Chapter – 20
I watched Arno’s expression twist in real time and immediately regretted everything.
I hadn’t meant these bastards when I said I wanted to eat with my people.
One of them was someone who would kill me with his own hands. The other was someone who’d report me and have me killed.
I felt like I had just stepped onto the execution platform.
I sat down, pretending as best as I could that I hadn’t heard Leo’s nonsense. That was when Arno spoke, his voice so tightly pressed down that one side of his face twitched.
“Must be a truly precious thing to you. Since you’re bringing it to tomorrow’s party as well. A party held in the Mesena main castle, no less.”
“Oh, about that—”
“And without telling me anything.”
“……”
Right. I hadn’t told Arno about going to that party.
Because telling him would have done nothing good for me.
Arno, as my current fiancé, would naturally dislike me going to a party accompanied by male actors.
I figured I’d tell him after I came back.
Once we performed the two-person act at that party, everyone there would learn that I was capable of something other than rolling around in bed with men.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, that’s because…”
“I assume you didn’t want to take me to the Mesena main castle.”
Take who?
I stared at Arno, who was angrily tearing his bread apart.
Did… did he think I didn’t want to take him?
Why?
Oh—wait.
Is it the difference in status?
Sure, Arno and Luisa are both nobles. But the Dientzhes weren’t originally from the Empire—they came from elsewhere, ran a merchant guild, settled here, bought the former emperor’s favor with money, and were granted noble status.
In other words, to imperial nobles, their family had no honor or history.
And this affected the Arno in the original novel too.
He had brutally killed Luisa for looking down on him.
Damn.
I have to clear up this misunderstanding now.
On the surface, it looked like a grumpy fiancé pouting because he wasn’t chosen as his fiancée’s partner.
But in reality, my words and behavior were prodding at Arno’s inferiority complex.
“I didn’t tell you beforehand because…”
“Because you’re performing there. And he’d be utterly useless in a play.”
Leo answered for me with his mouth full of steak, chewing obnoxiously.
“……”
“……”
The air at the table chilled instantly.
Shut up.
Shut up right now.
I opened my mouth to say exactly that, but Leo lifted the knife he’d been cutting with and smiled at Arno.
“And I’m useful.”
…Fuck.
I saw Arno’s eyes sharpen with killing intent and acted on impulse.
“The Count is the most useful person to me!”
“……”
“……”
Both men’s gazes snapped toward me.
One pair was icy and sharp.
The other was startled and confused.
I latched onto Arno’s confused expression and quickly corrected myself.
“Because you’re the one sponsoring the play. Without you, I can’t perform.”
“And he’s also the one squeezing money out of you for it.”
Leo wouldn’t leave it alone.
He pointed to his plate with feigned innocence.
“How much is this steak, Count? This all piles up as our lady’s debt too, doesn’t it?”
I regret casting him as Romeo.
His rebellious act is stellar, I’ll give him that.
“I’ve invited a rat into my home.”
Arno’s cold voice echoed through the dining room.
“How dare you eavesdrop on your masters’ conversation?”
“I didn’t listen. I saw. I saw the maids scurrying everywhere calculating the cost of everything we eat and wear.”
I watched Leo’s shining eyes and realized what he was trying to do.
Instigate.
He wanted to drive a wedge between me and my fiancé.
So he could seduce me more easily.
And honestly, the plan… was working pretty well.
“If you knew it was debt, shouldn’t you stop leeching off the Count’s estate and leave?”
“You’ve said that to our lady too, haven’t you? More than once.”
“When have I ever—”
“With your eyes. Your expression. Your voice.”
Leo’s gaze turned murderous as he glared at Arno.
Anyone would think he was genuinely furious.
He wasn’t.
This was acting.
“When you act, you start to learn. People speak not just with words, but with tone, expression, eyes. And you especially. Why do you think she’s not taking you to the Mesena castle? That party is full of people waiting to tear our lady apart. Not just Catherine, the host, but the branch families tied to the Mesena debts and every noble there—they all want to see her humiliated.”
Surprisingly, he had perfectly grasped the nature of tomorrow’s party.
And while he was performing this “scene,” he had fallen so deeply into character that he’d dropped the unruly attitude and was displaying flawless table manners.
Even the way he handled the knife carried dignity.
His eyes were sharp with menace.
Every expression had the polish of someone raised from childhood as royalty.
…The prince.
This wasn’t Romeo anymore.
His rebellious aura was gone, and the prince had surfaced entirely.
A strange feeling washed over me.
