"...."

It wasn't as though I didn't expect this. No, rather... I knew it was coming.

Although looking around and seeing that there was no one present, I found the situation to be rather odd.

How did he manage to get everyone away from here?

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

The only sound that echoed was the weird and unsettling sound of his scratching.

"You.... Ah, I need that role."

He was breathing heavily and uncomfortably. With just a glance, I could see that he wasn't in the right state of mind.

'A psychopath.'

I remained calm.

"You need the role?"

And tried to buy as much time as possible.

"The Azarias one?"

"Ah, yes... That role. I have been waiting for this day for a very long time. An extremely long time..."

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch—!

"It bothers me, it bothers me... I controlled myself for so long. Long. Long. Long. Long. So much control! Ha! I lost my role! Because of you! All that effort! How could that be? Theremustbesomesortofmistake!!"

I had a hard time understanding the last part of his sentence as he spat those words at a rapid speed.

Perhaps because his anger was starting to rise, he started to lose his mind.

"Ah! This is nonsense! HowcouldtheytellmetostopwhenIhavebeenwaitingforsolong!!!"

The mana started to agglomerate in his direction at a rapid speed. So much that it was starting to feel suffocating.

'As expected, I can't beat him with my current power...'

He was simply too strong for the current me.

Swooosh—!

His figure blurred, and he appeared right in front of me. I was fast to react, moving my left hand in front of me.

CLANK—!

A large metallic sound rang out as sparks flew and I took several steps back. My entire left hand felt numb as the chain scattered away.

"Ukh..!"

I felt a sweet sensation at the back of my throat I coughed several times.

"Shit."

The gap between us was quite large, but it wasn't as though it was impossible for me.

Well, not that it mattered.

I wasn't alone.

"Julien E—"

Before he could finish his words, something smacked him by the side of his face.

!

With a powerful blow, he staggered forward. In that instant, I clenched my hand, and purple threads burst forth, entwining around his ankles and hands.

His entire body started to spasm as his face paled and his features contorted.

"Akh...! This!"

A figure emerged from the spot behind him. With a quiet step, Leon looked at me with a frown.

"Is this it?"

"....For now."

I still wasn't sure if he had left something else for me.

"I'll take care of him. Go check around the stage."

"....Got it."

Leon disappeared shortly after. Only then did I shift my attention back to the senior.

"Now then."

What was I going to do with him?

***

It was the start of the second Act.

The audience was already sitting in their seats, waiting for it to start. Throughout the entire short break, none of the members of the audience said a word as they waited for the play to start again.

They were all wondering the same thing; 'What did he mean by see you soon? Is there something in the shop?'

The air was thick with anticipation.

Standing backstage, Aoife took a deep breath.

All the noise drowned out from her ears as she focused entirely on her role.

"Ah.. aH, ah, Ah..."

Massaging her throat, she tried her best to find the right tone and pitch. She spent the better part of the break doing so, and while she was busy doing this, she noticed a certain panic spread throughout the back.

"Where is he...?"

"I can't find him."

"I knocked on his room, but he's gone."

"What? How could this be? It can't be that he left, right?"

When she turned her head, she could see that all the staff was rushing around in panic.

"What's going on...?"

Seeing how distressed they were, Aoife frowned. She was just about to ask what was going on when she picked up the conversation of a few actors beside her.

"Do you think he ran away? Just like the reading room?"

"Damn it. I knew it... Last time he left because he couldn't do it. I guess the pressure got to him. But what do we do?"

"Ah, this. I can't believe this is happening now of all times."

Familiar with the events of the reading room, Aoife understood the subject of their talk. Her frown deepened.

'He ran away? Julien...?'

Aoife had a hard time believing this.

Recalling the scene she had seen a while back when he had been practicing by himself in the classroom and pushing himself to the point where his own body was failing him, Aoife didn't think for one second that he was that type of person.

She knew... because he was just like her.

"Something must have happened."

It was the only explanation.

Cli Cla—

The lights of the theater turned dark, and the play resumed.

"Huu."

Aoife took a deep breath and headed towards the side of the stage. The next scene was her death scene.

"Do something!"

"Look around for him!"

While everyone was still scrambling to find out where Julien was, she cleared her mind and removed all distracting thoughts.

Whether he was going to show up or not, that didn't matter to her right now.

What she needed to do right now was focus on her role.

[Is this the shop? It looks rather nice.]

Darius's voice echoed from the stage, as the play resumed. He was now standing in front of a small flower-shaped.

He was by himself, and inserting the keys into the key socket, he slowly opened it, revealing the vast number of flowers within.

[Hm?]

To the surprise of the audience, and Joseph, the flowers.

They were all...

[Roses.]

No, not quite.

[Red.]

It was an odd sight, one that left the audience in question once more.

[I did think he liked roses, but who would've thought he'd like them so much that he'd have a whole shop of them?]

With a bitter laugh, Joseph walked around the shop. Just as he did in the bakery, he traced his finger across the furniture, seemingly looking for something.

As he was doing this, a voice quietly whispered to Aoife.

"Get ready, your part is about to start soon."

"Understood."

Aoife nodded with a serious expression.

Looking around, she could see that the staff was still panicked. Julien... He was still not in sight.

"Maam? What do we do...? At this rate...!"

"Get someone else to do it. Ugh, ah!"

