─Where have you been all this time, Duke?
The prince asked The Duke again. But The Duke did not respond. He merely glanced at the corpse of Marquis Zolang, the blood, and rain scattered on the lawn, and slowly bowed his head. He closed the dead Marquis' eyes with a stern look.
His gentle gesture was strange. Just 5 seconds ago, he was sneering at the sight of the dead Marquis, but now he was gentle.
─…Bard. You said the culprit is in the palace.
The prince seemed to give up on The Duke's answer and looked at the Bard again.
─It was a simple matter when I thought about it. Look here.
The prince smirked and looked around at the extras on the scene – the servants.
─The murders started after the Bard arrived. So, who should we suspect?
The servants' attention was all on the Bard. Their gazes were full of suspicion.
─It's simple, isn't it, Bard?
─…I'm just The Bard who sings songs and recounts stories.
─Ha! Nonsense. It was suspicious from the start that a mere jester knew Latinel.
─I learned it from a nobleman who was an audience.
Just then, The Duke stood up. The prince asked him.
─What do you think, Duke? Don't you think the same?
The Duke looked back at the prince. His face was expressionless. There was no emotion or color. He was as pale as a corpse, as empty as a murderer.
The Duke said only one thing to him.
─Your Highness, you talk too much.
At that moment, the prince's expression hardened. He glared at The Duke, shivered, and turned around, his cloak fluttering. The other servant extras followed him.
Drip… Drip…
In the rain-soaked lawn, the Bard was left alone with The Duke.
She looked at Duke in his immaculate formal attire, and Duke met her gaze.
─…Bard.
He said.
Not Miller, but Duke of Shion Ascal.
To Elise, his Duke was so strange and so uncomfortable. But there was an inexplicable charm.
Wait a minute, enough to turn the Bard back into Elise.
─This was lying on the lawn.
The Duke approached the Bard and held out something.
The Bard looked at it. It was a button. Perhaps, it could be evidence of the murderer.
The Duke had picked up the button from the lawn while pretending to close Marquis Zolang's eyes.
─…It's not mine.
The Bard replied. The Duke looked at her with indifferent eyes. There was depth in that dry gaze.
A silent 5 seconds, with no dialogue flowing.
When even the breaths from the audience seats were clearly audible.
Soon, The Duke twisted one side of his lips.
─I didn't ask if it was yours. I just said it was lying there.
The Bard's shoulders trembled slightly. The Duke dropped the button into the air.
─It might not be yours.
Rustle- The echo of the button falling on the lawn was unusually loud.
The reality, the echo and reverberation were so enormous that they stuck in the audience's ears.
And so, The Duke exits the stage.
The Bard hesitantly picked up the button that fell on the lawn. She murmured while looking at it, glistening wet in the rain.
─Could it be. Me....
Is the Bard the culprit, or is The Duke trying to frame the Bard as the culprit?
With a sequence of ambiguous nuances, Act 1 comes to an end.
The blackout curtain wrapped the entire stage.
"Phew…"
After Act 1, Elise took a deep breath backstage. Not far away, Shion was standing. He was quickly surrounded by staff.
It was understandable. His appearance lasted only about 10 minutes, but he stole the scene from beginning to end.
─Please keep your emotions! We won't disturb you!
With those words, the staff retreated, and Shion was left alone. Elise didn't bother to talk to him.
But Shion yawned and muttered.
"I don't want to do it."
It was a sincere statement.
"…What's with him?"
What does he mean he doesn't want to do it after he's done everything?
Anyway, there's no need to doubt Shion any longer. She just has to keep acting for [Sermones Laerteni].
And, to be honest, Elise wasn't that nervous anymore.
Not only was her body almost entirely relaxed, but she also occasionally glanced at the VIP seats while pretending not to during her performance.
One seat was empty from beginning to end.
It was the seat Elise had gifted to her father.
She glanced at it, wondering if he might be in the audience, but he was nowhere to be found.
He didn't come.
So, there's no need to be nervous and prepare to do well. She can do it leisurely. Leisurely…
Elise took a quiet deep breath.
______________________________________________________________________
Intermission.
The break between Act 1 and Act 2.
In other words, it was the interval.
The audience, immersed in the afterglow, sat in their seats for a while and conversed with each other. Not only about the dramatic fun and the spectacular production of the iron curtain but also about who the culprit might be.
Jade was also itching to talk but soon got up with a heavy body.
It had already been 45 minutes. He couldn't delay any longer.
"Oh, are you leaving, Mr. Jade?"
"I heard you're busy. That's a shame."
"I hope we meet again next time."
Instead of following him, the celebrities in the VIP seats got up to greet him and immediately sat back down. Those who initially acted attached became frugal.
Of course, some of it is understandable. Even he found it hard to move.
"Enjoy the show."
Jade left the theater alone and desolate. Outside, a sedan was already waiting. The driver opened the back door and spoke softly.
"The theater team staff gave a hint. They said there's a camera recording the play, so they'll deliver it to you later in video form."
"…Tell them to do as they please."
It was a fortunate thing to hear.
After all, it's only natural to provide this level of service after inviting Jade of Libra.
Jade got into the sedan. It felt like he had seen an interesting art play for the first time in a long time. Although it felt like he was cut off in the middle of a dump.
"Cassio. Did you watch the play too?"
The driver was asked.
"Yes, I was standing behind and watching."
"…Who seems to be the culprit?"
