NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36 - 13. Liked (1)
About an hour later, as the maid told me, one of Jalier’s servants guided her to the dining room in the mansion.
I knew this would happen.
There was a large table where the whole family could sit. However, only one person was waiting there, not deviating from her expectations.
“Does the Duke Jalier skip his meals?”
“Now you have to call him ‘father.’ He went down to inspect the territory. He probably won’t be back until dinner due to a delay.”
“What about your brother?”
“He doesn’t want to run into me.”
Aloken Jalier. A sharp-looking man with black, like her hair, sat arrogantly in a chair. He raised his hand and pointed to the opposite chair. Fanora sat down without saying a word.
“Even if this meal is a little lacking, please bear with it. The kitchen servants are paying close attention to the meals with the intention of serving their best for the young Lady of Celsius.”
“Even if it’s not that fancy, I would be happy just to eat with your father.”
“If you refuse their sincerity, the giver will be ashamed.”
The conversation followed a series of remarks that would not be a problem for others to hear. However, since they didn’t have much to talk about, the topic of the conversation quickly dropped, and the conversation was cut off. They soon started eating the food on the table made of high-quality ingredients.
Carl said I shouldn’t neglect to eat.
Fanora had no appetite, but she aimed to train her body, so she forcibly shoved meat into my mouth.
“Fanora.”
And while she was asking the servant to bring more pieces of duck meat, a voice that she was getting used to rang across her. As she looked up, Aloken was looking straight at her.
“Will you go out to town with me after finishing our meal?”
“Yes?”
“I bought a seat for the opera because I thought you would feel bored during the stay.”
Fanora gave him a cold stare while no one was looking. This stare meant ‘don’t fool around’ no matter who looked at it. However, Aloken didn’t look at her stare and took out the theater tickets from his arms.
“In this place, foxes come out often and disturb people, so it is troublesome for the young generation, but things have improved since my father’s generation. So where do you think they will spend their remaining time as the hunting for foxes becomes less?”
“Is it by opera?”
“I can guarantee you this place has the best entertainment.”
Aloken cut his portion of food into bite-sized pieces, put it in his mouth, swallowed it without chewing it a few times, and continued the conversation. “I’m sure it will be fun to see the best actor in the Kingdom on the stage for today.”
“But that—”
“Don’t tell me Lady Fanora will send me to the opera alone? How kind of the Lady I fell in love with! I hope you will come with me.”
Before Fanora could answer anything, he smirked and blocked the path of her choices.
Is this person really a human…?
Fanora couldn’t stand to resist saying harsh words in her mind and widened her sanpaku eyes.
* * *
Creek, thud.
“What are you planning all of a sudden?”
After the meal, Fanora got into the carriage to head to the opera at Aloken’s suggestion. She complained as she was forced to board the carriage.
“I’m not interested in opera.”
“Neither am I.”
“Then why did you make us go to the opera suddenly?”
Fanora would rather pretend to be sick as soon as the engagement ceremony was over if she knew this would happen. She was so annoyed that she had to do something useless.
“Fanora, you probably have nothing to do in the mansion.”
“I was going to do a transcript of a theology book. Come to think of it, there were no pens and papers in my room.”
“Is that your hobby? I guess… I got a very educated partner.”
Aloken sat opposite Fanora, just like in the dining room. Sitting with his legs crossed, he brought a high-quality long sword around his waist instead of the cane he carried in the capital.
“…”
Fanora leaned against the back of the carriage, looking at the sword’s pommel that hung on his waist. “You’re doing this to show our relationship to others, right?”
Aloken politely corrected her sarcastic attitude and responded as he calmly talked about it. “In fact, the Duke is very pleased with this engagement. For some reason… you’re really helping to solidify my position as the successor.”
“He also told me that you’re lucky to have a fiancée like me.”
“…Did he change his mind after getting sick? I think he has decided that it is better for me to become the heir to stabilizing the family.”
“Is that so?”
“Anyway, I have to hide that this engagement is not a contract as much as possible like Lady Fanora’s circumstance…”
Aloken made no expression talking about his father. He seemed to have a cold personality, just like the rumors circulating in the capital in the future.
“Well, I’m only staying in the North for a while, so I should focus on the act even during this time.”
But looking at her own face reflected in the window, it was not that different from his expression.
* * *
13. Liked (1)
Opera. It was one of the main entertainments for the nobles, with actors singing and telling various stories. However, Fanora had never seen it before. She was uncomfortable being in a crowded place. In the past, she hid her face out of fear that others would recognize her as the ugly and gloomy Fanora Celsius.
But this life was different. Now that she had already committed serious crimes, what should she be afraid of?
