49. Beggar Siblings – Play

“I’m sorry. Did you have to wait long?”

On a clear weekend, Soirin hurried down, her orange hair fluttering.

Leo, who was waiting at the family mansion’s front gate, shook his head.

“No, I just got here. Shall we go?”

He decided to keep his promise to Soirin. He had almost used his younger sister’s illness as an excuse to reject the date, but Lena was much better now, and Soirin had seen her getting up and moving around the kitchen just two days ago.

If he wanted to come up with an excuse, he could have, but he dressed neatly instead.

Soirin smiled brightly.

With her hair down instead of the usual tight bun and makeup on, her smile was radiant, but there was a hint of worry lurking somewhere.

The two took a carriage heading towards the “Arille Theater” located east of Orville.

“I always dreamed of acting in a play. Ever since I went to the theater with my parents as a child.”

Soirin said from the carriage.

“I annoyed my parents so much about becoming a great actor that my father eventually took me to a theater troupe.”

Leo listened quietly to her words. Usually, he would let such comments slide, but today was different.

“I was so happy when I joined the troupe. But it turned out, all they assigned me were worthless roles. Like the fifth maid with no lines… I even thought it would be nice to have the role of a lady talking badly about the heroine while doing laundry by the riverside.”

“That must have been tough.”

Soirin paused, as if surprised by his response. Then she gave a face that was hard to tell if it was a laugh or a cry.

“No, not at all. I gave up quickly. They didn’t teach me acting, just tossed me into roles that anyone could take… At that time, amusingly enough, I blamed my parents. Wishing I had been born prettier. Thinking that I would have been given more opportunities if I had.”

“I find that hard to believe. You’re so beautiful… The troupe must be blind.”

“Thanks, even if it’s flattery.”

She winked playfully and continued speaking.

“When I look back now, those things weren’t the problem after all. It wasn’t about my effort or passion. I gradually lost interest in the play itself. I was only hoping for better roles to come my way.”

“……”

“I don’t know why I felt that way back then… But now I’m okay. It was a good experience, and I’m satisfied just coming here to enjoy the plays as a guest. Ah! We’re here!”

The carriage stopped in front of the theater.

Leo quickly got down and extended his hand to Soirin. She happily accepted the escort and stepped down from the carriage, and the two entered and took their seats in the theater.

The play was neither good nor bad.

Since it was a theater for commoners, the props used in the play were all shabby, and the actors’ minor mistakes were noticeable.

However, some of the leading actors were excellent.

The actor playing “Tudlar Akiunen,” the first human king who founded the Acaian Kingdom, performed his role well. He was imposing, and his voice was righteous.

The portrayal of the Demon King, who appeared as his rival, was surprisingly remarkable.

Using countless flags to switch scenes, and when actors sitting in the audience jumped to chorus to emphasize the Demon King’s enormous power, a shiver ran down Leo’s spine.

Soirin gasped and instinctively grabbed Leo’s hand next to her.

When he read the pamphlet he’d received from the boy promoting the play, it stated that it was all based on historical facts.

A legend that the great king and the first Swordmaster, Tudlar Akiunen, defeated the evil and conquered the alien races for humanity.

Of course, the Belita Kingdom, which heavily inherited the legitimacy of the Acaian Empire, took this to be history, not just a legend.

Leo enjoyed the play more than he had anticipated.

However, there was a noticeable actor. No, it was hard to even call them an actor.

They wore a crappy black hood that made it impossible to identify their gender, flailing their limbs as they acted out the Demon King’s lackey.

Leo felt his heart racing strangely. He couldn’t take his eyes off that actor.

When they huddled as if hiding from Tudlar Akiunen, he felt anxious, and when they charged out at the Demon King’s command, he was worried they would trip over their own hood.

Was it the sincerity of their performance? This feeling was almost…

“Wow! Look at that! Up there!”

At that moment, Soirin pointed to the ceiling.

On the stage, a pure white sun (clearly a comforter stuffed with cotton) was slowly descending from above.

The appearance of the divine.

If there was someone trained in theology present, they would surely have objected to this scene.

The Cross Church claimed that Tudlar Akiunen had no connection to the divine.

It was strange.

Since Tudlar Akiunen was revered by everyone, it wouldn’t hurt to claim that his glory originated from the gods.

Not knowing theology and uninterested in the cotton-made sun, Leo searched for the actor who had caught his attention.

But the lackey had disappeared with the appearance of the divine. Only the Demon King remained, screaming, while Tudlar Akiunen plunged his shining sword (it was just an ordinary sword, but there was a flag illustrated with a shimmering sword in the background) into his chest.

With that, the curtain fell.

“That was really fun! Ah, when ‘Leisia’ appeared, she was so beautiful!”

The two exited without taking their carriage and walked.

Soirin, seemed excited, talked about the play for a while but gradually calmed down. Their footsteps fell out of sync, Leo and Soirin walked unevenly.

“Aren’t you hungry? There’s a restaurant nearby…”

“No, I’m fine.”

Soirin smiled bitterly.

