‘Gasp……!!’

 

You are an academy student, aren’t you?

 

That one line, like an arrow shot by Princess Diana, pierced through me.

 

The moment I heard this, I froze solid as if I was put in a flash freeze.

 

After that, whatever the princess was jabbering about didn’t even register.

 

Something about deducing my grade based on my vocabulary, remarks about my physique and calluses.

 

Watching her pinpoint the answers with just her observation skills left me nearly fainting.

 

‘Hold on, what are you, Sherlock Holmes?’

 

You take a quick look at someone and their personal information just pops up like you searched for it on your smartphone? I’ve heard rumors of her being bright, but I never imagined she was at this level.

 

“Now then, I wonder who is hiding behind this mask? Should I reveal your identity for you, or would you prefer to confess honestly?”

 

That was the last question I properly heard.

 

It was practically a final warning.

 

It was no different than a threat saying, ‘Would you rather come clean, or get beaten and then come clean?’

 

‘Damn it.’

 

Although revealing my identity was burdensome, it was better than displeasing the future empress.

 

“Well, it would be better if I revealed it myself. I am a faithful subject of the Empire after all, hahaha.”

 

Feigning nonchalance, I looked straight at the princess.

 

At the same time, I raised my right hand to my mask, ready to remove it.

 

At that moment….

 

“……Hahaha.”

 

Princess Diana gently grasped my hand, stopping me from removing the mask.

 

She placed my right hand on the table and chuckled softly.

 

“I’m joking. I have no intention of forcing you to reveal your identity. If you want to continue your activities while hidden behind anonymity, feel free to do so.”

 

“I-Is that so? I am truly grateful for your generous consideration, Your Highness.”

 

“Hehehe, there’s no need for insincere words.”

 

With a smile that exuded both charm and grace, the princess rose from her seat.

 

With a graceful sway, her gown—Cleopatra’s flowing silk costume—fluttered as she turned away.

 

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Phantom. I will take my leave for today.”

 

“What? Already? It hasn’t even been 30 minutes since the fan meeting started……”

 

“Meeting face-to-face is enough for me. I have gained more than enough, so you should rest as well. It must be tiring juggling academy life and your life as a great writer.”

 

“……Thank you for your consideration. Please take care, Your Highness.”

 

In the end, I couldn’t deny it until the very end.

 

In a single moment, I was caught in her pace and revealed too much.

 

Before I knew it, before I could even think of doing something, everything was already too late.

 

‘It feels like I was bewitched by the legendary Gumiho.’

 

Perhaps Diana was actually a Gumiho.

 

{T/N – Gumiho basically means “nine-tailed fox”, a creature that appears in the folktales of East Asia and legends of Korea. It is similar to the Japanese kitsune. It can freely transform into a beautiful woman often set out to seduce men, and eat their liver or heart.}

 

As she swayed gracefully, walking away with her enchanting silhouette, I wouldn’t have been surprised if nine tails suddenly sprung out from behind her.

 

“Oh, and one more thing. It’s best not to ignore letters from your fans, Phantom.”

 

Just before leaving the parlor, she turned her head slightly and added a few more words of advice.

 

“Even if you are a literary genius bestowed by the heavens, if you don’t even bother replying just because the content doesn’t meet your standards, people might feel hurt.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Hehehe.”

 

Leaving me bewildered by her words, the Cleopatra of this world walked away.

 

And about ten seconds after she disappeared from sight—

 

“Gasp……!!”

 

I finally grasped the chilling meaning of her parting advice.

 

‘C-C-C-Could it be that the sender of the letter I received last time was…her!’

 

Today was truly a day full of nerve-wracking revelations.

 

✧❅✦❅✧

 

“So, how was it, Diana? Meeting the author Phantom one-on-one?”

 

The first person the princess encountered after leaving the theatre parlor was none other than Rosalyn Wenford.

 

Dressed as Julia Caesaris, she stood there with a small picture frame clutched in her arms, her face full of anticipation.

 

“What was Phantom like? A gentle and refined gentleman, as expected? Or a surprisingly blunt but deep-thinking philosopher?”

 

“Calm down, Rosalyn. I’ll tell you all about it when we get back to the dormitory.”

