The Sad Love Story of a Certain Girl -2-
The lights shining brightly over the heads of the audience in the theater slowly faded, wrapping the interior in a soft darkness. Whispers from the crowd. The sounds of popcorn crunching and beer being sipped. Amid all sorts of noises, the young lady sat with her hands clenched tight, her eyes wide with interest.
"Oh... Looks like Ricardo's play is about to start!"
As the curtain covering the stage parted just a sliver, an emcee in a bright sky-blue dress slowly came into view.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Cowan, the playwright and emcee for this production of The Sad Love Story of a Certain Girl."
"All names, characters, and events in our play are fictional. They bear no relation whatsoever to any real persons, places, buildings, or products."
The emcee's smile, brimming with confidence in the entertainment value of her creation, instilled trust in the seated audience. With a voice full of assurance, she called out to the crowd.
"The play The Sad Love Story of a Certain Girl begins now!"
As the emcee gave a graceful curtsy, lifting the hem of her dress slightly, the young lady's excited voice slipped out softly.
"Oh..."
"This is gonna be good."
"Yeah. But what's it about?"
"Hm... It's a sad love story, so probably a melodrama. Someone recommended it to me."
"Melodrama...!"
The young lady huffed through her nose and shifted in her seat. Even with her cold-hearted nature, she melted for romance genres. She couldn't help but look forward to it.
"Bet it'll be super thrilling, right?"
"Who knows."
"Will there be fights and stuff?"
"You wanna see that?"
"A little...?"
The young lady mumbled shyly in a small voice.
"A play Ricardo picked... I'm excited."
"Don't get too excited, or you'll be disappointed."
"I'm not expecting much."
"What?"
"Heehee... Just saying."
The moment I reached to pinch the cheek of this impudent young lady—
"Ah... It's starting!"
The half-drawn curtain fully opened, and sparkling stage lights reflected in the young lady's and my eyes. It was dazzling. Well, her sparkling eyes were, anyway.
"This should be fun."
"Yeah."
In a rural fiefdom, there lived a wicked noble.
This lord, fond of tax evasion and bribes, was a villain who made life hell for his people.
BOOM...! Majestic music reverberated through the stage. The lights on the emcee dimmed gradually, creating a dark atmosphere. A spotlight poured down on the head of a fallen noble kneeling like a tragic heroine. The young lady blinked in surprise and tilted her head.
"That guy's done for."
"Pardon?"
"Tax evasion's for idiots. If you're a noble, you launder it, not evade."
"Very astute."
"Evading taxes brings the imperial army knocking."
"And bribes?"
"Bribes are fine—they die with you."
"As expected of the Desmont family's youngest."
The young lady nodded with a beaming smile. Cursing, yet somehow in high spirits. A true villainess move. The ruthless young lady whispered to me.
"That guy's gonna crash right now."
"Why?"
"He skimmed taxes."
"Won't it happen later?"
"Nah. It's happening now."
She shook her head firmly at my certainty that clichés wouldn't break. "I'm right."
"No way."
The middle-aged actor on his knees spoke in a sorrowful voice.
"These filthy commoners...! How dare you betray me!"
'Huh?'
Just like the young lady said, the play shattered the cliché and booted the villain offstage in one go. I'd figured it'd either be the villain lord reforming or the heroine sparking a revolution. But nope. The wicked noble actor spat one line, then got dragged behind the curtain by the commoners, screaming.
"Nooo!"
The wicked lord was dragged down by his people. In revenge for years of oppression, the commoners who killed the lord tried to kill his children too... but...
With the emcee's narration trailing off, a tiny child actress slowly emerged from between the curtains.
His young daughter, little Lucia, was a life they couldn't trample.
The child actress stood boldly in the center of the stage. For the heroine of a ruined house, her expression was awfully haughty. One eyebrow arched in an arrogant sneer—I felt a twinge of doubt at her acting.
'Did she mess up...?'
I chalked it up to a child actor fumbling her role. No matter how you sliced it, that face didn't fit a fallen noble. At the same time, I felt a spark of anticipation. What was she building to with that performance? Lights from above bathed the girl, and she bellowed to the audience.
"Fuck!"
'What the hell...'
Murmurs from the crowd...
'What is this.'
The equally stunned young lady gawked at me with blank eyes.
"Ricardo, that kid's weird."
"Pfft...! I'm used to it."
"Used to it?"
"Nothing."
The young lady stared at the child actress in the stage center, a question mark practically floating over her head.
"This is bullshit! If you're jealous, get born pretty like me—how dare you act up!"
It felt familiar. Her acting mirrored the haughty noble miss sitting right beside me. I smiled contentedly and focused on the play.
"Ah, takes me back."
"...Does it?"
"Doesn't it for you, miss?"
"I was a good girl at that age, so no."
"No conscience, huh."
"Hiet."
She answered with a little laugh.
"Idiots...! Morons...! Stupid commoners...!"
The child actress threw a cute tantrum, kicking the floor. Her performance nailed the stereotypical noble image in commoners' minds. I let out a quiet gasp of admiration.
'But... is it okay to let her go like that?'
Times had changed, and people loved edgy stuff, but nobles might hate this. As if affirming my thought, murmurs rose from the audience. Just as I wondered if we'd picked wrong amid the uneasy start—
"Hey! You there, commoner!"
The curtain at the back parted, revealing a hidden stage set. Dim brown lighting gave the illusion of dust swirling. The backdrop was a familiar slum. It cut straight from my memories of being discarded in the capital—like the set recreated our first meeting with the young lady. Crumbling walls. Tin roofs. Amid the dusty set, the child actress in her ragged dress called out to a red-haired boy rummaging through trash.
"Did you call me?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"I'll give you a special chance to feed me. Be grateful."
"Sure. Bye."
"Puhahaha!" Laughter erupted from the audience.
The young lady beside me glared at me with puffy eyes. She didn't like the crowd laughing at what she saw as perfectly reasonable. Identifying with the protagonist, she snapped at me irritably.
"Why are they laughing?"
"'Cause it's funny?"
"You laughed too, Ricardo."
"I was just going along."
She pursed her lips.
"Don't laugh. She's hungry."
"I'll be careful."
"Yeah."
She crossed her arms and snorted. The play continued.
The emcee stepped lightly in front of the actors.
The girl, no longer a noble, began life in the slums.
With nowhere to go, she followed the boy into slum life and gradually grew close to him.
Of course, they fought too.
"Give me food!"
"No. Go home."
"I don't have one..."
"Me neither!"
Year by year, the boy and girl's bond deepened.
Sharing begged scraps, the boy saving Lucia from thugs—they drew closer, like water and oil finally mixing.
And so...
Love began to bud in the boy's heart.
The girl oblivious, of course.
A breeze picked up in what I'd thought would be a dull play. Like spring winds carrying sweet flower scents, filling the theater. The bickering Lucia and red-haired boy didn't feel like someone else's story.
"Don't be picky!"
"It's gross, so no."
"You're not a noble anymore! Know your place!"
"Wha...? N-no! I... I..."
Sometimes hurting with words. Sometimes crying together. Their growing closeness stung my heart sweetly. The red-haired boy denied his feelings with prickly barbs, while Lucia stayed defiantly bold. When her beggar's life darkened her soul, the quiet red-haired boy came with stories— their love story tugged at me. And the boy said:
"When I grow up, I'll buy you all the tasty stuff. So... stay with me forever."
He awoke to the feeling called love.