The Power of the Saint is All Around (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 4

Act 4:

Going to the Theater

AFTER I STOPPED HAULING myself around to different parts of the kingdom on expeditions, my carefree days continued for a time. The only things I had to take care of were my work for the institute and my classes at the palace.

Then there came a day unlike the others, in which it felt as if someone had tossed a small stone into the calm waters of my life.

It happened on the day I took magic lessons at the palace. Normally, I had a classroom lecture in the morning followed by practical lessons in the afternoon, but that day I only had the lecture because Grand Magus Yuri Drewes, who was my teacher, had business to attend to later.

Yuri was utterly obsessed with magic, and because he got to observe the Saint using her special power during my practical lessons, it would have been no exaggeration to say that he saw them as a treat. As such, I was pretty surprised when he said those lessons were canceled for the day.

On the other hand, the obligation he had to deal with instead was apparently related to monster slaying, so he probably saw that as a treat as well.

“Right then, thus concludes our class for today,” Yuri announced as we reached a good break.

The day’s lecture was one that Royal Academy second-­years learned at the end of that year.

I sure have powered through the course content, I thought as I expressed my usual gratitude to Yuri. “Okay. Thank you as ever.”

I was gathering my textbook and other things from my desk to ready myself to return to the institute when Yuri surprised the pants off of me—he brought up a topic other than magic. “Have you ever been to a play?”

“A play?” I was taken aback for a moment. A play? As in a theater play? It took a moment to finally comprehend what he had asked me. “You mean like, as in the kind performed on stage?”

Yuri smiled. “Yes. One that incorporates singing as well.” 

I never would have associated that kind of thing with Yuri, but it was indeed what he was talking about. What in the world was going on with him? “Stage performances, huh? Yes, I went to one once, back in my old world.”

“Really? You’re interested in them, then?”

Theater and so forth? I wasn’t so sure if I did have an interest. I had only been to one because a friend had invited me. So I hesitated as I replied, “I suppose? I wouldn’t say that I’m not interested.”

Yuri paid my hesitation no heed as he went on smoothly. “Excellent. Would you like to accompany me to one?”

Okay, so this was an invitation. And it wasn’t for magic drills. Nor to slay monsters. But to go to the theater. I was so shocked, I wound up blurting out, “I beg your pardon?”

Nevertheless, Yuri didn’t let my astonishment bother him as he eloquently explained, “A few days ago, I ­received tickets for a play that will be performed in the capital. It occurred to me that you might be interested in joining me.”

“Oh…?”

When Yuri coughed up further details, I learned that House Drewes had been a patron for this performance. The tickets were an expression of gratitude. By all rights, the head of the family or his heir should have used them, but they had prior engagements and were unable to ­attend. That was how they’d ended up in Yuri’s lap.

There were two tickets, which had been meant for a man of House Drewes and his wife. Moreover, Yuri wasn’t allowed to go by himself even if he couldn’t find someone to take with him. This performance was already popular, and his family had forbidden him from letting the tickets go to waste. At first Yuri figured that he could just go with someone else in his family, but unfortunately, everyone was booked. After mulling over his alternatives, he had settled on me.

Now the question was what I ought to do.

All the letters inviting me to tea parties and balls had to be sent through the palace. I felt like an invitation to go to the theater fell in the same category, but Yuri was the grand magus. Then again, if he’d just been some stranger, I would have told him to send the invitation through the palace without a second thought.

“Please, Lady Sei,” Yuri said to my hesitation. “If I ask anyone else, I expect I’ll land myself in a bit of a conundrum.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see, I simply don’t know what kinds of things one ought to talk about with women.”

Did Yuri mean things like fashion and pastries? If so, I could see how he felt out of the loop, what with his sole interest being matters of the arcane and all. As he said that, a wry smile on his face, I understood why he considered himself to be in a bind.

I was indebted to Yuri for teaching me everything I knew about magic, so I was willing to go the extra mile to help when he was in trouble. Seeing a play would be no big deal, right? Although I wasn’t particularly interested, I was curious to see what theater was like in this world—so much so that I was increasingly tempted to go. Moreover, the ticket was free.

