Chapter 019

<Episode 19>

The performance of <Romeo and Juliet> has ended.

During the last performance, the audience was so crowded that there were even people standing and holding on to pillars.

So many audience members cried and laughed together with the actors.

Leo, who came down to the backstage, quietly looked at the people who stayed in the audience even after the play ended.

‘I was immersed in it.’

He knew it too.

His acting was changing.

Signs that he would immerse himself in this play existed long before.

‘You read Romeo’s story, slave.’

Probably since those arrogant eyes said this.

And the more he acted, the more he found himself within this script disguised as a love story.

Romeo hates Montague.

However, Romeo inevitably becomes Montague.

When I first read the script, it was clear that Montague was the emperor. His uncle, Callinan.

However, while acting, the Montague he found was Louisa.

Luisa Mecenat.

That strange woman.

My master who shines the brightest on stage.

A woman who wrote a desperate love story and turned it into a play filled with resentment toward the world.

Why did she cry secretly at the count’s residence, even though she said she didn’t mind being criticized by everyone for being an evil woman?

Why does he retreat like that when he even tries to touch the subject that is crying?

Why is it that ‘contact’, which is so difficult, becomes so easy on stage?

What the hell are you really saying?

Which one is acting?

Or is this all actually just an act?

‘You must not be fooled.’

The deception always had to be mine.

I have to trick Louisa brilliantly, secure my safety through her, and take revenge.

For that to happen, Louisa had to fall in love with him.

But Louisa still didn’t ask his name….

“…Mio. Romeo!”

It was then.

A woman who came to the dressing room called him. Her flushed face looked somehow familiar.

Ah. It’s that girl.

At that time, a girl gave flowers to Louisa who got off the carriage.

At that time, if what the girl was holding out was not a flower but a sword, then –

‘I tried to twist his neck.’

He looked at Elise’s delicate neck and smiled.

“Oh, so you asked me to give this to Juliet?”

“Yes. Will you like it?”

Elise looked excited as she held out a box of chocolates that looked quite expensive. The area in front of Louisa’s dressing room was so crowded that sometimes audience members came to see Leo.

Of course, there were people who came because they were interested in Leo, but Leo cut them off like a sword.

The audience that Leo took interest in and spoke to in a friendly manner were all people who liked Louisa.

“Maybe.”

Louisa liked those people.

I also liked the gifts the audience gave me.

He said he would not accept the gift he gave, but the audience’s gift seemed different.

Louisa was like that.

Whenever someone spoke to him and he frowned and said, ‘I enjoyed the performance,’ he became interested.

Even though he was sitting with a blank expression on his face, his eyes lit up whenever the topic of the stage was mentioned.

That’s how much I liked the stage.

Because he knew that, Leo became immersed in the moment Henry shed tears without realizing it.

When Henry gets ahead of her, Louisa’s attention is taken away from him.

Because Louisa is that kind of woman. A woman who can’t get any attention from anything other than the stage.

“There is this store near the Marquis Burbage’s residence. It’s so famous that there’s a long line.”

It was then.

Elise said, excited to hear that Louisa would like it.

The corners of Leo’s eyes rose slightly as he picked up the box of chocolates.

“By the Marquess of Burbage? It looks like he lives nearby.”

“Yes. I am the maid of the Marquis’ famous daughter, Lady Ilena.”

Marquis of Burbage.

It was someone he knew well. No, maybe it wasn’t just something I knew.

The person who helped him escape from the imperial castle a long time ago was Gallogue Burbage, the current Marquess of Burbage.

‘Run away. Prince.’

One day, his teacher, the Marquis Burbage, who taught him swordsmanship when he was young, prepared a horse at the training hall.

It was the night his cousin, the current second prince, was born.

Gallogg knew. That Callinan would not only kill the first prince, but also the first prince.

‘Look for someone at this inn I wrote about.’

Gallog told him to look for the person he had prepared in advance, but Leo could not find the person at the inn.

Rather, while running away from the men who tried to sell him, he spent the night in the forest and almost died.

Of course, I didn’t think that Gallog would try to kill himself in such a complicated way.

But nine years have passed since then.

Callinan’s reign was stabilized in its own way, and all the families that were close to the emperor fell into ruin.

Even that big family, Mecenat.

But the Burbage family was still alive and well. I don’t know what it was like on the inside, but it was like that on the outside.

…But is Gallogg’s loyalty still valid?

‘It would be safer to think no.’

It is advantageous for survival to believe that even the teacher who cared for him so much as a child will abandon him.

He thought so and smiled at Elise.

“I see. It’s a great place to work.”

Elise spoke proudly at Leo’s words.

“Sure. Our lady is a cultured person. You don’t treat your maids carelessly.”

“Okay? But that cultured young lady doesn’t like theater?”

I’ve never heard of Gallogue having a daughter.

But in nine years, Gallogue may have had a daughter.

Now that he has the child he so desperately wants, he may want to be loyal to Cullinan and be guaranteed a peaceful retirement.

In that case, it was dangerous for Cellogg to reveal my true identity because of this play.

So, this question was just to get a feel for the maid. The innocent Elise answered.

