Chapter 6 – How To Live as a Supporting Actor With an Impending Death (3)
TL/Editor: Alcatraz/Latte
Perhaps, I looked so forlorn that Miranda, who usually kept to herself, began to worry about me. “My lady, I was just concerned about you. Don’t let my words affect you. Everyone knows that the young lady is a kind person. Even though I’m accustomed to Miranda’s bluntness, still.. “My lady would get angry when in the wrong, however we just have to be careful about that. Yes, I was emotional! Even, the ‘author’ affirmed that. Still, I wasn’t that easily angered! Miranda muttered again, as she sensed me being upset. “Don’t be angry, my lady.’ . 1 got it!” In the end, we arrived at the salon, bickering on the way. The salon I commonly went to was a place where many aristocrats in a friendly relationship with me gathered. This time, one of my best friends, Count Metis Nereid, was the host. There weren’t many people in the salon today. Thanks to this, Metis, who seemed to be idle, was able to greet me as she fanned herself. “Bianca, aren’t you a bit tardy than usual?” I hugged her lightly and greeted her. I told her that I had to stop by the tailor. “l was stopping by Mrs. Nyx’s shop when I met Lady Leah Saturnos. As soon as Metis heard the name, she made an odd expression. “Sigh, isn’t she the country bumpkin who made her debut last week?”
That’s a harsh way to describe her. With no knowledge of my opinion, Metis clicked her tongue and continued. “Nonetheless, that young lady had a big incident yesterday!”
Hmm? It was the first time I’ve heard of it. There’s nothing out of the ordinary when we met at the shop a while ago? “What happened?” “Oh my goodness, you would never have imagined, yesterday she kissed Lord Ares Jupiter in the downtown area!” What!!! My mind went blank. Leah Satumos did what?! For a moment, my vision darkened and my leg went limp. However I mustn’t show others something so unsightly. Before long, I managed to steady myself and rearranged my composure. My feelings should never be noticed by others, even by Metis! I asked her, disguising my fluctuating emotion with the composed voice. ‘How did she manage to get into an accident with the famous Lord Jupiter?” Metis replied, frowning as she was annoyed to have to imagine the incident again. “According to the witnesses, Leah Saturnos was walking around in the downtown area when she bumped into Lord Jupiter, who was coming out of the wine bar. They both lost their balance before falling down, thus Leah Saturnos accidently kissed Jupiter on the lips It was rather surprising for me to get ahold of this news this late. To sum it up, yesterday, after I met the ‘author’ at the Aphrodite Teahouse and went home, Lord Jupiter, who went out to a wine bar, came into contact with Lady Saturnos, who was strolling around the bustling downtown area. Somehow they ended up kissing As expected, the encounter between the male and female protagonists was indeed unavoidable. This incident really piqued my interest about the ‘author’s’ age. How old was she when writing such a ridiculous idea? I thought their relationship would start with a more realistic budding romance, but no! Kissing as soon as they met! What was the ‘author’ thinking? Come to think of it, the novel only began to progress from the day the ‘author’ entered the world. Since the ‘author’ came yesterday, the meeting between the male and female protagonists, the main starting point of the novel, happened yesterday. Based on the plot, I racked my brain as I started calculating when I would die. Usually, in a novel, when does the antagonist die? “Metis, do you read a lot of romance novels?” Metis answer came delayed, stunned by the sudden jump of the topic
“Huh? I guess not. I don’t really like that kind of stuff. Seems like both of us didn’t. Struck by the sudden revelation, I hurriedly bid my goodbye to Metis and took my leave from the salon. Where should I go now? Shall I go to the bookstore? When Miranda saw me depart from the salon without even having the chance to enjoy a cup of tea, she cried out, “My lady is being strange again. However, right now my mind is preoccupied. No words of her entered my heart as I had found a way to estimate my death!
I opened the door to the bookstore spiritedly and entered. I immediately requested the owner to give me all the available romance books. Soon the bookstore owner came with a surprisingly huge amount of romance novels, all arranged neatly one by one. The bookstore owner asked in amazement. “Is the young lady going to buy all of these?” “Yes. Most of the romance books consisted of a single volume, still there were a large number of series. I rounded up all of them in one place and bought all of the books. The owner of the bookstore stared at me in shock, for the amount of books I bought was no small amount. However, now it was a question of when I would be able to read them all. Anyway, when I came home with the wagon, everyone was amazed and was dubious of my intention. They were confused as to why I was hoarding all of these romance novels. I apologized, however I couldn’t tell any of them the truth, else everyone would think I was mental if I confessed that I was trying to figure out the timing of my death. From that night on, I carefully read and wrote down in my notebook the death of the villains in the romance novels. It didn’t take as long as I had expected to analyze a book, since I only had to find and read the important parts. Still, it may take me quite a while to read all these books. Nonetheless, I was really curious. How vicious did I become, to die in the middle of a novel? To what extent had my misconduct progressed, that the ‘author’ had to kill me in the novel? The fact that my death was one of the major plot points in the story, was my death written to rouse the interest of the readers? If my death gave the feeling of satisfaction to the reader as the form of retribution for my misdeed. How detestable was I as the villain? I stopped reading and closed my eyes for a moment.
