Chapter 72
Translator: uly
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Invitation - 2
Romeo and Juliet.
A story that receives the most homages among classic romances.
To summarize the story simply, a man and a woman from feuding families fall in love with each other. The situation gets complicated, and Juliet takes a potion to fake her death, planning to run away with Romeo afterwards.
However, Romeo didn't know this fact and committed suicide in front of Juliet, who was pretending to be dead. Juliet, seeing this, also killed herself. The two families, shocked, reconcile. It's a story that is a tragedy for the two leads but ends as a comedy with the families reconciling.
'As an expert in faking death and fleeing, it's such a pity.'
Faking death and escaping requires immense dedication.
If you were going to fake your death, you should have started with the build-up and prepared multiple safety measures. Because you did it sloppily, it ended in tragedy, didn't it?
Well, the protagonists of Romeo and Juliet were said to be teenagers, so maybe that's why the plan turned out clumsy.
'Even though I chose this story because of the final tragedy...'
As a fake death expert, it's a regrettable story, but the reason I chose this tale is because of its final ending.
Even people who don't know the story of Romeo and Juliet properly know its ending, as it's a tragedy famous enough for that.
As long as the final tragedy is preserved, it doesn't matter what story you fill it with, and you can even minimize the characters and perform it. It's truly the optimal story for a neighborhood storyteller.
"Ro! Meo! Ro! Meo! Are you still dissatisfied?"
With a booming voice, I announced the start of the story by calling the protagonist, not Romeo but Ro Meo, twice.
First, right from the start, I introduced Romeo's friend to provide a simple setting explanation.
"You have to practice martial arts every day. Why did you drag me to a banquet?"
"This isn't just any banquet. It's a place where men and women can dance and play, held only once a year. Why are you so dissatisfied?"
"Those guys from the family that is our mortal enemies will be here too, won't they?"
"It's a feast. No matter how mortal the enemy family is, would they draw their swords just because they met at a banquet?"
I acted the part of the good-natured friend placating his sulky companion.
"Whenever lines like that come out, they always end up drawing their swords."
"Is it a story about two families fighting each other?"
"A story about the martial world seems too cruel."
As the audience was provided with basic information about the new story, they began to whisper and grow curious about the development.
This level of immersion for the start is fine.
"I heard the renowned beauty of Joseon, Lady Ju, is also coming. Let's at least see her face."
"Not interested... Is she really that beautiful?"
I acted out hurriedly closing my fan, standing on tiptoe, and quickly scanning my surroundings.
"Haha! I thought you were sincere, but you're just a boy your age after all."
"But... that storyteller. Does he also act female roles?"
Yeah. I do it well. I did a great job acting as the wicked stepmother during the Prince Hamurin story too. But this time is different.
I hurriedly descended from the stage.
"Hey! What are you doing coming down already!"
"You! You! The story barely started and you're already trying to use a money-collecting trick, what a wicked mind!"
Please wait a moment.
I went to where the female audience members were gathered, found one beautiful young lady, and spoke to her.
"Might you be Lady Ju?"
"Huh?"
The young lady I spoke to was flustered, opening her mouth and tilting her head sideways.
"Your beautiful appearance... Might you be the Lady Ju I've only heard of in rumors?"
"Ah, that's..."
Ah, busted. Busted. Next person.
"You're not her. Might you be Lady Ju?"
I immediately switched to the next person and spoke to her.
"Yes! I am Lady Ju!"
A quick-witted woman volunteered with a bold smile.
"May I know your beautiful name?"
"Hehe. Of course! It's Soso!"
"Ju Soso! What an incredibly beautiful name."
As expected, it's a name that fits anywhere.
Expensive-looking accessories, silk clothes, and an appearance without a single wrinkle. She looked exactly like a cheerful young lady who grew up without knowing hardship.
Thanks to that, she probably handled this unexpected situation interestingly.
I expressed my gratitude to her, then went back up on stage without taking a single coin. After pretending to dance briefly, I shouted loudly to the people.
"Ahh! We have fallen in love!"
