47. Agnes and Riel

“So this is the Count-nim’s atelier…”

Cecilia looked around the atelier with wonder. It was a wide, luxurious space that could easily fit three or four of Pantheon’s ordinary classrooms.

And it had all sorts of amenities that a mere student couldn’t possibly use. Cecilia was shocked to see that the atelier even had a rest area and a bathroom.

“I could just live here. There’s even a bed big enough for two… It’s much bigger than my house…”

Well, the tobacco shop where Cecilia and her sister lived was particularly small. That tobacco shop was smaller than Cecilia’s workshop.

Cecilia’s yellow eyes seemed to have doubled in size.

“Would it be alright if I looked around here?”

“There’s still some time before the performance. It’s fine.”

The theater where the premiere was being held was also in this Hessos Hall. So, even if we didn’t take a carriage and walked slowly, we could get there quickly.

At my answer, Cecilia’s eyes sparkled. She looked around every corner of the atelier.

“What’s this?”

Then she looked into every nook and cranny of the atelier’s workbench and display case. She found one item and held it out. A black stick made of wood.

‘Was there something like this?’

I hadn’t been as dedicated to artistic activities as Yulian, so there were many things left in the atelier that I didn’t know the purpose of.

Because Cecilia was short, she easily found things in places that my usual line of sight didn’t reach.

“Let’s see… this is… hmm.”

I was momentarily speechless. The material was different, but it seemed to be a prototype of the Black Magic Wand I had given to Rosette.

In other words, it was basically a dildo. I calmly replied.

“I once made a new design of magic wand that witches might use. That’s the prototype.”

Rosette had immediately recognized what the Black Magic Wand was modeled after, but Cecilia seemed more innocent than Rosette. She didn’t seem to know much about the shape of a penis.

A dragon who had grown up in the Demon King’s castle for over a hundred years. She must have secretly obtained and read human books in the Demon King’s castle.

Even if she had read descriptions of a penis, it wouldn’t be strange for Cecilia, who was a virgin, not to think of such an outlandish object as a man’s penis.

‘Well… it is a great thing.’

My tyrant was excellent, so it wasn’t wrong. Rosette seemed to have used the Black Magic Wand well too.

“There are many other things besides that. Would you like to take a look around?”

I tried to divert Cecilia’s attention elsewhere. In the place where Cecilia had found it, there was also a subtle work of art resembling an abalone.

‘That pervert. Did he make it as a set with the Black Magic Wand?’

I carefully hid that lewd object that the previous owner of my body had made, so that Cecilia wouldn’t see it.

As Cecilia looked around at the artworks filled with such confusion, her gaze stopped at one place.

“Hmm? This seems to be a different style from the other artworks. Did Count-nim draw this one yourself too?”

Cecilia stopped in front of a painting. It was a portrait of a person I hadn’t seen before. A portrait of a person on an easel.

Looking at it again, I seemed to know what it was.

‘It’s a painting that Aylin drew.’

When I was taking lectures or training, I gave Aylin free time too. Aylin usually spent that time drawing in the atelier, or going to meet Cecilia.

“Young Master, that’s-!”

Aylin covered the painting as if she were embarrassed. Cecilia asked, puzzled.

“Aylin-nim? Why are you doing that when it’s such a well-drawn picture?”

“Ah, no. Cecilia-nim. It’s not good enough to show to others…”

But I had already seen the painting. It was a portrait of my face. And a nude of my upper body, which was now muscular and looked good.

There was a reason why Aylin had tried so hard not to show me this painting.

“Yulian Count-nim… you’re very strong…! You’re full of muscles. As a swordsman of the Battle Order, you’re different. Lucia-unni of the same Order isn’t this muscular…”

“I… I see.”

“Aylin-nim, how do you know Count-nim’s naked body so well? Could it be that Count-nim volunteered as a model…?”

“That’s… I…”

Well, I knew it well because I was constantly rolling around naked with Aylin, but Aylin’s face was getting redder and redder at Cecilia’s innocent question.

It was a semi-nude painting full of ulterior motives that anyone could see. Aylin tried to change the subject.

‘Still, she draws well.’

Aylin, like Cecilia, had completed a contract with the Aitherne Merchant Guild through Chloe.

If the Aitherne Merchant Guild valued the items containing her excellent drawing skills highly, my artist trait would also increase in proficiency.

‘I need to raise the trait grades evenly to unlock Jedin’s divine power.’

Also, in order to increase the connection with the Pantheon student title, Aylin was also registered as an auditor in the Art Order for the time being.

She was planning to get permission from a professor in the Art Order with the painting she had prepared to submit to the Aitherne Merchant Guild. She would soon be able to become a formal student of Pantheon like Cecilia.