 

“Okay, hehehe.”

 

Rosalyn giggled with a childlike innocent smile, nodding her head.

 

Glancing at the picture frame she held to her chest as if it were a treasure, Diana asked,

 

“You like it that much? Getting his autograph as the second-place prize?”

 

“Of course! Look, he even wrote my name!”

 

‘To Lady Rosalyn Wenford, may your path be filled with spring days, free from dark clouds.

 

— Phantom, the Playwright’

 

The phrase was written with jet-black ink on the surface of the pure white paper within the frame. It was a simple, unassuming gift, but Rosalyn was overjoyed, not at all disappointed that she hadn’t won first place.

 

“Phantom must know, right? That our family was saved because of his plays. That’s why he added this meaningful encouragement with his signature, right?”

 

“Well…”

 

“Tsk! What’s with that hesitant response? Weren’t you the one who met him instead of me?”

 

Diana refrained from making any rash comments.

 

If Phantom was one of the students, he could be someone close to Rosalyn.

 

She was still keeping all possibilities open, so jumping to conclusions was out of the question.

 

First, he was either a first-year or second-year student. And he was quite tall, belonged to the Knight department, and had brown hair… 

 

If she considered families that fit the criteria, she had the Schwartzes, the Cromwells, the Granadas…

 

‘…and lastly, the Artures.’

 

The exact answer remained elusive.

 

However, narrowing down the sample to this extent was a satisfactory achievement.

 

Therefore, Diana decided not to rush things.

 

She was genuinely enjoying the process of chasing after this mysterious man called Phantom.

 

It was at this moment, as Diana and Rosalyn, two close friends, traversed the theater, that she paused.

 

In the corner of the room, reserved for the event, stood a large mirror meant for the dressing room.

 

Diana, gracefully passing by, suddenly stopped in front of it.

 

She began to leisurely admire her reflection in the glass.

 

“Hmm…”

 

“What is it, Diana?”

 

“Oh, it’s nothing. Hehehe.”

 

She wasn’t looking at Princess Diana. She was looking at the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra; the disguise gave her a perverse pleasure that she couldn’t quite put into words… 

 

….On this day, the Princess awakened to a new hobby — cosplaying as her favorite characters, a rather expensive and secret indulgence.

 

✧❅✦❅✧

 

The excitement of the Phantom Impersonation Contest, which had taken the capital by storm, gradually subsided, and the sensational wave of laughter brought by Chaplin’s Comedy also died down.

 

Regardless of how intense the stimulus, continued exposure tends to dull sensitivity over time.

 

After a brief hiatus, Phantom, the playwright who had taken the world by storm, released a follow-up to Chaplin’s Comedy; this allowed the audience to gradually adapt to the humor and build the necessary tolerance.

 

Was it because of this? Fortunately, the mania that accompanied the initial introduction of Charlie Chaplin-style humor to this world did not recur.

 

Instead, the theater world in this other world was faced with a completely different problem.

 

“Counterfeits?”

 

“Yes, counterfeits.”

 

Isabella took a long drag from her cigarette and sighed.

 

“Comedy is relatively easy to imitate. Plus, there are so many similar gimmicks and concepts that it’s hard to keep track of them all.”

 

“Hmm…”

 

A flood of farces that almost completely ripped off Charlie Chaplin’s slapstick. The problem that had been dormant during the time of <Admiral Lee> and <Julius Caesar> was rearing its ugly head.

 

And according to Isabella, they weren’t simply copying; they were imitating Chaplin’s Comedy in a vulgar way.

 

Sexual innuendos, provocativeness, personal insults disguised as dark humor, and even blatant dissing of the original work. They had stopped at nothing to increase commercial viability, utterly disrespecting Chaplin’s integrity.

 

‘Actually, I was worried about this when I was working on Charlie Chaplin…’

 

Phantom’s previous works had been extraordinary successes, both in terms of innovation and symbolism.

 

They had even made a significant social impact, making imitation all the more unsettling.

 

‘Because to <Admiral Lee>, the Wenford family was reinstated into politics, and <Julius Caesar> led to important changes in the royal court’s ceremonies. Who would dare plagiarize in such a situation?’

