Chapter 008

<Episode 8>

Why on earth did you say such nonsense?

The next morning, I woke up under the blanket with swollen, tingling eyes for the first time in a very long time.

Even though it was morning, it was still time for the sun to rise in the sky.

If I took the blanket away, the stinging sunlight would bother me, so I settled my mind under the blanket.

‘If that is the reason, I will think about it.’

The Count hesitated for a while and spoke to me, who was crying bitterly.

In the end, I wanted to break off the engagement, but I ended up making people cry badly.

It’s absurd and shameful.

I cried in front of the guy who suddenly nagged me for coming home late at night and then told me to break off the engagement, which stimulated my victim mentality and told me nonsense.

And while thinking about ‘that woman’.

Anyway, we decided to talk about the breakup again after the play.

It was a decision made with the intention of watching public opinion after releasing the play.

While I was thinking that it was Arno Dience, Arno made a tsk sound and took out his handkerchief.

‘Wipe it. There are maids outside.’

‘…….’

I think a lot about what other people think.

It looks like he doesn’t want to be looked at as if he made me cry.

While I was quickly wiping away my tears with a handkerchief, Arno returned to his seat and sat down.

He said, putting on his glasses and looking at the documents.

‘And I think there’s a misunderstanding, but I’ve never thought of being engaged to a princess as something I didn’t want to do.’

‘……?’

‘I thought marriage was about marrying a pretty woman.’

What are you saying?

‘Not now.’

Are you saying I’m not pretty now?

Or that your view of marriage has changed?

Leaving behind only incomprehensible words, Arno was once again buried in the document tomb.

‘Anyway, thanks to this, there are many reasons to make the play a success.’

Only if the play is successful can I repay my debt to Arno, reduce my notoriety a little, help the next emperor, and only then can my life be saved.

Now even the breakup of the engagement depends on the success of this play.

‘To do that, you have to rub ice in your eyes and go to play practice somehow….’

That’s what I thought when I got out of the blanket.

“……?”

The room was dark.

Is it still night?

For all that, I feel so refreshed.

I got out of bed and walked over to the curtains.

Then I saw warm sunlight shining under the curtain.

I closed the curtains.

The sun hit my face.

A thick curtain cloth was caught in my hand.

Then I heard a voice from behind.

“The Count removed the existing luxurious curtains and asked for thick curtains. If it’s uncomfortable, can I replace it with a new one?”

I didn’t answer what the maid said.

“…….”

Instead, I stood there for a moment, feeling the scratchy curtain cloth.

Soon he turned his head and answered the maid.

“No.”

I laughed, got dressed, and went downstairs.

I decided to skip the meal. I slept well and wasn’t really hungry.

As we stood in front of the prepared carriage, Alfredo held out a bag of silver coins.

“The Count gave it to me in the morning. He said it was the cost of the materials you mentioned.”

Last night I asked the Count to lend me some more money.

‘I wish I could lend you a little more money, because I need it for stage props.’

Since the count nodded obediently, I thought he would give me money, but…

“It’s more than I expected?”

I looked at Alfredo with puzzled eyes.

No matter how you look at it, it seems like with this much money, you could build a stage rather than just buy stage props.

“What I brought by mistake….”

“No. The Count is a man who makes no mistakes. Me too.”

“…….”

“Will you come with me today?”

Alfredo deliberately strained his eyes and glared at Leo, who was standing next to me.

The way Alfredo kept the men next to me in check now seemed a bit funny.

“Okay. You two go.”

But even if it wasn’t Alfredo’s check, I had somewhere to take this money today.

Leo next to me said as if he didn’t like my answer.

“What about play practice?”

“Wow, I guess practice has become more fun now?”

“It’s not like that.”

Leo blushed slightly, but soon returned to his crooked posture.

“It’s good to be with the master. You can use practice as an excuse to do all kinds of dirty things.”

Leo grinned and his lips came down to mine.

‘What.’

I turned my face away in embarrassment. Then Leo naturally shook my hair and smiled.

At the same time, an uncontrollable groan came from behind.

It was Alfredo.

“How dare you! Inside our Count’s gate!”

“My mother-in-law’s nagging is scary.”

Leo chuckled and stepped back.

That arrogant bastard.

How dare you use me to make fun of Alfredo?

“I guess I’ll try to sleep a little more then. I worked too hard yesterday and I’m tired.”

“What did you do?!”

Leaving Alfredo’s words behind, Leo returned to his lodgings in the annex.

I was the one who ordered him to move his quarters to a separate building.

Last night, when Leo saw me coming out of the Count’s office, he muttered these words to me with that smile on his face.

‘Did you finally break off the engagement thanks to your dirty behavior?’

Then he looked at my swollen eyes and frowned.

‘What.’

‘What.’

‘Do you even cry because of a man?’

For some reason, he tried to put his hand to my eyes with a stiff expression on his face.

Of course, my quick reflexes knocked it out.

‘I’d rather break up the engagement. Because I can make sure my master doesn’t starve to death on the streets.’

‘By what means?’

Leo thought about my question for a moment and then spoke in a tone that didn’t seem like a joke.

‘I grew up so pretty.’

‘Did you turn?’

‘No.’

‘…….’

‘I’m worth it just to be pretty and big.’

With those words, Leo disappeared, asking him to think about it.

Of course, Leo is worthy of being pretty and ‘big’ alone.

His golden eyes prove it.

He is the heir of imperial blood.

But that’s the problem.

