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Chapter 256 Sudden Proposal [4]

Trailing behind him was a young attendant with her hair tied up in a bun and glasses perched delicately on her nose. She couldn\'t have been more than twenty.

"Your performance was brilliant. As expected of you."

"Thank you. I practiced quite a bit for that performance."

Sitting down on one of the chairs, the young man stared at his reflection. His face was undeniably handsome, but there was something unsettling in his gaze.

It was slowly falling apart...

"It\'s starting to get a little annoying. Angela, if you wouldn\'t mind."

"My pleasure."

Coming up from behind, the young woman placed her hands over the young man\'s face.

Cracks Cra—

The room filled with the unnerving sound of cracking bones and shifting flesh as his features began to change.

From his facial structure to his hair color and eyes. Everything started to change.

He still looked incredibly handsome, but now there was a regal air to him, his blonde hair and yellow eyes giving him the appearance of the embodiment of the sun itself.

"Done."

It took the young woman no longer than a few minutes to completely adjust his face as he went on to massage it while carefully looking at his appearance.

"Not bad. It\'s been a good while since I\'ve last seen my face. I quite missed it."

He chuckled lightly before turning his head.

"….Angela, don\'t you find it funny how my eyes resemble that of the royal family here? But their pupils seem a little darker than mine. A pity since they could\'ve been from the same lineage as ours."

The young man sighed in disappointment and stood up.

He was just getting changed when the young woman spoke all of a sudden,

"There\'s something I\'m curious about."

"Oh?"

Stopping, the young man turned to look at the girl.

"What are you curious about? If it\'s something I can answer, I\'ll do that."

"…Why are you doing this? The tournament is about to start soon and you should be spending your time practicing for what is coming. Why—"

"Why am I wasting my time acting?"

The young man cut her sentence, smiling at her in the process.

"It\'s really not that difficult to understand."

He slowly put on the suit.

"I heard that Haven had an amazing Emotive mage and that he was going to perform in this play."

"And…?"

"And, what?"

The young man pulled down the blazer and fixed his tie. As he did so, he turned to look at the young woman with tense eyes.

"I wanted to see who the better emotive mage between the two of us is."

He smiled then.

"As things stand, im winning, and it\'s not even close."

***

<nulli>\'….Looks like she really did hold a grudge against me.\'

Reflection and Tension

I walked back to the viewing room, my thoughts circling around the earlier encounter with the scriptwriter.

Things were proceeding well until Aoife brought up the compensation. It wasn\'t necessary, but it was free money, so I hadn\'t stopped her when she mentioned it.

That was when Olga exploded, revealing a different side of herself.

<nulli>\'Is it because she\'s angry, or is this how she really is?\'

I wasn\'t sure, to be honest. I could still remember how nice and polite she had been with me back then, which was a stark contrast with how I had seen her now.

It took me aback quite a bit and thinking back to the expression Aoife had on her face, I could see that she was quite affected too.

Her face was somewhat pale, and her expression continued to change.

I could tell that she was hurt by the words that Olga said to her.

They were indeed very harsh words so I couldn\'t blame Aoife for reacting the way that she was. But what was most impressive was her self-restraint. She was the Princess of the Empire. If she wanted to, then she would\'ve been able to handle Olga without a problem.

Somewhat at least...

Olga was now an extremely reputable person. If she were to disappear because of Aofie, things would become quite messy for her.

And given that everything had happened in public, Aofie\'s actions would\'ve been obvious to the public.

Still, I didn\'t think Aoife would\'ve even entertained the thought had all of this happened in private.

She wasn\'t the type of person who liked to use her family\'s influence.

Aoife was stubborn like that.

I looked at the empty stage beneath.

<nulli>\'What a great start to the day.\'

As I thought that, I couldn\'t help but think back to the actor that had replaced me.

He was great. No, in fact, he was terrifying.

Without any bias, he played the role of Azarias better than I had done.

It was chilling to that extent.

I was definitely inferior to him with regard to acting, but…

Was I really?

I lowered my head to stare at my hands as I slowly squeezed them.

"If it were the me of the past, then maybe, but now…?"

I closed my eyes and thought back at all of the experiences that I had. From the time I was stuck for half a year inside of the Will world to the time when I lost my memories.

Those two setbacks were some of the most difficult that I had faced in this world, but I came out a lot stronger because of it.