“Hey… the most expensive seat upstairs. Could it be the little Duke Aloken?”
“You’re right. Isn’t this his first time coming to the opera? Oh my! Then, the person next to him is the rumored fiancée!”
“I can’t really see her. That’s too bad. But doesn’t she look elegant even from a distance? Hahaha, or is it just because of my mood?”
It was the center of Duke Jalier’s territory. In addition, since the handsome young man sitting next to her was Aloken Jalier himself, it was expected that they would get their attention.
“Is everyone here to see the performance or to see you?” Fanora said that as she looked down at the people downstairs. Aloken glanced at her, then turned his gaze back to the stage.
“!”
Before long, this large theater, built in the suburbs, was filled with nobles and wealthy people. Soon, the inside of the theater was darkened as if the play was about to begin.
In the process, she spoke to the man sitting next to me. “How long does this opera last?”
“It hasn’t even started yet, but you already asked when it will end?”
“I’m just curious.”
“It’s about three hours long.”
Aloken, sitting with his chin on his chair, turned his head toward Fanora and raised the corners of his mouth.
Indeed, his smiling face is like a painting.
Fanora inwardly admitted that he had a handsome and attractive face.
“The screenwriter and the actors have a good reputation, so you won’t be bored.”
“…”
“Most testimonies said… it moves people’s hearts.”
People used to be moved by works that were complete. It was the same for books, sculptures, and paintings. So Fanora said, “As you already evaluated it, I guess this opera would be great,” and talked to him more.
“Was it touching to you too?”
“Ah, it’s starting now.”
But before her fiance’s answer came back, the opera’s first lines began.
“Ooo, my love. I have come a thousand miles to meet you.”
“I too have lived a hell of a time to meet you!”
The title of this opera is none other than <Europa>. It was a love story based on a holy relic that was said to give you eternal youth. This legendary story was commonly known.
So this is how opera actors act. Their acting is very exaggerated.
The opera’s main character, Argo, was a man who lived eternal life. He had loved a lot so far and started a family, but all of those he loved have grown old, ill, and left him behind.
The sound of the song is good.
So, the man named Argo vowed not to fall in love anymore. Still, he fell in love with a new one. From a certain moment, the main character’s anguish was expressed with the sound of a heavy brass instrument.
At the beginning of the play, the two lovers sang like the orioles and had a happy time, but in the middle of the play, a crisis struck both lovers.
“…”
And the main character of the play, Argo, soon came to a conclusion. He would no longer see his loved one leave, so he threw the holy relic into the sea and died with his last lover. This process was delicately expressed even to Fanora, whose emotions had dried up, watching them with interest.
Perhaps…
But the reason for Fanora’s interest in this play was not simply because it was well made.
Maybe she too was living this kind of life, so that’s why she wanted to give up the holy relic?
Fanora thought about the owner of Europe in her previous life.
“…”
Looking back now, it was a fleeting meeting. Fanora closed her eyes and briefly recalled the owner of Europa.
At first, I thought their acting was exaggerated, but it’s only natural for them to do that. If they don’t speak like that, everyone in the back seat won’t be able to hear them.
Before she knew it, the play ended, and several people went up on the stage and started to create a beautiful harmony. Unlike her previous reaction, which was boring, Fanora liked it quite a bit and appreciated them. In the end, her eyes were looking at Aloken.
“This…”
This is okay. She was going to say that at first. But Fanora, who was speaking in a low voice, shut up as soon as I saw his face.
“…” Aloken sat slouching in his chair and remained silent. Obviously, his eyes are on the stage… But she felt something when she saw a look in his eyes.
“…” Fanora turned her head quietly toward the stage.
* * *
“Wasn’t the play really impressive?”
“What did I tell you? When Nelsandria announced that they would come back to play, we must go see the play that is really worth the name of the best actor in the Kingdom!”
“The composer’s skill is excellent. When the main character is in agony, it is absolutely immersive…”
Step. Step.
Several people lined up and left the theater. The theater emptied at speed like a bullet. Aloken and Fanora also left the theater with their servants shortly after that.
“It’s going to get dark if we’re late. Opera is all good, but it’s troublesome because it doesn’t start early.”
Then, if they get on the carriage waiting on the street corner, their silly play would be over.
“Fanora, how was the opera? I hope my precious fiancée likes it.”
Fanora looked at the brazen Aloken and gave him a reaction he probably didn’t expect. “It was a lot of fun, Aloken. It really touched my emotions.”
“…!”
“But there’s something I’m disappointed about. The fact that the actor wasn’t as cool as you were.”
Aloken raised one eyebrow to this response. But Fanora took two steps closer to him and grabbed his wrist.