The Regressed Maid Becomes A Prima Donna - Chapter 8

“I was explaining things to Mrs. Sierra.”

 

I answered as I went inside.

 

“I cleaned up a little because you were coming. Just sit where you’re comfortable.”

 

“Did you clean it up?”

 

I looked around the inside casually, and I tried to hide my puzzled expression and asked again.

 

The inside of her house could not be said to be tidy even in empty words.

 

Clothes and unknown fabrics were scattered all over the place, and the table in the space presumed to be a kitchen was full of dishes and cups that were unknown from when they had been placed.

 

Miya belatedly tried to ventilate the room by leaving the window wide open, but this only raised the dust accumulated here and there into the air.

 

“Isn’t it pretty neat though?”

 

Miya said so without changing the expression on her face. I was finally able to sit on the exposed sofa after sorting out the pile of clothes for a long time, following her recommendation to sit comfortably.

 

In the meantime, Miya, who had disappeared into the kitchen to bring something to drink, held out a bottle of drink.

 

I took one look at the crowded table and didn’t bother to ask if there were any cups.

 

“Quite impressive.”

 

Miya smiled at the barely audible comment.

 

“I know you don’t like it.”

 

She had said I should take care of my expression, but it looked like it wasn’t working properly. I laughed lightly along with her.

 

Miya asked as she leaned back on the tea table across from me instead of the sofa.

 

“Are you going to audition?”

 

As I nodded wordlessly, Miya was lost in her thoughts for a moment. I thought I knew what she was thinking.

 

“You think it’s impossible, too?”

 

“To be honest, yes.”

 

Miya took a sip of the drink and replied.

 

“Vocalists are different from singers like us. You won’t change after a month or two of practice.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

“I saw the contents of the audition. If it was the same audition as usual, I would have told you to give up, but this one was definitely a bit unusual.”

 

Miya took out a folded newspaper from the corner of the table and unfolded it. It was yesterday’s newspaper.

 

“Look. There is no participation qualification, and there is no designated song. Even though the audition was held for up to five days, there were no preliminaries or finals. It’s private, it’s called an unofficial audition, and above all, it’s a place to pick just one person.”

 

“A soprano in the first performance?”

 

“Yes. It says you’re going to join the Delgado Theater Company there. Did you hear that the oldest soprano of the Delgado troupe has recently retired?”

 

I shook my head cautiously.

 

All I knew was the Klein Theater in five years, the fame of Caroline Deese, and the history of Gilbert Klein.

 

I knew about the Delgado troupe, but I was not interested in the details.

 

Miya didn’t seem puzzled by my reaction and continued.

 

“The Delgado troupe is a famous theatre troupe, and even the chorus members are competitive, but I heard that there is no talented person to fill the vacancy of Lady Delia.”

 

“Lady Delia?”

 

“The best soprano.”

 

“Ah.”

 

Miya took another sip of her drink and pointed her finger at the newspaper. At the tip of her finger was a picture of a theatre drawn on an advertisement.

 

“Perhaps she will take the position. And a large-scale audition for this? Is that an audition with such a high degree of freedom? It must mean something.”

 

I stared blankly at Miya, who was building a plausible hypothesis with a piece of advertisement.

 

I didn’t even think of wanting to pass because I was predicting who would be selected in this audition anyway.

 

But she, Miya, was quite serious.

 

“Did you understand me?”

 

“Roughly.”

 

“Not roughly. It’s an audition that’s impossible with your skills, but I’m saying that it’s worth a try.”

 

I laughed out loud at her cold words.

 

“So you mean help?”

 

If she was going to tell me to give up because it was an extremely hopeless and impossible audition, she wouldn’t have to give me her home address.

 

Miya frowned at me.

 

“Don’t laugh like that. Don’t even use that expression when asking for something.”

 

Then, she jumped up and started to clear away the luggage that was piled up in a corner. Even so, she was constantly babbling.

 

“With a month left, would you get a proper teacher? Even the country conservatory won’t take it if you say so. Anyway, I teach vocal music.”

 

I listened eagerly to Miya’s words and looked at the luggage she was putting away. The piles of paper and books were all five-line paper and sheet music.

 

“I will tell you, all I learned about vocal music was briefly at the conservatory. Even that is just a theory, so I can’t sing it individually like a song.”

 

Miya, who had finished organizing, finally removed the cloth covering something. Then she straightened up and put her hands on her hips.

 

“So don’t blame me if things don’t go well.”

 

“I will not. Thank you for helping me.”

 

And I opened my eyes wide when I found a piano that clearly revealed its shape.

 

“All I can do to help is the textbook, the accompaniment, and whether it sounds good or bad.”

 

Then, not paying attention to the dust in the air, she slammed the piano cover open.

 

“The rest is up to you to practice.”

 

The expression on her face when she said that was quite spleen, so I became serious as well, and nodded my head loudly once.

 

***

 

I paid Mrs. Sierra the next month’s rent right away, but I hadn’t even set foot in the dressmaker’s for a month.

 

Miya turned around and taught me as if she had regained her lost passion.

 

“You can’t make it sound like that. No matter how hard it is, never make a sound with your throat.”

 

“How can you forget all your vocals just because you sang songs for a while? Don’t even think about going back to the tavern. No, I’m not saying you can’t really go back, but do it with that in mind.”