“Okay. I’ll go with you.”

The most breathtaking smile spread across Yuri’s face. “Thank you!”

With that, he gave me the important details, such as where we would be going and the date and time. We said our goodbyes and several days passed before it came up again.

Later, as I was speaking with Johan at the institute, I suddenly remembered a question I’d failed to ask Yuri: What kind of clothes did one wear when going to a play?

“Ah, I’m going to the theater in the city during my next day off,” I clarified. “So I was wondering what I should wear.” 

Johan immediately began to interrogate me. “You are? With whom?”

He sounds like my dad, asking who I’m hanging out with like that, I thought. “Lord Drewes.”

Johan’s brow knit. “And when you did you agree to this?”

“During his last lecture.”

“So he asked you directly?”

“Yes. He said that his family couldn’t go and that they had extra tickets.”

“Ooh…” Johan put a hand on his forehead and lifted his head up.

Huh? Did I do something bad? A panicky feeling started to rise within me, and for some reason I became anxious.

When Johan recovered himself, he gave me an explanation with a thoroughly strange expression. 

There were several theaters in the capital, but nobles and commoners patronized separate venues. If House Drewes was planning to attend one, it was likely the sort reserved for the nobility. Johan guessed which theater I was going to, and it turned out to be exactly the one Yuri had named.

Johan is so knowledgeable about this kind of thing. I can always count on him.

In other words, since I was going to a theater for the nobility, there was a dress code. Yup. I was going to have to wear a fancy gown.

“If I’m going to have to get dolled up, then I suppose I should ask the palace maids for help.”

“Indeed. I don’t know that much about women’s ­garments. I’m sure they’ll be much more help on that front.”

“Yeah. And if I’m going to have to wear one of those dresses…”

“Even though the performance is in the evening, you’ll have to get ready before the sun sets.”

“Yeah…”

Oof. I suspected as much. Will I have to start getting ready first thing in the morning like I have to for Lady’s Day etiquette lessons at the palace? Even if I’ll be going with the grand magus, I have a feeling they’ll approach it like they would a real social event rather than some lesson. I laughed weakly at the thought of what was to come.

At any rate, I would have to consult with the maids first. I had a feeling I would have to submit myself to their expertise at the crack of dawn, but maybe it would be possible to start in the afternoon instead. 

With this sliver of hope, I sent a message to the palace right away.

***

On the day of the play, I stepped onto the battlefield just before noon, as I had predicted. Mary’s kindness ­allowed me to start later versus first thing in the morning, like I would have for a usual Lady’s Day. Nevertheless, the maids were even more fired up than usual. Probably that was on account of how I would be standing beside Yuri, whose beauty was unparalleled.

“Hello, Lady Sei.”

“Uh, hello.”

Yuri looked unspeakably lovely when he came to the palace at the appointed time to pick me up. The combination of him being, you know, himself but also dressed in formalwear like he’d worn at that ball ages ago made him seem radiant and, um, sparkly? It made my voice come out as a squeak.

They said that wearing a suit made a person thirty percent more handsome, and I had a feeling that his outfit had a similar mathematical effect.

Yuri wore a black justaucorps and culottes with a ­madder-red vest, and his garments were all made of velour. The justaucorps had a gorgeous, embroidered border of many colors, though mainly gold. The front of the vest was also finely embroidered with a pattern that looked like snowflakes. Both items were extremely luxuriant.

I suppose you wouldn’t expect the son of a marquis to wear anything less.

Meanwhile, my dark-red gown was also made of ­velour, and my long black gloves were silk. The hem of the dress sported sumptuous golden embroidery with a black lace border. The gown’s color had been picked because it matched my hair color, but I’d wound up matching Yuri’s outfit as well.

As I was overwhelmed by the shock of coincidence, Yuri leaned in and smoothly took my right hand. I was distracted by the gloves he wore as he placed a kiss on the back of my hand.

