A Monodrama for Carolyn August - Chapter 26

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 26.
“I’m only joking. Laugh, Caroline.”
At Aiden’s urgent addition, Caroline finally released the corners of her mouth that had been twitching.
“You didn’t make a single mistake throughout the performance.”
“After all those hours of practice. I learned directly from the greatest clown.”
“That’s right, I heard you actually sought out the circus troupe to train with them.”
The two of them bowed gracefully, leaning back, and traced a wide arc.
The rhythm had grown quite leisurely now.
“Since the performance centered so much on the clown Will, you must have had quite a lot to learn.”
Aiden hadn’t merely acted during the preparation period—he had undergone genuine training to become a clown.
The Moonlit Night Circus, the world’s finest troupe that performs while traveling across the globe each year, had taught Aiden directly.
“Balloon Making, Mime, Juggling, Magic… weren’t you tired of it? It must have distracted you from your acting.”
“On the contrary, I found it wonderful.”
Caroline tilted her head in puzzlement.
‘He keeps saying he found every role wonderful. Is that genuine, or just modesty?’
“I was able to freely observe the circus troupe’s rehearsals. I was someone who could watch their performances without cost.”
Aiden turned his gaze toward the window.
His eyes held a sweetness, as though he were dreaming a midsummer night’s dream.
“That was the first time I ever saw a circus. How about you, Caroline? Have you seen one before?”
“Yes, often when I was young….”
Caroline let her words trail off.
Though her neighborhood wasn’t wealthy, circuses large and small would visit regularly.
She’d even attended fine circuses through school field trips. Circuses weren’t exactly a luxury entertainment, after all.
‘So he saw one for the first time as an adult. That’s rather peculiar.’
“Yes, that’s usually the case. But I wasn’t particularly blessed or free in my childhood. Because of that, the first circus I saw was truly captivating.”
‘Not blessed or free?’
Caroline looked up at the man with confusion in her eyes.
She understood he’d lived in Darabel Manor since childhood. Wealthy enough that one might call him rich.
‘Does he mean he wasn’t free because he worked as a Child Actor?’
That seemed plausible.
Working from a young age would be like that.
“And above all, practicing circus skills was like rest for me. I love acting, but breathing as that character, following their every gesture—it’s exhausting beyond measure. Paradoxically, training in circus techniques to become that character gave me a liberation unlike any other, a sense of being utterly removed from the character.”
Following the man’s lead, Caroline’s feet moved of their own accord.
Her heels tapped briskly against the floor, and she spun once, using her raised arm as the central axis.
Aiden nodded once, as though approving, and continued speaking.
“And it’s enjoyable.”
“You certainly looked like you were enjoying it. I understand those in the circus are performing their laughter consciously, but….”
“Yes, it truly is enjoyable. So I thought I might share this pleasure with you, Caroline.”
“?”
The dance came to an end.
Caroline stood in the center of the hall, hand in hand with Aiden.
It wasn’t the first time they’d drawn close, or made physical contact. Yet the mere fact that his fingertips were resting softly against hers made something feel peculiar.
The fine rain outside, the quiet atmosphere in the Recreation Room—these things had affected her so.
But even that was fleeting.
“?”
Aiden began fumbling through his pocket for something.
“This is….”
A Red Ball.
“Since the music is finished and you’ve mastered dancing—Will’s first requirement.”
Exactly five Red Balls were held in his hands.
“Shall we practice Juggling?”
The man’s hand gently wrapped around Caroline’s elbow.
“Forgive me, Caroline.”
“That’s fine. Touch freely. No, I mean….”
Caroline tried to cover her mouth, but gave up because of the balls resting in her hands.
Fortunately, the man—who was merely a conquest target in her game—seemed not to mind her words.
“Feel the weight of the two balls in your hand.”
He was wearing White Gloves that extended to his wrists, so as not to cause her any discomfort.
‘Where did those come from?’
She hadn’t seen them before.
It was the white gloves that always accompanied Aiden’s sky blue tailcoat—not as a clown, but as the ringmaster of the Moonlit Night Circus.
With white buttons fastened at the wrists.
And Caroline found that a man wearing them appeared far more restrained than one with bare hands.
In short, it meant he was attractive.
‘This is trouble.’
He stood directly behind her.
Caroline’s back was close enough to touch his chest.
‘He’ll hear my heartbeat.’
Aiden overlapped his arm slightly with Caroline’s and steadied her hands from beneath.
Like a scale’s fulcrum rising and falling, he lifted her hands slowly upward, then lowered them, returning them to their original position.
“Now, try holding the ball. Grip it tightly, then cradle it very gently. Find that delicate point—firm enough to control it, yet light enough to move freely.”
Caroline followed his instructions.
“And now, shall we try tossing each ball upward one at a time and catching it? Not too high.”
She thought it would be easy, but it wasn’t.
Caroline knew her physical abilities were limited, yet she was flustered when each ball she intended to toss reached a different height than the last.
“Just a span or two of height will do. Mm.”
As Aiden explained in detail, he seemed to realize that words alone wouldn’t work, and he hesitated for a moment.
Then his gloved hand enfolded Caroline’s hand.
Like porcelain placed within silk wrapping, he covered her completely and then some.
“Let’s try together. I’ll toss it, so will you remember the feeling?”
Though she’d been startled by the sudden juggling lesson, Caroline discovered it wasn’t unpleasant at all.
Having her favorite actor stand behind her proved far more pleasant than she’d expected.
His voice drifted down from above her head, and the shadow he cast over her brought an odd sense of comfort.
“Do you feel it?”
“……Yes, yes!”
At Aiden’s question, Caroline nodded eagerly.
As he applied the gentlest pressure to lift her hands upward, the ball rose and fell—just a span or two of height.
A sensation so light that she didn’t even need to grasp; her hands caught it of their own accord.
Caroline intuited that this was the heart of juggling.
“Rather enjoyable, isn’t it?”
“It is enjoyable.”
To be precise, what delighted her was less the juggling itself than the closeness they shared like this.
Caroline answered hastily and followed his hand as it moved.
His juggling lesson concluded with Caroline practicing tosses and catches from side to side, then repeating the sequence.
“Each ball has a slightly different weight, feel, and shape. The beans or beads inside vary in quantity.”
And then he demonstrated what he’d spoken of—juggling six balls with ease.
‘So it wasn’t just a joke after all.’
Caroline watched in wonder as Aiden executed the dazzling display without even darting his eyes about, performing it flawlessly.
“Once you gain experience juggling like this, you’ll be able to discern quite a lot when you watch someone else juggle later.”
And his words were not mere talk.
Exactly a few hours later, Caroline would come to understand this.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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