Chapter 013

<Episode 13>

The next morning.

I came downstairs looking a mess.

It was an aftereffect of staying up all night practicing.

I felt strongly that I needed to take care of my body in order to continue performing for the remaining period of time.

‘I’m the lead actor, but if I catch a cold and become thirsty-.’

I don’t even want to think about it.

At least among those terrible actors, I am the best.

Even if I were to be among modern professional actors, I would be quite confused.

‘I have to go today and practice the mistakes I made yesterday.’

My mind was confused as I tried to somehow lift my eyes that were slowly closing and stuff the bread.

I can’t believe I have to open my eyes and watch that horrible fuming again.

‘I want to buy new eyes.’

Of course, if you have money.

Moving actors costs money, setting up lights costs money, and stage costumes and props all cost money.

But yesterday, this damn Leo Peer tore Juliet’s dress.

‘I couldn’t control my strength.’

What we did was a fight scene, not a kissing scene.

‘This is all your fault, master.’

I was dumbfounded by what Leo said as if he were complaining.

Well, there is a guy like this.

But I have no regrets.

The kiss at the curtain call…. Well, there was a bit of impulsiveness, but it was largely a strategic choice.

A fun and lively play?

Yeah, good.

Word of mouth will probably spread, and tickets will sell steadily.

But there is nothing for people to talk about there.

To put it in a more popular term, ‘aggro’.

All art needs something to grab people’s attention.

A beautiful and perfect play may be viewed by people and leave kind reviews, but it cannot attract a wider audience unless they are people who have already seen our play.

If people have something to chew on, word of mouth spreads and people who wouldn’t normally see a play come to see it. Of course, the aggro should not be to the extent of damaging the quality of the work.

For example, the controversy over the lead actor’s acting.

The best aggro is things like moderate kissing scenes, unconventional exposure, and refreshing kimchi slaps.

And I chose the kissing scene among them.

Of course, I absolutely hated contact, but since I had to succeed in this play to relieve the death flag even a little, I was in no position to choose between hot and cold.

‘It was closer to rubbing lips than kissing.’

It was a life where I could barely even hug someone, let alone kiss.

There was no meaning attached to touching my mucous membrane to someone else’s, but it felt strange.

It was even more so because I expected the other person to feel the same way.

Looking at Leo distorted with shame, I even felt a little sorry.

‘You stole this guy’s first kiss, which the heroine should have had.’

In the original work, Leo Peer pretended to be a libertine to push the heroine away, but it was described in detail as the first time he kissed the heroine.

But as I was thinking that, Leo suddenly captured my lips first.

Yes, the most correct expression is ‘swallowed.’

I knew in theory that kissing meant mixing parts of each other’s flesh, but I didn’t know that it was an act that felt like swallowing each other like this.

Leo was fully immersed while they were mixing each other’s flesh.

I just could tell.

With breath, smell, and very subtle vibrations.

Because we were acting.

It was an extreme connection that could only be felt between actors who were immersed in their acting.

His profile, and mine, must have attracted a lot of aggro from everyone.

‘The damn princess kissed me on stage!’

There must have been a rumor about it in the neighborhood.

During the first performance, only about two-thirds of the box seats were filled.

That’s two-thirds, but the capacity of box seats in this era is excessive, so if you add all of them, there are 300 seats.

So no matter how cheap the ticket was, the Count would have made a lot of money.

Box seats are cheap, but ticket prices for balcony seats, which nobles mainly watch, have risen tenfold, so there is a surplus.

However, I heard that pre-sale rates plummeted from the second performance onwards because people wanted to see the face of the duchy’s bastard princess rather than come to see a ‘play’.

However, if my ‘aggro’ is clearly attracted, I can sell the remaining performances at the same level as the first performance.

Because word of mouth is a scary thing.

Then…. Isn’t it possible to provide a generous support fee?

The actors must have been lethargic in the aftermath of yesterday’s performance, so we need to give them something to feed them before they start.

Even in Korea, where plays don’t make money, we made them act by feeding them plenty of delicious food during performances, even if we couldn’t pay them.

