The Heroines Are After My Fortune

31 – Get Me Some Popcorn

“…You want me to help you film a movie?”

David Blackwell, who had built a rapport with Aiden at the Este family banquet some time ago and had been keeping in touch to foster that friendship, was suddenly faced with an unexpected request.

“There’s a scene in the movie where spirit magic appears, and I’ve heard rumors that your spirit magic is exceptional, Lord David. You don’t need to show yourself, but could you help me a little?”

“Hmm….”

It wasn’t that he didn’t have the time, but David, proud of his own spirit magic, was not thrilled at the thought of his power becoming mere entertainment for an unspecified audience.

‘I should refuse.’

It was true he had a certain level of interest in Aiden, the only person whose soul color he couldn’t read, but this was a matter of principle.

“I’m sorry, but my schedule for the time being is-.”

“After the premiere, we’re planning a party for the people who helped with the production, and Elena might be there too…”

“—Having nothing at all, I’m free to be summoned anytime.”

David, with a dramatic shift in demeanor as if nothing had happened.

Entangled in Aiden’s dark scheme, his future held glorious, yet grueling days of relentless toil, enough to bring forth moans of despair.

####

First script reading,

The room teemed with actors, survivors of a fierce competition. Among those individuals, each possessing something uniquely remarkable, René shone the brightest.

‘Wow, I’d only heard she was pretty, but this is something else entirely.’

‘…And her acting the other day was something else, too.’

Her looks, acting chops, status – excelling in every regard, it was mostly undisputed she’d landed the role of the female lead, ‘Luna,’ yet some held their doubts.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady René Este.”

“And to you, Miss Monica Fleur.”

René recognized the actress who had approached her.

Monica Fleur,

a Baroness by birth, whose resume and talent suggested she should’ve been the one cast as the lead, and who had been bad-mouthing René behind her back. The staff from Salome, whom she’d shared the stage with, had told her the rumors— that it was unfair for her to grab the lead role without an audition, that the influence of her marquess family must be at play.

“Congratulations on landing the lead! You’re far more talented than I am, so I’m sure you’ll do wonderfully!”

For someone who knew the truth behind the words, such lip service was nothing short of repulsive. She could feel the heat rising to her head. Not to mention that Monica played a character close to the female lead, so they’d have to work together quite a bit.

‘Hoo, if I was my old self…’

She could’ve made Monica tremble, unable to even meet her eyes, but lately, René was working hard to keep her temper in check. She simply smiled warmly and replied,

“Thank you. I think so too. Let’s do our best together.”

“Yes? Ah, yes…!”

After all, she’s the lead.

Envious, jealous folk are bound to sprout wherever someone leads the way. René had no intention, not even a flicker, of letting petty emotions sabotage what she was meant to do.

“The director’s coming in…!”

A staffer near the door spoke, and all eyes turned towards the entrance.

‘A mask…?’

A man, all decked out in white – a white mask, white suit, dark hair swept back – made quite an impression.

“Pleased to meet you, I’m Steven Starfield.”

His introduction, a deep rumble that seemed to vibrate through the room, was striking. A charismatic voice, yet it came with a rather large problem.

‘He’s using banmal from the start…?!’

The director, using an obvious alias, with not a single known work to his name, waltzed in with a mask on and tossed out an informal address. The actors were aghast.

This Empire was one of rigid class structure.

Even elders didn’t address an audience in banmal, not in a room with nobles present.

Here, there were even actors who descended from the marquisate, viscountcy, and baronetcy. Everyone felt an odd discomfort, but with René, who held the highest lineage amongst them, staying still, no one dared step up.

“Let’s start with the script reading, everyone perform your parts.”

At the director’s command, the actors pulled out their scripts and began to read their assigned lines. It was then that it happened.

“Oh my, Miss Luna! You’re not attending the party today…”

“Again.”

“……Pardon?”

“I said, read it again.”

Director Starfield ordered Monica to read again.

It was irksome, to be singled out and addressed so casually, almost dismissively by this director, despite being a minor noble herself. Still, she regained her composure and read the script again.

“Oh my, Miss Luna! At today’s party…”

“Again.”

“Hah, oh my, Miss Luna! At today’s party…”

“Again.”

“…Look here, director!”

Monika finally snapped. Proud as both a noble and an actress, she couldn’t tolerate this unknown director, picking on only her while the cast was full of commoners.

“What exactly about my acting don’t you like?”

“Your script analysis is terrible.”

“Wh-what did you say…!?”

“Your role isn’t meant to be so frivolous, is it? Whether it’s a lack of effort or something else, I can’t say, but if you continue like that, I’ll have you redo it as many times as needed.”

“Ha, haha, ha…frivolous, like *that*?”

Monika’s hand trembled, feeling deeply humiliated. Soon, her face turned venomous as she abruptly rose from her seat. She then declared defiantly to the director,

“…Unless you apologize for your rudeness just now, I will formally withdraw from this film.”