“Leo, thank you for today. I had a wonderful time thanks to you.”

“I enjoyed it too. I never expected the play to be this entertaining.”

A moment of awkward silence passed. The two just shuffled along. Then they entered a narrow alley, and as Leo and Soirin walked closely together, it felt oddly more awkward.

Thinking it was somehow weirder, Soirin looked up at Leo and said,

“By the way, I actually… I knew you weren’t interested in me.”

“……”

“And I haven’t congratulated you yet. Congratulations! I heard from Lena yesterday that you’re going to become the Marquis’ adopted son?”

As it wasn’t a question expecting an answer, Leo acknowledged it with silence.

The reason he came to see this play today was to wrap things up.

He knew Soirin had feelings for him. However, he had no interest in her at all, and it was a situation where he couldn’t either, thus he always found it bothersome.

Receiving someone’s affection is usually a happy thing, but sometimes it can be annoying too.

That’s why Leo kept his distance, and he hadn’t told Soirin about leaving to become the Marquis just like he hadn’t with other family members. He intended to leave quietly when the time came.

But Ober and Lena’s behavior when they parted from their family moved him.

They expressed their genuine disappointment and shared the feelings they hadn’t been able to voice until then, expressing their thanks.

Certainly, it was a heartwarming farewell that left a lump in his throat.

So, Leo felt he should at least give Soirin some time to adjust, even if it was dim. To prevent her infatuation from ending quietly.

Leo and Soirin walked for a long time.

They retraced the path they took by carriage and shared trivial conversations.

“From now on, I should be calling you Lord Leo Tatian.”

“Just call me Leo.”

“Oh~ If I do that, I’ll get punished, right? Noble Lords…”

Soirin seemed to have settled her heart already. She teased Leo playfully, smiling softly, and Leo pretended to be an offended noble and acted outraged.

Soirin burst into laughter.

Leo smiled back at her.

When they finally arrived at the family mansion, aside from the promise of “I’ll drop by the flower shop occasionally,” there was nothing awkward left between the two.

*

A few days later, Leo visited the Marquis’ mansion. It was a day to meet the other nobles after quite a while.

Recently, the Marquis had introduced everyone he knew, so he hadn’t called upon Lena last week. Luckily, she had started feeling unwell around that time.

But today was a day to meet the other nobles, and while Lena had recovered, Leo didn’t bring her along.

He didn’t want to dress her in a gown with her shoulders and chest exposed when she was just recovering from a cold.

He was slowly becoming Leo.

Leo forcibly laid the “I’m fine” Lena back on the bed and went to the Marquis’ mansion much earlier than the appointment time.

He thought it best to inform the Marquis that Lena couldn’t come.

‘That way, the Marquis can manage accordingly with the other nobles.’

If not careful, his son might leave behind the impression of ‘not listening again.’ That could hurt the Marquis’ pride, so he needed to sort that out beforehand.

As Leo stood before the front gate, familiar with it, the butler emerged.

“Ah, welcome.”

“Hmm? Is something wrong?”

The butler’s behavior seemed odd. Though it looked no different on the surface, he greeted Leo at the midpoint of the front gate stairs, unlike usual.

“No, you arrived much earlier than expected… But where is the young lady?”

“Lena is sick, so I came alone today. I’d like to ask for the Marquis’ understanding in advance.”

“…I see. Please come in.”

Leo squinted in confusion.

‘Is this something to be so flustered about?’

Despite having known the butler for months, he had never seen him flustered like this.

It was nothing unusual, but the butler, who usually showed robotic behavior, was showing different movements today.

As Leo was pondering this and was about to step inside, he made eye contact with the Female Knight standing by the mansion’s front gate.

She was the same Female Knight who had locked the carriage door when Leo attempted to assassinate Toton Tatian.

Her name was Irène, and she had always shown a tendency to avoid Leo, and now she was glaring at him, clearly agitated from afar.

Something was off.

In that moment, seeing Irène’s fiery eyes, Leo waved his hand and told the butler who was trying to guide him inside,

“Never mind. I arrived too early, so please just inform the Marquis that my sister may not come. I will return at the appointed time.”

Having made an excuse, he hurriedly turned away before the butler could say anything.

This felt ominous.

‘Why is she looking at me like that? The butler feels off too…’

Leo attempted to leave the spot.

The carriage he had arrived in was already gone, so he hurried his steps to catch another one when someone called out from behind him.

“Sir Leo. Where are you going?”

Turning around, it was Count Gustave Peter, whom he had met before with Lena.

He was just getting down from his carriage, which appeared plain, resembling his humble demeanor. The four horses pulling it were all black.

Count Peter seemed to have come to see the Marquis for his own reasons as well.

Leo, wary of both the butler standing at the front gate and Irène, who had somehow positioned herself behind the gate lattice glaring at him, spoke up.

“Oh. Count, it’s been a while, but I’m sorry. I’m in a bit of a hurry…”

He tried to maintain decent etiquette and turned his back.

And then,

“Prince, are you running away again?”

Leo’s heart sank.