Chapter 30

Oscar felt that Marlena’s choice of words was overly bold.

The feeling of being completely dismissed sent heat rising to his head. The countless verbal assaults and belittlings he’d hurled at her over the course of their marriage had long since faded from his memory.

Initially, Oscar couldn’t even recall the hysteria he had unleashed. In his mind, he was always the perfect gentleman.

“Flirting?”

Oscar growled at the top of his lungs, unable to bear the realization that such a word, reserved for such a lowlife, had been directed at him.

Despite Oscar’s imposing demeanor and stature, Malena didn’t bat an eyelid. She simply smiled softly and tilted her head slightly.

“Just kidding.”

Her laid-back demeanor set Oscar’s heart on fire.

“Does it really bother you that much that I hold the Duke’s secrets in my hands?”

The teasing remark brought him full circle.

The look on Marlena’s face had made him forget, but it was true that he had been nervous about the possibility of Serwen’s existence being exposed.

Now that she’s taken over as Countess Balthus, Oscar’s lobbying of the press won’t be as effective as it once was.

Feeling vindicated, Oscar averted his gaze from Marlena and locked eyes with Roche, the young man standing behind her to her left.

Oscar, who hadn’t even realized Roche was there, was stunned again.

The moment their gazes met, Roche’s presence suddenly seemed to consume him.

The reason he hadn’t noticed him before was simple. Roche had been as stealthy as a hidden tiger, silently observing.

If Oscar had been rational, he might have admitted that Roche’s skills were beyond him.

But, as always, his lofty and fragile pride clouded his vision, and he blithely ignored Roche’s level of skill.

He turned his unnecessary anger toward Marlena.

“If you’re going to talk about secrets, get rid of that asshole behind you. It’s not a secret if there are more ears to hear.”

He spat through clenched teeth, the words slurred.

Then Marlena smirked again, without any hint of provocation, and calmly turned her head towards Roche.

“You don’t know where Roche is going to put his mouth.”

Her hand slowly rose. As she looked at Roche, who had been drawn into the conversation, Marlena’s palm gently covered his cheek.

“He’s cooperative with me.”

Somehow, the words felt like a snipe at Oscar, who had always been at odds with Marlena.

Oscar’s mouth was dry, his throat moving wildly, but no saliva flowed. His palate and throat felt like they were burning.

But Marlena looked into Roche’s eyes and seemed oblivious to Oscar’s nervousness.

Marlena smiled and whispered, her tone laced with affection.

“Thank you, Roche.”

Her voice sounded more relaxed than usual, almost languid and defenseless. It was a tone Oscar had never heard before in their short marriage.

His mood was instantly ruined.

Marlena stroked Roche’s cheek, then leaned in close, almost touching, and turned her head to look at him and smile.

“Anyway, you’ve already invested, haven’t you? You don’t need to do more.”

“What do you mean?”

Oscar’s voice cracked badly, probably because his mouth was dry. Marlena smiled as wide as a rose in full bloom.

“Alimony. I’ll make good use of that.”

Once again, Oscar’s world turned upside down. He was still delaying the payment of alimony.

In this situation, Marlena’s words were more like a subtle invitation to get it over with and be a man once and for all.

“Now, will you please go away? Like I said, you’re blocking the gate.”

Oscar stepped aside, unaware of the moment. Roche stretched out his arm, placing himself between Oscar and Marlena, and rang the doorbell.

While waiting for the butler to come out, Malena didn’t even look at Oscar and said.

“And the next time we meet, I hope we’ll be on our best aristocratic behavior.”

It was another jab at Oscar’s haughty behavior throughout their conversation. A hint: use proper etiquette in their next meeting.

Oscar was too dazed by the two blows to say anything.

Soon Marlena, escorted by the Roche, was inside the house, leaving Oscar alone at Count Balthus’s gates.

His breathing became ragged.

He glared at the Countess with all his might and turned away. But in his anger, he muttered to himself.

“I may be her ex-husband, but when I offer her a hand of help, she should take it.”

She must have refused because of her pride.

With that level of intelligence, she surely wouldn’t be able to run a business for long.

Oscar’s face turned grim, his pride firmly wounded.

He walked down the darkened street, muttering to himself, forgetting to think.

“As soon as she puts on her first show, she’ll be out of business. Then she’ll break down and kiss the bottom of my shoes……. Then I’ll crush her smug face.”

Oscar gritted his teeth, determined to kill her with words.