“You look most striking today, Lady Sei.” He maintained that pose as he glanced up at me. There was a strange intensity in his smiling eyes. It was incredibly alluring.

H-his attack! It’s too powerful! My internal scream couldn’t be contained and leaked out, to my dismay. “Huh?! Wh-what are you doing?!”

I yanked my hand back, and Yuri chuckled with amusement. “Oh? Did I offend you?”

He’s making fun of me, isn’t he?

I took a deep breath and let it out before once again demanding why he’d done that. He claimed his family had ordered him to, and furthermore that it was just good manners when escorting a lady.

Hey, Yuri’s family! What do you think you’re teaching him?! I can take it because I know how he is normally, but I bet I would have fainted if I didn’t! I couldn’t voice these thoughts out loud, so mentally lambasting House Drewes would have to do. “It’s not that I’m offended…” I sighed. “Just forget it. Let’s go.”

“Very well, then.”

I was already thoroughly exhausted, and we hadn’t even left. Yuri seemed satisfied. He didn’t say anything further when I suggested we ought to go.

The theater we were headed to was in the district where most of the noble estates were located in the city. As you’d expect from a theater for nobility, the exterior was both exquisitely beautiful and exquisitely expensive, with stone pillars carved with all kinds of different designs out front.

My maids had told me about it as they helped me get dressed, and according to them, the carvings on these pillars were inspired by scenes from a certain story. In front of each pillar there was a woven iron fire pit, and the shadows of the flames made the carved scenes look like they were moving.

The entrance to the theater lay beyond these pillars. As we passed in the carriage, we saw elegantly dressed people passing through them, one after another.

There was a stairway in front of the pillars, so many carriages were lined on the road in front of the stairs. It looked like there was a bit of a traffic jam; we would have to wait our turn to get out. I craned my neck, trying to see the end of the line, but the carriage passed the front without stopping.

“Wasn’t that the entrance?” I asked, thinking it strange that we weren’t slowing down.

I felt Yuri lean closer to me. I got the sense that he was looking out the window over my shoulder. Then I felt his faint warmth on my left shoulder as he spoke from that intimate distance. “Yes, it was. However, there’s a separate entrance for patrons, so we’ll be entering from there.”

I was just a bit frozen. After Yuri’s behavior when he first showed up to pick me up, I couldn’t help but notice every little thing he did today. Even though the person doing these things was Yuri, who may I reiterate had no interest in anything but magic, I was strangely hyper-aware of everything he did.

It’s just because we’re in this cramped carriage. Calm down, me! I tried to soothe myself as I felt him lean back away.

Relieved that reality had reinstated itself, I turned my attention to what Yuri had said. So the general public went through the front entrance while patrons had their own, huh? It made me wonder if the royal family had their own entrance as well. When I asked, Yuri confirmed that this was the case. The carriage would be able to go right to the door of our stop, just as it would for the ­royals. The whole thing felt like a pretty big deal.

As we chatted, we arrived at the patrons’ entrance. I followed Yuri out of the carriage and took his hand to step down, though the process felt distinctly different from usual. I mulled it over and concluded that it was probably because Yuri had never before escorted me in this fashion.

Yuri led me inside while I was lost in thought. Just as he had told me in the carriage, it was only a few steps from the carriage to the building. It felt like I was stepping into an entirely different world.

The interior of the theater was even more dazzling than the exterior. I found myself wholly captivated. The first things that caught my eye were the enormous chandeliers at both ends of the hallway. The mounted glass shards sparkled as they reflected the light. There were no candles because they used enchanted foci as a light source, just like they did in the palace.

I wouldn’t have expected anything less from a theater catering to nobility. The place felt super high-class, and not just because of the resplendent chandeliers.

The pillars rising from the floor to the ceiling were inlaid with gold leaves, and they shone with the light they reflected from the chandeliers. The top and bottom of the pillars were carved with intricately fine details that I couldn’t quite make out. Plain vertical lines were carved into the middle sections, and they cast shadows as well.

