Chapter 002
‘What?’
The smile she had consciously put on distorted.
However, Jeremiah only gazed down at the flustered Mia. Soon, he let out a dry sigh and made an effort to smooth his fierce expression. After a short silence passed between them, his gaze fixed on her cheek.
“The boat you just took was the upbound line. What you were supposed to take was the downbound line. The upbound line is on the left when viewed from the audience, and the downbound line is on the right. Wasn’t that written in the script?”
“Ah…….”
‘So it was the right side from the audience’s perspective.’
Mia had taken the boat that was on the right from the stage’s perspective. It had been written that way in the script, and she thought the surrounding actors had told her so just before going on stage, but it seemed she had memorized it incorrectly due to nervousness.
Regardless of whether Mia felt a sense of failure, Jeremiah’s words continued.
“The upbound line goes all the way up to the balcony seats. I cut off the tracks because it’s not being used in today’s play. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The balcony seats. The severed tracks. Mia could easily imagine the path the boat she took would have originally followed.
“I’m saying you almost died today. Falling straight down from the second floor. It’s lucky that I happened to be watching.”
“That……”
Mia clearly heard the curse that leaked through his teeth. Mia’s mouth shut tight.
He asked again, feigning a kind voice.
“Do you perhaps have difficulty distinguishing right from left?”
“……No.”
“Then, perhaps you can’t read? Or have you never been told that your memory is fatally poor?”
“I haven’t, really……. That, today was my first time on stage, so I think I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”
Jeremiah let out a hollow laugh, pulled something from his vest, and tossed it lightly toward Mia.
“Apply it.”
By the time she managed to catch it and look back, the man had already disappeared into the darkness. Only the candle he left behind flickered unsteadily, much like the dazed Mia.
Mia tilted the small, round container Jeremiah had thrown toward the candlelight.
It was ointment. It seemed he meant for her to apply it to her cheek.
‘……Our boss really has a talent for doing good deeds in the most unpleasant way.’
* * *
Mia stared sullenly at the ointment tin in her hand.
Having met him in person, ‘Jeremiah Garcier’ was utterly rude.
Well, he was the sole heir to a ducal house and a man who had seized a knighthood through his brilliant inventions. A man who lacked for nothing—lineage, wealth, or honor—hardly needed to bother with manners.
Nevertheless, Mia felt a slight sense of disappointment.
‘As soon as he reached adulthood, he announced his inventions…… and immediately established Garcier Co. to sell innovative machinery.’
‘Initially, he released products directly related to peasant life, such as agricultural tools and groundwater purifiers. In the third year, he supplied military goods such as wiretaps, heat sensors, and short-range signal receivers……. That year, he received a knighthood in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Kingdom’s technological development.’
‘Every year, he contributes thirty percent of the Garcier Theater’s income to regional orphanages and art schools to foster talent.’
This was the information she had gathered about him before entering the theater. It was clear even to Mia, who was indifferent to worldly affairs, why the Kingdom’s citizens were enthusiastic about Jeremiah.
But that was all.
‘Just look at him revealing his temper the moment he meets someone, even if they are a commoner and a low-level actress.’
In cases like this, the better the rumors, the dirtier the reality behind them.
‘Just let me catch one thing properly.’
Regulating her breath, Mia lay flat and kept her eyes peeled. She was currently hiding in the maintenance passage directly above Jeremiah’s office, peeping into the room through a narrow ventilation gap.
Just then, the sound of footsteps coming from the hallway was heard downstairs. After a short wait, Jeremiah and his assistant, Benjamin, entered the office. As soon as the door closed, Benjamin reported quickly.
“Mr. Jamil, the violinist, has requested a salary increase starting next month.”
“Give him the raise starting this week, and tell him not to come from next month. Find a usable violinist immediately.”
“There is a request from the Citizens’ Council to lower the price of general admission tickets.”
Jeremiah’s brow furrowed.
“Tell them I am terribly sorry but it’s difficult, and as for the box seats…… were there ten citizen council members this quarter?”
“Thirteen, Boss.”
“Thirteen box seat tickets. Send them to their respective homes. Manage it well so their paths don’t overlap with existing reservation holders.”
“Yes. What should we do about Duke Weitzman’s request for a meeting?”
Duke Weitzman. Another Duke in the Kingdom who likewise operated his own theater. It was a well-known fact that he and Jeremiah were long-time friends.
Mia’s nerves stood on end.
Unlike before, Jeremiah began to deliberate for a long time. As if he had suddenly become hot, he even threw the window wide open. Thanks to that, he moved out of the narrow field of vision of the ventilation hole.
“……I shall send a separate letter.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Then, Benjamin pulled an envelope from his breast pocket and handed it over. Given the context, it was likely a letter from Duke Weitzman.
“Is there nothing else to process?”
“Nothing more for today.”
“Right……. How is the newcomer? The woman who took the role of being slapped by my mother.”