“Miss Monika…!”

“What on earth…!”

The surrounding actors were equally surprised. Losing her, a somewhat well-known actress, was not welcome news for the other cast members.

Director Starfield, without a word, propped his chin on his fist and stared at her after her sudden declaration. And she was certain, all of his actions up to now had been mere bravado.

‘How obvious, he must have been afraid he wouldn’t have a voice with so many noble actors. He must have been putting on a farce to try and take control of the set.’

She figured his hiding his face was also part of that plan. His foolish plan was bound to fail now, having been exposed by Monika herself!

But life, it didn’t flow so easily.

“Get out, then.”

“Pardon?”

“I said get out. You deaf?”

A bomb dropped, leaving everyone, including Monica, speechless.

“Is it so hard to say sorry that you’ll ruin the whole film?”

“Why would a harmless film be ruined? It’ll be better off.”

“Oh, unbelievable! Do you think I’ll just stay quiet if you throw me out like this——!?”

Monica’s outburst froze everyone. The Fleur family was renowned for its close ties with the press. If a scandal broke out, something about forcibly removing a noble lady from the project, then the project would surely be under a relentless media barrage.

‘Director, please…!’

‘Apologize now…!’

The actors and staff, with their eyes on the sweet, guaranteed income from this major project, desperately wished for it to somehow stay afloat.

“…Now I understand.”

“Yes, even now you could just apologize-”

“That frivolous behavior, it wasn’t acting, it was her true nature.”

“………………!!”

Instead, the director’s words only poured more fuel on the fire, and the actors smacked their foreheads. Monica’s face flared red with anger.

“……….”

Only Renée watched the scene as if it was nothing. If anything, she was more intrigued.

Then, the door opened, and someone walked in.

“Yo, good to see you.”

“……………?!”

The man who opened the door was a handsome figure, marked by his tanned skin, slender, squinting eyes, and long, silver hair tied back.

“Uh, who are you…?”

“Ah, I suppose I should introduce myself. I am David Blackwell.”

““…………………!!””

There was no one present who didn’t know the name of David, the firstborn son of the undefeated Southern Admiral, Marquis Carlos Blackwell. By position alone, he was a figure of higher rank than René Este here, a strong contender for the position of family head.

“Heard you were coming. If you become a nuisance, I’ll have you removed, so look around carefully.”

“Ah, yep. Understood~”

Everyone’s mouths hung open. To speak so casually to the next Marquis, yet receive polite speech in return. Naturally, only one thought could enter their minds.

‘A ducal family, or maybe even royalty…?!’

If concealing his face was also an attempt to hide the family’s prestige, it would make sense. Monica, who wasn’t usually slow on the uptake, began to tremble. Now it was, she thought, quite the moment where *she* should consider apologizing.

“What, I thought she was leaving? Still not gone?”

“……grr.”

Monica, biting her lip hard, bowed her head and exited the door. The atmosphere became heavy, but he acted as if nothing had happened, giving instructions to the actors.

“The empty spot will be filled soon, so let’s start the reading again.”

““Yes…!””

A fear settled into the hearts of the actors – if they were disliked, they’d be tossed out like Monica at any moment. It didn’t matter how old they were, how illustrious their career, or whether they had noble blood.

Beneath the tension, everyone diligently performed their roles.

“You’re just a knight, and I am a daughter of a Count…! You dare try to teach me-“

“Hold on a tick.”

“…Yes?”

“I’d prefer a different way of expressing that. For instance…”

Starfield’s director, going into a rather detailed explanation, found René mostly agreeing, save for one nagging point.

“Director, the person who wrote this script, they said something different, so what should I do?”

René, careful not to reveal that Aiden wrote it, referred to him as ‘the person who wrote the script.’ She’d practically harassed him for advice while preparing for the role of Luna, honing her performance, so this was a crucial question.

But the director’s reply, it startled her in more ways than one.

“Hmph, the script is mine now, so how I interpret it is entirely my business. That guy knew that when he gave it to me. Forget what that dolt said, and just follow my directions.”

“……………!!”

Interpretation was the director’s prerogative.

True enough. Aiden had managed to get him onboard, so she had intended to respect his wishes as much as possible, but the words that followed, they couldn’t be ignored.

“…Take that back.”

“What?”

“Take back calling him that vile name.”

René met the director’s gaze, her eyes unwavering. Everyone around them, witness to the second director-induced ruckus of the day, were now reaching for the heavens.

‘Oh, dear Lord….’

‘Good heavens, is it the marchioness’ daughter this time…!’

In this storm-before-the-storm,

there was one person, with an utterly peculiar expression, observing the scene.

‘Aiden, that rascal has quite the strange taste…’

David had known it early on.

His soul-reading ability couldn’t make out a thing from only one person to begin with.

In this strange situation, where he was anonymously dissing himself and creating trouble with a woman who had a good feeling about him, David suddenly craved that “popcorn” thing he’d tasted at his friend’s theater a while back.