Chapter 56
The inside of the Karan Theater was packed with people who had come to watch the play.
Noah led Calix to the most expensive central VIP seat with the best view, which she had reserved in advance.
This central VIP seat had one more special feature: it was a couple’s seat.
“It’s this seat, Mr. Kaltz.”
“Noah… This seat is a little unusual compared to the others.”
“I-it’s just your imagination!”
Looking at the seat, which was noticeably closer to the other seats, Calix felt that something was strange.
But since Calix had never sat in a couple’s seat in his previous life, he assumed it was just his imagination, as Noah had said, and sat down.
Rana and Azel quietly entered behind them and took their seats as well, and a short while later, the dark curtains fell and the play began.
『The Monster at Dawn』 began when an adventurer cursed by a dungeon was given a place to sleep for the night.
“Um… I have nowhere to sleep, so… Could you let me stay just for tonight?”
“Y-yes… You can use the guest room over there.”
The adventurer had been cursed, and a hideous black tattoo covered his face.
But following the customs of hospitality, the protagonist’s family allowed him to spend the night in the guest room.
The realistic stage, passionate acting, and subtle magical effects gradually built a sense of dread. Noah, however, was bored.
‘After seeing real wars, this is boring.’
Having witnessed several wars and experienced true fear, Noah was not frightened by the play at all.
More than that, Noah’s eyes were fixed on Calix’s hand.
‘My lord, I want to hold your hand.’
One of Noah’s goals for today’s date was to hold Calix’s hand.
Noah liked romance novels.
According to those novels, lovers naturally held hands while watching horror plays like this.
That was why Noah had prepared to watch a play with her lord, but if it was not frightening, she would have no opportunity to hold his hand.
‘My lord…’
“………”
Calix, meanwhile, was watching the play with a serious look in his eyes.
He seemed to be enjoying it, and Noah thought she should not interrupt his appreciation of the play.
And at that moment, Calix was…
‘Think good thoughts, think good thoughts. It’s not scary. Phew, that isn’t frightening. It’s fake…’
He was desperately trying to blur his focus and struggling not to look at the frightening scenes.
If he screamed while watching the play, his dignity as a lord would be in tatters, so Calix was doing his best not to scream.
Meanwhile, the play continued.
The next day arrived after the adventurer had spent the night there.
The adventurer had disappeared at some point, and the family assumed that he had left during the night.
But strange things began happening in the house from that day onward.
In the middle of the night, the dogs and pigs began making strange noises,
and the doors inside the house suddenly began opening.
Even when they assumed it was the wind and locked the doors, the incidents kept happening.
Then the day came.
Their daughter Nora said that there was a monster under her bed and that she was scared.
Her parents thought she was playing a prank, but she cried so hard that her father volunteered to take a look.
Thus, breaking into a cold sweat, the father slowly lowered his head to look beneath his daughter’s bed.
As tense music played, everyone held their breath, imagining what might be under the bed, while the father looked beneath it.
Then…
“What? There’s nothing here.”
There was nothing beneath the bed.
The father relaxed, and the audience watching him relaxed as well.
And then…
“Daughter! There’s nothing under the bed, so don’t worry and…”
The father looked at his daughter with relief.
But the daughter had disappeared, and behind him stood the adventurer, now a grotesque black monster, staring at the father with a repulsive grin.
All that could be heard was the daughter’s voice in the distance.
“Dad! I’m in the bathroom. Were you calling me?”
“……”
Scree-ech— Whirrrr—!
As the daughter’s voice faded, the black monster suddenly lunged at the father, and a red light burst across the theater.
The burst of red light, accompanied by startling music, made the audience scream.
“Kyaaaaaaak!!!”
‘Flinch!’
Calix was startled as well, but he managed to endure it with only a flinch.
Just as he thought he would have to hold out until the next frightening scene, something suddenly burst behind him.
“Moonlight!”
Flash—!
“Kiyaaaaaaak!!!”
The wholly unexpected impact from behind, the green light, and the scream truly startled Calix.
So, reflexively, he grabbed Noah’s hand beside him.
Squeeze—!
‘…Aaaaaaaaah!!’
Noah, who had not been startled at all by the frightening scenes, was more startled than ever before in her life at that moment.
