Chapter 34: Is this even acting?

Saori is speaking to the female lead of the show, Kara. She’s a pretty girl. Has the looks of a star. I focus my gaze on her. A sentence pops on to my head.

‘This girl has it! Other people will envy her looks!’

Saori was right. This ability is useless. At least I know she compares well to other talents.

“Alright guys, get ready! We are shooting the scene now!” says director Otis.

Saori wishes Kara good luck and walks towards me. I ask her about the scene.

“You’re not in this scene?”

“I am not. They are filming the scene where the male lead and the female lead first met.”

The actors are now in their place. The environment portrays the soldier barracks. Extras lined up as the soldiers. Kara (acting as the female lead Rina) is among them. She’s pretending to be a man in order to become a soldier. Being a poor woman with no skills it was her last resort.

In the to the story. Rina blessed with a powerful body passed the exams and became a soldier. She’s been an average ranking soldier for about two years. This is her lucky break. Her promotion to the prince’s army means a higher salary.

“Attention!”

All the soldiers lined up, straighten their backs and performed a salute. The sound of a horse’s footsteps draws near. Sho (acting as Ryouta) the male lead appears riding it.

Ryouta scans the soldiers. This is his army, the one he’ll go to battles with. He will trust them with his back, and they must trust his commands.

“My soldiers! I may be a noble, but on the battlefield we are all brothers!” says Ryouta.

“Long live the prince!”

“I trust my back to you, my brothers! Follow my commands and we will succeed!”

“We give you our trust!”

“Long live the empire!”

“Long live the empir—ahh! *cough*”

The female lead shouts and then coughs in the middle of their replies. Everyone hears the accidental noise. The prince moves his horse in front of Rina and goes down on the horse.

Rina’s skin is bright red from shame.

Wow. She improved a lot! I wonder why the director said she’s hopeless at acting?

“What seems to be the problem, brother?” says Ryouta.

The other soldiers are trying to control their laughter.

“So… sorry, your majesty!” says Rina. She gets on her knees and slams her head on the ground.

Ryouta goes down and helps her up. He dusts off her armor and gives her a pat on both shoulders.

“May I know your name?”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“It’s Rino sir.”

That’s real creative of the writers. Is that the best you got?

“What happened back there?”

“Sorry! Your majesty, a fly went inside my mouth!”

A small amount of tears form in her eyes. The prince and soldiers laugh. Rina’s skin reddens even more.

“You made my day, Rino. It’s alright! You gave me and our brothers here a fun memory to remember you with.”

Ryouta then ruffles her hair and gives it a pat. He rides the horse again and leaves the scene. The cameras move closer to Rina and it shows her face still bright red with shame. Is it only shame though? Her expressions says something different.

“Cut! Kara, that was a perfect performance!” says director Otis.

I have to agree. It’s like she swallowed a bug in shame and fell in love. It was great acting on full display.

“Director… can I clean up for a while?” says Kara.

“What’s the matter, dear?”

“I swallowed a bug.”

She covers her mouth with both of her hands and runs away. It looks like she’s about to vomit.

So she acted well because it became real, huh? I respect her for staying in character. She’s more professional than I gave her credit for.

“Hub—manager I will check up on her.” says Saori.

You almost slipped up there. I don’t mind, but it’s best we hide it for now. Saori’s not hiding that she’s married, but they don’t know who she’s married to.

I also want to reveal myself on better terms. I don’t want to be known as the manager who married his talent. Is a president/boss married to his own talent any better, you ask? It is. I mean, a president is greater than a manager. Simple math.

I follow behind Saori. I hear someone puking. Also, the sound of crying. Saori enters the bathroom.

“Kara, are you alright?” says Saori.

“Saooori sis. I swallowed it! I can still taste it!” says Kara.

Followed by the sounds of more puking. I’m outside the bathroom, away from the door. No one else is in the vicinity.

“There. There. You are okay now. Do not force yourself to vomit more. It is out of your system.”

“I was so ashamed back there.”

“You did great. Do not worry about it.”

“Do you think the others will find it disgusting?”

“What do you mean by others? You can be honest with me. I watched how you looked at Sho.”

“How he helped me back there was pretty cool, but that’s it.”

“Is it really only that?”

“Maybe a little. But only a little!”

So even the blush was real? It wasn’t acting? Saori keeps egging her on.

[https://i.lensdump.com/i/1cj1ax.png]

“Work romance is always so exciting!” says director Otis.

He’s here? How did he sneak up on me? Saori keeps talking to Kara some more and, soon enough, Kara lists off things she likes about Sho. That was quick.

“Is this really okay, director?” I say.

“Why won’t it be?” says director Otis.

“Isn’t love forbidden on set?”

“I mean, what can we do? Romance on set sometimes leads to romance in life.”

You can do more than this. At least.

“Yes, but isn’t Saori manipulating her feelings a bit?”

“Manipulate? She’s just stoking the flames of love that are already there.”

“What if an accident happened while filming?”

“You mean a pregnancy? That would be great! Just imagine the great looks the baby will inherit! We can adjust the script accordingly.”

Alright.

I give up.

This guy loves his visuals.