Jade finally voiced what had been nagging at her.
"I thought the Bard was the culprit all along."
"Hah. Only a fool would think that. Pretending to close the eyes of the fool, bending over the lawn to pick up the only 'evidence'. The intention to pass it to Bad and frame him. The culprit is The Duke."
Jade spoke as if he had deciphered it all. The driver also admired him with all his might.
"Indeed… You are amazing."
"Amazing, huh. It's just trivial."
He grumbled and sank into his seat.
His sedan moved away from the crowded festival and headed towards a quiet road.
______________________________________________________________________
In the audience, Soliette was eagerly waiting for the second act. She was surfing the community on her smartphone.
[The quality of the play at the Endex festival is unreal]
She also wrote a few posts. She wasn't very good at trolling, though.
"It's interesting."
Suddenly, a man in the next seat muttered. Soliette glanced at him.
A man with a bandage around his neck and a cap on his head.
He smiled.
"Don't you think so?"
"Ah, yes."
Soliette responded nonchalantly. As she was a promising star herself, it was common for strangers to pretend to know her like this.
"It's going to get more interesting."
He pulled out a doll from his pocket.
"…What is that?"
"It's a doll. Thanks to this, the sword fight will feel real."
"Excuse me?"
He muttered as he shook the doll.
"This doll is connected to the prince. You can look forward to it."
He seemed a bit crazy.
"…Ah yes. Is that so."
Soliette subtly leaned her body to the other side.
Just then, the curtain opened.
It was the beginning of the second act.
[Act 2]
As the blackout curtain went up, The Bard was the first to be seen.
-...
The Bard is sitting quietly in her room, staring at the mirror. A note is clenched in her hand.
It's labeled 'Isabel'. She looks at the note for a while as if she knows something, then carefully folds it.
Immediately after, the blackout curtain falls and rises again, changing the scene.
This time, it's Duke's room. He's lying on the bed as if reminiscing about the past, staring blankly at the ceiling in a relaxed pose.
After spacing out, he sits up and gives a hollow laugh.
-...Isabel.
He mutters the name 'Isabel' under his breath.
Whoever 'Isabel' is, it's clear that she's the most crucial key in this play.
Whooosh...
With the blowing wind, the scene changes for the third time.
The king's residence. The queen frowns as she looks at the note in her hand. It's also labeled 'Isabel'.
-What will you do?
The queen asks the king. The king already looks mentally exhausted.
-What to do… I don't know. Is she still alive?
-That's impossible. Isabel died more than 10 years ago.
-Ah....
The king's face contorted. He moaned as if on the verge of tears.
─It shouldn't have been this way. We shouldn't have driven her away…
─Stop that feeble regret!
Slap-! The queen slapped the king's cheek.
However, the already-aged and sick king's crying did not stop, and the queen pushed him roughly onto the bed before leaving the room.
─There's a phantom of Isabel here. We must find and kill it…
With a face distorted in rage, the queen exits, and once again, the scene changes.
─Damn it. That bastard!
This time, it was the prince's room. The prince was gulping down alcohol from a bottle.
─Incompetent fools. They can't catch the murderer who's running rampant… No. They're not catching him.
Suddenly, as if he had a thought, the prince furrowed his brows.
─The Duke… Could it be him… Yes. Where has that Duke been all this time… Damn it!
The prince cursed and put a record on the player.
The soft sound of Latinel's song filled the room. Like a lullaby, the prince took a deep breath and sat down in his chair.
─Damn that Duke…
Just like that, he fell asleep as if he was sleep-talking.
...Creeeak.
The window of the room opened. A murderer wearing a mask that covered his entire face appeared from beyond. He approached the prince and raised his dagger, twisted upside down.
But.
─…I knew you would come.
The prince opened his eyes with a fierce smile. At the same time, the wardrobe opened, and knights jumped out. The knights, fully dressed in plate mail, immediately charged at the murderer.
Clang-! Clang-!
The murderer fought them with his knife. Sparks flew fiercely.
─Die.
Releasing actual mana, the fight dazzled the viewer's eyes.
Gurk-! Grunt-! Gargle-!
The prince's knights fell one after another as planned.
Clang───!
But the prince was strange.
James.
The senior of Endex, he swung his real sword with all his might.
"Guh!"
The Bard, Elise was quite taken aback.
Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!
The swords clashed thrice. Elise was pushed back in an instant. The prince's weapon was a hefty broadsword while Elise wielded a dagger.
Not only that, his physical strength was as formidable as if he had activated Magic Body. His swordsmanship was unfiltered and excessively violent.
As if he was trying to hunt down some beast.
Clang——!
The dagger and the broadsword collided. The blade was knocked away. Elise's palm was slightly cut.
She quickly looked up at the prince.
His eyes were blank. Completely empty.
As if he was being controlled by someone.
─Die.
Just as he was uttering this eerie command and about to bring down his broadsword on her head.
"Hup!"
Someone flew onto the stage. He wrapped his arms around her and thrust his sword forward, blocking the prince's strike.
───!
A clear spark flew. He immediately counterattacked, pushing the prince back.
"...."
She blinked in surprise for a moment, staring at the sudden arrival.
The Duke.
Elise, nestled in his arms, well, more accurately draped over him, unknowingly sniffed.
The scent coming from him, the warmth transmitted, the touch… it was eerily similar to what she had once felt.
On the 4th floor of the Holents, in that nightmarish hotel.