ITBF 11

Chapter 11

Radious didn’t even know what he wanted to see at the theater, but he headed there out of habit.

It was already late. The performance had ended, and most of the audience had left, so the lights inside the theater were gradually going out one by one.

Radious carefully examined the faces of the actors depicted on the posters inside the theater.

For some reason, he found himself paying close attention to the male actors, whom he normally hadn’t bothered to look at carefully.

All three actors were fairly handsome men. Then his gaze stopped at Tener Ranieri. Silver hair and green eyes.

He wasn’t particularly handsome by Radious’s standards, but there was something about the actor that reminded him of his father.

A chilling thought suddenly crossed his mind.

Could the man she was having an affair with be Tener Ranieri? Didn’t he have a scandalous article with Mina too?

Even though he told himself it couldn’t be, Tener Ranieri seemed suspicious.

Radious forced himself to calm down and slowly checked the casting sheet again.

Don’t get worked up over something you’re not certain about. I’ll find out eventually anyway.

Anima wasn’t in the evening performance. And in the leading role section of the casting sheet, Radious saw Wilhelmina Martinez.

He didn’t want to check the male lead, but since the names were listed together, he couldn’t help seeing it.

Tener Ranieri.

I missed today’s performance.

He was in a bad mood.

Would he have felt better if his conversation with his father had ended a little earlier and he’d been able to watch Mina’s performance today?

He was thinking along those lines when he heard the footsteps and voices of several people.

Radious slightly turned his head and pretended to be someone merely passing by.

“Take care.”

If he hadn’t heard that familiar voice, he really would have left.

“See you tomorrow.”

The voices of several theater staff members echoed through the hall as they said their goodbyes.

Radious slowly raised his head and looked in their direction. The actors, having removed their makeup, were saying goodbye to one another as they left the theater.

“Mina, want to ride in the carriage together?”

Someone spoke to her. He seemed to be a male actor, but he was wearing a hat and Radious could only see his back, making it difficult to identify him.

But the person he was talking to was the woman Radious cherished so much, Wilhelmina Martinez.

“No, thank you. I’m fine.”

“We’re going in roughly the same direction. Come with me.”

“Someone is waiting for me. Please go ahead. Thank you for the offer.”

Mina repeatedly bowed to the people around her.

Once the actor who had persistently invited her to come with him and several theater employees had disappeared, Mina sat down on a bench outside the theater and adjusted her shoes.

When she seemed to turn her head in Radious’s direction, he quickly looked away, pretending to examine the posters.

Wait. Why am I doing this?

They weren’t even that close to each other. When Radious finally turned his head back, Mina was standing straight and walking a few steps.

Huh?

Mina’s walk was exactly that of the female protagonist in the play she was currently performing.

Then, after confirming that no one was around, Mina moved her arms and legs as if she were dancing at a ball and spun around three times on the spot.

She even imitated the final bow, checked her surroundings once more, adjusted the strap of her bag, and then hurried off to catch her carriage.

Radious stared blankly until the carriage Mina had boarded completely disappeared from view.

It had been such a meaningless little action, yet he had no idea why he had watched her so intently.

“Hah!”

On the way home, Radious remembered what Mina had done and ended up laughing.

* * *

The news that Kevin’s wife, Ribor, had been having an affair with a male actor from the Ornamentum Theater spread throughout House Lorbaker.

Ramus was furious and went on a rampage, declaring that he would make sure the actor could never set foot on the stage at the Ornamentum again.

Radious only pretended to try to stop him.

Talassa had already been deployed on a pirate-suppression operation and was difficult to reach.

Sophia flatly refused Kevin’s request to take care of Alea.

When Sophia gave birth to her second child, Anima, she had suffered a difficult delivery and took a long time to recover afterward. As a result, the couple had already agreed that they would not have any more children.

“I had enough of the joy of raising a son with Radious, and I’ve already experienced the joy of raising two daughters, so why would I…?”