In the meantime, Aylin quickly covered the painting she had drawn of me with a cloth. Then she showed me the painting she had been working on to submit to the Aitherne Merchant Guild instead.

Aylin’s painting was so high-level that Cecilia’s mouth dropped open.

“Wow… amazing… I’ve never seen a painting like this before.”

“It’s nothing special.”

Aylin seemed embarrassed by Cecilia’s praise and quickly went to make mint chocolate tea.

After sharing the tea, it was time.

“It’s time. Shall we head to the theater?”

---

There were only a few spectators in the theater. Most of them were executives of the theater troupe, except for the actors who were going on stage for the premiere.

They all came to me and greeted me politely.

“Yulian Count-nim. We are honored that you have visited us in person at our invitation.”

“The grace of the great bard Liel!! Like him, Yulian-nim is as beautiful as an angel!”

“Really… you look exactly like Liel-nim. There have always been rumors trying to slander Liel-nim and Agnes-nim, but anyone who has seen Liel-nim even once can’t help but think of him when they see Count-nim’s face. Blood is thicker than water!”

Among them were executives of the theater troupe, that is, professors who were high priests of the Art Order. Some of those executives said that they had worked in the same theater troupe as my biological father, Liel, when they were young.

‘So Yulian’s appearance resembled Liel.’

Agnes, the daughter of the Northern Frontier Count, who was of very high status even on the continent. If he could seduce a nun from the strict Battle Order who worshiped martial arts, Liel’s appearance must have been extraordinary.

Liel had the nickname of the Devil’s Bard, but his appearance was said to be as beautiful as an angel.

‘In fact, his inside was a devil, and a Demon King who had contracted with several Archdukes of Hell.’

The people of the Hessos Theater Troupe greeted me, Liel’s son and one of the main sponsors, very warmly. No, their attitude was so worshipful that it was burdensome.

Some of the actors were famous people even in the Imperial Capital. In other words, they were celebrities compared to modern times.

Chloe watched me being praised as if she was getting angry. The Aitherne Merchant Guild was also another major sponsor of this musical. But all the attention was focused on me.

‘Compared to me, she’s being treated poorly.’

The theater troupe executives, who had greeted me warmly, took me to the VIP seats. Of course, they also treated Aylin and Cecilia, who had come with me as guests, with respect.

Of course, Chloe was still being treated coldly because they were paying attention to me. She was taken to the VIP seats with us, but if my group was VVIP, Chloe was VIP.

I said a word to Chloe, who was sitting behind me, covering her face with a fan.

“Chloe. Are you planning to sit higher than me? Did you sit in the wrong place?”

“Ah, no. I thought I could see better from here… I’m sorry!”

I nipped in the bud Chloe’s attempt to save her pride.

Chloe, who had become sullen, went down in front of me. Still, thanks to being well-trained, she listened to me well.

Aylin, who was sitting next to me, watched the scene with interest. She was expressionless, but her expression was subtly satisfied.

Cecilia on my left barely managed to hold back her laughter at Chloe’s humiliation.

Anyway, I ended up being surrounded by beautiful women. It was a situation that would have made an ordinary man’s heart flutter just by sitting there.

I carefully examined the pamphlet that the theater troupe executive had given me in exchange for the ticket, saying it was a special gift just for me.

‘This is a score.’

The front of the pamphlet contained an introduction to the theater troupe and a brief description of the musical ‘Lovers of Teria’.

And the back contained the scores of the main songs used in this musical.

‘Hmm…’

Liel was said to be an unprecedented genius in music even in Islan, but Yulian, who inherited his blood, had no talent for music at all.

‘I heard that he tried to learn music as well as art…’

I had also tried to sing some of Liel’s famous songs through the artist trait several times. But I was as tone-deaf and rhythm-deaf as I was before possession.

It was a miserable talent that couldn’t even follow one strand of my biological father’s hair.

‘This is troublesome.’

The score was not interpreted at all, but this pamphlet and score, which I checked with the system, were marked as Unique, one level higher than the ticket.

The theater troupe executive gave me this pamphlet and said casually.

‘The songs in this score are Liel-nim’s representative songs. All the scores attached to the pamphlet are handwritten by Liel-nim himself. If it were auctioned off, it would be an invaluable item, but the theater troupe has decided to give it to Yulian-nim, who has worked hard for this Lovers of Teria performance. After all, it’s something that Yulian-nim should have.’

It was not a copy but a handwritten score. So it was clear that this score was an important item.

‘There must be a clue to Liel’s last score in this score… hmm…’

Liel’s last score. No user had actually acquired that item, but a user who had analyzed the item log records of Demon King Slayer had posted a post on the Demon King Slayer community. Various rare items remained in the system log.

Among them, the highest item grade that a user could acquire was Epic.

There were mythical items that transcended Epic, but they were only listed in the log, and no user had ever acquired an item of that grade.