It wasn't uncommon for incidents to occur during a play. For that reason, ' extras' were used to fill the role in case a situation arose.

While they weren't as good as the main actors, they still knew the lines and what to do.

Staring back, Aoife saw a man wearing similar clothes to what Julien had worn getting ready.

He was most likely going to be Julien's replacement.

"....."

For some reason, Aoife didn't like the idea. Rather, she detested it as her fists slowly clenched tightly.

'I didn't push myself to this point just to have someone else take over your role...'

Besides doing it for herself, another reason why Aoife pushed herself to the point of exhaustion was so that she wouldn't get swallowed by his acting.

Aoife had to admit.

He was far better than her in that aspect. It was for that reason that she pushed herself so much.

...And seeing that someone else was about to take over his role, Aoife felt as though half of her efforts had been for nothing.

It was a frustrating feeling.

One that she could only push down as she felt a gentle push on her back.

"Go, it's your turn."

Nodding her head, Aoife took a deep breath and stepped to enter the stage.

***

With his entire body weak, Alexander slowly opened his eyes.

He couldn't tell what had happened as it had happened all too fast. His body hung suspended in the air as he felt weak all over. When he looked around, he appeared to be in a storage room.

Alexander had a hard time seeing. His mind was foggy, and his vision was blurry.

"Haa... Where is this? What's..."

Because of how weak his body was, he could hardly get his words out.

"Just in time."

A figure gradually appeared in his vision.

"I would've had to force you awake soon enough."

"Uh... How...?"

Coughing several times, Alexander slowly raised his head. He tried to free himself from the threads, but his body simply refused to listen to him as the energy was drained completely out of him.

"I've been waiting for quite a while for you to act."

With an indifferent gaze, he looked down at him.

"Wha.... How!?"

"It doesn't matter how. Just know that I know you were watching me."

"How did you...!"

Alexander struggled to grasp the conversation he was having. How was it possible for him to know that he was watching him? Furthermore, how was it possible for him to know that he was planning on doing something...!?

His face twitched as his neck itched. If only he could scratch it...

Still, he managed to force a laugh.

"Do you think this is over? There's more co..."

"I know."

"....?"

"There's more coming, right? I know."

"Ah..."

The itchy feeling became more pronounced, forcing his face to twist.

"That, how could you..."

Who, in the world.

"How!!!"

Mustering the little energy that he had remaining in his body, Alexander viciously screamed. His voice cracked halfway through, showing just how desperate he was.

"That's not something for you to concern yourself."

But the man before him seemed completely unfazed.

Just then, he took a step closer to him and lowered his body down. Their gazes met, and Alexander stopped screaming.

"You're a psychopath."

Those were the words that came out of his mouth as he addressed him.

".....I play the role of a psychopath."

"Whaat...?"

A shadow cast over Alexander's features as Julien's hand drew near his face.

"Let me see your world."

***

Tok—

Under the bright lights that shone down, the sound of Aoife's step echoed.

Tak. Tak.

The color started to fade from the surroundings, and alongside the color, the sound of her steps became more rushed.

"Haa.... Haaa..."

Her chest heaved up and down, and her hands tingled.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

It was quiet, and in the quiet world, a figure stood at its center. It was Joseph. He was looking right at her who was running in the alleyways.

"Haaa... Haaa... Haaa..."

It was really quiet on the stage. The only sound that Aoife could perceive was the rushed sounds of her steps and breath. It was a strange and uncomfortable feeling.

Tak. Tak.

It made her body feel weak and limp.

While she knew that everyone was watching, slowly that feeling was starting to fade.

Gradually, she was starting to immerse herself in the role.

All the lights faded and emotions that she tried to force herself the entire week started to enter her.

But...

'I'm still missing something.'

"Haaa... Haaa..."

Aoife could tell she had entered a zone. An immersive zone that would make all actors envy her.

But it wasn't perfect.

There was still something that she was missing.

But what...?

What could she be missing?

And then, her steps stopped.

"Oh, ah..."

A wall appeared before her. Aoife's expression cracked, and helplessness washed over her body. With a flick of her head, she glanced behind, where darkness swallowed the other end of the alleyway.

A figure stood in that darkness. It remained there, carefully observing her.

Aoife squeezed her chest.

"W-what do you want from me...!"

Her voice came out hoarse, almost screeching. From the tone to the pitch. It was perfect. Almost flawless.

But...

It was still not enough for her.

Something was still missing in her performance.

What was it?

Tak.

She heard a soft step. The shadow inched closer.

"G-get away from me!"

Gradually, the shadow's appearance revealed itself, and Aoife held her breath.

Standing tall, and with the same flawless appearance of his, it was none other than Julien. He looked the same as he usually did, no...

There was something different about the current him.

It made Aoife's chest grow heavy.

"....."

And took the words away from her. It was as if he had stolen her voice.

It was then that Aoife finally understood what was missing from her play.

Fear.

It was real fear.

"Haaa.... Haaa... Haa.."

And staring at the all too familiar figure standing on the opposite end, Aoife swallowed. His eyes, hollow and devoid of any light, and yet filled with a certain madness, stared back at her, sending chills down her entire body.

"Ah.."

Finally, she felt it.

"Gh...!"

Fear.

True fear.

And her voice returned.

"G-g.. Akh... Get away from... me!!"