Chapter 19

Chapter 019

The performances for Romeo and Juliet had come to an end.

During the final show, the venue was so packed that some people resorted to clinging to pillars just to watch while standing.

That massive audience wept and laughed alongside the actors.

Having stepped down backstage, Leo silently gazed at the people lingering in the audience even after the play had finished.

‘I got immersed.’

He knew it, too.

His acting was changing.

The signs that he would get immersed in this play had existed from a much earlier point.

‘You read through Romeo’s story, didn’t you, slave?’

Perhaps ever since those arrogant eyes had spoken like that.

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

A Romeo who hates the Montagues.

Yet a Romeo who inevitably turns into a Montague himself.

When he first read the script, the Montague figure was clearly the Emperor—his uncle, Cullinan.

However, as he performed, the Montague figure he found was Luisa.

Luisa Messina.

That strange woman.

My master, who shines brightest on stage.

A woman who wrote a deeply passionate love story, only to turn it into a play overflowing with resentment toward the world.

While claiming it was nothing to be pointed at by everyone as a villainess, why did she cry in secret back at the Count’s estate?

While crying, why did she pull away like that whenever there was even the slightest chance of physical contact?

How could that supposedly difficult contact happen so easily on stage?

Just what on earth is real about you?

Which side is the act?

Or is all of this actually just an act?

‘I mustn’t be fooled.’

Deceiving had to be done from his end, always.

He had to deceive Luisa brilliantly, secure his safety through her, and exact his revenge.

To do that, Luisa had to fall for him.

Yet Luisa still hadn’t asked him a single time for his name, and….

“…mio. Romeo!”

It was right at that moment.

A woman who had come outside the dressing room called out to him. Her flushed face looked somewhat familiar.

Ah. It’s that girl.

The girl who had offered flowers to Luisa when she stepped out of the carriage back then.

At that time, if what the girl held out had been a blade instead of flowers, Leo would have immediately—.

‘Twisted her neck on the spot.’

He flashed a bright smile while looking at Elise’s delicate nape.

“Ah, so you wanted me to pass this along to Juliet, right?”

“Yes. Do you think she’ll like it?”

Elise held out a box of chocolates that looked quite expensive, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Because the area in front of Luisa’s dressing room was so crowded, audience members sometimes sought out Leo instead.

Of course, there were those who came out of interest in Leo himself, but he turned those people away cold and sharp.

The audience members Leo showed interest in and spoke to gently were exclusively those who liked Luisa.

“Probably.”

Luisa liked those kinds of people.

She also liked the gifts those audience members gave.

Even though she said she wouldn’t accept gifts from him, it seemed things were different when it came to the audience.

Luisa was like that.

Even if someone merely talked to her, she would scowl, yet the moment they said ‘I really enjoyed the performance,’ she would show interest.

She would sit there with the most indifferent face in the world, only for her eyes to light up whenever talk of the stage came up.

That was how much she loved the stage.

Knowing that, the moment Henry shed tears, Leo had gotten immersed despite himself.

If Henry surpassed him, Luisa’s attention would be stolen away by Henry.

Because Luisa was that kind of woman—a woman whose interest could absolutely not be gained through anything other than the stage.

“There’s a shop near Marquis Burbage’s estate. It’s so famous that the line was ridiculously long.”

It was right then.

Excited by the thought that Luisa would like it, Elise spoke up.

The corners of Leo’s eyes lifted subtly as he held up the chocolate box.

“Marquis Burbage’s estate? I take it you live around there.”

“Yes. I’m a maid serving Lady Elena, the Marquis’s cherished only daughter.”

Marquis Burbage.

A person he knew very well. No, perhaps far beyond simply knowing him.

Because the person who had helped him escape from the Imperial Castle long ago was none other than Gallog Burbage, the current Marquis Burbage.

‘Please flee, Your Highness.’

His master who had taught young him swordsmanship, Marquis Burbage had prepared a horse at the training grounds one night.

It was the night his cousin—the current Second Prince—was born.

Gallog had known. He knew Cullinan would kill not only the late Emperor, but the First Prince as well.

‘Find the person at the inn I wrote down for you.’

Gallog told him to look for the person he had arranged in advance, but Leo couldn’t find that person at that inn.

Instead, while fleeing from men trying to sell him off, he spent the night in the forest and nearly died.

Of course, he didn’t think Gallog had tried to kill him through such a convoluted method.

However, nine years had passed since then.

Cullinan’s reign had stabilized in its own way, and the families close to the late Emperor had all fallen into ruin.

Even that massive family, Messina.

Yet the Burbage family remained perfectly intact. On the surface, at least, even if one couldn’t tell what lay within.

…Even so, would Gallog’s loyalty still remain valid?

‘It’s safer to assume it isn’t.’

Believing that even the master who cherished him so dearly in his youth would abandon him—that was far more advantageous for survival.

Thinking so, he flashed a bright smile at Elise.

“I see. You work at a nice place.”

At Leo’s words, Elise spoke proudly.

“Of course. Our lady is a cultured person. She doesn’t treat the maids carelessly.”

“Is that so? But does that cultured lady not like plays?”

He had never heard that Gallog had a daughter.

However, in the span of nine years, Gallog might have had a daughter.

Having obtained the child he so desperately desired, he might have wanted to pledge loyalty to Cullinan and secure a comfortable old age.

If so, having his identity exposed to Gallog because of this play was dangerous.

So this question right now was meant to probe the maid. Innocent Elise answered.

“She loves them! In fact, she wanted to see Romeo and Juliet too, but the Marquis didn’t grant permission. After all, private theaters have too many people and are dangerous. Instead, he permitted something else. I heard you’re performing at the main Messina estate in a few days?”

