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However, no one could answer Lady Sophia’s question. No one had the answer for it, since it was a question all of us wanted to ask as well.

No, that was incorrect.

Precisely because we knew that all of us had one possible answer come to mind, none of us were willing to voice our guess.

Lady Sophia, who struggled with magical overcharge disease, as well as the others, were likely to panic. In order to avoid that, I snapped my fingers, getting everyone’s attention.

“Everyone, how many fingers do you see?”

“Cyril, I am unable to get into the mood to enjoy a practical joke right now.”

“I am not joking around. Please answer, my Lady. Can you tell how many fingers there are?”

I showed her my hand with just one finger pointed up.

“…One.”

I didn’t agree with Lady Sophia’s answer. After I took a look at everyone’s faces, I turned my gaze back to Lady Sophia.

“Is that really true?”

“No matter how I look at it, it’s one… no, one finger is pointing up, but there are still five fingers on your right hand.”  

“That’s correct.”

In truth, any answer would have been fine. If she had answered that there were five fingers first, I intended to redirect her attention to the number of fingers that were pointing up. My goal was to distract her.

The most effective way of stopping someone from panicking was to remove them from the source of their panic. Simultaneously, it was also said that, when one panicked, their consciousness was scattered, and making that person focus on a single thing was a good remedy as well.

As I implemented both of these methods at the same time, I was also pondering what to do afterwards. There was only one reason for Fol to not show up for the rehearsal without contacting us beforehand. I feared that she had collapsed again. Therefore, the problem now was how we would deal with it. It would have been best if we could hide the issue, but, seeing that she was the play’s heroine, that was impossible.

“I’ve sent Rouché to go check on the reason Fol isn’t coming. However… we can’t wait until she comes back. Fol must have collapsed again.”

I didn’t present that possibility as a speculation, but as a fact, on purpose. Right before they grew anxious, and while they had regained their composure for now, I continued with my exposition.

“However, there’s no need to be anxious about it. Even if she did collapse, I am sure that we will see her health return again, as soon as she gets a few days of rest. That’s what her tutor said.”

This time, I changed to addressing her collapse as a hypothesis, affirming that there was nothing to worry about, even if it turned out to be true.

Moreover-

“Our problem is the timing of her collapse. It seems likely that Fol won’t be able to perform in the play.”

Whether her capacity to come back in the future was a fact or a hypothesis, the problem was that she wouldn’t be returning today nor the day after. Therefore, I side-stepped the issue, saying that what we had to worry about was what to do about the play. Of course, that didn’t mean that everyone would feel reassured by that or that they would whole-heartedly agree with me. To begin with, while I believed that my assumption was correct, I didn’t have any proof that I was right.

Nevertheless, even if Fol had collapsed, there wasn’t anything Lady Sophia and the others could do about it. I was the sole exception. If it was necessary, I would go see her for sure. Therefore, since no such meeting was requested, it was yet another proof that my suspicions were correct. 

“I’ll say it once more. Our current problem is Fol being unable to perform in the play. Of course, it is possible that she will burst in here in a moment, but… ”

That chance was infinitely low. We had to decide, here and now, whether we would perform the play or not.

“Seeing as Cousin Fol is the heroine of the play, there’s nothing we can do but cancel the play, right?” Prince Alforth said.

Following common sense, it was a respectable opinion, and one that I had expected. However, Lady Sophia insisted otherwise. 

“We have to perform the play. If Fol was here, she would definitely want us to do so.”

That was also true. 

All of us knew that Fol had said that she wanted to perform a play in order to leave an impression before her death. Even if she wouldn’t be able to come up onto the stage herself, it would mean a lot to her if we turned the play into a success.

“It’s true that Cousin Fol would have said so, but… what do we do about the heroine?”

Prince Alforth took a look around the room. If it were Alicia’s role as the maid, we could have, somehow, made do with narrating it. However, turning the heroine’s role into just narration was out of the question. 

When thinking of switching roles around, the safest choice would be for Alicia to play the heroine. Alicia might have sensed what I was thinking about, because she opened her mouth.

“I- I cannot play the heroine!”

