episode_0039

Fortunately, the misunderstanding about the situation was soon cleared up.

‘You made a bet with your older sister about the ending of Farewell My Concubine, Part 2?’

Princess Diana seems to have predicted that King Liu Bang of Han will be the final winner, while Prince Wolfgang seems to have predicted that King Xiang Yu will be the final winner.

And it was agreed that the winner would take the most valuable items from each person’s collection…

Our Wolfgang boy, you’ve really tasted the spicy taste of coin crash.

“Mi, I’m sorry. I made a fool of myself in front of the great writer.”

Bang! Finally, the prince, who had blown his nose with a handkerchief, lowered his head.

Now that he had calmed down a bit, he apologized to me with a blank look on his face.

“I didn’t call you to scold you. I just feel so wronged and hurt that I lost the bet and had my treasure taken away. Please forgive my rudeness.”

“I know it may be presumptuous of you to ask, but if you feel so sorry, why don’t you ask Her Highness the Princess to lower the bet? If it’s your younger brother’s request, Her Highness might change his mind.”

“No, that can’t be. A promise between royal families is sacred. No matter how small it may be, it must be kept.”

Odododok odododok. Prince Wolfgang shook his head from side to side while chewing on a biscuit covered in strawberry jam, as if trying to soothe his depression.

“Besides, when my sister loses a bet with me, she accepts it without saying a word. Even women do that, so how can a man like me say two things with one mouth?”

“Really? Has Her Highness ever lost a bet?”

I asked because it didn’t seem to match the image of the princess I remembered.

Because somehow, it always seemed like he would only pick out the winning cases.

“Of course. I secretly beat my sister a lot too.”

Then Prince Wolfgang nodded his head with a slightly smug air.

“Especially when we fight over rare desserts that even the royal family can only eat one or two of, I always win. Special ice cream with emerald melon, honey pie with world-class molasses, etc. When we argue over who will eat it first, no matter what kind of bet we make, I never lose.”

“… … ”

“Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?”

No matter how I look at it, it seems like the older sister is giving up some compensation to her reckless younger brother.

Prince Wolfgang is at the perfect age to be crazy about sweet and sour snacks anyway.

‘That’s right. You said that the relationship between the two was almost like that of mother and son?’

The deep friendship between the princess and the prince is a well-known story even in the empire.

Because the empress passed away so young, the princess also took on the role of mother to her younger brother.

‘But even if you give up dessert, it seems like the princess doesn’t want to give up her collection.’

It seems that the reason he took the collection without any consideration was to teach Aesong the bitter taste of life, but in any case, it was pitiful to see the little boy become depressed after having his treasures stolen.

“… … Then how about doing it this way, Your Highness?”

The prince’s birthday is approaching. As a gesture of kindness, I made a generous offer.

“The next topic to write after Farewell My Concubine. I will let His Highness choose it. It will be a birthday present for His Highness.”

“Huh? Is that true?”

“Of course. Don’t worry, just tell me anything.”

“Wow!”

Prince Wolfgang finally returned to his usual childish appearance of his own age.

He clenched his fists with both eyes sparkling, all pretense thrown away.

“Thank you! I really appreciate it, Phantom! That would be the best birthday present ever!”

He was so happy that the sadness of losing the twin dragon swords seemed to have completely disappeared.

As expected, 12 years old is 12 years old. It reminded me of the nephews and nieces that Ha Eun-seong often played with in his previous life.

The children of my older sister and her husband were relatively strict with their studies and schoolwork.

Every time I got scolded by my parents, I would come and vent my anger to my uncle, Emong.

‘Ugh, Uncle! Mom got in trouble for my grades dropping!’

‘Uncle! I want to eat a chicken burger, but Dad said it’s bad for your health!’

Every time that happens, don’t you try to appease your nephews and nieces by taking them to see a blockbuster movie or buying them fast food?

My attitude toward Prince Wolfgang now is not much different from that time.

“So? What kind of play would you like to see, Your Highness?”

He asked while caressing the white mask on his face. However, deep down, he was already trying to guess the prince’s choice to some extent.

Transforming robots, toy swords, model tanks, Kamen Riders, etc. After all, isn’t this the era when people turn to adventure, war, and action?

‘They’re probably going to ask me to make a cool hero story similar to Xiang Yu anyway, right?’

