The Search for the Duchess’s Husband Chapter 145

Artia looked at him with pride, then asked,  “How was acting?”

 

Every time they met, Artia would ask Luca a lot of questions.

 

At first, Luca struggled to give simple, short answers, but he’s come a long way.

 

Luca tried to organize his thoughts and answered sincerely.

 

“It’s fun, it’s nice to get compliments, and I want to do better.”

 

He didn’t say it to impress anyone, or to sound good.

 

He meant it.

 

Artia let out a small breath of relief.

 

“I know I forced you to act, and I was worried you’d have a hard time, but I’m so glad you did so well.”

 

“…….”

 

Artia was paying Boone handsomely.

 

The environment she provided was rich and comfortable.

 

She gave him the unique experience of being on stage with the best actors.

 

And yet, not once had Artia nudged Luca to thank her.

 

Luca opened his mouth in confusion.

 

“Why are you so nice to me?”

 

It was the first question Luca had ever asked Artia.

 

‘You’re a Kudran with no parents, you’re so pitiful.’

 

The answer was enough for Luca to appreciate.

 

But the words that came out of Artia’s mouth were not what he expected.

 

“You’ve never been nice to me.”

 

“……!”

 

“If you feel like you’ve been given something, it’s because you’ve been good.”

 

Artia held out her hand.

 

Soon, a white, soft hand touched his red hair.

 

Artia smiled with pride as she ruffled his thinning hair.

 

“And in the future, you will achieve and have more, for you have the talent.”

 

“……!”

 

The smelly Kudranian.

 

An ignorant bastard who can only say ‘yes, yes’.

 

A lowly bastard with nothing but his body.

 

He’ll live to be a noblewoman’s pet and then be thrown away when he’s old and unattractive.

 

Her words washed away the poison that had been building up inside him.

 

Tears pooled in the corners of his eyes.

 

Embarrassed, he wiped them away with his hand.

 

“I’m sorry!”

 

“No, if you’re going to cry, you should cry hard.”

 

Artia patted Luca on the back, wondering if she should move away.

 

His back was wider than most full-grown men’s, but inside it was a boy who was barely eighteen years old.

 

Tears welled up in Luca’s eyes at the gentle gesture.

 

 ‘I’m embarrassed…’

 

After a while, Luca stopped crying and bit his lip with red eyes.

 

Artia smiled at the sight.

 

“Luca.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Artia held out a small rabbit-shaped doll.

 

The faded fabric showed its age, but it was still crisp and smelled good because it had been well cared for.

 

“I had Vivi bring this to me. It’s a doll I used to sleep with as a child, and it has very special powers.”

 

Artia lowered her voice like she was sharing a secret.

 

“She can eat people’s nightmares.”

 

The doll wasn’t made by a wizard, and it didn’t have a special baptism.

 

It was simply a spell that Artia had cast because she was afraid of sleeping alone at night.

 

And yet, it worked for her.

 

“I’ll sleep with her and never have scary dreams again.”

 

“Thank you…”

 

Back in his room, Luca placed the doll next to his pillow and gently held it in his arms.

 

Now that he was in a dark room where he couldn’t see a thing, he remembered the golden eyes he’d forgotten about, but they weren’t as scary as they had been earlier.

 

‘The power of the stuffed rabbit.’

 

‘Or the power of the tea and sweets I ate earlier?’

 

‘Or maybe it’s…’

 

The thought of Artia made a tingle near his chest.

 

Luca blushed and gently hugged the rabbit doll.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Edenberg’s practice room.

 

The moment the door opened, Luca, who had come first, jerked his head around.

 

“Hello.”

 

Mikhail entered, a cheerful greeting that didn’t match his cold demeanor.

 

“Have you been practicing hard, little brother?”

 

Clasping his hands together, Luca replied in a loud voice.

 

“Yes!”

 

Sandra flashed him a big cat-like grin.

 

“You’re working hard, but you’re so distracted. Why are you staring at the door like that? Is someone waiting for you?”

