Chapter 94. Debut, Part VI
Translator: Khan
Editor: Aelryinth
Killian nodded. He fully understood, because he was not interested in the private lives of his servants and maids.
“I’ll send someone to the staff. Do you mind?”
Maribel nodded when he said he would dig into Julietta’s whereabouts in earnest. “No, Your Highness, I don’t care. I hope he doesn’t identify himself as a person you sent. If you’re rumored to be sending someone to the theater and looking for someone, it won’t help you or our theater at all. Why don’t you just disguise him as a distant relative of Julietta, looking for her whereabouts?”
Even though he would ask the staff, there would not be much they could say. They could say that she was just a normal kid with brick-red hair who had lived in the theater since she came there, a child who quit the theater one day after working in the prop room. It would have been this much.
Most of the children who grew up in the theater were either working as members of the theater or going off as aristocratic concubines. That was what everyone would think of Julietta, who had suddenly disappeared.
Maribel still smiled calmly to the Prince, who watched her with sharp eyes. It would not be good for Madame Anais to know that Prince Killian was looking for Julietta…
At Maribel’s calm appearance, Killian nodded. “I’ll do that. You may leave now. Something urgent has come up, so I won’t be able to see the performance today.” Killian didn’t care a bit that Oswald, who had a message from Ian, was on his way.
“Yes, Your Highness. Please don’t forget to take another glorious step next time.”
At Maribel’s courteous farewell, Killian departed in his carriage for the Imperial Castle. When the colorful purple carriage was finally out of sight, Maribel staggered back to her living quarters.
——
A few hours later, Oswald, who had gone to the theater and walked about in vain, entered the Asta Castle’s office in a fit of rage. “Your Highness, you’re so mean!”
Invitations for Oswald, who had returned to Austern after a few months, were constantly flooding in. He was preparing to attend a party hosted by Count Derio, among the many invitations.
It was a secret that only a few people knew that the Princess Haint, who had been talking about possible marriage to Prince Francis, was pregnant from her love affair with Count Derio. The Duke of Haint was quickly put in a quandary by his daughter’s deviation.
He was the one who had refused to intervene in the political wrangling, despite the talk of marriage to Prince Francis. His daughter’s mistake was a great disrespect to Prince Francis, which made him feel as if he had been caught in a weak spot. Oswald was quick to try his hand, because he was sure he wouldn’t refuse Prince Francis’s request as firmly as he used to.
According to voluntary information from Moira, who was the Duke’s mistress, but still loved Killian, the Duke of Haint did not favor the marriage of the princess and Prince Francis. Criticizing Francis’s brutal nature, he said, “If he becomes Emperor, the Empire will be destroyed,” adding, “It is totally unacceptable.”
Moira also questioned the sudden pregnancy of the Princess Haint. She suspected that the Duke and the princess had used the poor Count to refuse the hand of Prince Francis.
“Today I was preparing to attend a party at the mansion of Count Dario. You know how busy I am, but you made me walk all the way to the Eileen Theater in vain. You’re so cruel, Your Highness.”
Oswald had been trying to coax Count Derio, who was not part of any faction, trying to pull the Duke of Haint toward Killian. At Killian’s sudden call, however, he gave up attending the party but what was waiting for Oswald at the theater, where he was not dressed properly, was an empty box without a note.
Killian frowned at Oswald, who was very angry. From the look on his face, he seemed to suffer for a while.
“Your Highness! Look at my figure. Do you know how urgently I ran to the place?”
Killian glanced down at the documents, but looked up again to see Oswald’s appearance, but he couldn’t figure out where he was odd. His silver eyes shook with embarrassment and fell again.
“Your Highness, don’t avoid me. This Oswald’s been wandering through the street of Eloz with this kind of appearance, but you’re telling me I don’t matter that much.”
Killian decided to be honest with him because he had no idea what was wrong with him, although he was even more likely to get angry.
“Well, Oswald. I’m sorry to come back to the castle without waiting, but something important happened. But I don’t know where you look wrong, and why you are so angry.”
Oswald’s face flushed at Killian’s confession.
“Your Highness, I feel so sorry. Look at my hair now. I didn’t curl properly, so it is messy.”
Killian looked again at Oswald’s head. The shiny fine hair was flowing around his neck, looking good, so he had no idea why he was so angry. But thinking he might have to listen to complaints all evening if he said he didn’t know again, Killian intentionally froze his face.
“That’s not what matters now, Oswald. Don’t you wonder why I called you all of a sudden?”
Oswald poked his mouth up, tapping at the tips of his drooping hair. “Well, did you see Julietta?”
Knowing that it couldn’t be true, he was ill-tempered and made invidious remarks, but Killian replied, “Oswald, you’re different from Adam, too. You noticed right away.”
Oswald was genuinely surprised when Killian raised his voice in an unusually upbeat tone, and asked back, “Did you really see Julietta?”
“Yes, I saw her on the street of Eloz. She disappeared in the blink of an eye, but it was definitely Julietta.”
Killian’s mouth crept up. Oswald looked at the smile, and shuddered. “I haven’t seen you so happy in a long time.”
Killian’s expression instantly hardened when Oswald gave up his drooping hair and sat down on an office couch.
“Don’t talk nonsense, and send someone to the Eileen Theater tomorrow. It’s something the owner of the theater allowed, so as to get to know everything about Julietta. It’s okay to find out very slowly. When they are busy, he will help out with theater work.”
“Oh, did the troupe leader allow it? I’ll have to go there myself. I’m thinking about taking over a theater, so it’s okay to go and see what happens behind the colorful stage.”
“I don’t know how she’s involved in Julietta’s affairs, but I smell something. My visit today seemed quite embarrassing to her. Who the hell is up to this? Why?”
Killian concluded that there must be some conspiracy behind Julietta’s disappearance. Whoever brought Julietta to the capital he was in was making a mistake. Now that he knew she was here, he would find her!
Oswald quickly felt better about the Prince’s increasingly interesting love affair, and made a noisy gesture to bring tea.
———-
Only
A few days later, Julietta again visited the dressing shop, disguised with a brick-red wig and glasses. Today Gibson was out with Simone, so she moved about in a business carriage by herself.
Not even dreaming of Killian finding her, Julietta got out of the carriage and looked up at the ivory building three stories high. On the front porch of the restored building was a sign with a dress, shoes, and a hat, along with the words “Chartreu’s Dressing Shop.” Under the bright pink sign on the ivory building, a glass-lined porch was visible.
Julietta stood in front of the wide-open door showing a transparent glass window, holding her throbbing heart. After months of hard work as a substitute, she would finally be able to continue her future in this dressing shop.
She opened the glass door and entered, going across the hall, which was still empty, and to the door on her right. Inside the large room, which used to be a family drawing room, were Amelie and Sophie, who were busy making clothes starting early in the morning.
“Julietta, come on.”
“Don’t you feel uncomfortable working here?”
Julietta said so and looked around the studio.
A large workbench for the foundation was placed in the middle, and various fabrics were piled up in one corner in a renovated main drawing room of the mansion. A small table and chair were placed on the back terrace heading toward the annex, serving as a place to rest when they were exhausted from working. From the terrace, she could see the annex and the garden on either side of the road.
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