Let’s see, who would be better? King Richard I? The sword master of the Korean peninsula, Chuck Jun-gyeong? Or the legendary sniper, Simo Hae-wi?

It was while I was mentally sorting out the candidates and struggling.

“Horror!”

……huh?

“I want to watch a hair-raising horror movie! It’s so scary that I can’t even sleep at night because it makes my stomach churn just watching it!”

“Oh, are you scared?”

Only then did part of the collection that the prince had carefully displayed come into view.

Of course, it is true that the collection of items related to Phantom’s play are displayed in the most prominent place.

But behind it, there is a completely different kind of stuff piled up to the brim.

And the content that is organized in one corner of the cupboard to the point of having a separate section is none other than horror-related content.

, , , , etc.

There were plenty of horror novels and ghost stories with topics that people from another world would find familiar.

Looking at this, I clicked my tongue inwardly.

Anyway, little guy. He really has a definite taste.

After visiting the palace as the playwright Phantom.

I was loitering around the main gate of the Academy, still dressed for the outdoors.

As time goes by, the season of midterm exams for each class is slowly coming to an end.

The academy cadets are also busy celebrating the end of their exams.

Of course, there will be quite a few who will be overcome with sorrow once the results come out, but for now, they will forget everything and quickly escape into alcohol and partying.

‘… … Now that I think about it, Professor Gabi will really give me an A+, right?’

If you wash your mouth, it’ll be difficult. I really didn’t submit anything because I believed the words that the midterm exam would be replaced by Hang Woo’s acting.

Anyway, I was also preparing to go out for a similar purpose.

“Hmm, horror. Horror.”

Tick tock. A soliloquy muttered while watching the second hand of the pocket watch turn slowly.

Even though he pretends to be dignified, he is still a kid.

When I was that age, wasn’t I also fascinated by scary comic books and videos?

, , , etc., classic horror films that bring back memories.

Now that I’m an adult, I’ve become more tolerant, but back then, even just seeing scary things would cause a lot of dopamine to be secreted.

“In the end, it probably means that the prince wants to see the same thing… … ”

Honestly, this is a high difficulty level. Not just high, but very, very high.

My specialty is taking historical figures and reworking them into a play.

I don’t know how they did war, politics, comedy, religion, philosophy, action and even romance, but horror was a completely different genre.

‘Should I imitate the horror movies I’ve seen in my past life like Charlie Chaplin did?’

Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, George Romero, etc.

The filmographies of directors who are considered masters of horror are overflowing.

… … But when it came to picking out plausible candidates, none really stood out.

‘In the end, what matters is what the people of this world are afraid of.’

The emotion called fear has a relative baseline that is greater than what we think.

This means that depending on the culture, values, and emotions, the things that are feared can vary considerably.

For example, modern people are not afraid when they watch movies about zombies or serial killers.

For people living in a bleak city, it is certainly an unfamiliar yet realistic element.

But would the people of this other world in the Middle Ages really consider such things as objects of ‘horror’?

Zombies are just undead, so they are considered objects of disgust and extermination rather than fear, and isn’t this an era where the concept of serial killers hasn’t even been established yet?

As far as I know, there is a being that the people of this world fear the most.

‘That’s the devil.’

The devil is completely different from the demons that haunt the northernmost regions.

A pure evil that literally crawled out from the pit of hell, untouchable by humans.

It was an unpredictable and terrifying being that only the one god, the Heavenly God, could stand against.

Playing with humans like mere toys, infusing their minds with madness, corrupting their hearts, and manipulating them to lead the world into chaos and destruction.

In front of it, humans become insignificant beings, worse than insects before a typhoon, and without the protection of God, they can only cry out in madness and ruin.

In fact, weren’t there also many tales of demon sightings and bizarre depictions of hell drawn by religious painters in the prince’s horror collection?

‘So, in the end, I guess what the little kid wants to see is a scary devil story… … ‘

If that’s true, then this time my being a modern person actually works as a weakness.

In common parlance, wouldn’t a die-hard religious person know?

Who among modern people is seriously afraid of the devil?

Rather, weren’t there countless cases where people didn’t even believe in the existence of the devil?

Although it is often used as a catalyst or medium in horror films, it seems rare to see a creative work that focuses purely on the devil itself.

“Hmm, what should I do with this… … ”

Anyway, I don’t have the ability to analyze and express the devil better than a medieval person.

