The Tyrant Empress is Obsessed with Me

17 – Prince of the Night

He had insomnia.

Askal, who stayed awake all night with his eyes open, thought about the cause.

‘Damn those lion tribes…’

It was a memory he still wanted to forget.

Askal had to stay homeless in a deserted Erlindale for a few days before he miraculously found a single carriage that was passing by and allowed him to return to the capital.

And as soon as he came back, he had a good sleep and consequently reversed his day and night schedule.

‘It’s a problem.’

He had to return to managing his life in a short while. Humans are creatures of habit. Reversing day and night can lead to a dramatic decrease in efficiency. Decreased efficiency can lead to a decline in reputation, which can have a serious effect on personnel evaluations…

Hold on.

Serious negative effects on personnel evaluations?

Rather, that’s better.

‘From now on, my name is the Prince of the Night.’

Askal, wearing his coat, rushed into the night streets of the capital.

Working during the day, sleeping at night.

It’s a long-standing human tradition. However, the renowned Hikigaya-sensei of the Far East nation has said that the level of a nation’s culture can be measured by how it overcomes the night.

In this regard, the cultural level of the imperial capital was quite excellent.

The capital, illuminated by marble lamps, still had several bars that had not gone out yet, and a wandering musician was playing enthusiastically with a hat placed on the corner.

Askal flicked a coin with his finger. The coin went straight into the hat. Nice play.

“Thank you, sir.”

Askal tried to lower his voice as much as possible.

“The starlight is too bright for my eyes to fall asleep, so I don’t know how to spend this night. You, the poet who plays melodies that flow through your blood. Can you tell me a place where I can calm my insomnia, or a place where I can fall asleep in the stillness of this night?”

That was a cheesy tone.

In case someone recognized him, things could get troublesome.

At this moment, he wasn’t the imperial manager Ascal.

He was the Prince of the Night.

“My lord has bestowed grace upon me, how could I not repay it? At the ‘Moonlit Theater’ located across the way, you can find quite elegant performances and stories.”

Hmm.

The wandering musician matched his timing quite well.

Ascal added one more coin.

“Thank you. I shall give it a visit.”

Ascal headed towards the Moonlit Theater the wandering musician had mentioned.

The Moonlit Theater was a well-known establishment in the empire.

It had been so, up until a few years ago.

Recently, however, the Moonlit Theater’s situation could not be called favorable even as a joke.

After repeatedly failing to produce successful plays despite numerous investments, they were suffering from severe financial difficulties.

“Hey, I told you to prepare everything. Why is there no mask? Seri, are you disrespecting your senior?”

“I’m sorry, senior. Someone asked to borrow the mask, so…”

Smack.

It was a scene of blatant male violence.

Seri, who had been slapped, bowed her head in silence and wiped the floor with a rag.

Physical and verbal violence existed everywhere, but performers were usually more prone to it on average.

“Oh my. This spot here still isn’t cleaned?”

“Which spot are you referring to, senior?”

“Right here.”

Rosanna spat on the floor that Seri had been wiping.

It was a grave insult.

“Sorry, I’ve had phlegm caught in my throat.”

“Yes, senior.”

Seri wiped up the spit Rosanna had left behind.

Seeing no further reaction from Seri, Rosanna snorted in disappointment and left her seat.

“Hey, Rosanna, you’ll get yourself into big trouble if you keep this up.”

“What, because she’s a noble lady? But she wanted to start from the bottom and join our theater, right? She must bear this much.”

“She’s so unfortunate, really.”

Suna said with a faint sneer on her lips. Seri wasn’t particularly fond of Suna.

“What does she think she is, trying to do some noble art by herself? Can’t we do art too? She’s just sacrificing herself because our troupe is struggling right now.”

The reason why Seri was ostracized was partly due to her background, but mostly because she insisted on performing with her self-written script.

“Well, what can we do? She entered with a precious donation. She said she will perform art. Art that no one sees. hahahahaha.”

“Uh… I’m done cleaning.”

