Chapter 117 - The Birth of Britannia

The doorbell rang and Jenna opened the door for their highly anticipated guest.

"Hello, Lin Lin!" the butler greeted and the shy violinist blushed.

Lin Lin's mother smiled and exchanged greetings with the butler who accepted the small gift before she told her daughter to behave. Lin Lin nodded and waved goodbye to her mother who left quickly. Jenna showed the musician to Scarlet's room where the young writer had been waiting for her.

"Good morning, big sis!" Lin Lin beamed when she saw the dollish girl.

Scarlet put down her pen and quickly hid her work from the musician, greeting her with a hug and offering her a seat. Jenna excused herself to get some snacks for the girls while they chatted. Wilmer and Orita were handling some business matters today and the internship didn't start till two more weeks so it was the best opportunity for the children to get started on their garage band project.

Alex and Jasper didn't really mind being roped into Lin Lin's request. If anything, they seemed excited about it. Jasper volunteered to learn the drums and Alex was contemplating between the keyboard and the guitar.

Lin Lin bounced on the balls of her feet when Jasper told her about his willingness to learn the drums. Lin Lin took a look at the girls and requested them to sing something. Alex didn't hesitate to sing a familiar nursery rhyme while Scarlet hesitated for a long time. Nobody commented about how Alex was off tune for some of the higher notes in the song. Her enthusiasm and cheerfulness were enough to make them smile.

"I-I don't know songs..." the young writer stuttered.

In truth, she knew a few but after hearing Alex sing, she lost all her confidence. Unlike her sister, Scarlet didn't have a refreshing voice. Whenever Scarlet sang, it sounded almost like a whisper. Lin Lin wanted to write a song for rock and Scarlet didn't think that it would be good.

Jasper noticed how Scarlet was feeling and decided to help her regain her confidence by volunteering to sing something as well. Lin Lin clapped and grinned as the boy took a deep breath. The boy's voice wasn't off-key but it was monotonous enough to make Lin Lin cringe. The violinist quickly stopped him and told Jasper to inject passion into his singing.

Scarlet couldn't help but chuckle at Jasper's shrug. It didn't sound bad but Jasper's enthusiasm for singing certainly didn't match his enthusiasm for the drums. Lin Lin got enraged when the boy couldn't put more 'passion' into his voice and rolled her eyes with her arms crossed.

"You know what? Maybe singing isn't your thing. We will get to the drums later, hopefully, you'll be able to showcase your passion better with the help of instruments."

Jasper hid his satisfaction when Scarlet decided to sing something for Lin Lin. Nobody was expecting a soft and gentle angel-like voice to come out of Scarlet. The young writer was shy when nobody reacted after she finished singing. It wasn't a difficult song. In fact, everyone should know how to sing "Happy Birthday". There was really nothing special about it.

Alex pointed at her sister and looked at Lin Lin. "She's perfect for singing!"

Scarlet was quick to decline and shot Lin Lin a pleading look. "I don't want to sing, I'm fine with just writing lyrics and playing something..."

Lin Lin frowned with a very mature look on her face. It was like a director feeling conflicted over the choice of an acting cast when two very good candidates are vying for the role of the main character.

"You were both very good, it's hard for me to decide who to put as the main vocalist. After all, the genre of rock is not easily mastered by children who have very clear voices. I was hoping Jasper could become the vocalist but his enthusiasm for singing leaves little to be desired."

Alex outrightly laughed at the gardener's son and Scarlet sighed. "It's alright, I'm happy with not being in the direct spotlight."

Lin Lin shook her head and looked at Scarlet. "You cannot say that when you have not experienced being in the centre of all attention before. I have. Alex has. Jasper has. You haven't."

When Alex and Jasper heard that, they expressed confusion. Scarlet hasn't experienced being in the centre of attention before?

