FMV 08

Chapter 8

Not long after Leonard left, Lily returned. There were still clear tear marks around her eyes that had not yet dried. David also felt uncomfortable seeing her like that, but that was why he had no choice but to speak harshly.

After all, simply comforting his daughter all the time would not be enough for her future.

“Aurelia, what happened today was your fault. If you act like that, how troubled do you think Aiden, who introduced our workshop, will feel?”

“It wasn’t me who acted arrogantly. That man did. I simply didn’t want to sell my violin to someone like him.”

No matter how great his talent was, it did not give him the right to look down on her and her father, or even on the Bernhard Instrument Workshop, which had been maintained for several generations.

“At Zerphium Conservatory, they teach us that music is the same as the person who makes it.”

Therefore, one had to have a good heart. The teaching that music from an evil person could never become good music that touched another person’s heart was also part of Aurelia’s values.

“That person doesn’t know the value of my violin.”

No, he probably did not even care what kind of value the violin had.

Her first violin, which Aurelia had secretly made behind her father’s back, was her dream.

The dream of standing on stage as a pianist.

And the dream of not letting the tradition of the Bernhard Instrument Workshop, which had been passed down from her grandfather, her father, and the generations before them, end with her.

“Well, I think Mr. Deimus understood the value of your violin well enough.”

“Surely not.”

David did not think Leonard was the kind of person who would invest that much money in something he saw no value in.

And not simply because she was his daughter, Aurelia had certainly been born with a natural talent for music.

‘It would have been better if she had been born a boy.’

Or perhaps if she had been born with a completely different talent that had nothing to do with music, Aurelia’s life would have been much easier than it was now.

“I need to go out for a while. Take care of the workshop.”

“Where are you going?”

“I think I’ll visit Mr. Krause’s workshop for the first time in a while.”

At David’s words, Aurelia readily nodded.

Sometimes, when the workshop was quiet, talking with people from other workshops was one of David’s small joys. So she thought he was simply going out to enjoy some of that happiness today as well.

“Have a good time.”

David nodded at Aurelia’s farewell, then opened the workshop door and left.

By the time the sound of the little bell stopped ringing, Aurelia was already walking toward the safe.

She had wiped all the dust from the shelves Leonard had touched while shedding tears in an attempt to get rid of her unpleasant feelings. Now she was going to wipe the dust from the violins in the safe, something she had not done in a long time.

“My violin.”

After entering the safe, Aurelia immediately realized that her violin was not among the many violins neatly placed inside.

Her father had really sold her violin to Leonard.

“He sent me out on purpose.”

Aurelia bit her lip, and her hands trembled.

When the tears that had stopped for a brief moment began to fall again and covered her eyes, everything around her became blurry.

“How could you, without even talking to me…?”

It was the first time Aurelia had ever felt betrayed by her father.

Even though it was nothing more than a poor violin she had made back when she knew very little about wood, using mostly the kinds of wood her father used, Aurelia had given that violin great meaning.

Hadn’t David also taught her the techniques he had kept hidden from her because she had made that violin herself?

“You know what it means to me.”

The violins Aurelia was making now were of a quality good enough to be sold under the Bernhard family’s name.

But although those violins looked excellent to other people, they did not satisfy Aurelia.

That was why this violin was even more precious to her.

“You will definitely become a great pianist. But I hope you won’t become too obsessed with it. You have enough talent to become an instrument maker, too.”

Even if everyone else did not support her dream, Aurelia believed that at least her father supported her.

When he first sat her down and explained good wood and the attitude of a craftsman to her, she thought that was also part of his support.

“It was only words, and I didn’t even realize it.”

Everyone who met Aurelia always praised her talent.

Because of that, Aurelia naturally believed that after graduating from Zerphium Conservatory, she would be living a perfect life better than anyone else.

“While everyone thought I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

It was unfair.

She already knew that even people less talented than her received excessive praise simply because they had graduated from Zerphium Conservatory.

But she had been born with much greater talent than them, so she believed that if she worked hard, she could become a musician who surpassed them.

“No. Even if no one believes I can do it, I don’t care.”

She was confident that she could prove that the world was wrong and she was right.

Aurelia, who had been unable to put her heart into anything for a while, finally came to her senses because, strangely enough, she learned that her father had sold her violin.

The end of the emotions that had begun with anger naturally led to a desire for revenge.

‘I have to make Professor Schneider and Father acknowledge me, whether they like it or not.’

And to do that, she had to return to her normal life.

Once she came to her senses, she realized that she should never have spent her time feeling defeated and crying like this. Realizing it so late made her feel even more anxious.

There was no way her hands would become stiff just because she had not practiced for a few days, but Aurelia could not stop worrying that her skills might have become dull while she was resting.

“If they say I can’t do it, then I have to show them. I can’t just give up everything and hide here.”

No one in the world could love the piano more than she did.

Therefore, Aurelia had to become a pianist somehow.

“That place suits me best.”

Once she reached that conclusion, strength began to return to her body, which had felt as limp as wet cotton even while she had been helping at the workshop for the past few days.

It was as if she had never been discouraged and tried to give up everything.

“I might not be able to use a private practice room next semester.”

Classes had continued even while she had been hiding here.

Her classmates, who were always aiming for Aurelia’s top position, must have been practicing desperately while she was away. Therefore, it was better not to expect that she would be assigned a private practice room next semester.

Besides, even if it was not next semester, she could not deny that she would eventually need her own piano.

“I can’t use the conservatory’s practice rooms after I graduate anyway.”

Her father’s workshop dealt with string instruments, so she could not ask him for help. Of course, if she asked Mr. Krause, who ran a piano workshop, he would probably grant Aurelia’s request.

Aiden was the only person around Aurelia’s age on Workshop Street, and even he was five years older than her, so all the craftsmen on Workshop Street doted on Aurelia.

But that was something they could do once or twice when she was young. She could not keep touching instruments that were meant to be sold to other people.

“The most urgent thing right now is a piano. Maybe I can buy an upright piano with the money I’ve saved until now.”

Aurelia hurried home without even noticing that the dry cloth in her hand had fallen to the floor.

She was confident that she could prove that the world was wrong and she was right.

If she had to be looked down on so much simply because she was a woman, there were many ways for her to succeed without revealing her identity.

“I will definitely succeed.”

She had to become someone so great that even that man, who was said to be the greatest virtuoso of the age, would have no choice but to obediently return her instrument.

She now had a reason to achieve success no matter what method she had to use.

‘I’ll get my violin back, too, and I’ll crush the pride of everyone who told me I couldn’t do it.’

When Aurelia returned home, instead of hugging the cotton blanket that she had wrapped around herself for the past few days as if it were her shelter, she opened the wardrobe.

She took out a sack that looked old at first glance, sat down on the floor, and began counting the crumpled money inside.