Chapter 32
First, I looked for a secluded place on the outskirts. I planned to summon the Grand Duke with the pendant he had given me last time.
“…Wait a minute. But he didn’t even tell me how to use this. He only said to throw it in an emergency. How do I contact him?”
I tried opening the pendant, tapping it, pressing every part I could see, but I had no idea how it worked. I should have asked him beforehand. No, it’s really Leon’s fault for not explaining.
“Are you an idiot?!”
“Are you talking to yourself?”
At that moment, Leon appeared right in front of me.
“Uh, uh…?”
I thought maybe the contact had worked and rushed to throw the pendant, but Leon grabbed my hand.
“So you really are an idiot.”
“Wait, how…?”
“You went to a strange location.”
Right. This pendant had a location-tracking function. So, if I wanted to summon Leon in the future, I’d just need to go somewhere unusual?
“If you need a way to contact me, I’ll give you something else. You don’t have to wander around odd places every time to summon me.”
Leon seemed to realize what I was thinking and added that with a look that said I was pathetic.
“Why did you want to meet me?”
I lowered my voice and glanced around.
“Katia approached me.”
Leon’s expression stiffened when he heard that.
“We need to go somewhere indoors so I can hear the full story.”
Without warning, Leon shifted our location. Before I knew it, I was seated on the sofa in the reception room of his duke mansion. As usual, I felt dizzy, but I must have gotten used to it because the motion sickness wasn’t too bad this time.
“What did Katia say?”
I explained everything to Leon: meeting her at the palace, trying to figure out her intentions, and how she was attempting to recruit me to her side.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.”
I watched his face nervously, worried he might be angry I hadn’t told him about meeting Katia. But he showed no expression whatsoever.
“No. Security should have been stricter. It’s my fault.”
He wore a contemplative look for a moment.
“Forming a troupe at this point? She’s probably trying to stop the play I plan to show at the birthday banquet. She’ll attack the justification first.”
“Exactly. That’s why I plan to revive the Forest Troupe before the banquet.”
It was obvious what Katia would do. She’d try to make her troupe look better by undermining the value of Forest Troupe and all other troupes. The troupe couldn’t stay away from the audience for too long at this point.
“She wants to recruit people before Katia does.”
Leon nodded as if he understood.
“Does Your Grace have a plan?”
“No.”
The Grand Duke was shamelessly confident. But he wasn’t a man who would just stand by.
“I will protect the troupe. And I will open the way.”
“Open the way?”
I looked at him, not understanding, and he gave me a look that said, “You don’t even know?”
“The way. On the day of the performance, I will block the troupe members from reaching the palace. There are only limited routes to the palace.”
I had often read about similar situations in novels in my previous life, but I never imagined I would experience it firsthand. The duke rang the bell, summoning a servant.
“Bring the armor pouch.”
The servant handed me a pouch made of purple velvet.
“I had a feeling something like this might happen. Good timing.”
It was fairly heavy. Inside were a short sword, a bracelet, and a thin garment that I couldn’t tell how to wear.
“The bracelet can defend against magic. Don’t rely on it too much—it’s only to buy time. The thin one is armor. Wear it under your dress.”
I had prepared for countless performances in my previous life, but never had my life been at risk. Competitors existed, and obsessive fans had tried to ruin performances, but nothing warranted wearing armor.
“It’s not a trivial matter. Do you still not understand that woman? After the opening ceremony, come here. Your being on my side is no longer a secret anyway.”
It sounded like he was telling me to come with my belongings. Would Leuké be alright then?
“What about Leuké, or rather, sister!?”
I almost called her by name instinctively. The Grand Duke seemed unconcerned.
“Why would she do something that gains her no benefit?”
It made sense when I thought about it logically. But when I considered her as Leuké, I couldn’t think rationally. If she were hurt, what good would anything else do?
“Could I get another of those explosive necklaces? Just in case, for sister’s self-defense.”
“Not really necessary, but it’s easy enough. Hit the surface five times quickly, then throw it.”
Finally, I knew how to use it. A small victory.
“If I had known helping Your Grace would be this dangerous, I wouldn’t have done it…”
I sighed. The duke nodded impassively. Emotionless, to the extreme. How could I shape his image if he went to the north like this? Should I try practicing his expressions first?
“Did you think selling portraits of others without permission was safe?”
It wasn’t exactly safe! True, it was correct, and that made me more frustrated.
“Not exactly, but…!”
“Frankly, you could have died then.”
True, but I had confidence I could escape. I just hadn’t expected it to trigger so many other events. Anyway, I was needed now, so why argue? Without me, we would have fallen right into the palace’s schemes!
“If it weren’t for Your Grace, I wouldn’t have gotten involved with Katia to this extent.”
I added that stubbornly, not wanting to lose the argument. Leon didn’t even blink.
“Hah, if I had been purged, all the theaters would have closed one after another.”
That was true. Had the duke been executed for treason, troupes creating plays about him would be accused of collusion as well.
“All we can do is accept what has happened.”
I couldn’t argue against that. I had no choice but to give up.
“From the beginning, we were practically on the same boat anyway.”
Leon sighed and looked away for a moment. He had been doing that since earlier. I wasn’t exactly having fun either.
“Yeah, I know. Being involved like this…”
“So I have no choice but to protect you.”
I was taken aback by his unexpected words. Our eyes met. For the first time, Leon’s face, always expressionless, looked slightly serious.
Wow, he suddenly looks even more handsome. No teasing, no irritation—just strangely calm.
“First, it’s best to go to the troupe now. Katia might have tried to sway the members.”
“Good idea. I’ll take you there.”
“Wait a moment!”
I hurried to stop him, afraid he would teleport us again. He just looked at me, puzzled.
“If you’re going to teleport, tell me beforehand. I get motion sickness!”
“I was going to arrange a carriage, so let’s go.”
He walked ahead down the corridor from the reception room to the entrance. I followed. He wasn’t throwing me through space this time, but escorting me properly?
“To the Forest Troupe.”
Leon said to the driver. The situation felt awkward. I stammered, trying to say something before the carriage door closed.
“Thank you, for escorting me and arranging the carriage too…”
Before I could finish, Leon slammed the carriage door shut. He probably didn’t hear a word I said. Some things never change!
Leon stood silently, watching the carriage move away. The image of me panicking made him chuckle.
“You seem to like her quite a lot.”
The aide who followed commented on Leon’s profile. Leon stiffened and turned toward the door.
“I just think she’s a capable talent.”
