Chapter 65

Chapter : 65

The sun was large in the sky, and the wind blew softly. It was a fine day. I sat in the garden and shared Karlen’s confections with Navier.

Every time I picked up a confection, she explained the history tied to it and the advantages that distinguished it from other products. I listened while savoring the sweetness of the confection.

Perhaps because I had learned mana, even my tongue had grown sturdy, and no matter how many confections I chewed, I did not get even a single cut anywhere. It was practically a tongue of steel.

“How much salary do Karlen’s bakers receive?”

“Hmm.... Their honor may be less than those who serve in the Imperial Court, but if we speak only of salary, would it not be higher than theirs?”

“Would they come if I called them? If I said I would pay more.”

“I also need to use Karlen, so please do not do that.”

“True. Their skill is too good to work for just one person. Trying to monopolize this would make me a villain.”

“Exactly.”

After finishing our small talk, I examined the vase Navier had shown me. She had deliberately brought an ordinary vase that could be seen anywhere. Though the glasswork was finely made, it was simple, without patterns or designs. That was because she expected people’s attention to go more toward the flowers that way.

We were finishing preparations for the festival one by one. Navier had ordered a new dress for that day, and she planned to ask her family to bring in a famous makeup artist.

“Are we almost done now? The midterm exams are coming soon. How are things on that side?”

“Nothing has gone wrong. As for academics, I studied most of it during vacation, so my grades should be fine. Now I only need to wait for the festival.”

“Hmm. Very good.”

We were in the middle of raising a toast when one of Navier’s classmates came rushing over. She was tall and had a high voice, and since she was a friend Navier often brought around, I was familiar with her face as well.

In an urgent tone, excited by the fact that she was reporting the information to Navier before anyone else, she said,

“Have you heard? They say His Highness the Crown Prince will soon return to the Academy!”

Navier and I were startled and met each other’s eyes.

This quickly?

Something was strange.

To Kartea, the Academy was something that did not matter much.

For him, the Academy could hardly have held any meaning beyond giving him a chance to mingle with people his own age before ascending to the imperial throne.

So returning to the Academy at such an important time felt unnatural.

He definitely had some other purpose.

“I will look into it.”

“Yes. I will leave it to you. If you learn anything, tell me immediately.”

“Yes.”

---

The second semester was more relaxed than the first. My schedule was more generous, and since I had cast off the burdens from my mind, I felt lighter. For that reason, I sometimes did things I normally would not, and this was true not only of me but of Ian as well. He had changed since entering the second semester.

There was the matter of him eating Tteokbokki not long ago, and Ian also came to find me from time to time for no particular reason. It seemed mostly to pass the time when he had nothing to do, and we did one thing or another together. Today, he held out a sheet of paper to me. When I looked to see what it was, it was a ticket for a performance by the Academy’s Musical Club.

“Why this?”

“Let us go watch it together.”

“That is unexpected. Do you like things like this?”

“Just because. It is close, I have time left over, and just because.”

When talking to people, Ian had a habit of staring intently at the other person’s expression. At first, I had found it unpleasant because it felt as though I was being observed, but now I knew that was not it.

Ordinary people could notice many things with only a glance. Whether the other person was in a good mood or a bad one. Whether their reaction was positive or negative. They realized such things easily, but Ian found that difficult.

As a child, he had learned changes in expression from Katein through rote memorization, and he had lived while putting that into practice. This kid did this because of all that too.

Seeing Ian’s eyes fixed sharply on the area around my mouth, I pulled both corners of my lips upward and smiled.

“Yes. Let us do that.”

I followed Ian to the performance hall.

“What kind of musical is it?”

“I do not know. But here.”

Ian showed me the pamphlet in his hand. I knew what it was. I had occasionally seen pamphlets like this before. There were outsiders, or sometimes students, who chattered while putting something into the hands of passing students at the Academy. Of course, that had never happened to me. People did that only after judging who they were dealing with. And yet this kid, who was the Master of the Magic Tower, had apparently been caught by one.

I sat in the performance hall and looked around. It was a club performance. My expectations were low. Looking at the pamphlet, it seemed to be a story that would be popular anywhere. The protagonist, who was born a slave, had a secret of birth, and it turned out he was an Angel. Then he saw a princess of the royal family, fell in love, and courted her.

Clichéd.

The ending was not written on the pamphlet, but I cautiously predicted that the princess would commit suicide and die.

Even so, it was a theme that would always be popular regardless of trends. After a few decades, it would probably be adapted and transformed in various ways and offer a different kind of enjoyment, but to me, who had lived in the modern world, there was something tedious about it.

“Haaahm....”

I covered the yawn that burst out during the performance with my hand. The performance was only so-so. The actors’ performances, the songs. The sound in particular was disappointing.

Kids performing as a hobby.

The keyboard, familiar to everyone, was played by someone with outstanding skill, but the brass and percussion sections were somewhat lacking. The only time I nodded was when a song came on. Because they used famous art songs from this world like a jukebox, there were a few pieces I had heard before too.