And so Kevin’s proposal was firmly rejected by Sophia.

“I understand how Mother feels. Uncle Kevin was in the wrong.”

Anima nodded as she spoke.

“After all, you’re Mother’s nephew, and she couldn’t just abandon you because the divorce happened because of Uncle Kevin’s problem. And you look so much like Mother that she must have been attached to you. Though, technically, you’re just like Uncle Kevin.”

In fact, whenever Sophia went out with the children when Radious was young, no one ever thought that Radious was her nephew. People even thought he was her only son because he resembled his mother so much.

“Anyway, I’m annoyed that she had an affair with an actor from the theater where I perform. It almost feels like it’s because of me. For no reason.”

“Anima. Did Uncle Ramus find out who Ribor’s lover was?”

At Radious’s question, Anima merely raised her eyes to look at him.

“Why? Are you going to hunt him down too and ruin his career?”

“Of course not.”

“What are you going to do knowing?”

“Judging by the way you’re asking me that, you found out.”

At Radious’s words, Anima’s face twisted.

“Ugh, you’re so annoying.”

“I can’t help being smart and perceptive. So who is it?”

“Tener Ranieri?”

At Radious’s words, Anima looked slightly shocked.

“……Why did you specifically mention his name?”

“He had a dating scandal with Mina. I was the one who got that article corrected. If Tener Ranieri is Ribor’s affair partner, then getting that correction published quickly was actually a very good thing. It almost saddled Mina with that bastard’s reputation for adultery.”

Anima glared at Radious before muttering quietly.

“That’s right.”

“Bastard.”

“He deserves to be cursed, but be careful in front of other people. It’s fine for us to talk like this since we’re alone.”

“I’ll kill him.”

He was the bastard who had dared to have an affair with a married woman and then somehow ended up having a dating scandal with Mina as well.

“You’re not actually going to kill him, but even if you did, you’d be the only one who’d suffer for it.”

“That guy wasn’t even famous to begin with. I’m suspicious of how that dating article suddenly came out too. Don’t you think he arranged it?”

“Well, that’s possible.”

At Anima’s words, Radious felt as though a ball of fire had risen inside him.

“I’ll kill him.”

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down. Father is already out for his blood, and he’s already been removed from the performances. I don’t know whether the two remaining male leads can cover all the remaining shows. They’ll probably have to cancel or adjust quite a few performances next month.”

“The publicity had already brought in more people to the musicals, too. And now something this disgusting happens. Ugh.”

Radious sighed and rubbed his face.

“Honestly, I’m disappointed too. Lately, Father hasn’t even needed to buy as many of my tickets. The audience increased this time, and I’ve even received some fan letters.”

“Well, you’re decent enough.”

“Huh? Am I supposed to feel honored hearing that from a die-hard Wilhelmina Martinez fan?”

Anima deliberately kicked Radious’s leg.

“You don’t need to feel inferior comparing yourself to someone who’s practically superhuman.”

“……What?”

Anima stared at Radious in disbelief.

“I’ve seen every single performance of Duke Kusakov. And since attending the opera is part of a nobleman’s basic education, I’ve seen plenty of those too. So I have an eye for judging different performances.”

“So?”

“So you can trust my assessment of what I’ve seen and heard. You’re good. You’re good at the level of a normal human being. Mina is superhuman.”

“Huh?”

“Honestly, Mina has a beautiful voice, but her acting is incredible too. Of all the acting and singing I’ve ever seen and heard, I’ve never encountered anyone who moves my heart as much as Mina does.”

Radious spoke so seriously about his assessment that Anima became even more irritated.

“What are you going to do when this performance ends? Mina won’t be doing much for a while because she’ll be practicing for her next production. It’s going to be hard for you to endure not being able to watch Mina perform, isn’t it? You’ve barely even spoken to her, yet you’ve completely fallen for her just by watching her performances. Tsk.”