Chapter 4. Dress-up, Part III

Where Julietta was now was the residence of Maribel, the innermost area in Eileen Theater.

It was also the place where Stella, who had been ousted from her lover’s position, had stayed with young Julietta until she had died. Julietta, who visited Maribel’s secret quarters full of bad memories in a long time, was negotiating with the owner of the theater, plucking up the courage to bargain.

"Oh, no, no, you’re still naive. Why did you believe it was going to end at just once? If Duke Miguel likes you, his relationship with me will continue to be very good. Otherwise, wouldn’t there be other nobles, if the Duke ended up with just one night? You’re a rare beauty."

"Theater owner, I’m not naive. I think the head is naive. If I were to be endowed by Duke Miguel, I’d whisper into the Duke’s ear and I’d not leave you alone. I’m sure it’s the same in the arms of other nobles. You’ll always be anxious about how I’m going to seek revenge behind your back, but wouldn’t it be better to prevent harm to one another?"

Maribel clicked her tongue as she watched the shabby, tacky Julietta, wearing a brick wig and changing her face to a dull color. "You don’t even know the grace I’ve raised you with. You know who’s responsible for your safe growth so far, and you’re being so cocky? And call him the Duke. Why are you so careless if someone hears about it?"

"It’s just a matter between the owner of the theater and me. I’ll be careful elsewhere. And I’m just being polite because I know how grateful you are. I am doing this to pay back the virtue that you have given me in the meantime. Why don’t you tell me what I owe you?"

Julietta’s cheeky remark made Maribel snort and lift the pipe again and take a long draw.

"If you say so, I’ll show you my sympathy. It’s five thousand tern. What do you think? It’s bigger than you thought, right? I didn’t even present you in person, but it’s very generous of him to offer such a large sum of money just because I recommended you."

Julietta was devastated when she squinted her eyes and smiled contentedly. She never thought it would be so much money. But she could not show it in front of the owner of the theater, so Julietta dropped her presumptuous attitude and said politely, "Thank you for your words. I’ll try my best."

Maribel was surprised to see Julietta turn around and refuse to budge, even though she actually called out twice the amount she had been offered. She had thought the girl was not normal since she was a kid, but even she had an open hand. She would be an excellent actor if she were to go on stage, but she had to give up because she thought the Marquise would not let her go.

’Who would like their husband’s lover’s daughter who should be dead be alive in front of her? That’s too bad.’

Julietta left Maribel’s quarters, not revealing her inner thoughts as much as she could, after hearing the amount that Maribel said. She hid herself in the storage room next to the prop room, pulling herself from getting depressed, and began to agonize seriously.

A few days ago, when she had told Maribel what she was leaving the theater, she was told her plan. On Julietta’s upcoming seventeenth-year-old coming-of-age ceremony, she would sell the virginity of Julietta to Duke Miguel, thus repay the grace she had been given so far. She added that Julietta’s life would be in full bloom if she was pleasing to the eyes of the Duke. ’Don’t be ridiculous! My life would be in full bloom? Even he is the Duke, I can’t sleep with a man older than my biological father, it’s never going to happen. I feel like I’m going to throw up at the thought of it. If I throw up on that noble face in bed, I will be done. I don’t want to be dead at the age of seventeen. My life is mine. I think living in disguise for the rest of my life is better than dying naked in bed. I’ll never live a life that’s held in the hands of others.’

Julietta clenched her fist and glared into the theater, determined. And today, a few days later, she visited Maribel and offered her opinion.

If she raised the ransom money that had been offered, she could try to ask for the money from her biological father, Marquis Anais. Although the Marquis had never looked for her or her mother, and never offered any help since he had kicked them out when she was five years old, he must know that Stella had died not long after she had entrusted herself to the theater and that her illegitimate child was growing up in the theater.

Marquise Anais and her children had often visited the theater and enjoyed opera, but the Marquis had never been here since, even though it was his favorite place to meet Stella and court her. Maybe he knew she was here and he was avoiding her.

But the day before, Morgan, who managed the opera’s VIP seats, told her that he would prepare his favorite wine and refreshments because the Marquise would be attending the next performance on opening day.

Julietta thought this was an opportunity from heaven. In fact, if the Marquis didn’t visit the theater, she had to try to meet him by all means. For the first time since she had started living in the theater, she heard that her biological father would visit. It was thought that this incident was a sign that things might be going well.

But the amount Maribel had told her was bigger than she thought, and she was disappointed. ’Will the Marquis want to pay that amount? Isn’t that a big sum for the nobles?’

Julietta, who lived in the theater and had never touched money, could only see that it was a huge sum of money, but could not realize how big the sum was.

"I have no choice but to bump into it, whether it works or not. If I am not going to be held up in the hands of a lascivious man, I need to stay alert and get the money."

Julietta waited for the day the Marquis would arrive, determined not to become depressed.

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"Morgan, is that Marquis Anais?"

"Yes, that’s him. It’s been ten years since I saw him when he was young, but he’s still handsome. I guess he’s not even old."

As Morgan spoke, a man dressed up in a grey coat was being escorted to the seat. It was refreshing to see the aristocratic figure walking with the guide in an elegant manner, while hidden in the corner.

Although she was told that he sometimes visited and played with her when she was a child, she barely remembered seeing the Marquis since she was five years old when she put into this body. At first glance, she remembered the much younger Marquis, but she couldn’t remember anything in detail. Since then, he had stopped going in and out of his lover’s home due to the birth of his successor.

A light-skinned pink-tinted blonde, with green eyes, and an unpredictable sleek, solid body could hardly be believed to have a child of Julietta’s age. That man in front of her was the one who had abandoned herself and her mother irresponsibly.

She felt bitter when she thought about it, but she missed him.

Julietta was determined to be weak. This man was a heartless man who left his young child alone. Parents are the ones who should take responsibility for having children. Since he had so far abandoned his duty, it would not be too much to ask him to offer 5,000 terns for himself.

Julietta kept an eye on the man, with a throbbing chest tight and looking for a chance to ask for money.

"Father?" She was looking at the back of the Marquis who was going to the opera box, hidden invisibly, but the lady with the gleaming brown hair lovingly stretched out of the box seat welcomed him. Julietta, who had seen his appearance, started trying to talk to him, but hid in the dark shade again.