I glanced at the Count sitting across from the spacious dining table.

“Excuse me….”

It seems very tactful to talk about money when you owe a huge amount of debt.

I spoke with an uncomfortable expression on my face.

“Have you thought about breaking off the engagement?”

Of course you’ve thought about it. The answer would be yes.

The Count said he saw the play yesterday, so he must have known that my play would be a hit.

Then, I would now be a little less worried about losing money, I wouldn’t have to worry about being criticized if the content of the play were to spread in the social world, and the justification for breaking off the engagement was perfect.

My head was full of worries about the play, so I wasn’t really curious about this obvious answer.

“No. I haven’t thought about it.”

“Uh?”

If this is the answer, wouldn’t it be a bit different?

“I had other concerns. How can I make more money with this play?”

“Still, I took the time to think about breaking off our engagement….”

“The entire public is very interested in your jewels. Do you know?”

For some reason, Arno’s eyes, which seemed to contain venom, turned towards me.

It’s a gem.

“Oh, you mean that? That incredible jewel that I bought from my grandfather’s safe before he passed away?”

I am well aware of the rumors going around the empire.

Well, of course, it is true that this idiot called a jeweler and luxuriated while my grandfather was in bed, but it is an exaggeration to say that that amount was equivalent to a year’s budget for the principality.

Moreover, I didn’t have any proper jewels in my possession right now.

As if I was being chased by a debt collector, I couldn’t bring it with me when I left the castle.

“That jewel….”

“This is the jewel.”

“What?”

I looked at the sapphire necklace and dress studded with precious stones that Arno was holding out as he spoke in a stern voice.

I was confused.

This is mine?

Are you saying that they stole my jewels and dress from the Duke’s castle?

“I don’t remember buying something like this….”

“You probably don’t have any. Because I didn’t buy it myself. I bought it. I recently bought a sapphire mine in the south. I plan to hire some craftsmen and open a jewelry store in the capital. It also doubles as a dress shop.”

But why are you giving this to me?

I felt a thought pass by and waited for the next word.

“Wear this and stand on stage.”

My hunch is correct.

So, this means that if you wear this and wear it on stage, it will naturally attract publicity.

Now this…. It’s a PPL, is this it?

From my perspective as a modern person, it is old-fashioned, but from the perspective of a human living in this era -.

“Creative?”

“…….”

“You really have a good head for things like this, Count.”

I was honestly impressed.

Now I am the object of attention of the entire empire.

While making Romeo and Juliet, I said I would overwrite my image as a spoiled princess with Juliet, an unfortunate adolescent girl, but that was an attempt to gain at least a little indulgence.

Even so, the perception of her as an extravagant and tyrannical woman has become so firmly established that it cannot be easily erased from people’s minds.

I just left the room for ‘you can think about it in a different way’ through the play.

At the same time, even if they hate me equally, I decided to purify my image to that of an ‘attractive villain.’

In such a situation, this extravagant woman stands on stage wearing a large sapphire?

Everyone will be wondering where you got that sapphire.

Public hatred is such a double-edged sword. Even though you hate me, you definitely want to follow what I do.

“So what do I get?”

I changed my attitude thinking that this PPL would work well. High-handedly.

‘I can be like this.’

It means that my play was interesting enough for the Count to want to incorporate it into his business.

“I’ll give you money. 5 million derks.”

“20 million derks.”

I said with a light smile.

“You’re welcome.”

“Let’s make it 30 million.”

“Why are you going up?”

The Count’s brow furrowed.

“Because my ransom is going through the roof even at this very moment. Tell me, Alfredo. How many tickets for ‘Romeo and Juliet’ have been sold now?”

Alfredo, who had a look on his face that said, ‘Are we going to fight again?’ hesitated and answered.

“Uh… that is….”

It must have sold a lot.

“All seats are sold out.”

This is kind of surprising.

I turned my head and looked at Alfredo.

“Today’s performance?”

“No. That’s not it, all performances and seats are sold out.”

…?

I pursed my mouth as much as I could to not show my surprise.

The response is hotter than I expected.