Chapter 56
As the party went on, it was only natural that Leuke’s heart grew heavier.
Everyone seemed to have brushed it off, but for Leuke, the unpleasantness lingered until the very end of the tea party.
Katia’s mocking smile every time their eyes met, Sasha’s guilty avoidance, and even the subtly cold attitudes of the other young ladies — all of it stayed with her.
Still, Leuke endured. She didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing her run away under the excuse of being “unwell.”
“Rumors spread fast among nobles. Things will definitely change — especially after a month or so.”
“For now, let’s just keep an eye on things. I know it’s frustrating that we can’t do anything immediately, but…”
If Katia was going to act like this every time, constantly reacting to her might actually make things worse.
“You know I’m not the kind of person who’ll just sit back and watch, right?”
“Yeah.”
Leuke nodded.
After someone from the Schacht troupe spread rumors that Leuke had not only behaved rudely there but had also “betrayed Katia to come to me,” I’d been preparing ways to counteract it.
One plan was to boost her image through good deeds, as I’d mentioned before.
The other… was still in the idea stage. It felt too direct — too much like a tit-for-tat — and I worried it wouldn’t be very effective.
But since Schacht was taking things this far, a strong counterattack might actually work best.
Two problems solved with one move, so to speak.
The only drawback was that Leuke would have to endure things for a while longer.
“I’ll explain it to you first. If we respond properly, it’ll have an effect. But for a little while, your popularity will drop, and people’s attitudes will get colder. That’s inevitable.”
“It’s fine! I’ve spent nineteen years living under cold stares and without any popularity anyway.”
Leuke answered bravely.
Ah, my heart hurts — it hurts more because she’s being so brave!
And why does this girl believe in me so completely?
Popularity naturally fluctuates up and down — that couldn’t be helped.
But I renewed my resolve to do everything I could to make sure Leuke could be happy.
Such a sweet, pure, trusting girl — how could I live with myself if I did anything wrong?
“Ah, I really love you, big sis!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Leuke, now used to my displays of affection, deftly dodged my hug like a proud cat and instead patted my head.
“There. Happy now?”
“Now I have the strength to work hard again today!”
“She’s such a smart kid, and yet… maybe a little weird in the head. Anyway, I’ll trust you. Oh, and… hmm… maybe you should study a bit of social etiquette again?”
“Ah.”
It was, of course, a good idea. She’d continue attending noble gatherings, and it wasn’t as if every situation like Sasha’s would necessarily happen out of malice.
“Let’s do it together then. If it’s boring, we’ll stop.”
Maybe I’d been too careless about that part of her education.
So, I immediately told one of the maids at home to find us a tutor.
A while later, the seats at Forest Theatre were painfully empty.
I wasn’t directly handling ticket sales anymore, but I’d dropped by after a show to check the atmosphere.
The energy of the audience was nowhere near as passionate as before. The mood felt deflated, and I couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
“It just… doesn’t draw you in anymore.”
“Maybe because it doesn’t seem so mysterious now?”
No one said names, but I knew instinctively they were talking about Leuke.
If I could tell, Leuke must have felt it from the stage too.
“Sigh… This is worrying.”
Even the number of invitations arriving at our office had dropped sharply lately.
I told Leuke that we were just filtering through an increasing number of them, but the truth was impossible for her not to notice at this point.
“Excuse me~.”
When I stepped into the dressing room, the atmosphere was just as subdued as I feared.
Everyone smiled, but it was that kind of forced cheer meant to cover up gloom.
“I expected this, but… wow, it still hurts.”
“Hey, it’s not because of you, miss. It’s just cloudy and raining, that’s all.”
Leuke and Anna seemed to be talking about the smaller audience turnout.
Leuke’s face was downcast, while Anna tried to lift her spirits.
“What are you two talking about?”
“Oh, Melias. Whew. You know the situation. The audience dropped a lot.”
I smiled casually and patted Leuke’s shoulder.
“Anna’s right, it’s just the rain.”
“They came through the rain to see us!”
“That’s exactly what a popular actress would say!”
Anna playfully gave her a side-eye, and Shion shook his head.
“Thinking everything’s your fault is arrogant too, you know. You think your influence is that big?”
