Chapter 57
Chapter 57: Where Did This Chuunibyou Come From?
“Not seeing you for a week felt like three autumns apart, Miss Hepburn.” Lina gave a slight nod. “Your attire today reminds me of the dazzling stars in Gaul City's night sky.”
“You flatter me.” Hepburn covered her lips with a light laugh. Her gaze swept over Lina's new outfit, and a trace of amazement flashed through her emerald eyes. “It seems Gaul City's fashion scene truly nourishes people. The way you're dressed today... if the paparazzi outside managed to get a photo, tomorrow's headlines would probably belong to someone else.”
“I merely made a few preparations for our meeting.” Lina spoke casually, though she was already delighted inside.
Although she was an old... elder sister who had lived through two lifetimes, being praised for her beauty still put her in a good mood, especially when the compliment came from such a major celebrity.
“This is Sophie, my co-screenwriter.” Hepburn turned slightly to introduce them, then blinked playfully. “Just now she was still arguing with me over the casting of the new film, but I think she no longer has any objections.”
Sophie immediately stepped forward. Extending her hand, she spoke in an excited voice that trembled slightly.
“The honor is mine! Miss Lina! Although this may be presumptuous, I have to say... the moment I saw you, the dialogue for the third act that had been stuck in my head for six months suddenly started flowing smoothly!”
Lina maintained a polite smile as she shook her hand, but inwardly she was completely baffled.
...Huh? I just took a sip of tea. How did that help you get through your dialogue?
Are all you artistic types this good at filling in the blanks with your imagination?
After everyone sat down again, the atmosphere in the hall became even more harmonious.
Although everyone was drinking tea, the screenwriter named Sophie kept her eyes glued to Lina as though they had been coated with industrial-strength adhesive. The charcoal pencil in her hand flew rapidly across her sketchbook while she muttered to herself. From time to time, she pushed up the thick-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose and let out exclamations whose meanings were impossible to decipher.
“Um... Miss Sophie?” Lina began feeling uneasy under the constant stare and finally put down her teacup. “Do I have tea stains on my face?”
“No! None! Perfect! Absolutely perfect!”
Sophie abruptly snapped her sketchbook shut and looked excitedly toward Hepburn. Her words came out in a rapid-fire barrage.
“Hepburn! Did you see it? This black-and-white contrast! This sense of detachment from the noise of the world! If you ignored gender, it's practically a living Charles Lorraine sitting right in front of me!”
“Charles Lorraine?” Lina raised an eyebrow.
That was the male protagonist of ‘Blue Rose’, the down-on-his-luck nobleman who had fallen in love with a doll.
“Yes, Miss Lina.” Hepburn set down the fine bone china teacup in her hand, smiling with her emerald eyes. “Sophie has been troubled by the screenplay adaptation of ‘Blue Rose’ for quite some time. Just as I mentioned before, we've never been able to find an actor capable of embodying both the ‘elegance of an old noble’ and the ‘obsession of a devoted lover’ at the same time.”
Hepburn paused before letting her gentle gaze settle on Lina.
“Until I saw you today. This outfit, combined with your temperament... it's practically as though fate arranged it.”
“Ahem, I'm honored by your appreciation, but I'm merely an ordinary witch and have no plans to enter the entertainment industry.” Lina hurriedly waved her hands.
Even if I really were going into acting, asking a complete novice like me to perform alongside a top-tier superstar like this is a bit much...
“We can think about all that later. By the way, Miss Lina, do you have any plans for tonight?” As though she had already anticipated Lina's refusal, Hepburn leaned slightly forward and finally brought up the main topic.
“Tonight?”
“Yes. Actually, this evening gown wasn't prepared for a relaxing evening at home.” Hepburn stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, pointing toward the massive clock tower building shining beneath the setting sun in the distance.
“Tonight, a charity banquet hosted by Gaul City Hall will be held at the ‘Crystal Palace’ beside City Hall.”
Turning around, Hepburn stood with the light behind her, seeming to be enveloped in a golden halo.
“At that time, Gaul City's distinguished elites, business magnates, and numerous figures from the entertainment industry will all be attending. That's right, they originally came to participate in the World Expo preview exhibition. You may even see quite a few important figures you've only encountered in newspapers and magazines.”