That was exactly the extent of my impression. Then what about Ian? I glanced sideways to read Ian’s mood, and he seemed rather absorbed. His eyes looked as though they might fall out.

I blinked at his unexpected reaction. So this kid did have hobbies after all. After the performance ended, I asked him,

“Do you usually go watch performances like this?”

“Sometimes. The expressions are easy to understand. How people smile when they are happy, how they frown when they are angry, things like that. The expressions actors make are the correct answers ordinary people think of.”

“Is that why you watch plays? What about fun?”

“Fun?”

“Yes. Fun. That is the most important part, is it not? Everyone watches because it is fun.”

“I am not sure about that. Time does pass quickly when I watch.”

“Really? I did not find it fun. It was boring.”

At my words, Ian closed his mouth. He moved his eyes, checking whether any wrinkles had appeared anywhere on my face.

“Maybe because everyone was doing it as a hobby, but the acting was not good. The story too. So it was disappointing.”

“Sorry. I took your time.”

“Yes. So next time, let us go watch something fun. Somewhere with expensive tickets. Somewhere with a large theater.”

Ian smiled and nodded.

---

When I had lived in the modern world, I had seen musicals a few times. It was because an actor my sister liked had appeared in one. The tickets had been expensive. It had also been the end of the year, and it was a licensed musical with high production costs. What had I thought after seeing it? Well. I did not think I had fallen asleep.

The music was decent, but the actors’ performances were not great. It was burdensome for one actor to handle every performance in a week, and for the producers, who had to pay star actors per performance, it was also more advantageous to cast several actors.

The musical my sister and I saw had apparently, by coincidence, been the first time the male and female actors performed together. Well, they must have had their own issues.

My sister said the week after the official stage opening was basically rehearsal and coaxed me into going again, but even when I saw it again, I did not feel much.

Would this time be different?

No one made plans for that very weekend when someone said, Let us eat together sometime, but Ian was different somehow.

I did not know where he had obtained them, but he held out tickets for a famous theater troupe.

“Aren’t you too fast?”

“You have nothing to do anyway. It is an expensive place.”

“Yes. Seeing the ticket glitter even though it is just a ticket, it does seem that way.”

I read the name written on the ticket.

Imperial First Theater Troupe.

It was the most popular theater troupe in the capital. The Imperial First Theater Troupe owned its own dedicated theater. Because of that, the audience seats were close to the stage, and among them, the tickets Ian had brought were close to the stage. He probably thought closer to the stage was better. Fortunately, my neck was sturdy.

We sat in the seats written on the tickets. I stiffly raised my head and spoke.

“The seats are good.”

“Yes. They are right at the front. I chose the ones where the actors’ expressions could be seen clearly.”

“Do you have a lot of money?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I suppose you would.”

It was a performance that had already been open-running for several years. Its quality was guaranteed. I lowered my shoulders and released the strength from my body. I did not think of it as going along with Ian; I simply intended to enjoy the performance. I followed the flow of the story and listened to the music.

It was good. Both the acting and the music were outstanding. While I was absorbed in the performance like that, I became aware of a gaze beside me and glanced over. My eyes met Ian’s. This time too, he seemed worried I would complain that it was boring.

Why was this kid so heavy?

To put his mind at ease, I deliberately smiled while watching the performance and nodded as though impressed. It was true that the performance we had seen at the Academy had been boring, but I had not said that so he would keep it in his heart. I had been careless. That was a mistake.

I pretended to be exaggeratedly absorbed in the actors’ performances, smiling, frowning, and acting surprised. As I did, Ian spoke into my ear.

“That is not how you act. It is all obvious.”

“I will have to do better next time.”

This kid had spent years observing other people’s expressions, so I had been clumsy.

“Do not do things like acting. It is uncomfortable.”

“Everyone acts a little while living. Not only with you. Everyone does.”

“It makes me uncomfortable.”

“I will try.”

Even if we whispered, talking like this was bound to bother the people around us, so I closed my mouth and focused on the performance. It was decent enough to watch, but there was one actor who stood out. Whether because there was a problem with her acting or singing, she played an extra role, but her appearance was extraordinary. I thought she might be someone who had been described in my sister’s previous work, but it was hard to be certain. Perhaps they had simply used a beautiful actor.

Was it all right to let this pass?

My sister sometimes had characters from her previous works appear. Their weight in the story was small, and even if one had not read the previous work, they were at a level where one could simply assume that was how it was and move on. That was because there were readers who liked it even if the character only passed by briefly like that.

Did that not mean the worldviews were all the same?

After the performance ended, I checked the actor’s name in the pamphlet. It was a name I knew. A character who had appeared in my sister’s first work. I had wondered how she was living after being defeated, but it seemed she at least managed to make a living thanks to her face.

“There do not seem to be any danger factors.”

The connected pair had become Angels and were watching from the sky, looking down on the earth. I probably would not meet them.