“Ah, you mean that party.”

She was referring to the party hosted by Luisa’s foolish aunt.

He was supposed to perform a two-person play with Henry there.

The Prince and the Pauper.

Luisa had come carrying a plausible script this time as well.

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

It was intriguing. Luisa probably didn’t know, but it fit his situation impeccably.

Because he was a prince who had become a pauper.

Perhaps he might get even more immersed in that role than in Romeo’s, he had thought.

Yet Burbage’s daughter was coming there, was she?

Leo looked into the dirty mirror and chuckled softly.

“To think she’s coming there… that’s truly convenient.”

* * *

The party hosted by Catherine was coming up tomorrow.

Which meant that practice for The Prince and the Pauper, scheduled to be performed there, was also in its final stretch.

The Prince and the Pauper.

As a famous novel, this work had been converted into numerous plays and musicals. If one included movies and dramas created with the prince and pauper motif, they were simply beyond count.

That was how dramatically magnificent a plot this novel possessed.

Born on the exact same day at the exact same time, two people who even shared identical faces.

Yet one was the son of a king, while the other was of humble pauper origin, living entirely different lives.

Then one day, the two encounter each other, and as if by a trick of fate, they swap clothes and experience each other’s lives.

The prince becomes a pauper, and the pauper becomes a prince.

However, restructuring this intriguing plot into a two-person play brings several problems.

The most critical issue, of course, was that this novel had quite a few characters aside from the prince and the pauper.

There were several solutions to this problem, but I decided to use one specific method.

‘Soliloquy.’

It refers to lines where an actor recites their own situation or emotions at length without assuming a counterpart.

The true charm of a one-person or two-person play lies right in this soliloquy.

In a one-person or two-person play, an actor’s level of immersion is extremely important, and if these soliloquies stretch out long, it makes it easier for the actor to get immersed.

Lines that require back-and-forth ping-pong with a partner inevitably force the actor to take the hit if the partner’s emotional line slips even slightly.

Soliloquies, however, allow the actor to be carried away by their own gradually heightening emotions once they start focusing on their own.

That was why plays with long soliloquies made generating emotions itself easy and comfortable. It made the actor look skilled and stand out.

Hence, plays with long soliloquies were the exact kind of scripts actors preferred immensely.

However, from a director’s standpoint….

‘Tricky.’

Once an actor begins a soliloquy, it becomes their solo stage from that point on. It gets awkward for the director to intervene.

Because of that, some directors hire actors who are already good on their own and simply sit back to watch with hands off.

Yet in reality, a play with long soliloquies is precisely where a director as an acting coach is needed most.

The director has to tune the fine emotional adjustments properly so that the tempo of the play is carried forward without rising too high or sinking too low.

Thanks to that, I was thoroughly tense the entire time I was training them.

It felt as if I were acting myself, having to immerse myself in that moment to feel and adjust the actors’ emotions.

After finishing such practice, every inch of my body ached, and I felt thoroughly drained.

To make matters worse, the moment I stepped into the Count’s estate, Alfredo delivered the news that the Count wanted to have dinner together with me.

‘He’s always claiming he’s busy with business, so why today of all days….’

Even while thinking that, I didn’t reject the Count’s dinner.

A debtor has no right to act up.

“Go inside and get some deep rest.”

I said to Leo.

At that, Leo spoke as if displeased.

“Going to cry again?”

“……?”

Ah. That time back then.

I spoke, feeling utterly dumbfounded.

“Mind your own business and manage your body. Go inside, eat well, and rest. Tomorrow is the performance.”

Leo flashed a bright smile at my words.

“That makes sense. Then let’s eat together, too.”

“Have dinner with my fiancé, my slave, and me—the three of us?”

I asked with a dumbfounded look. Leo nodded his head. Alfredo approached me looking utterly bewildered and whispered.

“Does that even make sense? Next thing you know, we’ll be having dinner with the Count, the Lady’s slave, and the Lady’s ex-lover all together!”

I briefly pictured the sight of Rudy, the Count, and Leo sitting together as a trio.

It’s a bit strange, but none of the three seem like they’d particularly mind—.

“Ah, what’s so bad about sharing a meal at the same table? You said buying and selling people was bad, but as expected, is a slave dirty after all?”

Leo looked at Alfredo and spoke as if hurt. Of course, his eyes were smiling.

“It feels like the maids in this mansion are under Alfredo’s control. They always serve me nothing but dry cheese and bread.”

At Leo’s words, Alfredo’s face flushed bright red.

“How could that possibly be! The Count’s estate treats guests well!”

“Right. Guests. Then it should be fine for me to eat together too, right?”

Leo smiled.

Watching that, I scowled.

After pondering for a moment, I spoke.

“Be quiet. Sharing a meal isn’t a big deal. Just come in.”

Saying so, I pushed open the dining room door.

The maids, who were waiting to open the door, retreated in fluster the moment I opened it myself.

And the instant the door opened, I came face-to-face with the well-dressed Count.

Along with the Count’s face contorting in utter contempt.

“…Staring at me like that won’t change my clothes.”

Looking down at my shabby practice outfit, I responded to that face.

In front of the maids, having his fiancée in this outfit seemed extremely unpleasant to him, but there was no helping it.

“What is that fellow?”

With his face thoroughly crumpled, the Count raised a knife and pointed at Leo.

Why a knife of all things….

Before I could even answer anything, Leo quietly slid next to me and said with a smile.

“I’m our Master’s property. Valuables ought to be carried around, after all.”

This crazy bastard.