Among them, ‘Liel’s Last Score’ was an Epic-grade item.

Considering that there were only a few Epic-grade items in Demon King Slayer, it was clear that Liel’s legacy would have a significant impact on future survival.

Seeing me standing still, Aylin said from the next seat.

“This is… Liel-nim’s score. Hmm~ hmm~.”

Aylin lightly hummed the melody of the score. Cecilia, who recognized the melody, also said.

“That song! The Maiden of Plauen!”

“That’s right. Cecilia-nim. It’s one of Liel-nim’s three major lyric poems.”

The two of them talked about the score with me in between. They knew much more about the score than I did.

‘They both have a flair for art and technology… wait a minute. I don’t necessarily have to interpret that score.’

They might find some hints in this score. They were both main heroines with A+ fate grades.

I subtly changed seats. The two of them, who were sitting side by side, had a more serious conversation about the score.

In the meantime, the theater troupe’s performance preparations were completed. Finally, the musical about Agnes and Liel. Lovers of Teria.

The premiere began.

---

The level of the musical was very high. The Hessos Theater Troupe of Pantheon, which was considered the best theater troupe in Islan.

And the musical that Liel had newly established was a unique style of art that exquisitely mixed modern opera and musicals.

Above all, the main characters of the musical were Liel and Agnes. I watched the story of the two, which I already knew through the Demon King Slayer DLC, as a new musical.

Agnes, a nun from Essenmund in the North. At the age of twenty, Agnes left the Frontier Count’s territory and came to the central Jongdan of Loia in the Imperial Capital to study.

At that time, it was the era when Teria was the Holy Capital, not the Imperial Capital. Before the Great War, the Holy Lamir Empire was at its peak during the reign of the previous Emperor.

The threat of the Chaotic Gate had continued long before that, but at that time, the power of the Chaotic Gate was at its weakest since its first appearance.

The threat of the monsters was pushed back by the power of the Empire to the point where there was talk that humanity had overcome the threat of the monsters.

‘It was just a delusion… and the calm before the storm.’

And the Holy Capital Teria, which was more culturally developed than the old Imperial Capital. There, there was a young bard named Liel who was just becoming famous.

A genius bard with an angelic appearance. And an angelic voice. He was a popular bard who received the courtship of many women in Teria.

He happened to fall in love with a northern country girl who visited the theater he belonged to.

Although it was the huge Frontier Count’s territory of Essenmund. Compared to the old Imperial Capital and Teria, it was literally a rural area. It wasn’t wrong to call her a country girl.

Agnes’s status was the daughter of a Duke, but she didn’t act like a noble lady at all and dressed plainly. This musical also did a good job of verifying that fact.

‘Maybe it’s because it’s a play made by people who worked with Liel. They know Agnes well.’

And unlike the image of the great and benevolent Agnes that remained in history. The country girl Agnes was a terrible tsundere.

Liel, a beautiful young man who was completely different from the rough men of the North. While she was very attracted to him inside, she repeatedly rejected his courtship.

But Agnes also had an appearance close to a peerless beauty by human standards. Agnes seemed to be attractive to Liel, who had the aesthetic sense of an elf.

He composed songs and dedicated them to Agnes, even though he was rejected countless times. The actors performed passionately the process of Agnes’s heart gradually opening.

The actors sang Liel’s representative songs in succession. And the love story of the two gradually escalated.

Finally, the play reached its climax.

The fifth Chaotic Gate was summoned in the Imperial Capital, not far from the Holy Capital Teria. That is, in the place now called the Old Imperial Capital.

“The Demon King has summoned the Chaotic Gate!”

One actor shouted the line in a loud voice.

In reality, it was not Liel, Lucifer, who summoned the gate. But they, who had no way of knowing the inside story, continued the play by explaining it as the Demon King’s doing as it was known to the world.

The romance of the two is coming to an end.

Agnes, who was ordained as the next Holy Maiden of Jedin. Moreover, as the daughter of a Frontier Count, she immediately prepared to join the military against the monsters and the Demon King’s army.

The theater troupe to which Liel belonged was also on the verge of closing due to the great chaos and the war with the demons.

In the end, fate separated the two. The two spend their last night in the highlight. The result is Yulian, so my feelings were subtle as I watched it.

Finally, the two part ways. The musical ended with that scene. Although there were only a few spectators, thunderous applause poured out.

Cecilia was already crying her eyes out. Aylin could also be seen holding back tears. But soon she calmed down and asked me.

“Are you alright, Young Master?”

I was fine. Just as I was about to wonder at Aylin’s words. Tears I didn’t know were flowing from my eyes.

‘What is it… why are there tears…’

And the tears fell on the pamphlet I was holding. Then Liel’s handwritten score began to resonate.