The ceiling was a bright mural of men and women together. Perhaps it was a scene from a story as well? Unfortunately, I wasn’t very well versed in the stories of this world, so I had no idea what tale it was alluding to.

I had gradually slowed down as I stared up at the ceiling, so I felt Yuri tug on my arm, which was linked with his. I looked to him, and he stopped to turn to me. He tilted his head as he asked, “Is something the matter?”

I shook my head; I was just reeling over our surroundings. “Oh, I’m sorry. I was just struck by the opulence.”

Yuri nodded in agreement. “That’s just the word. I hear the front entrance is equally magnificent.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed. Would you like to pass that way when we leave?”

I had assumed this entrance was extra fancy because it was for patrons, but apparently it was like this all over. Perhaps it was all to lend to that extraordinary air characteristic of all theaters? At any rate, his suggestion was tempting, as I’d be able to see something new and see something fancy.

But would we be making trouble for the person picking us by leaving through a different door? I’d hate to do that, if so…but I couldn’t resist my curiosity.

“Would that be all right?” I asked.

“I certainly don’t mind; I’ve never seen it myself either.”

“Thank you!”

With that decided, Yuri resumed walking. As he was my escort, I followed along.

We soon arrived at what I had to assume was the door to the seats on the second floor. We had passed numerous similar doors along the way, and there were men who looked like attendants waiting beside each one. Women who looked like maids accompanied well-dressed people down the hallways—presumably fellow spectators.

Might these seats actually be… A bad feeling grew in my chest as I started to put together the clues and stepped through the doors with Yuri.

***

There was a small room on the other side. Along the wall on our immediate right was a waist-high ­cabinet, above which hung a mirror. Both the cabinet and mirror were splendidly decorated; the cabinet’s cabriole legs were especially cute. The room was darker than the hallway, so I couldn’t see well, but the parts that were illuminated had an awfully pretty amber hue. It lent a superbly sophisticated atmosphere.

Opposite the door were two chairs that also sported cabriole legs; they were facing what would have been a fourth wall. However, there wasn’t a wall but what looked like another small room directly across from us.

I focused on studying the furniture as a way to escape reality, but that didn’t change the truth of what was going on: This suite was just what I had feared.

But even though I knew what sort of room we were in by appearance alone, and it wasn’t like the situation would magically change even if Yuri denied it, I wound up asking anyway: “Are these box seats?”

“Yes. Supposedly House Drewes only ever watches from a box,” Yuri answered. His tone wasn’t exactly begrudging in any way, yet his words felt somehow stiff. Maybe it was because he had never come to watch, seeing as he had no interest in theater.

“Ah. I see.”

Box seats were essentially a private suite. There were only two seats in there at present, but the space could probably have sat another two to three people. The chairs were wider than the ones on the first floor in front of the stage, and considering the elaborate nature of the furniture, I had a feeling that these tickets must have cost a whole heck of a lot.

I was impressed that Yuri’s family exclusively attended the theater in an opera box, but when I thought about it, Yuri was the son of a marquis. House Drewes were high-ranking nobles and a powerful house; many of their ancestors had served as grand magus of the Royal Magi Assembly. It made sense that they would be able to reserve this kind of luxury.

“Please, have a seat.” A servant pulled out a chair for me.

“Thank you,” I said as I took it.

After I settled in, I looked ahead. People dressed in sparkling garments entered the boxes directly across from us.

Hmm. I had figured as much as we arrived, but this really was the second floor. The position of the box across from us confirmed it.

The box seats had been built to surround the first-floor seats in front of the stage, as if they were the walls of the second and third floors. There also appeared to be seats on an additional floor above, but since I couldn’t see divisions between rooms, maybe those were regular seats as well.

The box seats by the one directly across from us and near the stage had high ceilings. Maybe those were for royalty. I couldn’t see them from here, but assuming the boxes were arranged symmetrically, there were likely similar seats on our side as well.

“Have you noticed something of interest?” Yuri asked as I gazed around.

I supposed you could say it was of interest to me, but really I was just drinking in the sights. “No, it’s just new. I’ve never been to a theater like this.”