That crazy guy is going to kill me in a few years.

I immediately found the maid and ordered her to move her quarters to a separate building.

I can’t have that idiot next to my room.

I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep with my death next to me.

I thought so and encouraged Alfredo.

“Stop going.”

“Where are we going?”

“Where are you going? It’s my ex-boyfriend’s bar.”

“…Yes?! Are you going there again? Are you taking our Count’s money again?!”

Alfredo jumped up.

Alfredo has a very playful personality. But there was no time to tease him further.

“Alfredo, if you don’t get in the carriage quickly, I’ll throw you away.”

“You can’t go there alone!”

Anyway, there was so much to buy today.

Mercutio.

Tybalt.

And-.

Stage lighting.

There was so much to prepare, and time passed so quickly.

The first performance would begin in 15 days.

* * *

After 15 days.

Elise, who had just turned nineteen, stood in front of the theater entrance with her father.

It was my first outing with my father, who had been a servant to a famous knight family for generations.

Because I was working as a maid for the Elise family.

‘A theater…!’

Elise was my first time in a theater.

The theater was mainly a place of entertainment for the nobility, and it was difficult for the common people to afford the admission fee.

Of course, there was a public theater that she could enter without paying an admission fee, but there were a lot of noisy drunkards there, so her father wouldn’t let her go in.

“This is what the White Friars look like.”

She muttered unconsciously as she entered the theater.

White Friars.

This theater, once called the center of the Principality of Mecenat and where high-ranking nobles enjoyed sophisticated plays, was a private theater.

The entrance fee was expensive, and it was not a place where commoners like Elise could dare enter.

The reason why the Elysees were able to enter such a place was because the princess, who reopened the theater after the collapse of the Principality of Mecenat, drastically discounted the theater admission fee and turned it into a public theater.

“Contrary to rumors, the princess seems to be a good person. Please make it possible for people like us to go to the theater.”

Elise whispered as she sat down with her father on the long chair.

As the sun was starting to set, ushers inside the theater were lighting candles and helping visitors find their seats.

“Well, that’s fine. It may be that they are trying to make money even at the risk of being attracted to this historic theater by city government thugs. Princess…. No, I’m not a princess anymore. Because she only knows money and men.”

My father was strange. Because you said it as if you were a commoner and were dissatisfied with the fact that theaters were being created for commoners.

But aside from that, Elyse also knew well that Louisa Mecenat was a woman who only knew about money and men.

Most of the visitors to this theater came to see the colorful decorations throughout the theater, the male actor that Louisa had personally chosen, and Louisa’s terrible acting.

So these words were being exchanged right next to her.

“The theater is simpler than you think.”

“Then what do you do? The actors who appear will not be simple. They say these are the men Louisa chose.”

“What can that princess do other than act like groping men?”

Well, actually, it wasn’t that Elise wasn’t interested in the faces of the men Louisa had chosen.

But she spoke as innocently as possible.

“But it’s my first time seeing a play, so I’m looking forward to it, Dad.”

At those words, her father, who was counting how many years it had been since he went out with his daughter, smiled and nodded.

“Okay. This is all thanks to the Marquis of Burbage giving me a vacation.”

Marquis of Burbage.

He was a nobleman who hired his father and Elise.

It was an honorable family that had produced imperial knights for generations, but under the current emperor, they were unable to produce a single knight.

There were public rumors that the marquis was a close associate of the previous emperor and that his family was being treated poorly.

There are also rumors that the marquis is still refusing to swear allegiance to the current emperor.

It wasn’t just a rumor.

Because the Marquis actually did not like the current emperor.

It was then.

As the audience seats filled up, the ushers spoke loudly.

“The play begins. Everyone please take a seat and be quiet!”

And with those words, the candles the ushers were holding were blown out.

After.

Because of the extinguished candle, it suddenly became dark for my son-in-law.

“……?”

Everyone could be heard sounding perplexed.

There was one reason.

It’s this dark?

The sun has almost set, and if this continues, the faces of the actors on stage will no longer be visible within 30 minutes after the play starts.

“But father…. Aren’t plays usually performed during the day?”

It was the moment Elise whispered to her father.

Something happened on stage.

A round circle of light.

In the center of the circle stood an actor playing the role of a minstrel.

An exclamation erupted from among the people.

“Wow.”

Above was a place where bright light poured in as if it were daytime.

People’s heads naturally rose upward.

That light was coming out of a round, long barrel attached to the roof.

Such bright light.

At a time when people were surprised, the actor opened his mouth.

“Two powerful families are waging a long war in the beautiful city of Verona. Montague and Capulet. In the family of these two enemies, two beautiful men and women are born. The unfortunate and sad love between the two families will see the end of the war between the two families.”

When an actor with a profound and beautiful voice began to speak, people forgot their admiration for the lighting for a moment and fell in love with the actor’s voice.

He was an actor with a voice that drew people’s attention just by opening his mouth.

It was then.

“Okay then….”

The actor stretched out his arms.

At the same time, the bright light that was shining on the actors spread throughout the stage, making the stage brighter.

People once again let out an exclamation at the stage, which was bright as daylight.

“First, let me introduce you to the young people of Verona.”

The bard actor grinned as if he knew people would be surprised.

And then he left.

At the same time, young male actors appeared on stage.

Saying playful lines like ‘Mercutio, give me that hat!’

“Father…!”

Elise called her father without realizing it.

Of course, I couldn’t talk behind my back.

‘Father, those men are so…. You’re handsome!’