“Do not worry. I will play Aurelia,” Lady Sophia declared.

Certainly, Lady Sophia would be able to play the heroine skillfully. Nevertheless, Lady Sophia taking up the role of the heroine posed a big problem. If Lady Sophia played the heroine, there wouldn’t be anyone in the villainous daughter role. Although she had fewer lines than the heroine, that didn’t change the fact that it was an important role. Conclusively, turning it into narration would be difficult. As I watched her, wondering what she intended to do, Lady Sophia turned her gaze to Alicia.

“Miss Alicia, please play the villainous daughter.”

“I- me, play Elvira?!”

“Yes. You have performed as Elvira a few times, right?”

“Th- that was just me going with the flow, how to put it…”

“However, your portrayal was natural. You would be able to perform the role skillfully, isn’t that right?”

…Certainly, Alicia performed the role of the villainous daughter better than she did the maid’s.

But that was because she was capable of empathizing with her, and because their personalities matched. Generally speaking, if the live performance was to take place a week from now, this option would have been fine. However, in this situation, with the live performance about to begin, it was too rash.

That was what I was thinking, but, unlike earlier, when Alicia was being considered for the role of the heroine, this time, Alicia was thinking about it instead of immediately refusing.  

If possible, it would have been the ideal distribution of roles. However… I turned my eyes to Melissa. Noticing my gaze, she nodded.

“Lady Alicia was interested in the role of the villainous daughter, so, whenever she had time between rehearsals, she would practise it. I dare say that she’s capable of performing the role without any problems.”

“W-will I… be able to do it?” 

“Of course. I have seen you practise every day, my Lady.”

Alicia, unable to take that step forward and hesitating, just like the heroine had about the secret meetings with the prince, raised her head after receiving Melissa’s support. Exactly like the game’s heroine, she placed her hand near her chest with a dignified expression.

“I will perform as Elvira.”

She seemed to have made up her mind. To be honest, it was a reckless decision. However, since Lady Sophia had suggested it and Alicia had accepted it, I didn’t oppose their decision and, instead, started thinking about how to make it happen.

The costumes weren’t a problem. The uniforms were fundamentally the same, and they were supposed to wear their own dresses for the scene at the ball.

The problem was the role of the maid that Alicia was supposed to play. It wasn’t impossible to narrate the role, but it would have been better if someone were to perform it. Since that was the case, I turned my gaze to Melissa, but was refused with a vigorous shake of the head.

“Shall I play the role of the maid?”

Isabella announced herself as a candidate. Isabella would be able to perform the role without any troubles, but she wasn’t a student. As I was pondering what to do, a voice resounded: “I give you my permission.”

When I looked up, I saw that teacher Tristan stood there, having accompanied Rouché.

Lady Sophia was about to rush over and press her for answers, but she seemed to have remembered her place as a future marquess. Next to Lady Sophia, who had stopped in her tracks, Prince Alforth took a step forward.

“Tristan, Cousin Fol hasn’t arrived… do you know the reason?”

“Lady Fol’s physical condition worsened earlier and she is now resting. However, there’s no need for you to worry. If she properly rests today, she should be recovered by tomorrow or the day after.”

Someone sighed out loud in relief. After hearing his words, all of us felt reassured. However, at the same time, we were made aware that Fol definitely wouldn’t be able to perform in today’s play.

“I have a message from Lady Fol. ‘I apologize for being unable to be on the stage with you. However, I believe that all of you will be able to liven up the stage, for me as well.’ she said.”  

With that statement, everyone’s hearts were filled with resolve. While no one said anything about it, each of us began with the necessary preparations. Melissa ran to prepare a dress that suited the villainous daughter for Alicia to wear during the play, and Rouché ran to prepare Lady Sophia’s simple and elegant dress. 

Isabella borrowed a spare maid uniform from the other maids. Previously, when Libert’s right hand man, Nicola, pretended to be a butler, I was the only one who could immediately tell that he was just wearing a butler’s outfit. However, Isabella truly looked like a maid. As one could expect from the leading actress from the royal city’s famous troupe.

With Isabella joining the group, the new cast’s rehearsal began.

