Chapter 8

To be honest, Duke Grinevalt had anticipated that “The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel” would flop miserably.

But as it turned out, the result was the exact opposite.

“The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel” was achieving an unprecedented success, the likes of which the continent had never seen before.

So for example:

“Selling A-2 row tickets at 13:20 on May 10th for 1 gold!”

“…1 gold? Weren’t the original ticket prices 30 silver? This is highway robbery at its finest!”

“So you’re saying you won’t buy it? If you don’t want it, don’t waste my time. Sir, I’ll take it. I’m willing to pay 2 gold for this black-market ticket.”

“Hold on there! Who said I wasn’t buying? No cutting in line! I’ll buy the ticket first!”

The theater tickets not only sold out but scalping became an everyday occurrence.

“Excuse me, do you have any Ifrit plushies instead of the Undine ones? You know, in the anime, the Ifrit went ‘If, If’ while crying, and it was just so cute!”

“Don’t worry, sir. I’ve heard the Ifrit plushie is coming out soon after the Undine one. If you’d like, I can set aside one for you when they arrive.”

“My goodness, what a polite young man despite his appearance!”

Every single product related to “The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel” was selling out instantly upon arrival in stores.

“In the early part of the movie, wasn’t the scene where Hammel catches Eli mid-fall and walks with her in the air incredibly touching?”

“Ah yes, that levitation scene! Our daughter loved it so much she kept singing about walking in the sky like Eli.”

“I personally found the moment more emotional when Hammel whispers ‘Live, for you are beautiful’ to the unconscious Eli. It made me understand why women love bad boys.”

“When the Elemental King declared ‘I am not a monster, I am a god,’ I got goosebumps. He truly seems like a godly figure ruling over the elemental realm.”

“The mages from the Magic Tower say that the Elemental King is indeed divine within his own dimension. The creator didn’t fabricate anything.”

“Amazing…! The creator really is incredible!”

At cafes everywhere, groups gathered to discuss “The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel” all day long, sharing interpretations and theories.

No matter where you went in the empire, you could hear people talking about “The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel.”

‘This is the end of days.’

Thus, the duke felt like everything happening was some elaborate prank played on him.

“There aren’t enough theaters to accommodate everyone who wants to see ‘The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel.’ We’ve decided to rent ten additional theaters. Theater owners are practically begging us to use their venues.”

“All VIP box seats are booked solid for the week.”

“The animation merchandise business run by Ragnar is hitting it big. Products sell out as soon as they hit the shelves.”

“Noble families are investigating the voice actors involved. We’ve taken measures to keep Serika’s identity concealed.”

“…Good, at least you did that right.”

While most of the news was painful for the duke to hear, this one piece of information was somewhat satisfying.

He wanted to boast to everyone that his own daughter was the voice of Eli in “The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel,” but…

He knew Serika didn’t enjoy being in the spotlight, so the duke had no choice but to restrain himself.

“…Still, I can’t wrap my head around it. I know ‘The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel’ is entertaining, but how did it become such a massive success?”

At the duke’s muttering, his secretary hesitantly spoke up.

“Apparently, before the premiere, Master Ragnar sent out invitations to certain noble families. Specifically, those who attended ‘Nymph and Goblin’ at the Terison Baronage.”

“…What?”

So Ragnar had handed out free tickets to specific noble families beforehand?

Why?

“Master Ragnar sent two invitations each to a few families. To the heirs and their guardians who had watched ‘Nymph and Goblin.’ He also mentioned that ‘The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel’ was similar to ‘Nymph and Goblin.’ And…”

“…I see. So that’s how things unfolded.”

The duke understood roughly how the situation had developed based on the secretary’s explanation.

Ragnar’s first animation, “Nymph and Goblin,” had been a huge hit among noble heirs.

Anyone else might not understand, but these noble heirs were fervent fans of Ragnar’s animations. If he created something new, they’d definitely come to watch.

‘But the trap Ragnar set goes deeper than that.’

Ragnar cleverly sent invitations only to specific noble families who had watched his past works, excluding others.

However, it was impossible for the excluded nobles to remain unaware.

Because noble society was so close-knit, rumors spread quickly.

Then how did the excluded noble families feel upon learning about this?

‘You scheming bastard.’

Ragnar successfully lured countless nobles into theaters simply by sending out a few invitations before the premiere.

And once the nobles were in the theaters, the success of “The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel” was practically guaranteed.

After all, the animation had universal appeal that captivated everyone regardless of age or gender.

“Thanks to this, our plans have gone completely awry.”

Originally, the duke intended to use the failure of “The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel” to prevent Ragnar and Serika from meeting.

But now that the animation was a record-breaking success, there was no longer any valid reason to stop them from meeting.

Especially since Serika was voicing Eli.

The duke gritted his teeth imagining Ragnar and Serika sitting together chatting happily.

But then again…

‘Objectively speaking, Ragnar isn’t a bad guy. He’s a remarkable genius who created an entirely new art form in this world and is generating tremendous profits through secondary copyrights. His personality doesn’t seem too bad either…’

‘Even so, I can’t allow it! That dirty scoundrel has no right to touch our Serika!’

‘But… Serika will have to marry someday. I can’t keep her with me forever. Maybe I should seriously consider allowing her to meet him…’

‘No way! As long as I have eyes to see, it’s absolutely unacceptable! Who knows what dark intentions Ragnar might have?’

Watching the duke battle with his dual personalities, his subordinates sighed quietly.

But the duke couldn’t stay in this state indefinitely, so his secretary cautiously spoke up again.

“Your Grace, regarding the matter of various noble families investigating Miss Serika’s background…”

“What is it?”

“It seems… someone of high lineage might be involved.”

“What?”

Though the secretary used euphemistic language like “high lineage,” the duke perfectly understood what it implied.

“High lineage? Could it be -”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The secretary nodded.

“It seems the Imperial Household is searching for Masters Ragnar and Serika.”

***

In front of the theater showing “The Mysterious Disappearance of Eli and Hammel,”

The ticket seller involuntarily swallowed hard.

“Are tickets still available? I’d like to purchase a VIP seat for today if possible.”

The woman smiling gently while speaking was breathtakingly beautiful, almost blinding.

At that moment, the ticket seller’s intuition screamed:

This woman must be of extremely noble birth.

Certainly far above those petty barons and viscounts who strut around arrogantly.

Therefore, the ticket seller carefully replied:

“I’m sorry, but all VIP seats for today have already been reserved by noble customers.”

“Hmm, could you tell me who purchased those tickets? If I could persuade them, they might be willing to transfer their tickets to me.”

At this, the ticket seller involuntarily gasped.

“That’s impossible! Do you know how noble the buyers are? Not just barons or viscounts, even marquises have pre-booked tickets -”

“Is that so? Then there shouldn’t be any problem.”

The woman smiled sweetly and said:

“If the ticket holders come, please tell them this: Empress Karlreya von Loengram would like to have a word.”