Rosanna, who just saw Seri coming backstage, showed a surprised look. But soon, she spoke coldly.

“Really? Then disappear somewhere before the guests arrive. Your turn is the last one after all.”

“Understood. Senior.”

Suna spoke as Seri left.

“Think she heard us?”

“What if she did, she’s insignificant.”

It was night.

Soon, it would be time for the Moonlight Troupe to perform. Rosanna changed her expression in an instant. An actor’s face.

“Oh, Isolde. Why are you so beautiful?”

“It’s because you’re in love with me, Jaron.”

Actors moved busily on stage.

Sometimes dancing, sometimes singing, the performance was packed without a moment’s rest.

Ascal sat in the audience, watching the show without any emotion.

‘Hmm. What a boring mess.’

Ascal, who was used to the countless past lives’ dopamine-inducing culture, found it difficult to be moved by the familiar classic scripts.

Unrelatable emotional excess.

Random dancing. Is this Bollywood?

Clap, clap, clap.

A play came to an end.

Applause erupted from here and there.

Ascal looked around. In fact, the other audiences, excluding Ascal, seemed to enjoy and even be deeply moved by the performance.

“As a new audience member, what did you think of today’s performance? The love story of Isolde and Jaron always brings tears, no matter how many times you watch it.”

“Hmm. That much, huh.”

“…?”

If he was going to stick to the concept, Ascal decided to stick to it to the end.

“An emotionless storyline, with no twists or surprises. If I were to give a rating, it would be about 3 points. Out of a hundred.”

“You crazy person!”

The audience grumbled.

Ascal snickered, ignoring the audience.

In fact, he had somewhat purposely provoked them.

It wouldn’t be too bad if the headline in the morning newspaper read, “Empire officer Ascal caught up in a violent incident…”

“Everyone, leave. Seri’s performance is about to start.”

“Already? Hey, consider yourself lucky. It’s hard to find someone who insults the Empire’s iron fist, Medos, and gets away with it.”

It was strange.

As if they had made a promise, the audience left like a receding tide. There weren’t many spectators to begin with, but now only two or three remained.

At that moment, a red-haired girl came out from behind the stage.

“Booo!”

The audience’s jeers could be heard.

The girl, slightly taken aback, looked at the audience and started her performance.

It was a monologue.

‘It’s better than I thought?’

The girl’s acting was, how should I put it, plain.

Without exaggerating and telling the story with restrained emotion, there was a persuasive quality to it.

“How can it be so boring? I can’t take it anymore. I need to get out of here.”

Even the remaining audience members left, but the girl continued to act. She was already immersed in her performance.

To be honest, the play wasn’t particularly entertaining. However, compared to the earlier tacky performance, it was good enough to be called art.

Ascal appreciated the girl’s monologue.

“When the sheep are silent, I speak. The wolf has already appeared within the fence. It will prey on the poor first.”

It was good.

The calm emotional tone, everything was good.

However, it seriously made him drowsy.

‘Am I really sleepy?’

Ascal suffered from insomnia.

And this girl’s voice was a magic cure for his sleeplessness.

It was as if coffee had been poured directly into the brain, forcibly waking it up, but it began to fade once it heard the soft voice of the girl. One sheep, two sheep.

‘Sleep… sleep is coming…’

Ascal’s eyes closed, and sleep came immediately.

It was a very satisfying sleep.

Seri’s performance was over.

From No ble mt L dot c om

However, no applause was heard.

It was normal for not even a single audience member to remain, let alone applause.

Whenever this happened, Seri wanted to hesitate and sit down.

Born in a noble family, when Seri first encountered a performance, it felt like she had found her calling. That’s why she sincerely wanted to become an artist. An artist who writes her own script and acts.

But reality was cruel.

No one understood her art.

Seri looked at the empty audience with dead eyes. In front or behind, there was no one looking at her…

‘Is there… is there someone there?’

In the middle of the audience, there was a handsome man in a black coat and half-mask.