“It was big… really big…”
Alex muttered, and Shion jabbed him with his elbow. Alex had no sense of tact.
“I overheard something earlier,” Leuke sighed.
“They said they can’t immerse themselves in the story anymore.”
I slapped my forehead.
So she had heard it. That kind of talk probably wasn’t just in one or two circles.
But her acting had improved! This was absurd.
“They said it’s because I look inadequate — that when I act mysterious on stage, they just remember how awkward and lost I looked at that tea party. So they can’t get into it.”
“What kind of insane nonsense is that?!”
Anna exploded immediately.
“You’re not going to be playing the same role forever, anyway.”
Shion shrugged, looking at me.
I’d already told him a bit of the plan, though I’d meant to bring it up later — and certainly not under these circumstances.
“Well, uh, we talked about this before…”
But Shion cut in smoothly.
“We’re only doing this show for another week, then we’re taking a break. I’m writing something new. Honestly, we’ve done this play long enough, haven’t we? People are probably just getting bored.”
Leuke nodded gloomily.
Judging from her face, no amount of reassurance was helping — but she also didn’t seem like she wanted to complain.
“Hmm. Then how about we make you the lead this time?”
Her eyes widened — and honestly, I had to admire Shion’s shamelessness.
We’d already talked about this a while ago, but he was pretending to have just come up with it now.
“T-that would feel like… special treatment.”
“Not at all. I wanted to write a lighthearted comedy — about a simple country beauty and her experiences in the city. Clumsy, foolish, so awkward that it’s adorable. The audience would totally relate. That’s how they see you anyway.”
Leuke’s eyes went round.
“Actually, Miss Melias suggested it. She was worried it might backfire, so we hadn’t decided yet.”
Shion glanced at me with a smirk.
“I was wondering how long you’d keep pretending before admitting that.”
“But I thought maybe saying it this way would cheer Leuke up a bit!”
“There were three ideas, remember? Doing good deeds, persuading someone from Schacht who knew you to testify differently, and… since this all started from a performance, then a performance should fix it, right?”
“Let’s go with a love story this time. Hmm. The heroine meets a man in the capital, gets close to him, and later finds out he’s actually a noble — that sort of thing.”
Shion immediately looked at Alex, clearly expecting him to be the male lead.
Alex just jerked his chin toward Shion.
“You’d be better for that.”
“Why?”
“You’re better at that slick, charming type. And you always write those characters like yourself.”
“Ugh.”
“It’s best to do what you’re good at. The audience will like it more, and more people will come.”
I agreed.
A naïve country girl paired with a roguish noble? Shion as the male lead would absolutely shine. I was certain of it.
Leuke glanced around apologetically.
“It’s not really for you, you know — it’s for the troupe’s income.”
Shion added, clearly aware of what she was thinking.
Leuke nodded.
“Of course, it’ll take a while though.”
Changing one’s image through a stage role definitely worked, but it required time — and the play needed to be successful for it to matter. In the current atmosphere, that would be tough.
But I had a way to speed things up.
I was now sitting face-to-face with a former member of the Schacht troupe.
I’d been contacting them one by one, asking for someone willing to tell the truth about Leuke — and finally, one had agreed.
“They’ll probably find out I spoke up… You’ll have to make sure Lady Katia can’t retaliate against me.”
“Of course.”
“I might lose my job at the troupe…”
“Then come to the Forest troupe. We’re expanding fast and could use more people.”
Now that we had more professional staff — not just actors setting up the stage themselves — it wasn’t a difficult offer to make.
“You mostly worked on stage setups, right?”
“Yes.”
“Perfect.”
I handed him a pouch of coins. He waved his hands, refusing.
“I can’t take this. I’m just telling the truth… She was really kind to all of us. Just protect me, that’s all I ask.”
“But others don’t do what you’re doing. This isn’t payment — think of it as a token of gratitude from Leuke’s sister.”
There might be consequences even beyond what I could shield him from, and I didn’t want him to regret it later.
“Thank you. Truly.”
“It’s nothing.”
This sort of thing had to be done before the rumors completely died down, or it wouldn’t have any impact.
And the next morning, when the streets buzzed with a new round of gossip, I couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.
“So, who was telling the truth after all?”