A villain who turned into an incamation of jealousy and harassed the main character couple What would it feel like? I imagined the recent news, where Lord Ares Jupiter, the male protagonist, and Lady Leah Saturnos, the female protagonist, accidently locked lips on the street. I wondered whether that’s how the relationship between the two began. Even though the thought only flashed for a moment, my eyes that were shut close went wide open from the overflowing emotion. The protagonist caught the eye of Lord Jupiter with ease, while the supporting character was destined for a painful death. Not to mention, I had this unrequited love suppressed for all these years, whilst she had captured his heart within mere seconds! This was unfair. From birth, my life was preordained to die in exchange for their happiness. No matter what happened, I was simply meant not to be with him. If only someone had told me about this earlier, I would have an easier time. My uncontrollable resentment came. My heart lurched from grief as the tip of my nose gradually went sore. Leah Saturnos had been the center of this world from birth, her happy ending had been guaranteed even before she came to this world. She didn’t need to face any hardship. Just by staying still, the world would revolve around her and molded to fulfill her happiness. The biliousness overcame me and soon followed by the unstoppable sorrow. I was envious of Lady Leah Saturnos. I envy the attention and love she would get from Lord Jupiter. And by now I’ve gotten a glimpse of how I became a villain. ‘l’ was covetous of her fortune, ‘l’ shed countless tears from resentment. And in order to vent these negative emotions, ‘l’ blamed and tried to ruin Leah Saturnos, becoming the ordained villain in the process. I was jealous of her, who had something that I had long yearned for. From then on, blinded by jealousy, ‘l’ became self-destructive. Then, to prevent myself from being the villain, I need to let go of this feeling of unjustness and envy, rid of the idea that she was to blame for all of my future misfortune. Only then, would I manage to break this devilish fate. It is not Leah’s fault, nor Juupiter’s. This was their fate. Lord Jupiter and Lady Satumos were destined to have a happy ending. If I wanted to blame someone, I should have accused the ‘author’. Those two were the same as me, puppets within the play that the ‘author’ had designed. And no matter how much I cried out to the writer for a chance, my existence was nothing more than a replaceable figure that could be killed and saved at will. It’s no use appealing to her. There was only one way to relieve myself of this negative emotion. By leaming to accept this fate silently. No matter how hard I struggled to escape the ‘author’s’ will, it was futile. It would drive me mad, and the negative emotions that derived from it would simply eat me up.
I didn’t want to live like that. Until the end, I would remain as myself. I would quietly accept the destiny that was given, and live the remaining time for myself. I also wished to help the people I love find their own happiness. Another irrepressible tear slid down my cheeks Why am I crying again? My love and infatuation for him was fictitious. Why was I wasting my tears on something so pointless? I should focus on things that are more important to me. After a few days of researching through the countless romance novels, I was finally able to get a rough prediction of when I would die. In a novel, the villain’s harassment would lead to the peak. The villain would cause the protagonists’ greatest crisis, when the crisis was resolved soon the end of the villain followed. So, when the villain dies, the novel will be nearing its end. In other words, it means that my death was right before the protagonist couple’s happy ending reached its conclusion. Hmm. Then, in order to determine when I would die, I had to check how far the relationship between Lord Jupiter and Lady Saturnos had progressed. ? Again, how was I supposed to check on them? Perhaps, the best way to find out was by asking in person. Fortunately, I didn’t think my first impression with Lady Leah Satumos went awfully, so I may be able to approach her and probe whether her relationship with Lord Jupiter was going well. Although, it’s a bit heartbreaking to make sure the person I held unrequited feelings for was happily in love with another woman. Then the happy ending of the couple, perhaps, it’s a marriage? A happy ending that I could have thought of was a marriage! Sigh… In a way, my death was a blessing in disguise, since I would die before the story ended, I wouldn’t need to see their marriage.