Episode 18
“By the way… when you come down to the villa, do you usually eat alone in this big place?”
As the meal progressed, Autumn asked questions she had been curious about. But he didn’t answer kindly or in detail.
“Yes, I do.”
“The villa is so beautiful… You must have a lot of guests?”
“Sometimes.”
Randel calmly cut into his well-done steak, answering only as much as necessary. Unlike him, who ate elegantly, Autumn was nervously slicing into a steak still dripping with red juice.
‘Seriously, why did he even ask me to eat together if he was going to be like this?’
His cold demeanor didn’t seem like it would improve no matter how many times she saw him.
Annoyed by his lukewarm responses, Autumn pouted and kicked her chair a little with a soft thud.
“My chair seems unusually small. I thought maybe there was another resident here besides you, Director.”
‘No way this lovely, dainty chair was made for you.’
Only then did Randel’s gaze shift to the elegant, jewel-adorned chair Autumn was sitting on—a bit too small for an adult male. His eyes briefly flickered with irritation, then turned to Husson.
“Why is that here?”
Autumn stared as Husson whispered something to him.
“The chef here makes great potato dishes.”
“Oh, yes. You should try some.”
Autumn subtly moved the potato dish toward herself, ears perked, pretending to be curious too.
But Randel didn’t seem willing to explain. Again, she mumbled to herself in frustration.
‘Whatever. Whether there’s someone else who uses the chair or not… But the way he’s acting—like he’s trying so hard to hide something—it’s suspicious… Wait. Hold on.’
Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
Autumn shot up from her chair.
“That chair, it belongs to her, right? Hahaha…”
She wore a knowing smile and muttered to herself dramatically.
“Miss Kiss, I think you’re misunderstanding something… Could you sit down calmly? You’re scaring me.”
Despite Husson’s attempt to stop her, Autumn ignored him. She ran her fingers through her long hair and stretched dramatically toward Randel.
“That chair… was used by her, wasn’t it?”
“If you mean her…”
Randel looked reluctant to explain, which only made Autumn more confident.
She folded her arms and nodded silently.
‘Even if it were me, I’d expect her to have a special chair. That’s not unusual—it’s only natural.’
Slide
She hurriedly lifted her dress hem and stood up.
“No need to explain. I didn’t mean to sit on a chair that belongs to someone else.”
She gently brushed the chair where she had been sitting, her eyes dreamy.
“Miss Kiss, that person…”
“Oh, it’s fine. I understand. This chair must reflect her taste.”
“…I have no idea what you’re talking about, but really, it’s okay to sit there.”
Randel glanced at her with a puzzled expression, curious to see how far she would go.
But that look didn’t last long. He calmly resumed cutting his steak.
“She’s just someone who visited here… once in a while.”
Autumn slumped back into the fluffy chair, looking disappointed.
“What? So the chair doesn’t belong to our genius playwright?”
“Excuse me?”
“You said I’d get to meet the genius playwright if I came here. I thought this chair belonged to her!”
‘Could it be… that genius playwright whose studio is in the theater basement?’
She had asked Randel this once before.
But rather than Randel, Husson burst into laughter.
When he started to say something, Randel quickly covered his mouth.
“Oh… If it’s a sensitive subject, you don’t have to answer.”
“You’ll see… in the villa.”
He looked a bit awkward.
“Anyway, I’ve been around this whole villa and you never introduced me to anyone. Are you deliberately hiding—”
“Oh, did I forget to mention?”
Autumn tilted her head in confusion, mouth full of meat.
“Pffft—Hahaha!”
Husson laughed so hard he nearly fell over.
“That’s because, Miss Kiss, you’ve already met her!”
“W-What? You mean the genius playwright who supposedly hides in the theater?”
“Isn’t that right, Director?”
“Huh? Me?”
Autumn stared wide-eyed at him, frozen with her knife and fork in midair.
‘When did I miss them?! Was it that old man I met at the entrance? Or that person who greeted me near the gate?’
Randel put down his fork and raised his head.
“It’s me.”
“Whaaaat?”
Autumn let out a dumb sound and stared at him blankly.
Scrape—!
The fork in her hand screeched against the plate and slipped from her fingers in shock.
“You’re the one Miss Kiss described as a once-in-a-century genius playwright.”
Randel bent down to pick up the fork with a napkin and handed it to a servant.
His movements were flawlessly graceful.
Then, he handed her a new utensil and said politely:
“That would be me. Randel Wentworth Austin.”
“Pfft! That’s right, Miss Kiss. I can vouch for that!”
—
It felt like she had just heard something she shouldn’t have.
Autumn suddenly choked and reached for water.
“W-Water!”
“When formal rehearsals begin, you’ll naturally come to know. I didn’t think it was necessary to explain early.”
Randel poured her water and slid it toward her.
“Th-thank you…”
“And… this is a secret not even the other actors in the troupe know.”
“Pfffft—!”
Autumn spit out the water at his words.
“Please keep it to yourself.”
Servants bustled around her.
Randel adjusted his seat and looked at her.
“Are you okay?”
His tone was polite again, though with a hint of sharpness, as usual. This back-and-forth in his demeanor had confused Autumn more than once.
“…No, not at all.”
She couldn’t meet his gaze and instead poked at her food aimlessly.
“How could you trick me so perfectly?”
“I never said I wasn’t the playwright.”
“That’s the same thing! You never told me properly—you always avoided it!”
Just thinking about it made her irritated.
She stabbed at the peas rolling on her plate.
“Now that I think about it… You’re right. I apologize.”
“There it is again. That ‘sorry’!”
Suddenly angry, Autumn grabbed the nearest knife and pointed it at Randel.
Husson, startled, rushed back and forth between them.
“M-Miss Kiss, your hand!”
“I heard Lady Vetches’s table manners were impeccable… I guess I was misinformed.”
“Director, watch out for the broken glass!”
“And you… how can you stay so calm after revealing such a huge truth?!”
“…Oh.”
“Ohhh?”
Randel looked at her calmly and opened his mouth again.
“I didn’t realize that truth would mean that much to you.”