As if falling in love was a great tragedy, Romeo knelt down and agonized.
"Why is he acting like that just because he fell in love?"
"What's wrong with him!"
After inducing curiosity about why Romeo was despairing, I knelt down and spoke in a sighing tone.
"Lady Soso is the daughter of the Ju Family, the mortal enemy of the Ro Family!!! Our love is impossible!!!"
"Oh my! He says it's an impossible love!"
"It seems a fine man and woman have fallen into forbidden love."
Forbidden love really is a cheat key. I could see the female audience members, who had shown little reaction, straightening their postures and becoming immersed.
"Ahhh! I cannot forget Lady Ju Soso's face! That beautiful appearance! Was it a fairy descending from heaven to dance!"
With a rapturous face, I looked up at the sky and made motions imagining a fairy.
"Hey. That handsome storyteller says he fell for you."
"Hehe."
"That's good. It's just acting, right?"
After explaining to the people the reason the Ju and Ro families came to fight, I began actively praising Ju Soso.
The more I praised, the more the Soso in the audience seats bounced as if her shoulders would fly off, and the women around her watched with envy.
The agonizing Romeo. After much contemplation, Romeo confessed to the audience about a love he simply could not give up.
"Ahhh! To see her face, I must sneak into the Ju Family."
I began descending from the stage again.
This time, holding a collection bowl instead.
"He's coming to you again!"
People cleared a path around Ju Soso. I strode right up near her, but stopped once, then shouted loudly again in front of the people.
"Ahh! Lady Ju is so beautiful I cannot remember her name! Those numerous rooms have the names of young ladies written on them, but which room is it!!!"
"I'm heeere!!"
The original Lady Ju Soso raised her hand to indicate her location.
I know. But I'm not going.
"Ah! Was that young lady Lady Ju? I can't remember well!"
With my head bowed, I subtly raised the collection bowl.
Give money.
If you want to keep being the heroine.
"Hmph! Love isn't something you buy with money!"
The young lady who originally played the role of Lady Ju Soso crossed her arms and tried to turn away from me. Right. That's how you play it.
"Ahhh! That young lady wasn't Lady Ju after all! Then! Then! Who was Lady Ju!"
I lamented, making eye contact with other women and prowling around.
"Here!"
Then, a quick-witted female audience member threw money!
"No!!! Could it be you are Lady Ju?"
With a surprised face, I walked towards her very slowly.
At a speed that would allow someone else to throw money again.
"Ah! I'll do it! Here!"
A female audience member who quickly grasped the situation threw a larger amount of money into my bowl than the one just deposited.
"Ah! You were just another young lady. You are my Lady Ju!"
"Here, take more!"
"Ahh! After all, that young lady is! Lady Ju!"
"I want to be Lady Ju!"
"I want to do it!"
"Eeek! You just danced with me earlier!! Here's 2 silver!"
"Soso, are you crazy? How can you throw 2 silver to a storyteller!"
Finally, the original Lady Ju Soso, who had been watching the spectacle, generously threw 2 silver to conclude the situation.
Right. That's it.
The new money-collecting trick I'm using this time is the 'name the lead character' method.
If I use this trick on a female audience member wearing obviously nice clothes, I can receive generous patronage. That's what I thought when trying it, and the reaction is better than expected.
Well, it's probably quite attractive patronage to become the heroine of a story just by giving a few coins.
I went back on stage and acted out the two people whispering their love to each other.
"Ahhhhh! Romeo! Why must you be Romeo!"
Lady Ju, agonizing that her beloved is from an enemy family.
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet! Just as you are you, I am merely me!"
Romeo asserting that, regardless of family, the two of them have fallen in love.
"If you just pledge that you are my love! I will no longer be a person of the Ju Family. I will abandon everything and become your Soso!"
This time too, I unsparingly covered my face with a fan and acted out Lady Ju making a sorrowful confession of love to Romeo, who was beyond the window and out of reach.
"Oh my, look at how romantic."
"Even if they are from enemy families, they can love each other so ardently."