In the meantime, Marlena’s figure, leaning on Roche’s arm and standing close, was strangely stuck in his mind, refusing to leave.

* * *
Oscar decided to act immediately.

First and foremost, it was urgent to prevent capable talents like Katarina from leaking over to Malena’s side.

He gave several key people, including the new prima donna Nina Ford, big bonuses and signed them to new exclusive contracts.

The contract period was set for 10 years, with a staggering penalty if terminated before the end of the period.

Some hesitated when they received the contracts, but with Crestwell’s monopoly on theater business, no one could afford not to sign.

With a stack of contracts tucked away in a drawer in his office, Oscar headed to the studio of Jacob Hennessy, the Crestwell Grand Theater’s leading playwright, early in the morning.

Jacob’s studio was truly luxurious. As the top playwright whose plays were fetching a lot of money, it was only natural.

Even Oscar, who was stingy with his money, was lavish with Jacob. The revenue Jacob generated far outweighed the investment.

The Crestwell Grand Theater puts on more than 10 plays a year.

The actors and staff work in teams on each play, but Jacob wrote most of them.

There was a reason Jacob could write plays at such lightning speed. The secret was his working method.

‘You think I’m crazy enough to write every single line? ’

Jacob only wrote the idea, the plot, and the conversion scene himself; his students wrote the other, less important scenes.

It was their job to fill in the blanks, not only for the unimportant scenes, but also for those that were necessary to the plot of the play but that Jacob was uninterested in.

When they complained about the difficulty of the work, Jacob shamelessly said it was all part of their learning.

“If you don’t like it, why don’t you quit?”

It was not uncommon for him to say this.

Those who came as disciples, thinking they could learn something from the most successful playwright in the capital, were worn out by the murderous workload every day.

Romance faded in an instant. And Jacob fueled his fortune with their faded romance.

When Oscar entered the workshop, Jacob opened his arms to greet him.

“What a surprise, the Duke of Crestwell himself. A nobleman in a shabby place like this?”

“Shabby, yes.”

Oscar glanced around.

A faint odor lingered in the workroom from the unwashed and writing people.

The Duke of Crestwell’s visit was a curious one, but the servants, practically walking corpses, couldn’t be bothered by Oscar. Instead of admiring the Duke, they had to put more effort into meeting deadlines.

The only one who cared was Jacob Hennessy himself.

“Mr. Hennessy, you’re right, I’m a busy man, and I won’t be here long, so sign the contract.”

Jacob was very happy with his current work situation, so it didn’t matter if his contract with the Crestwell Grand Theater lasted ten years or a hundred.

He coolly signed the new contract.

“But suddenly a bonus like this. I’m not complaining, but isn’t it exceeding the theater’s budget?”

“That’s why I cut the garbage people.”

To cut expenses, everyone who didn’t care if they leaked to Marlena was cut.

Many actors fell victim to the restructuring, including those whose skills had diminished or who were now too old to be of value. It was a smart move, Oscar thought, and he smiled.

Where would Marlena use the trash she picked up? Unless they were as good as Katarina Blanchette.

“Ah, you cut them all? Terrifying.”

He said so, but Jacob didn’t care whether they were cut or not.

As Oscar and Jacob were talking side by side, one of the students suddenly started packing her things.

Everyone else was grunting and groaning and dying to finish, but she seemed strangely animated.

Oscar glanced over and, without thinking, asked Jacob, “Why did she suddenly start packing?”

Jacob shrugged.

“Well, she said she’s quitting, I don’t even remember her name. A lot of kids come and go.”

“What’s with all the quitters lately?”

“Yeah.”

Jacob didn’t seem to mind at all.

Of course. It was common for students to quit because they were overwhelmed by the crazy workload.

Oscar turned his attention back to the contract.

There was something odd about it.

While everyone else was like walking corpses, the footsteps of the woman leaving the room now sounded cheerful. She was even humming a tune.

But now wasn’t the time to be concerned about that level of discomfort. It was urgent to prevent the leakage of the theater’s staff.

Oscar decided to flatter Jacob rather than dwell on the departing apprentice.

Meanwhile, the apprentice who had left Jacob’s workshop was spitting phlegm at the workshop door with a loud, booming cackle.

“Please perish splendidly.”

She laughed out loud, cursing in case anyone heard.

Having finished her task, she called a carriage with a refreshing expression and cheerfully shouted out the destination.

“To Countess Blthus’s estate, please! Oh, and the carriage fee will be covered by the Countess.”