Chapter 03
“Anyway, don’t worry about me, sister.”
After sending Leuke back to her room—still staring at me wide-eyed—I sat down alone and began to think. First of all, I needed money.
“Money… Money. Don’t people usually make money using what they know about the original story?”
I started thinking over the plot of When the Red Flower Blooms. The Northern Duke, Leon Brabant, and the Crown Prince, Alkias, both competed for the love of the heroine, Irene. They had each once owed her their lives. One tried to raise Irene up to his level, while the other tried to come down to hers.
But was there anything in that plot that could make me money…?
“Nope. Nothing’s coming to mind.”
The truth was, when the Red Flower Blooms didn’t have any big disasters. No new mines were discovered, no diseases broke out that caused rare herbs to become valuable. There wasn’t even a famine or a war.
The entire story revolved around the emotional conflict between those three people.
“Ugh, I can’t remember anything useful! Other than the fact that the Northern Duke and the Crown Prince were super popular…”
Well, they were supposed to be incredibly handsome. And the Northern Duke was especially popular among the common people for protecting the country from monsters. Bards sang of his heroic tales. Plays were written about him.
Because this world didn’t have the internet and most people couldn’t read, live performances like plays were the only kind of entertainment they really had. Popular actors here were basically like celebrities or idols.
That’s why the Crown Prince also saw the Duke as a rival. Their conflict only deepened from there.
Of course, the Crown Prince had his own fans. He was basically a fairytale prince—kind and charming to everyone, even though he was actually suspicious and calculating on the inside.
But compared to Leon, his story wasn’t as compelling. He’d never faced hardship, so there was no way his character could compete with Leon’s tragic, self-made hero background.
“Ughhh, now’s not the time to think about plays.”
I grabbed my head in frustration. I had nothing to sell. If this were my past life, I could’ve made money off Northern Duke photo cards or merch…
“…Wait a minute.”
Why not do that? Sure, the real guy might come after me, but it’s not like someone at my or Leuke’s level would ever get close to the Northern Duke anyway. So maybe it was actually perfect.
“If Leuke gets married, we both end up dead anyway.”
Worst-case scenario, they interrogate me. But as long as Leuke’s not dragged into it, we’ll be fine. And it’s not like they’d execute me without checking anything, right?
Plus, this is totally my field! Okay then, time to show this world what entertainment really is!
****
“Your Highness!”
An actor was shouting at the top of his lungs on stage. I was watching a play based on the Crown Prince and the Northern Duke.
“…Nope. This one’s a fail too.”
I drew a line through another name on my list of theaters.
For nearly a month, I’d been going around watching every major playhouse in the capital—and even every street performance I could find. The plan was simple: sell Northern Duke merch at the most popular theater.
But the problem was, none of them were good enough.
“These plays just focus on flashy fight scenes and don’t care at all about the actual story.”
The original novel didn’t talk much about the plays in this world, so I hadn’t realized how bad they were. Most of the ones I’d seen had no flow and felt the same.
“Do they not even have the concept of plagiarism here?”
And the stories didn’t even make sense half the time.
The play started with a hunting scene to show off the Duke’s bravery, then suddenly jumped to the Crown Prince worrying about the country. The dragon didn’t even appear until halfway through. And when it did, they just left the massive prop dragon lying on the stage until the end. Watching the Duke suddenly spring to life like he’d been shocked by lightning made me feel confused, not moved.
“Ugh, only one theater left…”
As I stepped outside, I overheard some of the audience chatting.
I wanted to hear their thoughts, just in case I was being too critical.
I can’t assume my taste is the same as the general public’s.
“Wasn’t Robert so handsome today?”
“He gets better looking every time. And his acting’s great too.”
So the response wasn’t bad—but it felt kind of shallow.
Were they just praising his looks because the play was boring, or did the acting really make him seem better?
“You know, the real Duke supposedly has black hair and golden eyes.”
So Robert was the actor playing the Duke. He was handsome, sure, but nowhere near the level described in the novel.
In the original, the Duke was like a black panther—his golden eyes glowed, and he gave off such an intense aura that people couldn’t breathe around him, yet his face was so captivating you couldn’t look away.
“My cousin lives in the North. She saw him during the New Year festival and said he was insanely good-looking.”
“Lucky…”
“But apparently, he’s not that well-liked. Maybe he has a bad personality.”
