A Modern Fairytale

The court musician

"What is it like on the other side?"

Well, now you know.

☆☆☆

Long, long ago, there lived a boy in a castle on the hill. He seemed to be in the midst of his teens, yet he served as the King's court musician. If one glanced at the boy's form from the back, he seemed to be nothing special: a slim figure, silver hair just reaching his shoulders, slightly crouched over his music scores. If one looked into his eyes, one may begin to notice something enchanting: a pair of divinely golden eyes. Those eyes seemed always to be smiling, even when his lips were not upturned. Then, when he opened his mouth to sing, his voice brought heaven down to earth...if one were to believe such a thing was possible at all, that is.

King Alasdair was a lenient king. There were not many rules in his kingdom, and where there were rules, they were mostly relaxed. Despite this fact, his jurisdiction remained magically secure and people miraculously well-behaved. It was always this way, but it became particularly noticeable when one of his knights brought home a girl from a foreign land during one of their expeditions. The girl had pinkish hair and brilliant blue eyes; she came in a ragged dress. Like the court musician, she didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary at first glance. She didn't say much but ended up working at the King's castle as well. At first, she only sorted his books.

It was there that the girl met the boy. When they met, her hair was still very much a soft pink. She was standing with her back to the window, the setting sun behind her back. An ancient-looking book in her hands, she flipped its pages gently. He was just entering the library. At the sound of the doors opening and then closing, she looked up.

"Good evening," the girl greeted, a light smile on her face. "Are you..." She paused, blinking for a moment. "...the musician?"

"Ah...yes, good evening. I'm Iefan," the court musician replied, dumbfounded in that same moment for reasons unknown to himself—and seemingly unnoticed by the girl.

"I'm Valerie. Pleased to meet you. Are you looking for anything specific?"

The girl closed the book in her hands carefully. Then, she placed it back onto a shelf.

"Nice to meet you too, Valerie," Iefan mumbled, "Mm...I'm not looking for anything specific, just a nice romance novel."

"A romance novel?"

"Yes. It's going to rain a little tomorrow—I think I can read a book after playing music for His Majesty."

"That sounds like a great idea," Valerie said, now walking down the aisles to where novels were. Iefan followed. "I might give that a try myself, though...forgive me, I don't know much about romance novels."

"Oh, in that case, I might be able to recommend some. Do you like happy stories? Sad stories? What kind of ending do you prefer?"

Valerie fell silent for a moment. Her smile remained soft on her lips, her gaze tender as it landed on the boy.

"I like sad stories, though I think I'd prefer a happy ending in real life," she said.

"Ah...I see. Then..."

In the hour that followed, Iefan browsed the shelves, searching for two books—a happy ending for himself, a sad ending for Valerie. When he was about to leave the library, he asked, "Valerie, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"You didn't ask why I'm not here for the music books and stuff like that. May I ask why?"

"You may be the court musician, but you are still a person all on your own, isn't that right? There are many dimensions to a person."

"Hm..." He hugged the book to his chest. "That's wise, I think. I'll think about that a bit more."

What a kind person, the court musician thought to himself as he left that evening, but why does she like sad stories?

☆☆☆

Time did not seem to answer Iefan's unasked question. Instead, the more attention he paid to the pink-haired girl, the more confused he became.

Initially, she had been brought in by one of the King's knights. She spent a lot of time with him, she said yes to almost every one of his invitations. The pinkish glow of her hair seemed to reflect the happiness in her heart. Then, one night, the knight left without a word. From that day on, Valerie changed out of the pastel colors that she'd been dressed in up to that point—she replaced blue silk with black leather, dress for trousers, and even her hair began to change color. It grew less pink and redder until one day, it was unmistakably crimson. It was only then that it remained the same color.

After finishing a song, Iefan opened his eyes, shifting his gaze from the guitar in his arms to his sovereign. At the time, there were only the two of them in that room; King Alasdair was studying a document, his brows slightly creased.

"Your Majesty," the court musician mumbled, his voice traveling like a musical note in the air.

The King looked up. "Yes? What is it, Iefan?"

"I'm sorry if this is too sudden, but...what do you think of Valerie?"

The question was met with a soft chuckle. "You are right about that, I do think of her sometimes. She's a smart girl."

"Is she real...?"

"That's what I'd like to know as well."

"...huh? You don't? But..."

"But she's still here?"

Iefan nodded.

"Well, we'll find out."

Saying thus, King Alasdair rolled up the document on the table and stood up to leave.

Weird, both of them, thought the boy.