“You like it! He already wanted to see Romeo and Juliet, but the Marquis did not allow it. There are too many people in private theaters, and it is dangerous. Instead, they allowed something else. I heard you’re putting on a play at Mecenat Castle in a few days?”

“Oh, that party.”

I’m talking about the party that Louisa’s stupid aunt had invited.

There he decided to do something called a two-person play with Henry.

<The Prince and the Pauper>

Louisa came back with a plausible script this time.

A prince who became a beggar, and a beggar who became a prince.

It was interesting. Louisa may not have known it, but it suited her situation perfectly.

Because he is a prince who became a beggar.

Maybe he will become more immersed in that role than Romeo. He had thought

But Burbage’s daughter comes there.

Leo looked at the dirty mirror and laughed mirthlessly.

“I can’t believe you’re there…. It went well.”

* * *

The party Catherine invited is tomorrow.

That meant that rehearsals for “The Prince and the Pauper,” which was scheduled to be performed there, were also coming to an end.

<The Prince and the Pauper>

This famous novel has been converted into numerous plays and musicals. If you consider the number of movies and dramas made with The Prince and the Pauper as a motif, it is impossible to count them.

That’s how much this novel has an excellent plot.

Two people who were born on the same day and at the same time and even have identical faces.

However, one is the son of a king, and the other is a humble beggar and lives a completely different life.

And one day, the two meet and, as if by a twist of fate, they swap clothes and experience each other’s lives.

A prince becomes a beggar, and a beggar becomes a prince.

However, several problems arise when reconstructing this interesting plot into a two-person play.

The most important problem, of course, is that there are quite a few characters in this novel other than the prince and the beggar.

There are several solutions to this problem, but I decided to use that one.

‘Monologue.’

It refers to lines in which an actor recites his or her situation or feelings alone without assuming the other person.

The beauty of a one-person or two-person play is this monologue.

In a one-person or two-person play, the actor’s immersion is very important, because if the monologue continues for a long time, it is easy for the actor to become immersed.

For lines that require ping-ponging back and forth with the other person, if the other person’s emotional line is a little off, the actor has no choice but to suffer the repercussions.

However, when you first start focusing on monologues, you find yourself being dragged along by your increasingly heightened emotions.

So, in plays with long monologues, it is easy and convenient to express emotions. The actor looks good at acting and stands out.

So the type of script that actors really prefer is a play with a long monologue.

But from a directing perspective….

‘It’s tricky.’

Once the actor begins his monologue, it is the actor’s solo performance from then on. It becomes difficult for directing to get involved.

That’s why some directors hire actors who are good at it and then watch while they do it.

However, in fact, plays with long monologues are the plays that require directing as an acting director the most.

The directing is good at controlling fine emotions, so the tempo of the play has to be driven without being too loud or too subdued.

Thanks to this, I was very nervous throughout the practice.

I had to immerse myself in the moment and feel and control the actor’s emotions as if I was acting.

After completing that practice, every inch of my body hurt and I felt like I was drooping.

In the midst of all this, as soon as I entered the count’s residence, Alfredo told me that the count had invited me to have dinner with him.

‘You always say you’re busy with business, but why today…?’

Although I thought so, I did not refuse the count’s meal.

You can’t fuss about the topic of debt collectors.

“Go in and get some rest.”

I said to Leo.

Then Leo said as if he was not pleased.

“Are you going to cry again?”

“……?”

Ah. That time.

I said, dumbfounded.

“Just stop worrying and take care of yourself. Go in, eat well and rest. Because tomorrow is the performance.”

Leo grinned at my words.

“That is correct. Then let’s eat together too.”

“You want to have a meal together with my fiancé and my slave?”

I asked with a puzzled look on my face. Leo nodded. Alfredo came up to me and whispered as if he was dumbfounded.

“Does that make sense? Later, I will have dinner with the count, the princess, the slave, and the princess’ ex-lover!”

For a moment, I thought of the sight of Rudy, the Count, and Leo sitting together.

It’s a bit strange, but I don’t think any of the three of them will really care.

“Ah, how about eating at the same table? They say buying and selling people is bad, but do you think slaves are dirty?”

Leo looked at Alfredo and said as if he was disappointed. Of course, the eyes were smiling.

“It seems like the maids in this mansion are under Alfredo’s control. They always serve me only dry cheese and bread.”

Alfredo’s face turned red at Leo’s words.

“How can that be? The Count treats his guests well!”

“Okay. Customer. Then I guess I can eat it too.”

Leo laughed.

Looking at that, I frowned.

I thought for a moment and said.

“It’s noisy. It’s no big deal to have a meal together. Just come in.”

I said that and opened the dining room door.

The maids were waiting to open the door, but when I opened the door, they panicked and stepped back.

And the moment the door opened, I came face to face with the well-dressed count.

At the same time, the count’s face crumples with contempt.

“…Looking at me like that doesn’t change my clothes.”

I answered that face while looking down at my shabby practice clothes.

My fiancee looked very uncomfortable wearing this outfit in front of the maids, but there was nothing I could do about it.

“What is that guy?”

The Count raised his knife and pointed it at Leo with a wrinkled face.

Why do you need a knife….

Before I could answer anything, Leo came up next to me and said with a smile.

“I am my master’s belongings. You have to take your valuables with you.”

This crazy guy.