Chapter 37
The demon whose role was to trap the prince in a mire, revealing one dangerous truth after another as he learned more and more—this was Leuke’s part. Her lines weren’t entirely natural yet, her emotional cues were barely discernible, and her face was hidden.
Yet somehow, it fit the character perfectly…
Frustrating as it was, I felt a sense of defeat. Not just because of Leuke, but I had to admit that the entire stage production was excellently crafted. Following the form of a classical tragedy, it told the story of a man of noble birth meeting a fateful tragedy. However, the message of the story was crystal clear.
“Don’t try to know too much of the truth.”
The prince paid the price of approaching the truth by losing everything and meeting a tragic end. Oddly, the prince, after discovering the truth, didn’t act at all and simply perished. Considering that the tales of the Northern Duke’s heroics are essentially rags-to-riches narratives, this story was somewhat unpleasant.
Do not resist fate. Do not seek too much knowledge. That was the essence. Still, leaving that aside, it was the most polished play I had seen among all the other theater troupes so far.
It seemed they had been influenced by us, too.
I had never seen such directing or structuring before the Forest Troupe. Still, I couldn’t help but acknowledge how well it was done. Even I sighed at the prince’s tragic fate. And despite boldly hiding her face, Leuke’s charm shone a hundred percent. Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought to hide the face.
When all the actors came out to take their bows, the audience gasped loudly as Leuke removed her mask.
“She’s that beautiful?”
“My goodness… wasn’t her acting amazing, too?”
To be honest, Leuke’s acting wasn’t exceptionally outstanding, but it matched the character perfectly. That was a surprise. Yet it was also a good thing—I could get hints on how to elevate Leuke even further. “I’ll make good use of the character you created,” I thought.
“Ha…”
Though I gained some good ideas, watching Katia do so well left me utterly drained after the performance. As I trudged out of the theater, people were gathering, murmuring.
“Take a portrait home—free!”
…Wow. Really. They were going that far? At this point, I could only laugh dryly. Of course, giving away “portrait souvenirs” was already common among theater troupes, but to do it for free—my face couldn’t hide the shock as I took one.
Seeing that portraits for each character, including supporting roles, were freely available made me fume a little.
“Wow. Even with all the money in the world, does this make sense?”
It was like the tyranny of a real big corporation. But one thing Katia had missed—she would realize her mistake eventually.
That evening, Leuke came running into my room as soon as she got home, cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling.
“You went, Melias? Did you see it?”
“Wow, it was amazing. You did so well, and the play itself was fun!”
All the entangled matters could wait. Leuke’s performance had been so brilliant—it was an incredible feeling of pride!
“Even though I was the villain, I felt like the audience liked me. That was so exciting!”
“Of course! You did so well. And did you see when you took off your mask while bowing?”
“I did, I did! Ha… my heart felt like it would burst! That’s why I came home so fast—I really wanted to tell you how I felt!”
Watching Leuke speak, all excited, my heart swelled.
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what Katia was thinking. She seemed surprisingly earnest about the play, yet some of her actions seemed to insult it. She had used Leuke to threaten me, yet gave her such an opportunity. It was impossible to understand.
“I think it was worth doing, right?”
“I think so too. It’s a really good opportunity. But did Katia handle the directing herself?”
“Yes! She even participated in writing the script. When we were on stage, she practically directed everything. It was amazing, like she knew exactly what to do… Ah! It felt just like you!”
My heart skipped a beat at that. It was meant as praise, but somehow the weight of it hit me.
“Ah, come on… she was probably more amazing than me.”
“No! Not at all. If you had that much money, you’d have done something even more impressive.”
“Eh, don’t overpraise me.”
I shook my head, but felt good. Right. Katia was impressive, but she hadn’t done anything beyond what I could manage. I had simply underestimated my opponent. Now that I saw her properly, I could deal with it.
“Ha… if you and Katia make something together, it would be incredible.”
I couldn’t respond and just laughed. Such a thing would never happen.
The next day, the newsletters were entirely filled with news about Katia’s play. The lead actors received attention, but each article also carefully noted Leuke’s performance.
“They miss nothing. Truly.”
At the same time, there were also subtle articles criticizing other troupes, including Forest. Had they come from the modern world too? Ha. All I could do was do my best and win.
After reading a pile of newsletters that made me uneasy from morning, I headed to the theater.
The first thing I asked upon arrival was whether there was a reply to the letters I had sent recently.
“You know the letters I sent recently? Any reply?”
“Uh… no.”
“You too?”
“I heard they were delivered…”
It seemed the other troupes hadn’t grasped the situation yet. I couldn’t wait for them to understand in a few days.
“This won’t do. I’ll go there myself. Can you guide me?”
“Then let’s go to the places I know first. The Sekure Troupe isn’t far from here.”
Anna took the lead. After the performance, we rode together in a carriage for about ten minutes and reached the theater. I went straight inside.
“Oh, why are you here? The play is over now…”
A troupe member, tidying the stage, looked at me in surprise.
“I want to meet your troupe leader.”
“Hello, this is Melyas Warren, supporting our troupe. She is the daughter of the Viscount, right?”
Anna introduced me, just like when we first visited the Forest Troupe.
“I’m the troupe leader here.”
Unlike Alex, a slightly short, middle-aged man with a long beard came forward.
“You’re from the Forest Troupe. Did you receive the letters the members sent?”
“Ah, that letter. I haven’t read it yet. Was it urgent?”
The Sekure troupe leader showed no interest in hiding his annoyance. Anna subtly glanced at me.
“This is the daughter of Viscount Warren.”
“Anyway, what was the letter about?”
His tone was slightly more polite, but his attitude hadn’t changed. I handed him the newsletters I had collected.
“Have you heard that the daughter of Count Schacht created a new troupe?”
“Ah, that… well, it’s natural to be worried about a new troupe, but there’s no need to micromanage everything.”
“Have you read the newsletters?”
He skimmed through them, seemingly unconcerned.
“I understand your worries…”
“No, you don’t. Even if a play is always praised, there are plays that aren’t good. Our plays might fail or some people might not like them. But this isn’t about that.”
“Then what is it?”
“The daughter of Count Schacht is labeling our plays as low-quality, saying they should be erased.”
“H-hahaha.”
He laughed loudly. He clearly didn’t understand me.
“There’s no need to suppress troupes like that. You’re overthinking. Even if she says so, who will listen? People go where they want.”
“…Can’t do anything. But if she changes her mind, she can come to me.”
We went to two or three more places. Reactions were all similar.
“Ha… persuasion isn’t working. Anna, what do you think? Is it just me, or does this feel like a real crisis?”
“Hmm… honestly, I don’t really know. I’ve noticed content the royal family wouldn’t like, but if the daughter of Count Schacht says our play is bad, people won’t come? That’s hard to imagine.”
Yet people didn’t know Katia was shaping public opinion. They would treat her criticisms in the newsletter as legitimate, objective facts. In our previous life, netizens would respond with skepticism, but people in this world had no immunity to opinion manipulation.
“Once things start, it’ll get harder, but there’s nothing we can do now. Let’s wait for the moment.”