The man seemed to be deeply immersed in the performance, closing his eyes and enjoying the afterglow.

And after a while, he opened his eyes, not moving.

“It was a truly wonderful performance.”

His voice was clear, like someone who just woke up from a nap.

“…You’re lying, aren’t you?”

“Lying, what do you mean?”

“Until now, no one has ever praised my performance. You must be someone here to tease me. Is it Rosanna? Sona?”

“Really? Among all the performances I’ve seen, your performance was the best. Everyone else must be blind.”

He wasn’t lying.

From the beginning, Ascal had only seen a performance here for the first time today. And in reality, Seri’s performance wasn’t that bad. Except for being sleepy.

“Are you sure?”

“As the Prince of the Night, I swear it’s the truth.”

Ascal lowered his voice. Since she kept doubting, he decided to cut it off at the root.

‘I found someone who understands my art. Even it’s just one person who understands, I…’

Seri felt like she might cry.

“Can you come to see my performance tomorrow as well?”

“Of course, I’ll come.”

Ascal, who had just taken a short nap, spoke with fully recharged condition. It had been a long time since he felt this refreshing. He must come again next time.

“This is a report on the Prince’s whereabouts, Your Highness the Princess. It seems that he has been frequenting the court lately for some reason.”

“Really?”

“Are you listening, Your Highness? Shall I come back later?”

“No, continue reporting.”

“Your Highness Yulia’s whereabouts are not yet known. There are only uncertain testimonies that someone similar has been seen occasionally in the court…”

“Again, in the court? I should go there sometime later.”

“But now…”

“I have something to do.”

Suffering from insomnia tonight, Ascal came to watch Seri’s performance. As soon as he heard Seri’s voice, he was captivated.

For a few days like this.

“It was another excellent performance today, Seri. You are the world’s greatest actress.”

“Thank you. Um… what should I call you?”

Ascal touched his greased-up hair.

Ordinary people usually don’t know the faces of those working for the country, but lately, Ascal felt that he had become famous.

Recognizing him was an annoying affair, so Ascal decided to hide his identity.

“Prince of the Night.”

“It suits you well.”

Seri appreciated the name Ascal had spoken.

Ascal gazed at her and said.

“It’s truly unfortunate news, but I don’t think I can come to the theater anymore.”

“…Why?”

“I have no more time allowed for me now.”

It means his vacation is over.

“Will we ever meet again?”

“If fate leads us to.”

Thanks to you, I overcame insomnia, and my days and nights are back on track.

Ascal turned his back.

The long, black cape fluttered. And slowly, he disappeared into the darkness.

Left alone, Seri continued to stare at his retreating figure before entering the dressing room. She then took off her wig and started to remove her makeup.

“Lately, things have been hectic, haven’t they? You? Did your regular customers increase enough for you to get a little more confident?”

“I guess so.”

“Who do you think you are, speaking informally? Have you gone mad?”

“Heh, I might have a bit of that side to me.”

Seri stood up. With her wig removed and her makeup wiped away, Seri’s bare face somehow looked different. Losanna stepped back in surprise.

She felt as if the person she knew was gone.

“I’ve had my fun these days, and I’m satisfied.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Actually, I was going to leave quietly, but there’s one thing that bothers me.”

She snapped her fingers.

Unable to move as if bound by an invisible snare, Losanna’s body remained still.

“Your performance was just dreadful.”

“What, what are you doing? Don’t come any closer!”

“But I’m generous. Let’s just rip one fingernail off, shall we?”

“Kyaaak!”

Screams filled the dressing room.

“Did you enjoy the picnic, Your Highness Serena?”

“Picnic? What are you talking about? I was serious.”

“Oh dear, I must have misspoken.”

“Anyway, find someone for me.”

“Who do you mean?”

“Search for a dark-haired man among the foreigners who recently entered the country. He’s probably a prince from a nameless small country.”

“And what will you do once you find him?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

The second princess, Serena, said.

“I think he might be my first love. That person.”