Celebrity Lady - Chapter 106

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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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Celebrity Lady
Episode 106
“Why, don’t you want to learn a bit?”
“Never mind.”
“I had this movie once where I played a dying female lead. It got pulled from theaters.”
Even thinking about it now, it’s kind of a shame. It had hit ten million viewers in just a week of release.
“You know why?”
“Why?”
“Because the audience got so absorbed in my performance that they cried and fainted. Nearly a dozen people a day were half-delirious by the time they were carried out. What could anyone do? We got shut down after a week.”
“Right.”
“It’s such a curse being a genius. I can’t even intentionally act badly if I tried.”
I preened with satisfaction, padding over to the bed and flopping down on my back.
“Ah, today was good.”
Come to think of it, Lilia had disappeared from the start of the ball and I hadn’t seen her since. I wondered what happened to her.
Just as I was pondering this, a loud voice erupted outside my room.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
It was Lilia’s voice, screaming and shrieking in barely-contained fury.
“Heh.”
I closed my eyes, satisfied.
Tonight, I could sleep a happy sleep.
* * *
A play: Romeo and Juliet.
Two lovers from rival families, their doomed love burning bright, their end a tragedy.
The theater company Rolang was eagerly preparing this new production to debut in the coming autumn.
“O, Romeo, Romeo!”
In the basement rehearsal space of the Rolang theater company.
Serra Wigo, the actress playing Juliet Capulet, was devoting herself to practice even today, just two weeks before opening.
“Why are you Romeo?”
At Serra’s passionate words, all the watching cast members held their breath.
“Deny thy name. What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, would it not?”
The balcony soliloquy of Juliet Capulet, a woman who has fallen in love with a man she ought not love.
It was the scene demanding the most care and craft.
“Romeo, cast off thy name, and for that name which is no part of thee, take all myself!”
With the line finished, Serra’s gaze turned to the “Romeo” below the balcony.
‘Oh.’
At the sight of the short blonde wig and the face beneath it, Serra faltered.
Glistening golden eyes.
A face too beautiful for words.
An expression mingling yearning desire with aching sorrow.
“Juliet, I would gladly forsake the name of Romeo for thee.”
The figure who had been squeezing his eyes shut in anguish suddenly opened them, gazing up at Serra on the balcony with desperate longing.
“Pray, call me lover instead.”
“…”
Serra simply stared down at Romeo, dazed.
Thump, thump, thump.
It was only a performance, and yet—his plaintive confession seemed so genuine, aimed at her alone, that Serra’s heart raced.
A moment of silence.
“…?”
Romeo smiled gently, tilting his head and prompting with a shape of his lips: “Serra?”
“Oh!”
She should have delivered her next line…
Flustered, Serra bowed her head.
“My apologies, my lady.”
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s take a break.”
Serra descended rapidly from the upper platform, bowing again.
“I’m truly sorry. You took time out to watch us, and I’m not doing well enough.”
“Come on, not enough? If Serra isn’t a good actress, what do all the other actors eat?”
Serra faltered again at the sight of Romeo—no, Rubetria—smiling.
“Besides, I even wore this wig to help with emotional immersion, but it seems that acting opposite me doesn’t help you focus. Right?”
“No, it’s not that…”
“Serra, the real problem is you’re immersing yourself too well, isn’t it?”
Just then, a lean man with brown hair interjected himself.
It was Heron, Serra’s fellow cast member playing Romeo Montague.
Recognizing his longtime colleague’s confusion at once, Heron’s observation made Serra nod vigorously.
Heron turned to Rubetria.
“When you were playing Juliet watching my acting, I flubbed my lines ten times in a row!”
“Was that because you couldn’t remember them?”
“Ah, how can you say such a hurtful thing? I’ve been in this business eight years. I memorized all my lines the day I got the script, and I’ve never stumbled once when rehearsing with Serra.”
“Then why is it happening?”
“Well, how do I put it…”
Unable to find words, Heron gestured wildly, flustered.
“…I actually fell in love with Juliet.”
“What?”