“I see.”

That was the truth too. I had never been to a classic European-style theater before. At most, I had seen pictures of old theaters located abroad.

I looked up to see that the ceiling was colorfully painted, just like the ceiling at the entrance. In the center hung a large chandelier. It didn’t appear to have any candles either, so I figured it must also be using enchanted foci as light sources.

“The chandeliers are enchanted, aren’t they?” I asked Yuri off-handedly.

He looked up at the ceiling and nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“I thought you had to be near an enchantment to activate it. How do they work?”

The foci I sometimes enchanted at the Royal Magi Assembly were turned into accessories or embedded in weapons—something you could wear and then empower. The person wearing the enchanted item used their own magic to flip the switch, so to speak.

Thus I was wondering how the chandeliers worked. They could hardly be worn, and there was no one nearby to make them function. I had previously wondered this when I heard that the chandeliers in the palace used enchanted foci, and I figured now was the perfect opportunity to ask the grand magus himself.

“Things like these chandeliers follow different circuits.”

“What do you mean by that?”

As this was a question about magic, Yuri was about to launch into a thorough explanation, but unfortunately, our conversation was cut off as the lights dimmed and the hall went dark. The play was about to begin.

It was a love story about the twists and turns of a relationship between a noble and a commoner girl, from the moment he fell at first sight until their marriage. The girl had a guardian, but he was actually after her fortune and kicked up all kinds of problems by trying to marry her first.

It had sounded like a good story based on the summary. However, what had been described to me as a play turned out to be more like an opera, what with the way the songs and music were composed. Because I was even less familiar with operas than plays, everything the performers sang went in one ear and out the other; I had no idea what was going on. Maybe part of that was because of the lively banter in our vicinity.

I had thought that performances were to be watched in silence, but that didn’t seem to be how things were done in this world. Throughout the theater, people shouted at the actors while others ignored the performance altogether to talk amongst themselves. Because of that, my attention shifted to the scenery on stage.

The scenery was no different from the sort I had seen back in Japan. The theater went dark between scenes, and they switched out the large paintings that served as backdrops and so forth. They even used real furniture in scenes set indoors.

If I had to say what was different, it was the monotony of the lighting. All they did was turn the lights on and off. They didn’t change the brightness or the color.

“Can they not change it?” I unthinkingly murmured to myself.

“Change what?” Yuri asked.

I decided I might as well explain myself. “I was just wondering if the only thing they can do with the lights is turn them on and off.”

“What else would you do with them?”

“Well, in my world, they could change the intensity and even the hue.”

“Huh.”

It appeared that Yuri was unable to focus on the play as well, and he quickly grew invested in this lighting discussion. They say that “seeing is believing,” so I cast the Practical Magic spell Light below the waist-high wall. I didn’t want anyone else to see.

At first, I cast it at the usual brightness. The second time, I adjusted it. I had done this back in Hawke’s Domain, so I knew I could pull it off. Yuri’s eyes sparkled as he gazed at the small glowing ball at the tip of my pointer finger. Then, with the third cast, I wished for the light to be blue, and this time an azure light appeared at my fingertip, just as I had imagined.

“Incre—”

“Shh! Not so loud!” I clapped my hands over Yuri’s mouth as he was on the verge of shouting out in excitement. My warning had been quiet, so I hoped against hope that no one had noticed.

However, I felt the softness of his lips under my palm before I realized what I had done. My actions had clearly startled Yuri as well. His eyes were wide open.

Uhhh. I went pale as Yuri and I stared at one another for a time, unmoving. 

But we couldn’t stay like that forever. A cold sweat ran down my back as I at last removed my hands from Yuri’s mouth.

“I’m sorry,” I said weakly.

“It’s all right. You surprised me a bit, but I’m fine.” Yuri smiled and his tone sounded just as it usually did.

Phew. He’s not mad.

I leaned in close and whispered so that we wouldn’t bother anyone else as we continued our conversation.

I had no idea that the people in the box directly across from ours had seen the whole thing. I only learned about that a week after our evening at the theater.