Oh, now they were talking about Mia.
“I assigned her to the troupe dormitory as requested in advance…… fortunately, there is no word of her quitting yet. Perhaps because it’s still unfamiliar, she seems to stay tucked away in the dorm and doesn’t come out much.”
“That’s a relief. Still, keep looking for someone new.”
“Pardon my saying so, but she didn’t look like a lady who would quit easily. No complaints about pain or anything, and not a single word of nonsense……”
As if he were sick of looking for new people, Benjamin’s annoyance was clearly visible even to Mia. However, Jeremiah let out a smirk and ruthlessly crushed his loyal assistant’s hopes.
“She didn’t look like a lady who would be an actress, either. How can one work for a long time with someone who nearly caused a disaster because they couldn’t follow the single caution in such an easy role?”
“It was her first performance, wasn’t it……”
“Stop talking and find a new troupe member. That woman……”
“It is Miss Mia Celestine.”
“Right, Miss Celestine. If anything gets caught, whether it’s a small matter or a large one, I’ll fire her immediately, so be prepared.”
Mia felt as though she could hear Jeremiah’s chuckling laughter beyond Benjamin, who was sighing uncontrollably.
‘A “merciful and easygoing young master to the citizens,” my foot.’
Recalling a headline from some newspaper, Mia felt her stomach churn with irritation.
* * *
Early the next morning, Mia took advantage of a quiet moment in the theater to sneak into the large prop warehouse. This was because she had failed to find the machine on stage the previous day.
‘I’ll probably be dragged around by other members during lunch, so now is the only time to get a proper look.’
According to the explanation Benjamin gave the previous day, all mechanical devices used in plays that were ‘bulky or dangerous if mishandled’ were stored in this warehouse.
Among the large and small pieces of iron inside, there was one device that was familiar even to Mia’s eyes.
‘The Unmanned Aerial Device.’
It was a system used by connecting it to a stage pillar or ceiling, a device that allowed an actor to fly during a play without the need for another person to hold the rope from behind.
From the audience, the special wire part of this device—which suspended the actor—was not easily seen, making the flight appear more natural. When it was first unveiled at the Garcier Theater, everyone doubted it was a supernatural phenomenon, and it became famous enough to appear in newspapers. It became so famous that other theaters vied to send love calls for it.
However, as of now, it was notorious as the cause of the death of the first victim of the ‘Serial Actress Death Case.’
‘Sarah Linderbell.’
Though it was through a photograph, the image of her final moments remained vividly in Mia’s mind. A fallen angel with broken limbs—nothing could have been more grotesque.
Mia consciously took another step back and examined the device. It seemed to have been stuck in this warehouse for a long time, as the top surface was covered in a thick layer of dust.
‘Poor Sarah Linderbell.’
That woman would have closed her eyes without ever knowing what had happened to her until the very end. Just like the other two actresses who died after her.
The second victim, Vera Marinova, drowned a few weeks later during an underwater performance. Jeremiah told the police that the oxygen supply device was working properly at the time of the incident, but there was no way to believe that since a person had died.
The last victim, Emily Millet, died just two weeks ago. It was five months after Vera’s death.
‘Electrocution…….’
Unluckily, Mia had been there. After Vera’s death, the Kingdom’s Secret Police had secretly taken turns watching the performances every day for six months.
The woman had pressed something while singing, and immediately after, she was burned to death along with the roar of the machine exploding.
According to the written response Jeremiah later sent to the police, the machine was a simple speaker. However, the switch part was strangely connected to some battery, unlike the original design.
In other words, while machines were clearly involved in the deaths of all three actresses, it was nearly impossible to determine who the culprit was.
‘The fact that we have no choice but to refer to the words of that man—the prime suspect—for everything from inspection status to design errors is truly frustrating.’
If Mia’s investigation ended successfully—that is, if she found evidence that Jeremiah had intentionally caused the accidents—perhaps those women could rest a little more peacefully in heaven.
Mia took out a camera she had hidden in her clothes and began taking pictures of the Unmanned Aerial Device and other large devices of unknown purpose from various angles. These were all materials to be sent to headquarters.
‘Headquarters probably won’t be able to find any flaws in the machines just by looking at photos, but…….’
The situation was no different for Mia, who was looking with her naked eyes. No matter how much she looked, as a layman regarding machinery, there was nothing she could know. If someone had committed murder using a mechanical device as the higher-ups thought, the killer must be the person who made it like Jeremiah, or at least someone who knew the machinery well.
‘Still, it’s better than nothing.’
After moving around the warehouse and taking photos here and there, it was the moment she finally put the camera back into her clothes.
The warehouse door burst open, and Jeremiah, wearing only a cream-colored shirt and black trousers while carrying a toolbox, strode in and stopped. Without any time to hide, Mia had to face him, frozen stiff.
A cold voice flew toward her.
“What do you think you’re doing here?”