He had never slipped this deeply into the “prince” persona before.
That’s when I realized:
He’s been hiding it this whole time.
He thought he must never show his princely self.
Which made perfect sense.
Leo doesn’t trust anyone.
His face had changed a lot over the past nine years—as the original said—but some nobles still recognized him instantly.
Especially someone like Marquis Burbidge, who had seen him closely.
So for Leo, this performance was dangerous.
“Romeo and Juliet” was a public theater production for commoners. Nobles attended too, but they observed from afar, seeing only a heavily made-up Romeo.
But this two-person act?
It would be on a tiny makeshift stage in a banquet hall—anyone could recognize him.
And he was playing a prince.
Even so, I still insisted on performing with Leo.
Because the person who would help him in the original story… will appear there.
“But you didn’t need to add to that, Count.”
Leo gritted his teeth and glared at Arno. His grip on the knife tightened.
He looked like an emperor holding a sword.
I stared at Leo, dazed, then quickly spoke.
“Stop.”
I had nearly lost myself, but I needed to get the situation under control.
A mere slave openly defying his master—absolutely unacceptable.
“Enough. The Count…”
I turned toward Arno—
And something was very wrong.
“The Count is already an benefactor to me just by taking me in. I can’t ask for more.”
Arno… looked blank.
Almost hurt.
I expected him to lash out at Leo.
But instead, he was quietly staring at me with a strangely forlorn expression.
“Why did you say all that?”
After leaving the dining room, I pulled Leo aside.
During the rest of the meal, Arno had stayed silent, focusing only on eating, ignoring Leo’s provocations completely.
He’s upset.
I had failed to soothe him, but I still had something to confront Leo about.
That’s when Leo abruptly offered me his cheek.
“…?”
“You’re going to hit me anyway, right?”
Ha. Right. This was the current reputation of Luisa Mesena.
An evil woman who’d casually hit someone when irritated.
I stared at him, dumbfounded.
“Why would I?”
“Because I insulted the fiancé you want to impress so badly—even to the point of crying.”
“…The Count could throw both of us out of this mansion.”
“That doesn’t mean you’d cry in front of him.”
Ugh, his obsession with me crying—
I was about to snap, but his expression stopped me.
He actually looked genuinely annoyed.
“You’re not the type to cry because you get kicked out. Only if he tried to take away your theater.”
“……!”
It hit dead center.
“Anyway, thanks to this insolent slave, the Count can’t tell you to cancel the performance at the party anymore.”
I blinked.
“You—you acted up to help me perform?”
“Yes.”
“…Why?”
He didn’t even like theater.
When we practiced, he didn’t show even a tenth of the passion he had earlier.
“Because you like it.”
Leo flashed a sensual smile.
“Because I like you.”
God, seriously.
What am I supposed to do with him?
He never drops the act.
He never reveals the real him.
“What should I do with you…”
I considered for a moment.
“I like you too.”
His expression froze instantly.
I saw his face twist in panic—and knew I had hit the target.
He pretended to like me, but deep down, he was full of disgust and contempt.
I wanted to stab that exact spot.
Sure, I could pretend to fall for him.
Pretend to love him.
Pretend to be charmed and lower his guard.
But I wasn’t interested in love.
And if I try to act out something I don’t care about, the cracks will show.
Love you.
That phrase had made me sick since childhood.
So instead, I’d give him something real.
Real acting begins from the real self.
“I really like your acting.”
“……”
A strange disappointment flickered across his face.
But I was being honest.
Throughout the original novel, I had loved his acting.
The male lead had deceived countless people while hiding his identity.
The way he manipulated everyone with ease—it had been mesmerizing.
He controlled them completely.
“The stage is the one world I can control perfectly. On it, even people’s hearts depend on me. I can make their hearts stop. The Count’s eyes, which used to despise me, changed after watching our play. The people in that castle, all of them who look down on me—they’ll change too. Because we’ll control them.”
I looked at Leo.
I smiled as if seducing him, stepping closer—but not touching him.
“You like that, too.”
The taste of the stage.
I had seen him cry on stage as Romeo.
He had felt it then too—the intoxication of the spotlight.
He just denies it with his rational mind.
But the mind can’t win against the heart.
His fear of exposing his identity could not overpower the thrill of performing.
It’s only once. And no one there will necessarily recognize him. So why not take this chance to show himself? Just once. Show the self he’s been suppressing.
I intended to plant that hunger in his heart.
To elevate his acting, I needed to control his heart.
Please… trust me. Leo Fier.
This performance will benefit you.
I promise.