“Who cares? I’m not marrying him.”
“Well, it’s just…”
Typical gossip. The cold but gorgeous Duke. Popular in the capital, but not in the North.
In the original story, that lack of support from his home region had once put him in danger. He needed that foundation to challenge the power in the capital, but because he was so famous, he got treated like a threat instead—and didn’t even have the North backing him.
A shame, but… Let’s take advantage of that popularity, shall we?
I wanted to hear more of the audience’s reactions, but I had another play to see. I waved down a carriage.
“To the Forest Theater, please.”
“Yes, miss.”
This was the last theater on my list. It was smaller and newer, which meant fewer resources and less recognition. But I’d heard it was gaining attention recently.
“At least it’s less crowded.”
There were way fewer people here—maybe a third of the crowd I saw earlier. No posters or actor portraits either. The building looked like it had been renovated from an old structure.
There was no way a theater like this could rely on flashy sets to win people over.
“Well, I won’t know until I see it.”
If this one doesn’t work either, I’ll just go with whatever’s most popular. I can’t waste time visiting even smaller theaters—and I can’t ignore popularity just because it doesn’t suit my taste.
****
I took a seat in the middle of the sparsely filled audience. The curtain rose, and the first scene showed a burning village.
“Please help us!”
“Our house—it’s collapsing!”
“Mom! Mom…!”
The audience instantly focused. And no cheesy dragon prop in sight. Not bad.
“I’m always asking too much of you.”
“I exist for this purpose.”
The next scene was a quiet conversation between the Crown Prince and the Northern Duke. It didn’t show how noble the Prince was or how brave the Duke was. It just portrayed the pain of sending a friend to his death, and the friend reassuring him.
The best part was the fight scene. They didn’t use any props for the dragon. Just sound effects, lighting, and clever acting to create the illusion of a terrifying beast.
“SCREEEEE!”
“Argh…!”
“Captain!”
“Don’t come any closer!”
When Leon stabbed the dragon in the throat, it was shown by him diving into its “mouth.” The stage went dark, and the silence was more powerful than any prop.
“Huff… huff…”
“Leon!”
“Your Highness… the dragon… won’t harm you anymore…”
“I know. Stop talking.”
“Please… protect this kingdom…”
“LEEEEEON!”
The rest was the same. But instead of springing up like a zombie, Leon slowly rose in a beam of light and knelt before the Prince.
Same story, but done right. No flashy tricks. And for the first time, I was crying at a play I’d seen a dozen times.
“Yes! This is it! They really know what they’re doing!”
I’d been exhausted and disappointed all week. I knew this story by heart. I hadn’t expected to feel anything. But by the end, I was completely drawn in.
Other audience members were dabbing their eyes with handkerchiefs too.
“This is the one!”
They were sure to grow bigger soon. I couldn’t think of a better partner for my business.
“That was amazing.”
“Emily, isn’t this your fifth time watching it?”
“Well, Maria, you’ve been coming since the first performance!”
Oh, repeat customers.
“It was so touching. Do you ladies love theater?”
I quickly joined the conversation, sounding casual.
“Oh! I haven’t seen you before.”
“I’m Melias Warren. The play moved me so deeply, I just had to speak to someone—even if it was a bit rude.”
“Not at all!”
The noble girl who’d seen the play from the beginning smiled warmly.
“I’m coming back too. Leon was just so cool!”
“What did you like most about him?”
The blonde girl’s eyes sparkled. She clearly wanted to confirm whether I was a true fan.
“Real courage isn’t about not being afraid—it’s being afraid and going anyway.”
“Exactly!”
She grabbed both my hands.
“I want to hold on to that feeling from the play forever… If I could bottle it, I would!”
“I even want to have the handkerchief Leon used on stage!”
The noble girl blinked, like I’d said something strange.
“I never thought of that! I need to ask Rosie to find something like that right away!”
“Oh, me too!”
Now I was the one surprised. They’d watched this so many times but had never thought of wanting to own a prop?
“Well, I’ve wanted to take down the stage portrait before.”
“Me too!”
They laughed together. Just as I thought—there was no merch culture yet, but the desire was definitely there.
I ran straight backstage.
“Are you trying to meet one of the actors?”
“Ah. No. No, not at all.”
I quickly changed my tone to sound more important.
“I have a proposal. Please bring me the theater director.”