"Jasper is the leader of the E.C. Class. Alex is the Wilde princess. Big sis, you've never had any direct attention on you before where you do nothing but receive all the affection of those around you. Don't try to deny it, I've noticed it for a while now. All your greatest achievements are done behind the scenes. You always let someone else hog the spotlight as you cheer from them from the shadows. Back when we were still in Team Scarlet, you did your best to praise everyone and push the credit to Nathan, Tom and Si-Han. Don't think I didn't notice that."

The young writer had no comebacks. Lin Lin then stood up and proudly pointed a finger at Scarlet. "I've decided! Scarlet will be the band's main vocalist!"

"Eh?!" Scarlet protested quickly but was silenced by Alex's happy cheer.

"Congratulations! Isn't it great you get to sing the lyrics you write? I was so worried that I might have to memorise a lot of lyrics when I sing. You know how terrible I am with dictations, thanks for volunteering to be the main vocalist!"

Scarlet looked over to Jasper with a pleading look but the boy simply nodded and wished her luck. Lin Lin cackled maniacally and moved on to the next agenda. Alex was the first to try playing the guitar and a keyboard.

The Wilde princess decided that she liked the guitar better.

"How can anyone play so many things at one time? The keyboard is so confusing!"

Jasper also tried his hand at the keyboard but couldn't make it past the third note when he had to play it at the same time with both hands and several fingers.

"I give up," he told Lin Lin.

Scarlet also tried to avoid the keyboard but after trying the drums and guitar, she conceded. It was the only thing she could play without getting hurt. Her leg was still recovering and playing the drums would be out of the question. The guitar was too big for her hands and hurt her fingers when she pressed on the frets.

"Just think of it as tying," Lin Lin told Scarlet who did her best to imagine it as a keyboard.

To everyone's delight and Scarlet's chagrin, she made the most progress with the keyboard even though she didn't have any idea how to read scores. Lin Lin simply told her what keys to press and when to press them. Scarlet soaked the patterns up and remembered them easily although she fumbled with recognising the white and black keys that seemed to be duplicates of each other.

"This is good. I think we can work with this. Before the lyricist and I have a talk to work on the band's new song, how about we think of a band name?"

"Team Scarlet?" Alex joked and the young writer shot her a fierce look.

"I don't want to use my real name or show my face..." the young writer admitted.

Lin Lin nodded. "That can be arranged. Many performers use stage names. Also, we can definitely use something to hide your face from the audience. I know of musicians who do that. They become rather popular."

Jasper heaved a sigh of relief. Like Scarlet, he didn't want anyone to see his face or know who he was. Remaining a low profile, having fun and enjoying making music together was good enough for him.

"As the creative director and manager for this band, I propose the image of royalty for the band's visual concept. Jasper can be the mysterious Kaiser, Alex can be the androgynous prince or princess and Scarlet can be the timeless Pharoah."

Alex proposed the name "Royals" for the band and it was immediately shot down by Lin Lin.

"Too common."

Jasper suggested the name "Kingdom and Empires" and Lin Lin smacked him on the elbow.

"It's a band, not a game name!"

The violinist looked at Scarlet who suddenly felt very pressured to give a good name after her siblings have failed. "Uh... Britain? Germany? Egypt?"

Lin Lin deadpanned. "Seriously?"

Scarlet apologised. The four children looked solemn for a moment before Lin Lin's eyes gleamed.

"I know. Britannia. The band's name should be Britannia. She's a goddess associated with Athena the Goddess of Art after the Romans conquered Britain. It's too daring for a bunch of children to name themselves after the Goddess of Art but it shouldn't be too much to be named after a minor Goddess who is associated with Athena."

Nobody objected. After all, there was no stopping Lin Lin when she was fuelled by artistic inspirations like now. Scarlet didn't dare to say it but even if Lin Lin were to name their band after the president, none of them would object to it.

"It's decided! The band will be Britannia! Let's get along well," the violinist smiled and the three older children smiled stiffly, doing their best to amuse the musician who was once again laughing maniacally.

Scarlet sighed. Hopefully working with Lin Lin behind the scenes to create songs would be easier.