Calix’s hand was large and warm, and it closed tightly around Noah’s.
Noah stiffened in surprise, and Calix also stiffened while sweating coldly.
Perhaps because they had been so startled, neither of them heard the voices coming from behind them.
“What are you doing, Azel? Are you trying to blow up the theater?”
“B-but… it was really scary, Rana…”
Fortunately, the audience mistook it for a special effect from the play, while the theater staff assumed that an unfamiliar new piece of staging had been added, and the play continued.
For the entire hour until the play ended, Calix and Noah remained stiff, holding hands like that.
* * *
After the play ended, the two of them did not say a word until they had dinner together at the upscale Imperial-style restaurant Noah had reserved.
Noah was still flustered over having held his hand, while Calix needed time to calm his pounding heart after being frightened by the horror.
After finishing their meal, the two of them began speaking again as they walked through Karan’s darkened streets.
“Noah, is your hand all right?”
“I-it’s fine. My lord—no, Mr. Kaltz.”
After being held for an hour, Noah’s hand had turned red.
Calix was worried about that, but Noah was perfectly fine.
“I’m sorry. I was so startled that I…”
“It’s fine! I’m completely fine, so please don’t apologize.”
“O-okay. I understand.”
Noah insisted so emphatically that she was fine that Calix had nothing left to say.
Was she really all right? Or was she only saying so because he was her lord? He felt a little worried.
Then the two of them walked in silence for a while again.
As they walked together, Noah looked at Calix.
At first, it had been curiosity.
Curious about the young lord who could not be bribed, Noah had approached him.
Next had come admiration.
In Calix, she saw the image of an ideal emperor from a fairy tale, someone capable of risking his own life to save a child.
So she had thought that if she made him emperor, no one else would have to suffer the same pain she and her mother had endured.
And now, she clearly…
“Mr. Kaltz, what am I to you?”
Whirr—
Noah used her blessing.
It was a question Noah had wanted to ask countless times until now.
But she had been unable to ask it.
If… if Calix appeared black and white—if that meant he did not like her—she would not be able to bear it.
But now, she felt as though she could ask.
If she asked now, she felt as though she could see what she wanted to see.
At Noah’s words, Calix looked at her and answered.
“You are someone precious to me, like family.”
As he said those words, Calix did not lose his color.
In this black-and-white world, Noah had been disappointed in people countless times.
As if to comfort her, Calix looked at her, his own colors warm.
But…
“Rana, Sharen, and Azel are also precious to me.”
’…You’re mentioning other women’s names here!?‘
Even as he mentioned the names of other women, Calix’s color did not disappear.
Noah felt a little deflated, but she still smiled.
“They’re all more than I deserve.”
It was a strange relationship.
There were truly all kinds of people around her lord.
They could easily have met as enemies, yet her lord embraced every one of them without discrimination, and before they knew it, they had become more like family than actual family.
Noah had once thought that one should never trust human relationships.
To someone like me, who had lived in such a colorless world, he had effortlessly given me a dazzling one.
That was why I decided to serve him.
And because he was that kind of lord, I fell in love with him.
“Please continue to look after me, Noah.”
It was a scene from a dream.
With the moon behind him, her lord truly looked like a prince from a fairy tale.
She was not a princess, but she still wanted to remain by her lord’s side.
“Yes. Please continue to trust me, my lord. My eyes are never wrong.”
Noah had actually wanted to kiss him too, just like in a romance novel.
But she thought that wanting anything more would be asking for too much.
Just as she decided that this alone was enough of a reward for today and was preparing to be satisfied…
“…How frustrating.”
Whoosh—!
A stone suddenly flew from somewhere and struck Noah’s shoe.
“Kyaa!”
“Noah!”
Calix caught Noah as she lost her balance and nearly fell.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his embrace, and Noah naturally slipped into his arms.
“M-my lord…”
“Noah…”
They were now face-to-face, in a position perfect for kissing.
Noah, her face flushed red, naturally closed her eyes.
Calix knew what that meant, too.
If he backed away now, he would be a failure as a man and rude to a woman.
After confirming that there was no one around, Calix moved toward Noah.
And then…
Peck—
That day, Calix initiated a kiss with a woman for the first time.
And Rana and Azel, who had been hiding and watching them, lightly high-fived.