“It’s that! Romeo is supposed to love Juliet, yes, but for the acting to work you’re not supposed to actually fall in love, and—how do I even explain this?”
Serra understood what he meant. She nodded and joined in.
“You act so well, my lady. It feels like Romeo and I are really sneaking away for a secret tryst. It’s good to be immersed in the performance, but there still needs to be some awareness that it’s acting, and that’s been hard for me.”
“Exactly. I was just watching and my heart was pounding, thinking Juliet’s father was about to come drag Romeo away.”
“That’s not good. Should we do it separately instead, with you watching from the side?”
Rubetria tapped her chin thoughtfully, while Serra and Heron both immediately shook their heads.
Heron spoke quickly.
“We need the two of us to practice together. You wrote the script directly, my lady, so you’ll understand the principals’ emotions better than anyone. Please keep watching us. We’ve only got two weeks left.”
“Well, about that—the script’s actually by my friend William, and I’m just adapting it. And here I am being worked unpaid?”
“Ha ha!”
And yet, even as Rubetria said this, she’d already been helping with rehearsals for more than two weeks.
She’d grown quite close with the Rolang people in that time.
“Still, having Juliet only played by Serra bothers me a little. Don’t you need a spare—
(a theater company term for an understudy covering the same role)
—actor?”
“Serra’s always been our top lead. You know that, since it’s because of Serra that Rolang took off—we didn’t even have ten actors before. We were a struggling company.”
“You’ve made plenty of money now. Talk to the director about hiring more actors. How are you going to perform without a spare if something happens?”
“We’re already holding auditions. And we’ve structured this play’s schedule with plenty of margin so I can manage my condition. Please don’t worry.”
Recognizing Rubetria’s concern, Serra smiled.
“Then don’t overdo it. Your acting is perfect as it is, so take rehearsals easy. Get good sleep.”
“How can I take it easy? You’re giving me the script and watching my practice. I’m really going to pull this off. I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”
“Still…”
Observing Serra’s face, hollowed from days of all-night practice despite her overflowing enthusiasm, Rubetria let out a heavy sigh.
* * *
At that moment, in Lark’s Office.
The already-busy crown prince was in turmoil preparing to receive an unexpected visitor.
“I hear His Majesty hasn’t been sleeping these past few days.”
At his aide’s words, Lark let out a small laugh.
“I can imagine how much he’s been wanting to see her. Father is completely smitten with Marienne Endleton.”
The guest soon to visit the Imperial Palace was Marienne Endleton, widow of the late emperor and the previous Ninth Imperial Consort.
The current emperor, Leonard, was the legitimate heir’s son, yet had lost his mother in childhood. And it was Marienne, the Ninth Consort, who had cherished young Leonard like her own son.
“Unlike the other consorts, she suffered her whole life, so Father can’t help but feel deeply for her.”
When the next generation’s emperor ascended, the previous consorts typically received honorary titles and built estates near Jedto to spend their remaining years.
But Marienne alone had refused this and returned to her distant northern hometown.
“Right. She was born a commoner, wasn’t she?”
“Yes. She refused the title and went home partly to avoid the scrutiny of others.”
She had been a rare commoner-born imperial consort, and her years in the palace had brought her no shortage of hardship.
“Probably the better choice, honestly. Her livelihood is seen to by the emperor from afar, so she can live peacefully in her clean country home without any troubling concerns. Fair enough.”
The only person the emperor is completely smitten with. Marienne Endleton, practically the emperor’s own mother, visiting Jedto.
Truly a momentous guest, and so Lark was carefully arranging their itinerary.
“Do you think she likes theater?”
“Theater?”
“Don’t you know? It’s been heavily promoted around Jedto lately.”
“Ah, Romeo and Juliet?”
“Yes.”
Lark pulled several tickets from a drawer—ones Rubetria had given him with a request to promote.
“You have no idea how beautifully our acting genius Serra comes across. I’ll give you free tickets as a personal favor—please promote it to those around you, and do come see it yourself, Your Highness.”
With the emperor and even Marienne Endleton as prominent audience members who could trumpet the production’s virtues, Lark smiled with satisfaction.
* * *
Autumn deepened.