 

Unless someone had a death wish, they wouldn’t dare.

 

However, comedy, whose sole purpose was to make people laugh, was a different story.

 

This wasn’t a world with clear copyright laws. From a medieval perspective, it was difficult to claim ownership over comedic elements like slapstick, satire, and humor; to put it simply, the common perception was, ‘It’s not like it’s a serious play. If a comedy’s funny, it’s okay to copy it, right?’

 

‘Actually, I don’t even need to bring up the medieval culture of this world.’

 

It wasn’t that long ago that joke theft was rampant in the American stand-up comedy scene, as recent as the early 2000s, even in a modern human rights country like the United States.

 

Countless comedians like Bill Cosby, Amy Schumer, and Robin Williams were caught in controversies…,

 

….and some, like Carlos Mencia, were even accused of making a living solely through plagiarism. 

 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Phantom. I feel responsible for not being able to protect the characters as an actress, especially after you worked so hard on the script.”

 

“No, it’s the people who acted without any ethics who are in the wrong. You don’t need to apologize, Ms. Isabella.”

 

I comforted the actress, who looked as if she had done something wrong.

 

In any case, I had to find a way to resolve this issue.

 

‘If I leave this be, even the original work will suffer.’

 

When low-quality knock-offs flood the market, the original’s image inevitably gets tarnished.

 

But then again, cracking down on them would be difficult due to the lack of relevant laws and awareness.

 

‘Is there any effective method?’

 

As I pondered a solution…

 

“D-Director! A guest has arrived!”

 

Knock—! Knock—! 

 

One of the theater staff knocked on the door of the parlor. Isabella frowned slightly and answered in a curt tone.

 

“A visitor? Without an appointment? Don’t they know I don’t meet people who show up unannounced? Send them back.”

 

“W-Well, that’s… They didn’t ask for the director…”

 

At that moment, the tightly shut door suddenly burst open!

 

And two knights with a cross emblem on their chests entered the parlor.

 

‘W-What’s going on?’

 

Paladins?

 

Holy warriors belonging to the Holy Church, acting on the orders of the Pope.

 

They stood firm, clad in helmets adorned with wings, their gazes fixed intently upon Isabella and me.

 

And from behind them…

 

“Please excuse our intrusion. We had no choice but to come here on urgent business from the Holy See.”

 

…A beautiful woman in a nun’s habit appeared. 

 

Her silver hair shimmered like freshly fallen snow.

 

Her eyelids were gently lowered, as if in a light slumber.

 

An intricate jeweled cross necklace adorned her neck.

 

“Are you Phantom, the renowned playwright?”

 

With a somewhat enigmatic smile, the young nun introduced herself.

 

“I am Saint Beatrice. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

 

— End of Chapter —

 

Author’s Note :-

 

In reality, inferior imitations often tarnish the image of the original work. Take, for example, the 1995 family comedy film, ‘Babe.’

 

Considering its somewhat childish title, it might come as a surprise that this film swept the 68th Academy Awards. Produced on a budget of 30 million dollars, it grossed a staggering 254 million dollars worldwide.

 

However, an imitation that almost tarnished ‘Babe’ was ‘Gordy,’ which blatantly plagiarized the idea of ‘a talking piglet and farm animals.’

 

‘Gordy’ was a very typical mockbuster, essentially a carbon copy of ‘Babe’ from the planning stages. Upon hearing that Universal Studios was producing a movie about a baby pig, they rushed through production and even released their film before ‘Babe’ in an attempt to pass themselves off as the original.

 

As a result, ‘Babe,’ which was released shortly after, almost faced a box office disaster.

 

Many viewers, confused by the similarity in subject matter, mistook ‘Gordy’ for the original and didn’t bother seeking out ‘Babe.’

 

Though some argue that it’s not fair to label ‘Gordy’ as a rip-off, considering that it’s common for film scripts to circulate through various studios before securing funding, and that ‘Gordy’ did technically premiere first, the fandom in English-speaking countries, which was the main target audience for both films, has already concluded that ‘Gordy’ is indeed a plagiarism of ‘Babe.’