190 – Behind the Scenes (6)
As she walked through the campus garden with me, Olivia asked me several questions.
“Dance?”
“Yes.”
She pretended to dance, moving her body in the air.
“Are you talking about that dance?”
I guess I never expected to be asked to teach dancing.
“That’s right.”
Then she raised her eyes upward for a moment and lost herself in her thoughts.
“I could teach you, but since I have a fiancé, it’s difficult right now.”
“….”
“It will be possible after you make a lot of money, break off your engagement, and become independent, but it will be too late by then, right?”
“Yes.”
“Um…. And all I know is southern fast tempo and really rocking dancing. “It would be a little difficult for a man to learn.”
Oh, Olivia is from the South, so the cultural difference must be quite big.
“Then I guess we can’t help it.”
“But we can’t just ignore it. Instead of teaching it directly… I can introduce you to people. “There is a very knowledgeable person here.”
“Will they be proactive enough to give us time?”
“Of course. He’s a very close friend to me, so he’ll listen if I ask him a favor. And he’s probably not interested in you, right?”
“Then may I ask you a favor?”
Olivia said in a confident voice.
“Hold on to your worries and just wait. You might be a little surprised when you see it. She’s really, really pretty. “Even as a woman, my heart melts when I see it.”
Although there were some doubts about what she said, she decided to believe it and wait.
Then Olivia suddenly got startled and shouted.
“Aye!”
“… ?”
“Ah… Wow, I’m surprised.”
In the grass where her gaze was directed, Luna’s wolf spirit was also sitting. It was clear there was no hostility as he pricked up her ears and looked at her round eyes, sticking out her tongue and panting happily.
She knew that Luna’s spirit and my spirit roam freely throughout Eternia’s vast campus, but she feels strange that she encounters them often these days. Is there anything wrong with Luna?
***
After her rehearsal, Trisha returned to her dressing room late to study more of her script. Her dressing room was lined with wooden trunks labeled with the names of her members.
She stood in front of her own trunk and took off her clothes. She then took out her casual clothes that were underneath them.
With her tired face, she took out her socks and skirt and put them on, and the moment she finally took out her top, something fell off her.
It was a neatly folded piece of brown parchment.
Even looking back on her memories, she had never folded a note like that into her trunk or pocket.
Since it was a women’s locker room, men were not allowed in, so it was likely that it was her classmate or close sister.
She picked up her note and opened it slowly.
It contained sharply scrawled sarcasm.
[What do you believe in when you act like that?]
There was another note in the trunk.
When I picked it up and opened it, there was a sentence written there that was not much different from before.
[You and Damian don’t get along at all. Stop accusing me and get out.]
[Stupid b*tch]
“….”
It was a malicious message that seemed to be jealous of her relationship with Damian. It was not written who wrote it.
At that moment, her lips trembled and the tip of her nose stung, but she held it in.
This wasn’t the first time. Someone had secretly put it in her pocket before.
Someone in her theater department hates her, and her problem is that, on the surface, there isn’t a single person she gets along well with. Someone was walking around wearing a mask with a smiling face and doing dirty things behind the scenes.
Who put it in? A close sister? Or the motivation to compete for the lead role? Friend?
Although she was not hostile, she briefly thought of a blonde spirit priest whom she was not even familiar with, but Trisha shook her head in denial. No matter how much she shared Damian, Luna was not such a filthy person.
Trisha put on her clothes and came out of her dressing room.
At the front of the stage where rehearsals were over, tables were set up for the director and writer, but Luna was left alone, lighting her oil lamp and reading a book.
Trisha walked towards her exit with long strides.
Luna stared at Trisha with her innocent face. Trisha, who was so annoyed by the rolling eyes, turned around and shouted instead of trying to leave.
“Hey! Blond hair!!”
“….”
“Why do you keep looking at me!”
Luna blinked her cat-like eyes without changing her expression, and without responding, she turned her gaze back to the book.
***
After finishing my work and training, I returned to the Thorn Garden dormitory. As I entered the room and was unbuttoning my sweat-soaked shirt, I felt a sign of presence and turned around.
As expected, Trisha was lying down on my bed as if it were her own room.