"You, you, you! Look at that two-faced wench! Her father fed and clothed her, and she just falls head over heels for an outsider!"
"Hey! You forgot you begged me to marry you because you had to marry the person your father decided on?"
"No... that's one thing, and this is another!"
"A man should at least have the courage to sneak in like that! You just cried boohoo on the main street because you had to get engaged."
"No... honey. We agreed not to bring that up."
It seems someone has a similar marriage story.
The two people, determined in their fated love, go to a temple to hold a secret wedding ceremony through the abbot.
But here, a problem must arise.
A very big problem!
"Ahhh! Heavens above! For my beloved! I wish to adorn her with beautiful wedding gifts and clothes!"
I cried out to the sky in the guise of a youth lamenting poverty despite being in love.
"Your family is rich!"
Someone who sensed something amiss quickly objected. No. Is that my money? It's the Ro Family's money.
"Ahhhhhh! Heavens above! She and I will abandon the Ro and Ju Families and flee far away! As unfilial children, we cannot open our hands to our parents!"
As I said that, I quickly picked up the collection bowl and descended from the stage.
"Heavens above! Please bear witness to this secret wedding ceremony today! Be our guests! Bestow your blessings upon the man and woman who have fallen in love!!"
Dear guests. You've come to a wedding venue now. Hurry up and give your congratulatory money!
"Here, take this! In all my life, this is the first time I'm giving money as congratulatory gifts to a storyteller."
"That storyteller's money-collecting trick is ingenious! Here, take it!"
"Soso! You must be happy! Here's my gift!"
"I'm not married! I'll give some too!"
Perhaps because the female audience members were deeply immersed. As the immersed female audience actively threw money, coins began to pile up in the congratulatory money bowl.
At this rate, I feel like telling them to go buy some noodles on me.
The performance ended successfully.
"The Ju Family and the Ro Family will reconcile and achieve peace, prompted by the deaths of the two young people!"
The two families reconciling over the bodies of the two young people who tragically took their own lives. And the audience members wiping their tears with their sleeves as they watch.
"Ugh... It's so... so sad!"
"Why did the two have to die! They could have just loved each other!"
It was the first performance, but thanks to my body being trained through martial arts, I didn't tire until the end and acted well.
"Well done!"
"I'll come again next time!"
"As expected, the Joseon storyteller tells stories well!"
"I'm so sad my legs feel weak. Help me up a bit."
"Prince Romeo, just abandon someone like Soso and remarry."
"Soso. You... you were so pitiful."
"Yeah. I... I thought so too, it was pitiful."
"Soso, are you crying? How immersed were you to be like that? Next time, I should be the young lady."
"N, next time I'm doing it again too."
Unlike the Prince Hamurin story, perhaps because the ending focused more on romance than a satisfying conclusion, the reaction from the female audience was much more passionate.
To be this successful... I won't have to worry about a new story for a while.
Looking at the money in the bowl, it seems I hit the jackpot for the first time in a while.
Shall I go eat some food So-hee likes for the first time in a long time?
"Are you the famous Joseon storyteller from Chilgok County?"
As I descended from the stage and waited for So-hee, a man who looked like he had just become an adult spoke to me.
"Yes. That's correct. Who might you be?"
Who is this?
His shoulders were broad, and a glance at his hands revealed he was a martial artist who had trained in martial arts.
His face was manly, and the clothes he wore were high-quality.
Judging by his posture and way of speaking, he didn't seem like a rogue who exuded delinquency even when standing still.
Among the Changgeom Sect guys I saw last time, there was no one like this. I simply couldn't figure out his identity.
I quickly looked for So-hee.
Every time someone approaches after a performance ends, something bad happens.
Fortunately, So-hee was standing behind him without him knowing. Perhaps having learned from experience, So-hee was also in a guarded stance.
Unaware of the fate that would befall him if he came with impure intentions, the man said something unexpected to me.
"I am a person from the Seong Family Manor in Daeheung County! I have come all the way here to invite you to the Manor Lord's birthday banquet!"