 

Luca waved his hand in surprise.

 

“No! No one!”

 

“That’s even more suspicious when you deny it.”

 

Mikhail walked over to a giggling Sandra and captured her lips with two fingers.

 

“Don’t be a little bully.”

 

“I’m not bullying him, I’m playing with him.”

 

“You’re bullying him because you’re playing with him.”

 

“I’m not. I’ll show you what bullying really is.”

 

In the midst of their back-and-forth, Luca asked Lam.

 

“Isn’t the director, the master, coming today?”

 

Lam, whose dark circles reached down to his chin, replied.

 

“Uh, she’s busy. She’s got an awful lot of work to do as a producer.”

 

In the early days, there was a lot to discuss, so she came back often.

 

But as the show got into a groove, Artia began to let Lam handle the backlog of work, leaving him in charge of the show entirely.

 

“So that’s why you were up until dawn the other night.”

 

Lam’s face heated up as he remembered Artia’s humble appearance that day.

 

Lam’s eyes widened at the sight.

 

“That’s it, Luca!”

 

“What?”

 

“That look you just gave me. That’s the look in Shine’s eyes when he’s in love!”

 

The word love made Luca blush even harder.

 

Whether he realized it or not, Lam’s bony body shook with excitement.

 

“Okay, let’s practice again, remembering that look in your eyes.”

 

Luca nodded yes, but glanced at the door.

 

It was a shame it was closed so firmly.

 

 

* * *

 

 

As Lam had said, Artia had a busy day.

 

The first place she went was to Dahlia’s mansion.

 

She hadn’t seen her in a long time, and she seemed more excited than usual. Dahlia said, “I can’t stop thinking about what I saw a few days ago.”

 

Not long ago, she had watched actors rehearse.

 

They wore specially made masks, as it was a closely guarded secret that they were the creators of The Northern Grand Duke’s Burning Heart.

 

Watching them perform, Dahlia was struck by a lightning bolt of inspiration.

 

“I never thought it would be so exciting to see my novel come to life.”

 

After hearing Dahlia’s honest reaction, Artia smiled.

 

“Neither did I. Every time I saw something that didn’t exist in the world, my heart was racing.”

 

Artia adds with excitement.

 

“So you’ve been doing this all along, and it’s amazing.”

 

There she goes again.

 

What was even scarier was that Artia hadn’t said that after calculating something.

 

The tips of her ears reddened, Dahlia said, “Hmmmmm,” and cleared her throat.

 

“But when you made it into a performance, you turned some of the characters’ lines into songs.”

 

Imperial performances were usually either sung or acted.

 

The combined singing and acting format was inspired by Reju’s performances.

 

“I was very impressed with the singing of the actors, but there was one who stood out, Shine.”

 

Shine is a memorable character as the servant who has a crush on the heroine, but because he’s mute, he doesn’t have any lines.

 

“The actor who plays Shine, …did I mention Luca, has a great voice.”

 

Oh, what a feeling.

 

Artia felt like she was being complimented.

 

She nodded twice, her face full of remembrance.

 

“You’re right, Luca’s voice is like a crisp fall breeze.”

 

“Speaking of which, I was wondering if we could add one of Shine’s singing parts to the end of the play.”

 

“……!”

 

Dahlia held out the paper to a wide-eyed Artia.

 

On it were the words of Shine’s confession to the heroine.

 

“Of course, this song is sung by Shine in his heart, so the audience is the only one who can hear it, and Maria, the woman he loves, can’t hear this confession. What do you think?”

 

Artia, who had finished reading the song, said admiringly.

 

“It’s fantastic!”

 

Dahlia’s face lit up.

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes, I’m sure the audience will be very moved by it. I’ll talk to the director and make sure he adds this part.”

 

Artia added, sounding sincere.

 

“You really are the genius of the century, and it’s such an honor to work with you!”

 

She’s a master of compliments, after all.

 

Dahlia’s nose turned up.