Chương 13: Prince of Acting (8)

Edited by: Kuro, Lille, and Nyxx

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Outside the studio, Alec and Damien ran into Kyle who looked troubled. It looked like he didn't want to go inside as he stood there with his manager who was trying to convince him that he was just imagining things.

Seeing that Kyle was worried, Alec trotted over and called out to Kyle, "Good morning, Kyle. Is everything okay?"

Kyle turned to see Alec, relieved. "Alec, please tell me that I am not going crazy!" He tugged on Alec's arm gently, his face aggrieved and his voice sounding as though he was going to cry.

"What's wrong?"

After hearing Kyle's story, he knew that Kyle wasn't going crazy as this also happened in the original plot. Long story short, Stephan was being really creepy toward Kyle. Most people who saw Stephan didn't think he was a bad person, like Kyle's manager, Jason, but Kyle could tell that Stephan faked his personality. When Stephan was being kind to Kyle, he noticed that Stephan was uncomfortable, trying not to scare him away, but that freaked him out even more.

"He's trying to be really nice to me, as though he is afraid I will run away, but the vibe he gives me makes me want to run away…" Kyle didn't know how to explain it, but it was like when someone sensitive encountered someone who had killed many people; it was like they were reeking of blood lust.

"I understand that feeling, except even though Stephan smiles at me, I know he doesn't want to."

"So it really isn't just me. Thank goodness!" After hearing what Alec said, he finally felt like he was not alone or going crazy.

Seeing the two, almost gossiping with one another, Damien knew he had to stop it so that they could go inside. "Come on you two, enough or someone will hear."

Kyle and Alec froze like twin statues. They looked at each other and nodded, the once gossiping face soon disappeared and was replaced with a stiff poker face.

"Sorry," The two said before Kyle led the way for them to go inside.

Kyle, the bright and cheerful sunshine, greeted everyone regardless of their position in the crew, even knowing everyone by name. He even said hi to Stephan before leaving the man as quickly as possible.

As for Alec, he politely greeted everyone right after Kyle. At first, everyone thought he was cold and unfeeling, but now they saw him like a feral cat learning to love humans. They couldn't help but want to shower the young man with love and food.

Stephan, seeing everyone's reaction to Alec, especially Kyle's who seemed overly protective of Alec, felt his blood pressure rising, ready to burst his blood vessels. It was always, always, Alec that made him upset. Alec had better acting skills, was able to be himself, and took Kyle away from him. It was frustrating that some people were handed everything while others had to work for it until they were covered in sweat and blood.

Though Stephan was the type of person who could only see himself as he disregarded the experiences of those around him. It was like a competition. His life was better, his life was worse, whatever it was, he felt he was better in all aspects even if they weren't great.

No one noticed Stephan's turbulent emotions that alternated between jealousy, anger, and bloodlust.

In the end, regardless of what he was feeling, the director started the next scene. They had a couple more episodes until the climax, aka Vincent's death, and then the ending of the TV show from there.

At that moment, they were at the scene building up to the climax.

Vincent was pacing around his study. He had documents in his hands but he was irritated. His plan was about to be initiated, but everything else was falling apart. The people were starving, and money for food was slipping from the hands of the people and turning into a mountain at the castle. Illness swept through the lands. Monsters had taken over towns and cities by the borders. Vincent did not know how long they would last.

The King turned a blind eye to the common citizens. Most of the nobles had done the same because they had everything they needed. The rich were getting richer while the poor were getting poorer. Poor enough to ruin the country and leave no one behind.

The only territory barely making it by was Vincent's. He gave most of his money to the people. He gave money for their labor, circulated food in times of famine, he brought doctors to his land to treat the ill. He did everything he could to keep his people going and running off to other territories that were not faring well.

While their lives were almost peaceful, his life was hell. He barely had money to keep the manor running, to have clothes to clothe his body, and barely had food to appease his hunger.

Vincent felt like he was dying instead of his people. His once handsome face showed signs of aging, and his hair was highlighted in grey due to stress. Even though he had barely reached his thirties, his once-youthful appearance was gone. The only thing he kept was his grace and posture.

He had to keep up his appearance so that the people would feel at ease. His people were the only ones that mattered to him.

Vincent did not have any lovers. He did not have any children. He had no family left.

It was only him and the servants in this lonely manor. Even so, all his servants were loyal to him because they could see how much he cared for common people. Even when they ate and got paid, they saw that their Master barely saved anything for himself. How could they leave him behind when he was suffering like this?

Even if he had the front of someone cruel. Even if he killed with no hesitation. Even if he seemed cold. Even if his face showed no signs of expression. Even if his world was crumbling down in front of him…

His heart was warm.

Vincent sighed before finally settling down at his desk. He knew that pacing and getting anxious could not help him. He could only hope that the people would hold on a bit longer so that he could finish everything.

The only good thing was his backup plan, which was to nourish the Crown Prince; so that if he couldn't successfully implement the revolution, then the Crown Prince would do the rest.

The Crown Prince had come to his manor months ago to learn from him, and he was a fast learner. Compared to his father, the young man had talent in leadership and politics. He was strong and kind, fit for the people of this kingdom.

Vincent sighed once again. His sigh, contrary to his usual appearance, was filled with exhaustion and sadness, but he had to continue the revolution.

"It's to save the people of this country. I mustn't give up."

He may have gone down the wrong road, but his heart was still in the right place. His road was dark and lonely, but soon people would know that he had done this to save the lives of their country.

Even if he had to sacrifice himself to the darkness, as long as his people were living in times of peace, that's all he cared about. It was unfortunate that he did not care for himself as he did with others.

