After one hour.
Joshua arrived at the dining hall of the castle, he sat next to a long table on which various kinds of foods were arranged.
It was hard to imagine that this castle which was the main dwelling of the undead beings would have so many fresh ingredients.
Joshua took a fork and poked at the barbecue in front of him, he has the feeling that there were cockroaches crawling inside it. After all, next to Joshua there was a zombie servant standing that had rotten meats hanging on from its body.
Ciri who was sitting beside Joshua didn’t pay much attention at it. She had just lost too much heat and needed to quickly replenish it, So without being polite, she ate the food present on the table.
“Your Highness, here’s a toast to you.”
The Skeleton Duke raised the glass in his hand, inside it a crystal clear blood like liquid was swaying, naturally, the thing inside was red wine. The Skeleton Duke drank down it. Joshua looked at the red wine that was leaking from his jaw bone and then dripping on the table.
Could skeleton even taste anything when they drink wine?
“If Duke has any words to say, please say it.”
Joshua could see the purpose of Skeleton Duke, such a large banquet to receive him, it was certainly not due to his identity.
“Then, I will not be polite, Your Highness… I hope to get the music score which you had just played.”
Skeleton Duke put down his glass, the soul fire in his eye socket just shook for a bit, his tone was not calm as he had just a few moments ago, his eager intentions was very obvious.
“Okay, but… there are some conditions.”
Joshua from the start meant to hold this as an exchange chip. From the memory of the third prince, the Skeleton Duke had a strange and extreme obsession with music. There was a rumor that in order to get the whereabouts of an ancient music score from a human, he helped that human to destroy a small country.
Just from these rumors, it was able to know the Skeleton Duke’s obsession towards music.
He did not have the creativity cells to create music. Human skeleton what cells would it have?
And after today’s contact, Joshua knows why Skeleton Dukes was so obsessed with music, it was because of that strange Piano.
“If I am not wrong, the Skeleton Duke doesn’t feel anything while tasting wine, right?”
Joshua looked at the dripping wine on the table, drinking like this does not produce any taste. As the skeleton doesn’t have any taste buds, touch sense or hearing sense.
The Skeleton Duke’s means to perceive the world was by the leaping soul fire in his eye socket, this was his eyes and ears.
“Did you see it, your highness? That’s right, I have been a Lich for several hundred years, and obtained unparalleled strength, but I also have almost forgotten the taste of my favorite wine.”
The Skeleton Duke poured the wine in his empty glass and looked at the swaying liquid in the glass. If he had a face now, then he would have been revealing a self-mocking smile.
“Only the Piano… my old friend can make me recall the feeling of being a human, even if it is freezing frost and snow, it is always much beautiful than the nothingness of the skeleton body without touch ”
After saying that, the skeleton Duke put back the glass on the table and looked at Joshua with his soul fire.
“But the song you just played! Let me feel the sun again! Heaven… I have almost forgotten what it was like to sit under the sunshine. It was really wonderful…..”
The Skeleton Duke said with a tired expression and leaned on the chair.
The power; this thing was really intoxicating. By sacrificing his life he gained the supreme power… At first, it was so fascinating to have the vast and unmatched power, indulging in the pleasure of manipulating life and death.
But the novelty brought by the power had worn off. The Skeleton duke, what could he feel now?
This powerful body doesn’t feel tired, so he could not enjoy the comfort of sleep. This body would not get hurt by the heat, so he could no longer feel the warmth of sunshine.
He has lost his tongue, so he has almost forgotten how delicious the roasted meat tastes.
If it wasn’t for the piano through which he could continue to recover some of the human perceptions by playing, he might have gone crazy early due to the body.
It could be said that the Skeleton Duke posses all the time, but he has also lost all.
“Your Highness, say it…My little tricks on the playing with soul are useless against your chaos demon race, so I accept your deal. What do I need to pay to get that piece of music score?”
This time, Skeleton Duke was eager to be able to play the “Canon” that Joshua had just played.
He was very eager to again feel the warmth of the sun.
“No need to pay anything.”
Joshua shook his head, the Skeleton Duke could give many things to Joshua, like treasures, money, powerful undead servant, but these things were too narrow and shallow.
Joshua was more greedy than imagined…..
“I wish you to pledge your allegiance to me!” ”
Joshua said each word with a very serious and sincere tone.
The Skeleton Duke listened to the sentence of Joshua in silence, and then after a few seconds, he gave a shrill laugh.
“I had heard that the third prince gave up the fight for the right of inheritance, I thought that you were not interested in this power kind of things, but I didn’t expect that you were just hiding the truth.” ”
The Skeleton Duke misinterpreted the Joshua’s thought, this time specially came from far place to recruit to him. He thought that it was to prepare for the imperial fight which will happen two years later. With one of the four Duke supporting him, then even if the third prince was useless he could still put up a fight.
“No, I am really not interested in the throne, governing the country is too much trouble, I am not recruiting you as a one of the ‘Four Duke’ or as ‘Lich Lord’ but as a ‘Performer’ and as a ‘Musician’” Joshua said.
“Performer?” The Skeleton Duke was really interested in the music because music could make him feel that he was still alive.
“Yes. Sir Duke, are you satisfied only playing alone in this deserted place? Your performance is really excellent and it should not get buried here! You should let more people hear your performance, in a hall with thousands and ten thousands of people.”
Joshua said.
“This is what the treatment that I want this music score to receive. Believe me, I have many works of countless master musicians, these works should not get rot in this place, they should be heard by countless people, and I think they are suitable for the Duke to perform on the world stage.”
There were many classic pieces of music of the earth, and in order to spread it in this world, Joshua needs a good musician who is proficient in various instruments. Wasn’t the Skeleton Duke in front of him the best candidate for it?
“You mean,….. there isn’t only one music score of that level?” This time it was the turn of Skeleton Duke to be surprised.
“There is more than that, this works came from master musicians of another country which is in a very distant place. ”
To describe the earth, Joshua could only use a vague concept like a very distant place.
The Soul fire in the Skeleton Duke’s eyes leaped rapidly for a few times, followed by a pitch black box and an old contract appeared in the air.
The black box had a powerful corrosive force, Joshua knows without even asking what it was, the Lich Lord’s soul.
“The Contract, I will give you a quarter of my soul and you will give me all your music, I will not let those masters that you spoke of from your mouth get disappointed.” The Skeleton Duke said.
Three immortal souls and seven mortal souls, the soul cannot be divided, The quarter of soul, it was equivalent to get half of the Skeleton Duke’s life.
Damn… this lich is really a madman, in order to recover the human perception he doesn’t even consider about his life.
However, when a person living in a small black house with no light, no food and no water, and spends thousands of years. Certainly, it was better to die than live.
The Skeleton Duke was probably living like this.
“ Of course, I accept.”
There was nothing wrong with the contract after all the Chaos name was written on it, and Joshua’s perception of magic was much sharper than him.
A drop of blood flowed from the fingertips of Joshua to the floating contract. Then, followed by a large amount of dark and transparent fog flowed from the black box pouring on the blood of Joshua.
The blood condensed into a dark jewel like the item and fell onto the palm of Joshua and melted. A strange mark appeared on the hand of Joshua.
With the appearance of the mark, Joshua felt a faint connection between him and the undead around him.
“To the Future master musician Ronica….. Wait”
Joshua became aware of Skeleton Duke’s real name, and was slightly stunned, Ronica… this doesn’t sound like a man’s name?
She again gave a shrill laugh and raised the glass full of wine.
“Cheers,” said the Lich named Ronica.
