Chapter 16 – Plays

At first, I came to see a play.

I wonder if an hour has passed since the play started.

It was a time when the play was slowly approaching its end.

A scene where a princess and a commoner fall in love and go on a date.

After this, as everyone knows, they end up kissing each other.

The end of the work was near, and the scene that people chose as the most famous among the scenes I painted was the kissing scene on the Ferris wheel, so I thought that Maria, who likes my work, would focus on the play for now.

I also wanted to be more immersed in it.

But why?

I could find myself twisting my body in shame, unable to focus on the play.

The reason was no different.

It was because Maria, who was sitting next to her and concentrating on the play, kept holding my hand and fiddling with it.

Oh, of course, that’s what I was going to do until here.

Yes, it was the hand of a person who drew a cartoon he loved so much, so it wouldn’t be strange if he was interested.

It seems like they’ve been around for a while, but since she’s lived as a saint up to this age, she naturally has patience and her personality has become docile and gentle enough to not get angry in any situation.

Well, it’s been years since I’ve lived as a saint, but I think it’s because of the divine power of a warm feeling that calms my mind and makes me feel peaceful.

However.

By the way.

“Whoops… “

No matter how much I think about it, I don’t understand why he’s just messing with my hands and letting out a strange laugh.

‘Ugh… !’

Obviously, it was he himself who said let’s focus on the play, but I couldn’t understand why he was just fiddling with his hands.

“What, what are you doing… !”

In the end, I couldn’t stand the current situation and, blushing, argued with Maria as little as possible so as not to disturb the others in the play.

Even at my shouts, Maria just smiled as if she was cute.

It’s a big deal.

I don’t know what she was thinking, but Mariai, she seemed unwilling to stop fiddling with her hands, no matter what I said.

What’s so good about fiddling with my hands?

I looked around to see if anyone would feel uncomfortable seeing us, but most people didn’t even seem interested in us.

Normally, even if it’s this loud, I’d look at it with a hardened expression, but it was obviously strange.

Anyway, I feel good because someone as pretty as the princess likes me, but I couldn’t do anything about it because of the halfway situation that my identity was revealed while I was familiar with what happened in the past.

To put it bluntly, the biggest problem is shame.

They say that they had a good time together in the past, but it couldn’t be easy to treat them like they used to, even though they were the princess of a country.

And now I’m having some weird thoughts…

I have to keep my own convictions, but as much as a princess of a country, a woman with beauty comparable to my appearance as a saint touches her hand and gives an old-fashioned look.

“Hmm… Are you in a bad mood?”

Maria, who had been watching my reaction, asked cautiously.

I’ve done everything I’ve done so far, and if you ask me now, what should I answer?

Judging by the expression on my face, it seems like I’m asking because I don’t like it after seeing my reaction.

Why did she do this if she seemed to hate it.

…

Because she used to be close… Is it.

It could be that you’ve come too close because you want to be friends again. If she did, she must have been as courageous as she could be.

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand.

In her old days, I also got along well with her, and I know how close she was.

I couldn’t tell her not to touch her, and I couldn’t treat her coldly, and it was true that I missed her too.

“She’s not particularly offended, so don’t beat yourself up too much.”

I thought that maybe this much would be okay.

Because nothing else and simply holding her hand.

Holding hands between people of the same sex is not a big deal.

If I had to point out a problem, it would be the status of Maria and I.

It’s a matter of not being noticed by others.

“A little bit… Because it is.”

“Huh.”

I said that and turned my head back to where I was doing the play.

Just in time, the climax of the story was reached, and there was a scene where the real princess and the fake princess kissed each other.

People’s reactions were sharply divided.

While there were nobles who were surprised at what kind of absurd act that was, there were also people who liked it on the spot, even throwing off their chests.

Since he was dressed neatly, he must be a nobleman, so I guess it’s okay.

“… “

Come to think of it, if I was going to make that a problem, I wouldn’t have come to a place like this in the first place.