"Soon, very soon the revolution will start."

Crown Prince Felix had just left Vincent's manor. He hated Vincent because of his cold demeanor and his strict teachings, but he knew that he was strict because the whole Kingdom was on the line. He had to stifle his dislike and wait until Vincent started his revolution. It was very obvious that Vincent would be starting one.

Vincent was slowly gathering military power, he was gathering the people, nurturing them to keep them by his side. From the state of Vincent's manor and territory, one could see that Vincent was both kind to his people, but also desperate for them.

But this was Felix's kingdom and crown. He knew this and he knew he was supposed to feel conflicted. He was Crown Prince and he didn't want to let a soul take his rightful place on that throne. This was all he knew. Where would he be if not on the throne? What would happen to him if Prime Minister Vincent took over instead?

"Lewis, how much military power does my dear Teacher Vincent have?"

"Almost 3/4 of the military power," Lewis answered. He was loyal to the Crown Prince. Even though he knew Vincent was in the right, he would die for Felix as this was his oath as a knight and as a human. "Once he gathers three-quarters of the military, he will revolt."

"He has almost everything he needs. Later, I will thank Teacher Vincent for helping me."

This was supposed to be his thanks to Vincent for teaching him and making it seem like there was a conflict in his emotions, but coupled with Stephan's hatred for Alec, this scene seemed a lot darker than it should've been.

"Cut, cut, cut!" The director stopped the filming and sighed. "Stephan, control your emotions."

"This scene is supposed to be more bright. More cheerful. It was darker than anything. With how you said it, it gives a foreshadowing of how Felix will betray Vincent in the end and that's not what we want.

"What we want is to let the people see the conflict between betraying his teacher, and wanting the throne, but also having Vincent change the kingdom for the better. Not to make it seem like he was going to scheme right from the start."

Stephan was startled and quickly apologized. "I am sorry! This won't happen again."

"It better not. Now get back into place and start again from when you are in the carriage. You haven't talked to Lewis yet and you are thinking about Vincent. The audience can hear your thoughts and how you are conflicted..."

*****

After filming that scene a couple more times, Stephan was finally able to get the part correctly. This made the director question whether Stephan was truly the all-great top actor, but he pushed that aside. He knew he had to deal with this until the end of the season, which was about to end.

Alec was able to leave when Stephan finished. He said goodbye to Kyle before leaving with Damien.

When Alec stepped into Damien's car, he heard a *chirp chirp* sound coming from System 225. Apparently, this was the new sound for when System 225 popped up when he had to notify Alec of something important like missions or changes in the world protagonists.

[Host, Stephan is now calling people to initiate his plan, however, his plan is different this time around.] There was a sound of mocking when he said the word 'different'.

'Different? How so?' Alec answered as he settled into the back seat. He closed his eyes to focus on System 225.

[He's not getting Kyle mixed up into his plans, but will have you raped this time. At the party for the celebration of the end of the first season of Everlasting Bloom, he will have your drink drugged, and some people waiting for you in a room. He has many different scenarios planned out so that you will get into that room. This man really thought these out... Honestly, this is really typical and unoriginal, I wished he would think of something else to keep us on our toes, but this is an F-ranked world, so it isn't too surprising.]

'Typical and a bit disappointing. Where is the party being held?'

[The Grand Hall of Ellington Hotel.]

'Make sure that all the cameras are working when the plan starts. Also, have all of his phone records, messages, and internet searches saved. Keep track of who he meets and the conversations. Obviously, we will share them with the world when the time comes.' This was very normal for Hosts starting out, especially this plot and the way to solve it.

[Understood Host. I will compile all the data and save it.] System 225 knew the program and didn't ask any questions.

'Thank you, System.'

It was easy for the System to hack into the technology of this world. If it was an ancient world, it would be difficult to gather information like that (as most didn't have the internet), but at least they could be monitored. Since the System was a foreign entity of the world, it had a lot of freedoms. All of these freedoms were to make it easy on the Host. It was so the Host could swiftly and easily finish the missions and go on to the next world.

The frown on Alec's face was starting to subside, going back to expressionless. He knew that this was just a low-ranking world and things would get more difficult as they progressed. It just disappointed him that Stephan was impatient and boring.

"Alec," Damien called out to Alec when he saw that the frown on Alec's face relaxed, "Do you have any ideas on what you want to eat for dinner?" If he didn't cook for Alec, that man would not cook a balanced meal for himself and eat whatever he was craving, which was ramen, sushi, or...

"Pasta."

Pasta was the third, easy-to-eat food that Alec enjoyed. Let's not forget to mention foods like spaghetti or lasagna were another favorite.

Damien had once asked Alec why he liked these kinds of food. The answer was: "I sometimes get too lazy to eat. I don't have to cut it like steak or grab the food with my hands like chicken wings. I can just put it in my mouth, chew, then swallow. Easy to eat."

It all made sense. Even with some pasta dishes, Alec timidly asked for his chicken to be cut as he didn't want to have the whole chicken breast there. He thought it was more of an anesthetic reason, as some people cut their foods in certain ways and designed the dish around that, but for Alec, he wanted no effort when eating! From then on, he made sure to cut all meat into bite-size pieces before serving it to Alec…

"Alright. Let's have a salad and some breadsticks on the side…" Damien went into chef mode as he mumbled to himself what noodles to use, what sauce, what meat, etc. He also had an idea for the setup of the dining table and room.

He had plans for something else. Something that he had been holding on to deep inside but knew that he couldn't hide any longer.

Damien wanted to confess his love for Alec over dinner.