“Then I definitely can't go.” Lina shook her head without a second thought, sinking comfortably into the soft sofa.
Events like that are filled with insincere pleasantries and complicated social etiquette. For a country witch like me, they're basically torture!
In her previous life, Lina could always ignore etiquette and stuff herself with food at banquets like these by relying on her status as a Great Witch. She no longer had that luxury in this life.
As someone determined to spend her life lazing around, Lina avoided these “high society” gatherings whenever possible. Given the time, she'd much rather lie on Sibyl's lap reading a book or take Annie out for a late-night meal.
“What a pity.” Hepburn let out a soft sigh, a trace of regret appearing on her face. Then, as if casually adding an afterthought, she said, “Originally, I thought there would be a very special guest tonight whom Miss Lina might be interested in.”
“Who?” Lina asked casually.
“She rarely appears in public. She's mysterious beyond measure. Even I have only seen her once backstage at last year's awards ceremony.” Hepburn parted her red lips and spoke a name.
“The original author of ‘Blue Rose’, the one hailed as ‘the literary world's most mysterious rising star’—”
“Crimson Moonlit Dream.”
“Pffft—Cough! Cough! Cough!”
The mouthful of black tea Lina had just taken nearly sprayed out.
Thanks to her astonishing self-control, she forcibly swallowed the tea instead, but she still choked violently. The cold and aloof expression she had been maintaining instantly turned bright red.
“Big Sister Lina? Are you okay?” Annie jumped in alarm and quickly reached out to pat her back.
“I'm fine, really...” Lina waved her hand, accepted the handkerchief Sibyl handed her, and wiped the corner of her mouth. However, her expression became extremely strange, looking as though she was smiling while simultaneously trying her best to suppress some overwhelming embarrassment.
Everything connected now... Crimson Moon, Teacher Crimson Moon...
Crimson Moonlit Dream?
Crim-son Moon-lit Dream?!
Help! What kind of ancient Mary Sue plus terminal-stage chuunibyou pen name is this?!
In her memories from her previous life, IDs like this usually only appeared as QQ usernames for middle schoolers and elementary schoolers, or on certain fanfiction websites that people regarded as black history.
Things like “The Promise Guarded Beneath the Crimson Moon That Year” or “The Forgotten Pitch-Black Wings”...
Hearing a name with such a bizarre style in a proper Western-fantasy alternate world felt like suddenly seeing a chuunibyou patient wearing an eyepatch and covered in bandages jump out among a crowd of gentlemen and ladies dressed in tailcoats and sipping red wine, shouting:
“Explode, reality! Shatter, spirit!”
This was social execution on a public scale!
“Miss Lina? Are you... very interested in this writer?” Hepburn looked at Lina's intense reaction with some curiosity.
“Ahem, you could say that.” Lina took a deep breath and barely managed to suppress the corners of her mouth from shooting upward.
Her instincts told her that anyone who chose a pen name like this definitely had a highly complicated background!
Either they were a fellow transmigrator like her, and an anime-loving otaku at that; or they were a native of this world suffering from an exceptionally severe case of chuunibyou.
Whichever it was, she absolutely had to witness this source of entertainment for herself.
Sibyl, however, did not notice anything worth mocking about the name. Instead, she nodded thoughtfully.
“I've heard that Teacher Crimson Moon's whereabouts are extremely mysterious and that they have never shown their true appearance in public. All manuscripts are delivered through a familiar. There are rumors that they're a reclusive ancient noble, while others say they're the successor of some ancient scholarly tradition. I never expected we'd actually meet them in person tonight.”
“Yes, it's a rare opportunity.” Hepburn smiled at Lina as though looking at a fish that was about to take the bait and extended the invitation once more. “So then, Miss Lina, what do you think?”
Lina adjusted her sitting posture and returned to her inscrutable expression—
Although at this moment, blazing flames of gossip burned within her golden eyes.
She lightly touched her lower lip with her index finger, a playful smile curving at the corner of her mouth.
“Since Miss Hepburn has extended such a sincere invitation, and with such an ‘interesting’ person in attendance, it would be rude of me to decline.”
Let's see for myself just what kind of person this famous Teacher ‘Crimson Moonlit Dream’ really is!