted Lucien with respect.

“Thank you.” Lucien nodded politely.

Following the two maids, he saw more details of the palace on his way to the practicing room. The designers and the architects used the finest colorful stone as the main building material of the palaces, and all the different kinds of stones were shining brightly in the sunlight. Inside of the palaces, the stairs and the handrails were carefully gilded, and according to the different themes of the palaces, dazzling decorations such as huge crystals, fine white laces and gorgeous dome paintings could be seen everywhere.

Being very familiar with the path, neither of the maids talked to Lucien on the way but just walked in front of him. They were trained to be respectful and remain silent. Soon Lucien came to a very charming corridor.

Facing the direction of the garden, there were twenty-four arched windows on one side of the corridor, while on the other side, twenty-four mirrors were reflecting the beauty of the sight in the garden, as if the corridor was also fully planted with the fine trees and flowers, which added radiance and beauty to the magnificent huge dome painting above.

This was the best-known part of Ratacia Palace—the Paradise Corridor. Lucien had read about it before, when he was working in the Association’s library.

Passing Paradise Corridor, which featured the great style of divinity, Lucien finally arrived at the palace where princess Natasha lived. The palace had a unique name—War Gallery. Here Lucien saw many fine oil paintings showing the theme of war on the walls.

“This is the princess’s practicing room, Mr. Evans.” The two maids led Lucien to a quiet room in the corner, and asked him to wait for a moment outside, since they had to report to lady Camil first.

A moment later, Lucien was invited to enter the room.

……

The practicing room was way bigger than any one in the association. The warm and sweet orange color of the room was peaceful and soothing. The carpet was very fancy, on which different kinds of musical instruments were carefully placed, and in the center of the room stood a light golden piano.

Natasha was sitting in front of the piano, playing a piece of music called March of War. Her playing was very skilled, even better than many professional instrumentalists. However, it seemed like she was mimicking Victor’s fingering intentionally, and thus her playing sounded a bit rigid.

In her black dress, Camil was sitting in the couch at the far end of the room.

Natasha stopped playing when Lucien came into the room. She turned around and smiled to him, “I’m having a hard time here following Victor’s new fingering. Can you help me, Lucien?”

She talked to Lucien in a nice way, as if he was her old friend.

“Of course. It’s my great pleasure.” Lucien sat on the other bench and started to explain.

Lucien knew that the princess was very interested in piano and thus he was relatively well-prepared for the possible questions the princess might have. Although he could not make a perfect explanation, Lucien was very honest and sincere, which made Natasha feel that when Lucien was providing her with the proper guidance she needed, at the same time they were also learning and exploring piano together.

Time passed quickly. When Lucien was still introducing the new fingering, all of a sudden Natasha looked at him and asked, “Lucien, is your mind being bothered by something? I can feel your anxiety.”

As a level five grand knight, Natasha’s intuition told her that something was wrong with Lucien. With the outspokenness in her personality, the princess asked directly.