After a while, the intermittent sound of piano came from the studio again.
Even to the ears of the housekeeper, those notes couldn't be called music. Not only did they often stop abruptly in inexplicable places, but many times there were only two or three bars, or even less. No one could make out what Miss Bohman was trying to express, but everyone knew that simply repeating similar notes was a meaningless thing.
Suddenly, the female composer's two hands slammed heavily on the keyboard at the same time, producing a deafening discordant sound. "I'm working! Don't just stand there like a pillar! Can't you do anything else besides distracting me?"
In the direction of her outburst, in an unobtrusive corner by the studio door, Dais stood quietly wrapped in a black cloak. "Please forgive my intrusion, Miss Bao Man. You have disabled the entire villa's magical alarm system, which poses a serious threat to your personal safety. Especially with your eyes being inconvenient, it is too dangerous for you to do so."
"No one would specially come to harm a blind person like me! Thieves never frequent this place, and even if they did, there's nothing to gain. Take your stiff and nauseating caution away!" Bao Man retorted bluntly, but at the moment, she didn't budge an inch from her position, still sitting firmly in front of the piano, without even bothering to turn her head back.
"I'm sorry to disturb your creation!" This was what the housekeeper said before leaving. "Don't mind me, just continue with your creation."
As the housekeeper carried a bucket of water towards the garden, which was once again filled with fragrant flowers and buzzing bees, the entire villa echoed with those lively notes once more.
Two suns still hung high in the sky of the demon world. The originally weak flowers and grasses finally recovered a bit of vitality under the nourishment of the clear water sprinkled by the housekeeper. In the small town, people occasionally passed by the villa, some curious people pointing at Dais's tall back, and some whispering about what kind of existence was hidden under the black wide cloak.
All of this was absorbed into the auditory system of the mechanical butler, but he didn't put his attention on these trivial matters. Dais?Mond only occasionally raised his head during watering work, gazing in the direction of the studio as if to confirm the safety of his master.
In that direction, simple melodies still occasionally come from afar. Occasionally, hummingbirds wandering in the flower clusters for a long time will also fly over from there.
It is often at this time that the ear-piercing sound of both hands falling on the keyboard will ring out again.
Miss Witch's creation is still stuck in a bottleneck, although she doesn't know what her butler is doing at this time. A sunbeam shines through the polished window and illuminates the figure sitting in front of the piano, looking unusually weak and helpless.
Bao Man listlessly hung his head and sat in front of the piano, motionless for a long time.
********
At the long table in the dining room, Miss Bao sat at the head of the table and slowly savored a sumptuous dinner. On the luxurious velvet tablecloth in front of her, several dishes were placed that had only been touched by knives and forks once or twice. The steward still stood wrapped in his cloak behind her side.
These dishes were naturally cooked by the agency's steward himself, and his memory core also had chef-specific data, including cooking techniques. In the first few days, Ms. Bao didn't miss any opportunity to criticize him. However, such days did not last long, after all, even if Dai Si was mechanical, his stability and fine control as an excellent fighter were still fully utilized, and as long as he strictly followed the data flow to cook, the dishes would be much better than those made by Ms. Bao herself, who had lost her sight.
Even when Miss Witch stretched out her arm while dining, the thoughtful mechanical butler would automatically hand over a crystal high-footed cup filled with wine. The purple-red liquid could even set off the delicate and slender small arms of the hostess's tender white skin, bringing the wine glass to her lips and taking a light sip, the mistress of the villa slightly curled up the corners of her mouth, but still did not express half a satisfied attitude. As for the mechanical butler, it simply put the wine bottle back in its original position without any extra expression.
"How many people have you killed?" The abrupt question broke the silence of the restaurant.
The agency's butler slightly tilted his head, and his tone seemed to have a hint of inquiry, "What?"
"I'm asking you, during your time serving in the Undead Scourge, how many innocent lives have you taken with this body of yours that's fully equipped with crystal armor." Boman's tone was light, with a hint of mockery.