The moment they kissed each other completely, a lot of people went wild.

The people who watched while swallowing their saliva, and the people who were covering their eyes right before kissing each other couldn’t take their eyes off the shocking scene of a woman and a woman kissing each other.

I don’t know if those two are real lovers or not, but I was guessing that they were really doing it when I saw the word that it was a theater group that was extremely meticulous in reality.

I never expected to see that scene with my own eyes in a play.

As I was thinking that and feeling proud, the pressure I felt in my hand became stronger than before.

Perhaps it is because Maria is holding my hand tightly.

Hmm.

There must have been a while before the play was over.

This… I’m sick.

I laughed inwardly and thought so.

.
.
.
.

“Ha… I really enjoyed it… “

“Seeing my work as a play is a very strange experience… “

“You don’t even think about hiding it anymore, Ellie.”

“Excuse me… That nickname… “

“Can I call you Marie too?”

“If I was going to do that, I wouldn’t have called it high in the first place… “

“That’s too bad… “

Maria snapped her finger and a person she hadn’t been around before suddenly appeared and she handed us a drink from a fine gin mug.

It was hot, so I thought they gave me a cool drink, but… It’s a festival anyway, so if you buy it, is there any reason to go this far… ?

It’s a good story because I’m comfortable.

“By the way, there is something I want to ask you.”

“Yes?”

Maria, who was sipping a cup of tea, turned to me in surprise at my call.

What is it, boy

You seemed to have been relaxed just a while ago, but as soon as I called you, you suddenly panicked?

Anyway, what I was going to ask was no different.

“I know myself well. My work becomes a play… I also know that it will be difficult to become a reality even if it is popular.”

“… “

“You… Did you sponsor? On condition that you play my work?”

“Have you already thought about that… ?”

“If I had to think about it, it would be that all of this was a trick to call me out… I can do it. Including the Grand Princess of the North.”

“That is correct. She is like Ellie, who has had extraordinary hair since childhood.”

It’s an emergency head.

Not so.

Of course, I was smart in the past, but the reason I was called a genius since childhood was because I had memories and knowledge of the past.

Nothing else.

I acted as usual, but people around me praised me as a genius, and naturally, as I became a saint, Eris, who was a genius, disappeared, leaving only Eris as a saint.

In a way, it was fortunate.

I was knowledgeable, but not to the point of being called a genius.

I know my subject

I know where I am, and I know my fountain.

That’s it.

“In that case too… That it was me from the beginning… Did you know… ?”

I wanted to ask that

Maybe she approached knowing that I was a saint from the beginning, to meet me… Did you deliberately pretend not to know me in order not to be suspicious and made a plan to lure me all the way here?

If so, it would be very sad.

I feel guilty for not recognizing my old friend, but I don’t think I can forgive it easily because it’s the same as cheating on me for years.

However,

“I don’t know if you will believe it… I really didn’t know it was you, Ellie.”

“… “

“I really… It’s a story that I was genuinely impressed by your work and became a fan. Who in the world would think that a saintess drew cartoons? It’s a story that will turn the world upside down. What’s more, if it’s a homosexual thing… “

Ellie said so and she came towards me.

And,

“… ?!”

“You’ve become beautiful, Ellie.”

Maria grabbed my chin and lifted me up to meet her eyes.

She and I are obviously about the same height, but unlike me sitting on her bench, Maria stood up and grabbed my chin and lifted me up so I had to look up.

“I have been missing one person for a long time. Longing… East longitude… Maybe it’s friendship between friends. I wasn’t sure what that feeling was.”

Maria said so and she caressed my cheek.

I looked down at it with trembling eyes.

“Still… There is one thing I can be sure of.”

Here… There are no people passing by, but here…

Maria came right in front of me.

Her breath is felt in front of her nose.

“Ah… “

I caught my breath.

Yet,

“The person I’ve been waiting for is you, Ellie.”

Her alluring voice resonated in my ears.