Femes was feeling restless as she stood outside the study.
It has been close to five minutes since her teacher Morgan entered the study. Yet, there was no sign of activity coming from the study.
It was not only her teacher. The other performers from the Weissenasche Theatrical Troupe also didn’t exit after entering the study.
Could it be... something happened to them?
Femes began to pace around the door anxiously.
She had heard several rumors before. The rumors stated that the only reason why the Weissenasche Theater was able to gain such a towering position in such a short period of time and the mysterious performance method known as ‘movies’ were all due to a private transaction Sir Weissenasche had with a demon.
The rumors stated that the manager of the Weissenasche Theater had sold his soul and life to a powerful demon. Those rumors came from her fellow trades-people.
Even though her impression of demons had changed from the treacherous and cunning monsters that would eat human flesh and souls, the image promoted by the Holy Church, to ‘uncommunicative handsome uncles’ after watching ‘Beauty and the Demon’ and ‘Léon: The Demon...’
Even though Femes could only picture Léon when the term demon was mentioned now...
She was still certain that demons were not such a friendly race. At least, when compared to the elves, a race that always held a neutral position, the demons were currently engaged in war against the Nation of Frost and the Nation of the Holy Church.
Could it be that those performers and her teacher were truly eaten by some sort of powerful demon?
In the end, Femes was unable to restrain herself anymore. She placed her furry ears on the door and began to eavesdrop.
The moment she placed her ear on the door, she heard someone from the other side shouting ‘next.’
Femes immediately looked around. There were no longer any performers from the Weissenasche Theater waiting outside. In other words, she could not enter the study to partake in the audition for the new movie.
Truth be told... Femes was slightly conflicted and slightly looking forward to participating in the movie. But, for the sake of confirming her teacher’s safety, she decided to push open the door.
Femes entered the study and looked around. Soon, she saw her teacher Morgan sitting on a sofa on the other side of the room.
Femes heaved a sigh of relief. She wanted to call out to her teacher when she noticed that he was fully concentrated reading a stack of white papers he held in his hand. He was so concentrated that he didn’t even notice her entering the room.
Because of that, Femes gave up on the thought of calling out her teacher. After all, she knew that this great performer will only act in such a manner when he reads an outstanding script.
To disturb her teacher Morgan at such a time would be very disrespectful.
“You... are the final performer in the audition?”
“Eh? Ah... yes, that’s correct.”
Femes was holding her breath with the intention to wait for Morgan to finish reading the script before greeting him. But, someone else had shattered the quietness of the study.
Femes subconsciously answered that person. When she caught sight of the person sitting behind the desk, her ears suddenly perked up like she discovered something dangerous.
“Demon!”
Femes covered her mouth. She wanted to suppress her urge to scream. She immediately took a step back.
“Correct, I am a demon. But, I don’t think I’m that scary.”
Seeing the reaction from Femes, Joshua felt like he was being viewed as a ‘pervert’ sticking out his tongue in the darkness.
“...”
Soon, Femes calmed down. Joshua’s outward appearance was practically the same as a human. What brought fear upon Femes was... the smell emitted from Joshua’s hand, the smell of death.
Perhaps it was something that ordinary humans cannot detect. But, because of her race, she was able to ‘smell’ it right away. It was a smell of death so strong that it’s stifling.
“My apologies. I didn’t expect for this to scare you.”
Following Femes’s vision, Joshua soon determined the reason why this beast-eared girl was so scared.
The contract imprint on Joshua’s palm left by the Duke of Bones, a portion of that undead monarch...
Joshua turned over his hand with the imprint to cover it. Only then did Femes’ perked ears eased slightly.
But, she was still on guard against Joshua.
“Your teacher told me that your name is Femes?” asked Joshua.
“Ahh... yes.”
Femes did not expect for her teacher to reveal her information to a demon this quickly.
Even though ‘Léon: The Demon’ had alleviated Femes’s prejudice toward demons, she was truly unable to disregard the aura of death emitted from Joshua’s palm.
Could it be... this demon was truly as the rumors stated and has sacrificed tens of millions of lives?
“Miss Femes, if my guess is correct, you’re not fully human.”
Joshua was staring at Femes’ furry ears. No matter how he looked at them, they should not be ears that a human should have.
“...”
Still vigilant, Femes covered her ears with her hands. She was not planning to answer Joshua’s question. From time to time, she would glance at Morgan sitting on the side.
She hoped that her teacher would be able to quickly bring her away from this dangerous place.
The aura of the Duke of Bones was simply too terrifying for this girl. Perhaps now, Femes might’ve tagged Joshua as an ‘existence so dangerous that one absolutely should not approach.’
“Preparations are being made for the new movie. I hope that Miss Femes could join as a performer for the movie.”
Before Joshua handed the script of the movie to Morgan, Morgan had revealed to Joshua about this girl... Her mother was the ‘Ruler of the Forest.’
‘Ruler of the Forest’ was merely what humans called her. It was a title filled with reverence. But, the truth was, Femes’s mother was a powerful magic beast.
“My apologies, I’m not planning...”
While it was true that Femes wanted to be a performer in the movie and the opportunity was placed before her, she still couldn’t get pass the smell of death that caused her heart to palpitate earlier!
For the sake of her life and the life of her teacher Morgan, Femes had wanted to refuse the demon’s temptation.
“Femes, calm yourself.”
Before Femes could finish her rejection, Morgan interrupted her.
“Teacher Morgan, I sensed a terrifying aura of death from him.”
As Femes said those words, her tone started to weaken. In the end, the vigilance on her face has been replaced by surprise. The reason for that was because she saw her teacher Morgan’s aged cheeks were covered with tears...
Morgan soon stabilized his mood. He held the script he was given with both hands and respectfully returned it to Joshua.
“This is a great story,” said Morgan.
“This great story needed outstanding performers to present it to everyone in the form of a movie,” Joshua replied.
This master performer grew silent for a couple seconds. Then, his gaze swept past Joshua onto the wall behind him. On the wall was Farucci’s famous painting, ‘Revolution.’ After seeing that, he let out a sigh.
“Please allow me to participate in performing the movie,” Morgan spoke with a very sincere tone.