In the end, we will have to borrow the life story or works of someone from a past life.

‘Who among the great men has ever been associated with the devil, or at least has been particularly good at expressing a unique and terrifying evil?’

Hieronymus Bosch, nicknamed the painter of hell while he was alive?

Francisco de Goya, famous for ?

Aleister Crowley, the black magic worshipper who laid the foundation for occult culture?

I was biting my lips and continuing to worry.

“Bar, Balthazar!”

“Ah! You’re here, Rosalind?”

“Ugh… …Did you wait long?”

“No. I just got here. But, senior, wow.”

I couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration at the sight of her dressed up differently today.

Red hair, combed carefully and tied with a hairpin.

Sparkling earrings and a necklace studded with delicate gems.

Even dresses that are airy yet fit perfectly and show off your curves.

“You’ve decorated it much more carefully than usual? Was it worth the wait?”

“Oh, really? That’s fortunate. Hehe.”

“Who did you dress up like that to look pretty to? Maybe me?”

“Huh? That’s… … That’s… … ”

“No, I’m kidding. Sorry.”

“Oh, no! Sorry!”

I looked at my senior whose face was turning red and made an excuse awkwardly.

After ended, we felt strangely embarrassed.

Of course, it’s not like we’ve become particularly distant.

My senior and I still have a closer relationship than most other men, like a male friend and a female friend.

However, should I say that my senior’s attitude toward me has become a bit more passive than before?

It seems like the distance between them has widened slightly due to the sudden addition of a pseudo-kissing scene.

Every time I apologized a few more times, he kept saying it was okay, so I tried not to think about it too much.

As expected, the senior, as a quiet and virtuous young lady, must have felt very embarrassed and embarrassed.

So, I decided to stay silent for a while and wait for her mind to change.

“Then shall we go? We agreed to meet at the meeting place with Maurice and Julian, right?”

“Okay. Let’s go, Balthazar.”

As he said that, my senior carefully put his hand between my armpits.

As always when we go out together, she assumes the pose of a lady being escorted by a gentleman.

The difference from usual is that in the past, he would lead me by laughing and talking lively.

Should I say that right now, he is trying hard to avoid my gaze with a slightly reminded face?

‘It’ll take some time for the awkwardness to go away.’

Still, I was truly glad that Rosalind was a good person.

I know you must feel uncomfortable too, but I feel bad for you for not pushing me away unilaterally and instead approaching me like this.

The place we decided to visit today is the tent of a traveling theater troupe that recently moved to the capital.

Since my midterm exams were almost over, I decided to go see a performance to change my mood.

Maurice and his girlfriend Julianne, and me and Rosalind, side by side.

Morris was teasing me by calling it a ‘double date’, but looking at the current situation where there is unnecessary distance, the date is going to freeze to death. I can only laugh in vain at the fuss of my roommate who is my best friend.

‘By the way, that traveling troupe. I think they said their specialty was puppet shows?’

I think the name of the theater troupe was ‘Vanderbühne’, but from what I can tell, it seems like they’ve only recently emerged in the theater world.

I heard that you can be proud of being the best in the empire when it comes to puppet shows?

So, it seems that the cadets who heard the news of Vanderbühne’s visit were excited and rushed to him.

Didn’t Maurice, who was a huge fan of the Phantom series, also push me to see the performances by the traveling troupe Vanderbühne, saying that they were bucket-list must-sees?

‘But no matter how great a puppet show is, isn’t it just a puppet show?’

How grand a play is it that everyone is making such a fuss about?

A while later, inside the large tent of the traveling troupe we had come to visit.

Doo doo doo doo, the sound of drums beating excitedly was heard, and then a loud shout was heard from the other side.

“Hehehe, ladies and gentlemen! You are all very welcome!”

Then, a woman runs from over there and jumps onto a height-adjusting chair.

“The greatest traveling troupe of all time, Vanderbühne! The pinnacle of puppetry with no rivals! Welcome to a dangerous world of endless fantasy and fun!”

She lifts her wide-brimmed top hat and bows politely to the audience.

A pair of rabbit ears perking up above her short, light brown hair is very cute.

Her true identity is Fluffy, the mountain rabbit and the head of the traveling theater troupe we came to see today.

Judging from her appearance, she was a small and cute girl, like a kindergarten student wearing a magician’s costume and performing in a school play.