 

“The pitch is unstable. It’s a half step off.”

 

Once I started practicing, it lasted until late at night, and when I collapsed on the sofa from exhaustion, I fell asleep.

 

It was morning when we opened our eyes, and after eating a simple meal, we started practicing again.

 

The song to be sung at the audition was decided sooner than expected.

 

“Until now, I only picked out songs that would suit you, how is it? Anything you like?”

 

I spread out a few pieces of music I unearthed from the tower of sheet music and carefully asked.

 

“I saw the other day, and there was sheet music for the choir score.”

 

“Choir score?”

 

Among the old sheet music piled up in a corner, there were a few titles that were familiar to the eye. It was all choir scores.

 

“Ah, that. I once worked at the temple for a while. These are the scores I wrote then.”

 

“Really? You worked at the temple?”

 

“There is an accompanist I know. I did it for him a few times.”

 

I looked at the sheet music with a small admiration. Among them was a piece of sheet music for a hymn that I particularly liked in my previous life.

 

While looking at the paper and humming the scale buried in her memory, Miya suddenly said,

 

“Then do you want to sing a choir?”

 

“Is that okay?”

 

When asked in surprise, Miya shrugged her shoulders.

 

“The choir is definitely a vocal piece. What did you learn to sing in the choir then?”

 

I habitually tried to give a long explanation of the origin of vocal music and mass music, but waved my hand and came back to the subject.

 

“I guess you are singing it.”

 

As she glanced over the sheet music and started playing the accompaniment, I sang along. And Miya made a quick decision.

 

“Do this.”

 

“Will it be okay?”

 

“It’s the best I’ve ever heard. It suits you best.”

 

According to Miya, my voice was thin and high, so it lacked strength, but my unique and clear timbre was my strength.

 

The choir, which has little technique and sounds by lengthening one note, also had its own difficulty, but her conclusion was that it was the most promising path for me at the moment.

 

“Don’t just pick a random song, just choose the song that suits you best. If it’s annoying, it’ll definitely stand out. In an audition with too much autonomy, something like this could work.”

 

My expression brightened noticeably, and she immediately covered the sheet music.

 

“Still, try to sing as many songs as possible. Because your biggest weakness is your lack of experience. First of all, what should I do with the song-style vocalization I taught you?”

 

I had no choice but to ask about her past when she said so and brought out a bunch of aria scores.

 

“Why are there so many scores when you don’t even sing?”

 

Miya then said with a unique smile.

 

“Do you think I’ve only worked as a singer?”

 

The story of her could be heard that night, after an unusually early practice.

 

“I wasn’t from a very rich family. So even more so, my father wanted me to do music.”

 

Even commoners could live a rich and splendid life if they became famous for their outstanding talents.

 

However, such commoners were extremely rare, and parents who were greedy for their children believed that their children had outstanding talents.

 

Miya explained it that way.

 

“Fortunately, I wasn’t very ugly. I borrowed money and got into such a good conservatory.”

 

Her father raised his daughter as a kind of investment. It was okay to pay the debt right away. After all, soon his daughter will make a big hit and sit on the cash cushion anyways.

 

But as a result, neither she succeeded nor her father could sit on the cushion his daughter had earned.

 

“He collapsed suddenly.”

 

She said that one day, his body rapidly weakened, and she knew that he was sick, but had no money for treatment.

 

“Thanks to him, I took the debt. If I had learned to sew, I would have earned it, but all I learned was music.”

 

“What about your mother?”

 

“Mother? She died when I was young. I don’t even remember her face.”

 

Miya took a sip of cheap wine from the mug. Instead of alcohol, I had a bottle of soda in my hand. In the meantime, I was used to drinking drinks from the bottle.

 

“I did everything I could with music. Accompaniment work was basic, and I also worked as a home teacher for the children of a Baron with a diploma from the conservatory. Oh, I also played the choir accompaniment for a while.”

 

I nodded and watched her slowly sink into the past.

 

“My father wanted me to become a soprano and sing in the theatre. Actually, that’s the easiest way to make money, right? But unfortunately, I can’t afford to do that, so I can only live like this.”

 

I asked even though I knew she was drunk.

 

“Do you regret it?”

 

I could see her black eyes facing me in the lightly darkened room.

 

“A little.”

 

“Then what would you do if you went back ten years?”

 

Sitting with her back to the window, a slight interest came to her shady face. Miya, who had been agonizing for a long time, slowly opened her mouth.

 

“But I think I’ll learn music again.”

 

It was music that started at her father’s insistence, but I knew she was quite a singer. For some reason, I smiled slightly at the Miya-like answer.

 

“Even if I regret it, I think I will make the same choice if I go back to that time. So I regret it, but I don’t resent it.”

 

Miya’s smile was blurred. It was quite different from the smile I had ever seen.

 

Miya buried herself deeply on the sofa, leaving her hair flowing freely over her face.

 

I unconsciously thought that such a figure of hers suited this crowded house very well. And furthermore, her free-spirited appearance looked more beautiful than anything else.

 

I drank the leftover drink slowly without saying a word.

 

The next day, without fail, we went into hard practice again.

 

Time flew by in an instant, absorbed in something, and so on the day of the audition. I opened my eyes.

***