A Monodrama for Carolyn August - Chapter 5

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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 5.
“Hmm.”
Aiden, regarding Caroline with interest, blinked gracefully and shook his head.
“Truth is, I didn’t even know there was a show today, so I’m not quite sure what you mean. But the reason I opened the door so suddenly was… I saw some woman rushing this way just a moment ago.”
Aiden nodded, his eyebrows raised.
“I know it shouldn’t happen, but when I saw her doing it anyway, I followed to stop her, and… well, this is how it turned out. I understand if you find it hard to believe……”
“I believe you, sweetie. I saw it myself.”
“You saw it?”
“Yes. And I’ve handled it appropriately.”
His expression turned glacial in an instant.
The warmth that had been there vanished, leaving only a cold, hard face.
Aiden rolled his eyes as if recalling the woman who had visited earlier, then turned his gaze back to Caroline.
“It’s getting late. I’d like to see this face longer, but I should be going.”
Caroline nodded.
It was certainly time for him to rest as well.
As she turned to leave the room and reached for the door, something unsaid came back to her.
“Oh.”
“?”
The man leaning against the wall, waving both hands in farewell, raised an eyebrow.
“Make sure to wash up and dry yourself well. You’ll catch cold otherwise.”
His expression became peculiar.
‘Was that overstepping?’
Caroline quickly shut the door.
And she hurried off toward her own room.
* * *
Though she fell asleep quickly due to the tension, her dreams were restless.
Caroline, unable to wake even when a servant called her to breakfast, skipped the meal.
‘I must have been too frightened yesterday. That’s why I couldn’t get up on time.’
The Tea Party began in the late afternoon in the Garden before the Mansion. The Garden was filled with pleasant pale green, and bees and butterflies fluttered about from time to time. It seemed someone had taken great aesthetic care with the place.
All the guests had arrived before her and sat as though they were machines. It was an eerie sight that matched poorly with the beautiful surroundings.
The beautiful women wore the exact same clothes as on the first day. She tried to find even subtle differences in their hairstyles or makeup, but it was in vain.
‘Completely identical.’
They sat rigidly without a change of expression, just as they had in the First Floor Hall on the first day.
It was enough to make her think they weren’t people at all. Whenever Caroline looked at them, she felt something uncanny.
“I shall pour the tea for you.”
A servant holding a pale pink Teapot appeared and filled the Teacups of the Tea Party guests. Of course, there was nothing before Caroline. Once again, no seat had been prepared for her.
What was most bewildering was that no one seemed to notice the absence of two people.
‘Why? Two people are missing.’
The red-haired woman who had boldly ventured to the Third Floor last night, and another. Only six people were sitting here.
Unable to bear it any longer, Caroline asked.
“Excuse me, it seems two people haven’t come……”
“Guests not coming? My lady, surely all the
five
guests are present here.”
It appears you are mistaken. Aiden said so, calmly pouring orange juice, his eyes narrowed.
“Five people?”
Even when Caroline pressed the point again, the man’s expression remained unchanged. He repeated the same words in the gentle manner of an adult speaking to a child.
“Yes, my lady.”
“But, don’t you remember the red-haired woman? She’s not here……”
“I’m not certain what you mean, Caroline.”
At his gentle but firm tone, Caroline stopped speaking.
She didn’t understand at all, but he seemed to genuinely believe what he was saying.
‘But……’
Hadn’t he said he saw that woman yesterday?
‘I believe you, sweetie. I saw it myself.’
‘And I’ve handled it appropriately.’
What’s more, he knew the number.
‘I sincerely welcome the seven guests who have come to us.’
Last time, he had clearly said seven.
It was still the same that he forgot Caroline’s existence entirely. Now there were six. But why would he forget that two people had vanished?
Time drifted into Tea Time.
Aiden showed no sign of acknowledging or mentioning his encounter with Caroline on the Third Floor yesterday. Was it somehow connected to his insistent claim about five people?
In this state of bewilderment, Tea Time unfolded above the Garden.
Seven people seated in a circle beneath the soft sunlight. Aiden, cradling his Teacup with ease, began to speak.
“The decision to retire was not an easy one. My deliberation continued until I completed , my first and only leading role.”
“Is it true that your mother passed away while you were performing ?”
“?”
Caroline turned to face the questioner as if she’d been struck.
No person of sound mind would pose such a question in this moment. The news had already been covered in the newspapers once before.
‘Is she mad?’
Why would someone invited here as a fan claw at Aiden’s heart with such words?
She’d heard stories of obsessed fans who sent box cutters and bloodied notes, desperate to be remembered.
‘Is she one of them?’
Yet Aiden answered with complete composure.
“Yes, that’s correct. It was a tragedy.”
He spoke as though discussing someone else’s affair.
And emboldened by his composure, another question came flying.
“I’ve heard your mother was your greatest Muse and mentor. When such a person passed, didn’t it affect your acting?”
It was appalling.
Aiden had completed less than a month ago—that is, he was being pressed about his mother’s death, which had occurred less than two months prior.
Yet Aiden’s focus lay elsewhere.
“…A Muse and a mentor. That’s a thoughtful question.”
‘Thoughtful to whom?’
Caroline was appalled.
“My heart was greatly unsettled. But thanks to that, I found myself more focused in my acting. Perhaps I felt greater empathy for the character of James.”
“Did that lead to changes in the production itself?”
This time it was a different woman.
Caroline held back the indignation rising in her throat and looked toward her, feeling as though her hair was turning white.
Beside every Teacup except Caroline’s lay Pen and Paper, and all six women had been recording every detail that emerged from Aiden’s explanations.
What was striking was that the handwriting was identical across all of them. Their writing speed was also nearly uniform—the pens moved almost invisibly.
‘Is this even possible? What on earth…?’
Were they gossip columnists masquerading as fans to dig up sensational stories?
‘It’s eerie.’
There was something subtly inhuman about them—not merely persistent journalists.
Caroline bit her lip.
“I didn’t change the direction of the script itself.”
“You mentioned your mother was your Muse and mentor in acting. Could you be more specific about how she influenced you?”
It wasn’t conversation—it was question and answer.
The women fired their inquiries at will, and Aiden responded with a blank expression.
The papers on the table filled rapidly.
Like a tennis match growing ever faster, each side hurrying only to volley the next shot.
It was difficult even to discern what they were asking. What was the purpose of this exchange?
‘Are they all insane?’
Bang!
“Stop it, all of you!”
Finally, Caroline could hold back no longer. She set down her Teacup with a sharp crack and cried out.

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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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