Hebe Street in Jedto.
Blanc de Rubis, starting with its flagship Lenten Tailor Shop, was now actively running six locations.
“Welcome to Blanc de Rubis.”
This Hebe location, having successfully launched its first leather goods line in April of this year, had established itself as the main branch.
It had become a flagship boutique, handling exclusively noble ladies’ handbags and high-end unisex accessories.
‘I’ve got this, Hannah. I was always good anyway, but today I’ll be even better.’
Hannah Gretchel, an employee in a neat uniform, was brimming with determination.
The reason was simple.
‘The director herself is coming to the store! If I make a good impression here, I could advance. Maybe even aim for manager.’
Madam Ruby, the owner, had come to the Hebe location in person.
‘She really was something.’
Madam Ruby, always said to wear a mask, lived up to her reputation. But even without seeing her face, the grace and dignity she radiated were extraordinary.
Madam Ruby had walked into the store with such elegance, her heels clicking rhythmically.
At the memory of her bearing, Hannah thrilled.
‘No doubt about it—she’s some noble girl playing with money.’
Hannah glanced up at the second-floor reception room where Madam Ruby was speaking with the manager, her lips curling with avarice.
Ding.
“Welcome to Blanc de Rubis.”
The shop bell chimed, and Hannah heard a coworker greet the customer.
“Welcome to Blanc—”
Hannah began her greeting but stopped short at the sight of the newcomer.
“Oh my, they say this place is famous all around Jedto, and I’ve been waiting for two hours. Number twenty-eight should be my turn, right?”
Threadbare clothes. A large, patched bag that had seen better days.
The elderly woman with white hair timidly showed her waiting number, utterly at odds with this high-end boutique catering to refined nobility.
‘What? Where did this old beggar come from?’
Hannah was flabbergasted.
While they’d introduced a ticket system to replace the old long lines, that wasn’t license for just anyone to take one.
Hannah nudged her junior coworker and whispered irritably.
“You gave a ticket to that beggar woman?”
“Why? Are we supposed to pick and choose who gets a ticket?”
At the junior’s clueless response, Hannah’s temper flared.
“Don’t you understand? Can’t you see? If someone like that comes in here, what happens to the shop’s image?”
“Oh! I’m so sorry…”
“Ugh.”
Grinding her teeth, Hannah approached the elderly woman.
“Pardon me, customer. It seems our staff made a mistake.”
“Yes?”
“Blanc de Rubis is a high-end specialty shop for nobility. I’m afraid you won’t find what you’re looking for here. Please leave.”
The confused woman looked down at her own shabby appearance.
“Oh! I didn’t mean to cause confusion. But don’t worry. I have money to pay.”
“Customer, please leave.”
“Really, I do have the money.”
The desperate woman rummaged through her bag. Inside were scattered old odds and ends.
In her rushed search for her wallet, the bag’s contents spilled across the floor.
An old rattle, small balls children might play with, a yellowed infant’s gown…
“Oh dear. I’m sorry about this.”
The woman knelt apologetically, gathering the scattered items.
At her pathetic, shabby figure, Hannah’s anger rose to a boiling point.
“Get out this instant!”
The startled woman looked up at Hannah, clutching her chest.
“Blanc de Rubis is a luxury shop where image is everything! Coming here dressed like that is disrupting business! If you don’t leave right now, I’m calling the military police!”
“Ah, I…”
The woman hesitated, her eyes growing wet with shame and sorrow.
“I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t… understand.”
“If you’re sorry, then leave—”
Click, click, click.
Then, voices and footsteps came from upstairs.
Madam Ruby and the manager were coming down. Hannah’s expression turned to dismay.
“So, hire staff according to the standards I’ve given you…”
As Madam Ruby—Rubetria—descended with a folder for the manager, her steps suddenly halted.
The shop floor’s atmosphere was oddly tense.
An elderly woman in shabby clothes gathering scattered items from the floor. A brown-haired employee standing before her.
And the other four staff members watching nervously at Rubetria’s arrival…
Quickly reading the charged atmosphere, Rubetria asked.
“What’s going on?”

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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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