ITBF 09

Chapter 09

“Goodness, a lady’s lips are quite sharp. Well, anyway, Miss Bernardi’s acting isn’t bad either. But somehow, I feel like her acting and singing skills are lacking quite a bit. But Mina……”

Radius gently brought both hands together over his lips.

“She’s the only one who can capture the tension and excitement between a young man and woman.”

“…Why? Do you suddenly see her as a woman now?”

“What?”

“No, I mean, when you start talking about being excited and capturing that kind of passion……”

“I don’t! It’s not like that!”

“What’s with you? Why are you getting angry? Ugh, your face is red. Wow, I really hate this.”

“It’s because you’re talking nonsense!”

“All that stuff about being pure and your actress being the best was all an act. You’re a loser. You’ve just fallen for Wilhelmina Martinez. Ah, I hate this.”

“I hate you too! I’m the crazy one for even trying to have a conversation with you.”

“Get a grip, you crazy bastard. Don’t watch someone perform a few times, fall for her, and start doing stupid things.”

“I was going to do that even without you telling me.”

“Don’t try to have a private meeting with her. She’s a really diligent, hardworking, and kind girl. There’s nothing good that can come from someone like you getting involved with her.”

“……Are you close with Mina?”

“We’ve been performing together since The Little Mermaid. Wouldn’t it be harder not to become close? Why else would I know about her sponsorship situation?”

After hearing Anima’s explanation, something else began to sprout in Radius’s heart.

“……Hey, Anima.”

He had barely called her name when—

“Don’t even think about trying to meet her through me. Mina is too good for someone like you. Get lost.”

The rejection came immediately.

“Who said I was going to meet her through you? I’ve never had a private meeting with her until now!”

Radius denied it, but honestly, he desperately wanted to meet Mina privately.

He wanted to know everything about her—how she normally practiced acting and singing, what her hobbies and special talents were, what she liked, what she disliked, and so on.

‘Should I ask the theater owner if I can at least exchange a brief greeting with her? No, wouldn’t it be ridiculous to change my mind now?’

Radius agonized over it for quite some time.

Then he proceeded to watch every performance of Duke Kusakov starring Mina.

Even while busy with work, he always made time to see her performances.

It was realistically impossible to watch every single show, so unfortunately, he missed a few performances, but only a few.

After watching the same production with the same lead actress so many times, he had practically memorized the lines. He could even spot the subtle differences in Mina’s acting from one performance to another.

‘Just how hard does she work? I didn’t know it was possible for someone’s acting skills to improve with every performance.’

Before he went to sleep, he had reached the point where the main theme song Mina sang would be circling around in his head.

Just as he was wondering whether he should ask to meet her separately once Duke Kusakov ended, an incident occurred.

A dating rumor between Tener Ranieri and Wilhelmina Martinez.

“What is this?”

Radius didn’t even know who Tener Ranieri was.

All he knew was that Tener was one of the male actors in Duke Kusakov, the tallest and most handsome of them, with excellent visuals and outstanding acting skills, making him the man with the strongest ticket power in the musical.

Radius immediately went to see the theater owner.

He couldn’t believe it.

His actress was supposedly dating some mediocre actor like that? Was that bastard Tener deceiving Mina? A whole series of suspicions came to mind.

Above all, just looking at his mother, Thalassa, wasn’t it obvious that she had only met terrible men and suffered because of them?

Dating some actor he had never even heard of. Radius was convinced that Tener had seduced innocent Mina.

“Hahaha, that article isn’t true. We’ve been receiving quite a few inquiries about it, actually. It’s simply because the two actors have such good chemistry that the audience wants them to be dating in real life.”

“……Is that true?”

“Yes. It’s all because they act far too well together. Both Miss Martinez and Mr. Ranieri are exceptionally talented, and since they’re both attractive, the audience naturally wants to see a beautiful couple.”

“You should publish a correction.”

At Radius’s words, the theater owner waved his hands.

“Oh, sir. There’s no need.”

“What? Isn’t the actress being misunderstood?”

“It’s a rumor that will disappear once the musical ends anyway. And right now, the musical industry needs this kind of attention.”

“Did the two actors want this?”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, did Miss Martinez want an article like this to be published?”

“Ah, Miss Martinez may not even know about the article. She’s so focused on her acting.”

The theater owner answered with a smile, and Radius felt like punching him in the face.

“Are you joking with me?”

“Pardon?”

“My actress is a woman. A dating rumor like this can be devastating!”

Radius glared at the theater owner.

That bastard was so focused on making money from the musical that he couldn’t even think about how much Mina might suffer because of articles and rumors like this.

In this society, a male actor dating several beautiful actresses could still be seen as a sign of his popularity or ability. But for a female actress, there was a risk of being branded as an easy woman.

Radius eventually had a correction published.

And unlike the original article about Mina and Tener, the correction was fairly prominent.

It even included an apology from the reporter.

‘How dare you mess with my Mina!’

Without a sponsor, Mina had little power as an individual actress, so it must have been difficult for her even to get a single correction published.

Seeing this made Radius realize just how important a sponsor’s role was, exactly as Anima had explained.

A talented actress like her could have been buried beneath a rumor that she had dated someone, only to be ridiculed and eventually disappear from the industry.

Even if the two really were dating, rumors like this should have been stopped. Yet the theater owner seemed completely unconcerned.

‘From now on, I’ll sponsor Mina. I can’t let someone this talented and exceptional disappear because of something so ridiculous.’

No one had asked him to, but Radius even felt something like a sense of duty.

When he watched Duke Kusakov again that day, Mina once again gripped his heart and shook it.

Enough to make him think—

‘So this is what a genius is.’

Although the actor opposite her wasn’t Tener Ranieri, Mina made it feel as though she were truly in love with him.

Wasn’t that what a real actress was supposed to be?

“You’re saying he was scammed? Father?”

Radius had just heard the most shocking news of all the recent events in his life.

“He should at least have lived well after we separated. Seriously.”

Thalassa sighed and threw her jacket aside.

“Mother, you’re not really in a position to say that.”

“Yeah. I was crazy too. I admit it. But I can date men without marrying them, you know? Why did Kevin have to get married just to get scammed? And besides, sure. I may be ugly, but Kevin has that face. How did he get scammed with a face like that? I’m genuinely curious.”

“I’ll go find out.”

“……Yeah. Please do. He’s still your father, after all. And I’m his ex-wife, so it feels awkward for me to bring this up. Still, I can’t completely stop caring about your father. Ah, it’s complicated.”

“Thank you for telling me, Mother.”

“What are you thanking me for? Of course I should tell you.”

Thalassa patted Radius on the shoulder, her face full of concern.

“I’m sorry you’ve got something else to worry about because of this.”

“It’s fine, Mother.”

“Anyway, I’m going on another pirate-suppression operation this time, so I’ll be away for a few months again.”

His mother, being in the navy, frequently went aboard ships. Most of her assignments involved suppressing pirates.

“A pirate-suppression operation? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“When has it ever not been dangerous? I’m a commander, so I’ll be fine. There’s always some danger involved. As for Kevin’s situation, if it looks like it can be resolved with money, take care of it within reason.”

Although Thalassa had divorced Kevin because he had cheated on her, she still had a strangely generous side when it came to him.

Because of that, Radius had secretly hoped the two of them would get back together someday, but they never reconciled.

Kevin often wrote letters to Radius to ask how he was doing and also kept in touch with Thalassa, but it seemed that most of their contact was because of Radius.

Anyway, shocked by the word scam, Radius headed to the mansion where Kevin was staying for the first time in a long while.

What had his mother and father been like immediately after their divorce?