Chapter – 14
“I assume you’ve heard? Since it’s sold so well, it’s only natural—”
“Even so, it’s a paltry sum compared to the debt you owe, My Lady.”
“Not wrong, but what I meant was the future potential…”
“Alfredo, bring the details of the Lady’s debts.”
Alfredo promptly handed a piece of paper to the Count.
The Count, in turn, held it out to me.
I stared at it quietly for a moment before furrowing my brow.
It was more than I had expected…?
Of course. The paper handed to me listed not only the theater fees but also money I had supposedly borrowed to buy jewelry, the cost of porcelain I broke while drunk, my lodging and food expenses…
“The cost of the chocolate I ate?”
My expression turned微妙 as I pointed to the very last line of the ledger, which contained an increasingly detailed and strange list.
Frankly, I could understand the items above.
So Louisa did such things too. Even though I’m not Louisa, it’s only natural to pay them back.
But does this mean the chocolate the maid offered me yesterday when I came home, asking if I was tired, wasn’t free?
What kind of daylight robbery is this?
“Count, were you planning to charge me for even this?”
As expected, the malice Arno Dienche holds for Louisa is beyond measure.
I felt somewhat disillusioned.
But for some reason, the Count avoided my eyes and let out an awkward cough, like someone feeling a bit embarrassed.
“Ahem… Isn’t that only natural? Money doesn’t grow on trees, My Lady.”
Not an incorrect statement, but how cheap.
“So, until you repay all this money, it would be better to focus on the play rather than trivial matters like annulment.”
“Why is annulment trivial? Annulment is important too.”
Ignoring my words, the Count continued.
“I’ll value wearing this necklace and standing on the stage at 30 million derk. I was planning to increase the investment in ‘White Priors’ anyway. An additional 20 million derk in investment, making 50 million derk total.”
The Count gestured to Alfredo, who placed a pouch of gold coins in front of me.
“……!”
50 million derk.
The money from selling my grandfather’s sword, the money with which I bought the Emperor’s life, had returned before my eyes.
‘How amusing.’
“Is the investment money also a debt I have to repay?”
When I asked calmly, the Count nodded.
“30 million derk is the money I take, and the 20 million derk investment… is that also money I have to repay?”
When I asked calmly, the Count nodded.
“However, I will deduct it from the ticket sales. The total value of tickets sold so far is 30 million derk, so subtracting the 20 million derk investment leaves a settlement amount of 10 million derk.”
A quick calculation.
30 million derk.
I was quite captivated by that term.
Given the era, I’m not sure how much it would be in Korean currency, but 30 million derk is money an ordinary commoner would have to work ten years to earn.
I earned that money.
Through a play.
‘Something I could never even dream of in South Korea.’
A world where you can become wealthy through plays? And that place is here?
For a moment, it felt like being possessed was a blessing.
This was potential. In the future, I might not need to rely on the Count who hates me; I could support myself.
I quickly buried my nose in the plate and shoveled the meat in.
“……?”
“I have to eat quickly and go out. To practice with the actors.”
The Count looked at me with a somewhat baffled expression.
“……”
“……”
Awkward.
I stared out the carriage window, thinking.
Somehow, only Leo and I were riding in this carriage together.
We were going into the city to get costumes fitted before practice.
The reason I was going with Leo was because, since Juliet’s costume had changed, I wanted to get a better costume for Romeo as well.
‘Now that I have money.’
There was so much I wanted to do with this.
If you put money into a play, the possibilities were endless.
‘Maybe for the next play, I can add a bit more stage equipment.’
First, although I couldn’t do it for a while since daily performances were scheduled, I wanted to renovate the stage a bit.
‘It creaks every time you move, I thought I was going to die tiptoeing around during blackouts.’
And the most important thing.
I genuinely wanted to hire actors aspiring to be actors and form a troupe.
For that, I’d need to hold auditions and invest more money than now to cultivate star actors.
‘I need to find a face that can become a star with my desired method acting style.’
Theater is fundamentally the art of the actor.
If you nurture one star actor well, a moderately successful work can become a huge hit, or a failing work can break even.
Moreover, with a few solid supporting actors, I could create works with more depth than now.
The current actors were all amateurs Rudy had hastily gathered.
It was clear that once this play ended, they would all leave without a second thought.
You could tell just by their attitude during practice.
‘Strictly speaking, Leo Pier is an amateur too.’
Leo Pier originally caught the eye of the Marquis of Burbage and becomes a royal knight.
That happens about a year and a half from now.
To speed that up a bit, I needed to get him noticed by the Marquis of Burbage, and I was considering a few plans.
‘The problem is, to do that, I might have to do one more play.’
With this guy.
His bad acting is overshadowed by his face; he’s terribly bad at acting.
“You.”
As I broke the awkward silence and spoke, Leo grinned.
“What? Weren’t you going to maintain the awkward atmosphere all the way?”
“Don’t stammer in the monologue. It’s obvious you didn’t memorize that part properly, so after the fitting, memorize it more. In that part, Romeo has to speak as if enchanted and fallen in love, but you keep rolling your eyes mid-sentence, thinking about your lines.”