My emotive magic was far far stronger than it had ever been, and my mind was clear after clearing the Ring of Nothingess.

I now understood who I was.

….I was no longer afraid of losing sight of myself in one of the people whose memories I had memorized and tried to replicate.

My emotions were overwhelming, and my mind was firm.

If it was the current me that was currently doing the play…

<nulli>Scratch. Scratch.

I scratched the side of my neck.

At the same time, I switched persona. But unlike the last time, I was now in control.

Within the madness that was consuming my mind, I remained clear.

I knew who I was and who I would always be.

And with such thoughts, I looked at the stage beneath.

"The foundation of all masterpieces is a great start...."

***

Olga\'s words rang powerful in Aoife\'s mind. They continued to echo within her mind and never seemed to leave. They echoed over and over again, almost haunting her.

"….."

Aoife clenched her teeth as she headed back to the viewing room to get her belongings. She had left her purse there.

As she walked, she felt her heart sting.

It wasn\'t so much that Olga\'s words hurt, but it was the truth that lay within those words that hurt her.

She had indeed only gotten one vote, and that one vote came from Julien.

Not only that, but she also only got the role because the Academy forced her to.

In the end, she didn\'t deserve her position just like she didn\'t deserve her title as the Black Star.

Everything that she received…

It was because circumstances gave them to her on a silver platter. She never truly earned it with her own efforts.

And that\'s what bothered her.

For once… she wanted to win something. Achieve something that was fully within her merit.

But when…?

When was that time going to come? Will it ever come?

Aoife bit her lips and stopped right before the door that led to the viewing room.

Julien was probably inside. Massaging her face, Aoife tried her best to look normal. She didn\'t want anyone to look at her in such a state.

She needed to preserve the last bit of dignity that she had.

"Huuu…."

Taking a deep breath, she reached out for the door and opened it.

<nulli>Click—

With a gentle click, the door opened, and as Aoife stepped into the room, she stopped. A voice echoed in the room.

"The foundation of all masterpieces is a great start...."

It was a familiar voice. It belonged to Julien.

And yet…

"H-ha."

Aoife lowered her head to stare at her arms. The hair on the back of both arms stood on end.

Her heart, which had initially been calm, now pounded violently in her chest, forcing her to hold her chest.

It was only a voice, yet her entire body was trembling uncontrollably.

As if being dragged into the depths of icy water, Aoife felt the air around her vanish, leaving her gasping for breath.

<nulli>\'What\'s going on? What is…\'

And then she saw it.

Standing by the viewing area of the room was Julien.

With his back turned to her, he stared down at the now- empty theater.

It was strange. He looked calm, yet staring at his back, Aoife\'s first instinct was to step back and run away.

But as if she were glued to the spot, she found herself unable to move.

"Haaa… haa…"

Her breathing was hard, and her mind was a mess. She could hardly think as her eyes were glued to the figure before her.

"…."

Eventually, his body started to turn, finally revealing his face to her.

"Ah."

Aoife felt the air get sucked out of her lungs as she stared into those hazel eyes of his.

They were deep. Incredibly deep, and for a moment, she thought she saw hints of madness hidden within them, a darkness that sent chills down her spine.

In that moment, she thought,

<nulli>\'He\'s going to kill me.\'

<nulli>Scratch. Scratch.

Breaking her out of her thoughts was the sound of scratching. When she blinked her eyes, Julien\'s expression had returned to normal, and Aoife found herself able to breathe again, gasping for air as if she had just surfaced from a suffocating abyss of darkness.

"Haaa… haa...!"

Catching her breath she looked up.

"Just what—"

"As expected…."

Julien mumbled, cutting her off.

His eyes turned hollow again before returning to their usual clarity. That clarity lasted until the madness returned and his voice deepened as he spoke,

"....I\'m better."

Better...?

Aoife looked at him unsure of what he was trying to say.

No, she knew, and when she thought about the performance that she had seen just a moment prior to the one she had just witnessed, Aoife found herself pursing her lips.

She wasn\'t exactly sure which one was better, but if there was one thing that was sure about, it was the fact that Julien\'s performance...

It didn\'t seem like a performance.

He really looked like someone who would kill her.

Every part of her body told her so.

To Tok—

Just then, a knock echoed through the room, and Julien\'s expression snapped back to normal. Both turned to look at the door, the tension in the air momentarily broken.

"Excuse me."