“I have to change my clothes. Get out.”
Trisha didn’t seem to listen to my request and just lay still and stared at the ceiling.
And it is strangely quiet.
I asked again because her mood seemed strangely different from usual.
“Trisha.”
After hearing that Trisha’s name was written on the adaptation evaluation paper, for some reason, her heart weakens when she sees Trisha.
This is especially true when you see him looking more depressed than usual.
“Yes.”
“Is there anyone at the academy who treats you poorly?”
Trisha was silent for a moment, her eyes still fixed on the ceiling, then she spoke.
“No. Why is that?”
“I can’t help but feel that way when I see someone carrying a heavy load alone.”
“There are no problems in the theater department. Even if problems arise, I, who am pretty and kind, will have to endure them.”
“Patience is not the answer.”
“But what will you do, Damien, if someone is really bothering you?”
“That bastard should be half-killed and you should be taken out of the theater department and put into the art department.”
Trisha remained silent and lifted her blanket slightly so that half of her face was covered. She then turned her eyes and looked sideways at me and said.
“You idiot. What should I do then? How good am I in the theater department!”
Although I spoke a little exaggeratedly to cheer Trisha up, her sincerity was also mixed to some extent.
Even if she said she was being bullied, I wouldn’t have taken immediate action, but I was on Trisha’s side and I wanted her to know.
“I’m glad if nothing happens.”
“Yes!”
Trisha kicked off the blanket, got off the bed, and jumped up.
“I’ll go up and sleep! Damian, you too, get some rest!”
Then he left the room and went up the stairs with a loud clang.
She returned to her usual lively self again, but she still couldn’t relax.
***
When Eternia’s clock tower bell rang, Olivia, who was waiting below, looked around her.
“Not yet?”
Next to him, a girl who was holding an elemental magic book in her arms and stamping her feet in embarrassment spoke.
“Sister, if you do this, it’ll be a little difficult.”
“It’ll just take a moment.”
“How do you teach dancing to someone you don’t even know who you are?”
Olivia was stubborn and held on to her girl until the end.
“Wait. See it and then judge.”
“Sorry, sister, I’ll go first to prepare for class.”
“Wait, Lilith!”
Olivia grabbed Lilith’s forearm as she tried to run away.
“Hey, why has he changed so much? Before, I was still tolerant and kind to others.”
“…Not anymore.”
“Just meet me at least once. You won’t regret it.”
“You know, sir. I don’t dance with people I don’t know well. And… I hope you at least tell me who it is.”
Olivia closed her mouth and shook her head. Seeing her stubbornness, Lilith’s patience was gradually running out.
“Senior!”
Just as Lilith was about to throw her ultimatum, she looked over at Olivia and she screamed.
“Here, here!”
Her familiar silhouette was trotting past where she was happily waving her hand.
When Lilith saw that scene, she was momentarily speechless and closed her mouth.
She was an unexpected person.
Olivia brought Damien in and she introduced him to Lilith.
“This is Damian, and this is my close junior, Lilith.”
Despite Olivia’s introduction, the two remained frozen for a moment, looking at each other.
In particular, Lilith’s face was in a contemplative state, as if she had seen someone she shouldn’t have seen.
“Lilith?”
When Olivia gently touched Lilith, she froze and dropped the book she was holding. She immediately picked up the book again and called out to him as if to double-check her name.
“Damian. Damian.”
Olivia looked at the unnatural appearance of the two and expressed doubts.
“Do you two know each other?”
Then Damian said.
“He is a classmate of mine in the art department.”
“Huh? Then I guess you two get to know each other well?”
“No. Actually, I haven’t had a chance to get to know you. This will be our first conversation.”
It was the same in Lilith’s memories. Damian was always silent to Lilith. And Lilith didn’t bother to add any explanation.
She asked Damian directly.
“Learning to dance…?”
Damian was lost in thought for a moment with an expression that left him unable to understand his true intentions, but then he opened his mouth.
“Yes.”
Without realizing it, Lilith tightened her hold on his arm, hugged the textbook and spoke in a stern tone.
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“Then, finish your work and come to the clock tower by 7 p.M.”
She gave notice without any consultation and then turned around and left.