“Is that… what you were thinking about just now?”
“Of course?”
“And here I thought you were reminiscing about our kiss, Master.”
“You ill-mannered slave…”
Screech.
Just then.
The carriage came to an abrupt halt, shaking the interior.
My body lost balance and I nearly fell onto Leo.
Leo quickly grabbed my arm.
Nice catch.
I felt grateful to him for preventing what could have been a fall.
For a very brief moment.
Because the moment I thought that, Leo pulled me.
“…What are you…?”
It was clearly just a slight stumble, but as Leo pulled me, I found myself sitting on his lap.
Leo smiled with his eyes and whispered.
“It’s troublesome if you pretend to lose your balance and fall on me, Master. It’s dangerous.”
I looked into his golden eyes, spouting such shameless nonsense.
The original story never said this guy was this crazy.
And then, the carriage door swung wide open.
“My Lady, my apologies, but there seems to be an issue with the carriage. From here, you’ll need to walk…”
The coachman’s eyes widened as he held the door open.
Just as the coachman was hesitating whether to close the door or not, a few citizens of the Duchy—who had clearly gathered upon seeing the Dienche seal—started whispering upon seeing me sitting on the slave’s lap inside the carriage.
“That woman…”
“It’s that woman.”
Yes, it’s me.
Louisa Messena.
The reckless princess caught in a compromising position with a man inside a carriage.
Thinking that, I gritted my teeth and tried to get out of the carriage.
I needed to get into the costume shop quickly, lest they start throwing stones.
But just then.
Someone rushed towards me.
“Um…”
I quickly closed my eyes at the object suddenly thrust in front of my face.
Am I going to be hit? Stabbed?
When, after a moment, I felt no pain whatsoever where it should have been, I soon opened my eyes.
Before me was a red rose.
“I… enjoyed the play…”
“……”
I stared silently at the rose, held out like a blade.
And I saw the freckled girl holding it steadily.
“……”
The girl’s hand was trembling noticeably.
Is she… giving this to me now?
As my brow furrowed, the girl’s face turned visibly pale.
A girl behind her spoke.
She seemed to be around the same age, and her familiar tone suggested they were friends.
“I told you to just let it go, Elize. There are rumors that this Lady eats people.”
So the rumors have reached that point.
I was laughing inwardly when it happened.
The girl called Elize whispered to her friend in a trembling voice.
“But I’ve never seen the Lady eat anyone. It was my first time seeing the Lady in the performance. I… really liked it.”
The moment I saw her shy smile, I felt strange.
While acting as Juliet, I did my best to defend Louisa Messena. I hoped it would serve as even a slight excuse for her wickedness.
But I had never expected that there would be someone who held ‘favor’ towards Louisa Messena.
That was pushing it too far.
Because Louisa is a woman who deserves to be hated.
Because everyone thinks so.
Because that’s the essence of ‘human nature’.
But there was someone who believed not in rumors, but in ‘what they saw with their own eyes’.
At least this girl in front of me.
For a moment, I stared blankly at the rose.
“I-I’m sorry if you’re offended…”
Thinking I was still glaring at her, Elize tried to withdraw the rose.
I swiftly snatched the flower and held it.
“Haven’t you heard the rumors?”
“Eh?”
At my cold voice, Elize hunched her shoulders noticeably.
“I only collect beautiful things.”
“……Th-th-that…”
As I looked down at her, Elize bowed her head deeply.
She seemed to think the rose she offered wasn’t beautiful.
I grabbed Elize’s chin.
Then, I smiled, pulling up one corner of my mouth.
“So, if you want to give me a gift, you should have given me something like this, not such a trivial thing.”
I gave Elize a brief kiss on the cheek.
The moment my lips left, Elize’s eyes widened.
“You’re more beautiful, aren’t you?”
No sooner had my words ended than her face flushed bright red from the cheek I kissed, spreading to her cheekbones and ears.
Well. I meant it.
She had a pretty decent face.
A typical commoner’s face. But her slightly prominent cheekbones and jaw meant that with heavier makeup, she could play unique roles.
Not a face that could become a lead actress at once, but with acting skills, she could handle a wide spectrum of roles.
Plus, she said my play was interesting, speaking only the truth with those pretty lips.
Anyway…
‘Contact.’
The thing I terribly disliked was easier than I thought.
Was it because I had already gotten through the kiss with Leo?
I smiled contentedly and said to Elize,
“If you really found the play interesting, come to the audition.”
“Audition?”
“Yes. I’m planning to form a troupe. I’ll give you special, prolonged attention.”
It meant I would train her rigorously, but the girl seemed not to understand that part.
Thud.
I heard the sound of the girl collapsing behind me as I gestured to Leo.
“Hurry up. We’re short on practice time.”
I could hear the murmuring from the surroundings.
About half were insults directed at me, and the other half were voices saying in a dazed tone,
“Sis… take me… Take me…”
Take you? Take what?
I didn’t know what they meant, but if I spread rumors about the troupe little by little like this, people would gather, right?
Unaware of the catastrophe that would unfold at the future audition, I simply felt proud.