“Haa. I heard from Lady Fol that isabella has amazing acting abilities, but she’s truly something, huh,” teacher Tristan began to speak, observing them from the side.

“It’s an honour to have you praise her. However, is it alright for you to leave Fol unattended?”

“What I said earlier weren’t mere words of consolation. While coming to watch the play might be too hard on her today, tomorrow or the next day she should have recovered enough to walk around normally.”

“…I see. Then, the modest tea party we had planned won’t be a problem either?”

“No, it won’t be any trouble.”

Reassured it would be alright, I turned my gaze back to the stage, where the rehearsal was taking place. They were currently going through the last scene, in which the villainous daughter was executed under the Prince’s orders. With the ruin of the villainous daughter as a backdrop, the Prince swears true love to the heroine.

The performance ended with Prince Alforth moving his hand towards Lady Sophia’s chest, lifting her chin with his other hand. We planned that at the live performance the lights would go off, and then the curtains would get lowered.

The kiss scene between Lady Sophia and Prince Alforth. Although it was an act, it didn’t change the fact that it was Lady Sophia who had won over the Prince’s heart, instead of the Espressivo of Light and Darkness’ heroine. 

That had been my first objective when I began my new life in this world. And even though this objective was now accomplished, my heart felt discomposed. Why did I feel that way…? Well, I knew why.

I locked that feeling into a corner of my heart.

As I observed them, the two of them began to talk about something. Prince Alforth asked her  something and Lady Sophia answered, smiling.

“If you don’t say that you want something when you want it, even if it’s something obtainable, you will end up not getting it.”

“…That is none of your business,” I objected reflexively, but teacher Tristan said with a laugh: “I’m not saying that to you.”

I tried to figure out what he meant by that, but I didn’t understand, and in any case, I didn’t have the time to think about it.

Lady Sophia and Prince Alforth’s conversation ended and they each went a different way. Prince Alforth approached Tristan and I. He stood in front of me and repeatedly opened and closed his mouth.

And then-

“Cyril, I have something I need to talk to you about.”

His face showed a hint of frustration, but, after a pause, he said bluntly with an unhesitant tone of voice: “Miss Sophia doesn’t rely on  me, she relies on you. 

“You’ve acted as everyone’s rehearsal partner. I am sure that you can master the role of the prince immediately, Cyril.”

Prince Alforth, who played the role of the prince, wanted my Lady to play the role of the heroine. His wish had come true, yet he was saying that he was handing over the role of the prince to me.

“…you would be alright with that?”

My question was whether he was alright with letting go of this chance that he had gotten at last. However, Prince Alforth nodded, his face more earnest than I thought it would be.

“I… I won’t become Elvira.”

That was the name of the villainous daughter, who went mad with revenge when the prince was stolen from her by the heroine. There was only one possible way to interpret the meaning of his words: in this situation, he won’t become like her.

Prince Alforth was aware of who Lady Sophia’s heart wished for.

Prince Alforth, who at the New Students Welcoming party didn’t take any notice of the situation around him and asked Lady Sophia for a dance, was now suppressing his own feelings and was considering Lady Sophia’s instead. 

Prince Alforth was exceedingly coming closer to becoming just like the popular character from Espressivo of Light and Darkness. It was possible to say that the current him was worthy of being Lady Sophia’s fiancé. 

Despite this, he was giving up on this chance he got.

“You might… regret this later. Are you saying that you would give up the role of the prince despite that?”

“If we were talking about the previous me, I would have been jealous of you and I might have ended up falling into darkness like Elvira. However, I am different now. I – I want to surpass you.”

Clearly, this was an announcement of rivalry.

There was no way that I, a mere butler, could respond to those words. I was also warned by Master Grave to not show off too much. 

However, despite that-

“Since you’ve said all this, Prince Alforth, there’s no way that I could refuse.”

“Then…”

“I accept the challenge. I will respectfully take on the role of the prince.”

And with this chapter, we\'ve reached the end of this arc! I gasped when I read the final scene! Quite a surprise there! Thank you so much for your continous support and as always, any and all donations are much appreciated. <3 Hope to see you in the next arc!