"We are warriors controlled by the Witch Queens. Generally, according to the laws of the Demon Realm, we are not allowed to lay hands on any Silver Pupils, Witches or other high-ranking nobles. And usually, the long-range units of both enemy and ally do not have direct contact with us."
Bao Man's mouth corners slightly curled up, "Want to say you've never killed anyone? That means all the ones you've taken down are your own kind?"
No answer.
"How many thoroughly destroyed hateful warriors have you seen? Fully armored, partially dressed, even those primitive ones without a single crystal on their bodies?"
Still no answer.
"Has it become so numerous... to the extent that even after such a long time, it's still impossible to count? Your two hands seem to be stained with quite a considerable amount of blood. There is one thing I am very curious about, and that is when you personally tore apart those of your own kind, sending them broken and shattered into hell, what was your feeling at that time?"
The organ's pipe stood still in its place, neither making any movement nor emitting any sound.
Finally showing some impatience, Bao Man slammed the dinner knife onto the plate, "Get out of here, freak! The originally dull and tasteless dinner has been made even more depressing by your meddling!!!"
"Well, I'll take my leave first, miss." This time the response from Dais was quite timely. Then, as usual, the housekeeper bowed his head respectfully and slowly backed away a few steps from the edge of the dinner table before turning around normally to leave.
The farewell was marked by the deliberate scraping of a knife against a plate, a sound that made one's teeth ache. "What an odious fellow!" was Berman's verdict.
*********
It's been a few days, and the loud sound of palms hitting the piano keys fills the entire villa again. Miss Bao Man sits at the piano with her head down, as usual, without any intention of doing anything else.
Next to the piano, two or three meters away, were stacked all sorts of instruments. There were common ones and uncommon ones, the only thing they had in common was that they were all made of crystal. These instruments, which shone with a dazzling array of colors in the sunlight, looked as if they had been carelessly discarded on the floor of the studio. This was entirely the work of Miss Bao Man, who only valued the piano placed in the center of the room, where she spent several hours playing every day.
Authentic Aeolian top-grade pianos.
At this time, the janitor is using a special cleaning cloth to clean up the instruments on the floor. After carefully wiping every corner of each instrument, he will meticulously arrange them in their proper positions, just like an orchestra's performance layout.
Miss Bao Man's heavy blows to vent her frustration did not affect his work. On the other hand, Miss Wu Yao, who had declared a few days ago that he would be affected by his own creation, seemed to have gotten used to this person's existence and did not show any dissatisfaction with his behavior of organizing musical instruments. Both sides seemed to deliberately avoid the unpleasantness before.
However, when Bohman finally gave up his quiet sitting on the piano and walked slowly towards the living room, the steward's work of tidying up the instruments seemed to have come to an end. After scanning all the newly polished instruments with his eyes, he finally focused his attention on the piano.
Her emotions had apparently been poor for some time, as she even forgot to close the lid on the piano keys before leaving. Discovering his master's oversight, Dais went over without hesitation, but stopped short of the piano in a strange and inexplicable way. He stared at the eighty-eight keys for a long time, finally seeming to make up his mind as he slowly stretched out his crystal right hand towards the keys, pressing out a soft note tentatively.
"Don't touch my piano!" Bo Meng's sharp voice suddenly sounded from behind him. She, who should have gone to the living room long ago, didn't know why she came back and happened to see this scene that made her feel extremely ridiculous. "If this piano is damaged in any way, even if you dismantle it and sell it, you won't be able to make up for my loss!"
The organ's caretaker stepped back a pace from beside the piano: "I'm extremely sorry, Miss Bao Man."
His response was just a cold snort.
However, contrary to her expectations, this time the housekeeper seemed to have no intention of leaving directly, but instead turned around and appeared to want to say something to her.
"I had already cleaned all the instruments in this studio earlier. Although I was prepared to make necessary repairs and adjustments beforehand, as a matter of fact, there were relevant contents in my memory core too. However, during the work just now, I found that every instrument here is intact and undamaged, except for being covered with dust, without even a slight problem. That's to say, it seems like you haven't used any of these instruments at all. Although I know you're a piano composer, don't you ever need other instruments to trigger inspiration?"