255 Sudden Proposal [3]

Moments Prior.

Backstage.

"Haaa"

Letting out a long breath, Olga walked back towards the backstage and stared at the curtains that were currently drawing.

<nulli>'Everything should proceed smoothly.'

Olga thought while fixing her gaze toward the center stage where the play was starting.

She had faith it was all going to proceed smoothly, and smoothly it proceeded.

"Hahaha."

Seeing the shocked looks on the audience's faces, Olga couldn't help but burst into hysterical laughter. This was the exact reaction she had anticipated. The sight of their flabbergasted expressions brought a wide smile to her face as she moved forward to greet the star of the show.

"You were fantastic. As expected of you. My eyes didn't deceive me!"

She smiled and patted the actor's cheeks.

His face was perfect in almost every way, enough to rival the previous actor she had, but as opposed to him, his acting was even better.

If Julien's acting was captivating, then Arjen's acting was breathtaking.

The two were in two different worlds when it came to acting.

"I'm very happy with your assessment, Madam Olga."

Arjen bowed down slightly, politely addressing her as he did so. The more Olga looked at Arjen, the more she liked him.

He went on to grasp both of her hands as a sign of gratitude.

"This isn't an opportunity I'm willing to pass on and I'm very grateful for it. Without you, I would be nowhere."

"Ah, please! There's no need for you to be so humble. It is all you. It is all you.."

Olga dismissed the boy with a wave of her hand.

"It's good to be humble, but you need to have some confidence in yourself. You are great. Even better than the previous actor that I wrote and adjusted the script for. That should give you enough of an idea of how amazing your performance is."

"Ah, thank you very much. I'm very happy to hear such an assessment from you."

"Don't be."

Looking around and seeing the crowd of people that were coming their way, she dismissed him.

"You may leave and get changed. I'll go arrange some other things in the meantime."

"Okay, understood."

Arjen nodded, bowing his head once more.

"I will see you again. Please take care."

"I should be saying that to you."

The boy left after that. Staring at his departing back, Olga continued to smile. Her satisfaction was hard to hide.

No writer didn't want their piece to have someone perfectly encapsulate it.

She thought Julien had been the one, but compared to Arjen, he was simply lacking.

"What a great day."

Whistling to herself, Olga was just about to leave when someone she was familiar with appeared in the distance. The man, with his curly brown hair and glasses, struggled to keep a grip on a stack of papers that scattered around him as he walked.

Tommy Herterson.

The moment Olga's gaze fell on him, her eyes narrowed slightly.

'Not this again.'

"Miss script writer...!"

As expected, the moment he took note of her, he quickly called out for her as he waved the documents in his hand.

"I've revised the script. Please approve it!"

Tommy rushed towards her while handing her the script which scattered all over the place. Olga stared at him for a brief moment before taking the first page and looking at it. She took no longer than one minute to look at the page before flicking the paper away and tossing it to the side.

"Go back."

"Yes...?"

Tommy looked at her with wide eyes.

"...Don't come back to me with this nonsense again."

"But!"

"Go."

Olga cut him off before he could argue. Her tone was firm, and loud enough for the people around them to take notice.

As if realizing this, Tommy pursed his lips as he looked around before he collected the papers on the ground and left.

Olga stared at his departing back and clicked her tongue.

"How lucky do you have to be to have a play like that be selected?"

Just when she thought her mood couldn't worsen any further, acouple of familiar people appeared in the distance.

She recognized them in an instant and her expression changed.

<nulli>'What is he doing here? Last I recall I told them to make sure he doesn't come. Why is he here!?'

Olga found herself frowning at the situation, her expression deepening as the two individuals spotted her and started making their way in her direction.

The closer they got the looser her frown became and it wasn't long for a smile to appear on her face.

"If it isn't you two! How are you doing?"

She greeted them nicely and with a smile. To those looking, she looked like a friendly aunt who was greeting her nephews that she hadn't seen for a long time.

"We've been well. Thank you for asking."

Aoife greeted first.

She was polite and followed the etiquette that she had been taught. Just because she was a princess didn't mean that she was allowed to mistreat people.

Julien followed after her with a short, 'Hello, nice to see you.'

Just like before, he wasn't a man of many words.

Olga understood that and just nodded her head at him.

"How can I help you two?"

"No, it's nothing."

Aoife waved her hand.

".I was just curious as to who the actor you picked up was. I've never seen someone like him before. His acting was"

She paused, looking at Julien for a brief moment before helplessly smiling.

"Amazing."

"Hahaha."

Olga laughed then.

"Thank you for saying that, and I do apologize for this but it was something that just ended up happening."

When she apologized, she was addressing Julien who remained still the entire time. It was hard to tell what he was thinking as his gaze was blank.

Still, she no longer felt as pressured as she did in the past when dealing with him.

<nulli>'He's just a student, and since I already found a better actor there's no need for me to grovel down his feet.'

Indeed, her tone matched her thoughts as she spoke in a lower and less subservient tone than she had done in the past.

"I'm sure you can understand why I did what I did, right? We had an agreement but you were late to show up, and while I did receive an excuse for the Academy the play couldn't wait so I ended up finding someone who is for the better lack of words, better."

Olga didn't mince her words as she spoke to Julien.

She was laying out her thought process, hoping that he would understand.

And he did seem to understand but there was an exception.

"Isn't it a little bit unfair? Shouldn't he get some compensation?"

"Hmm?"

Olga looked at Aoife with a weird look. She was just about to say something rude but held back her tongue when she realized who she was speaking to.

"Compensation? How come? He didn't participate in the play, and he was late. I think it's fair that he doesn't receive any compensation. If anything, I should be the one to receive it after all the sleepless nights I had because of him."

Olga looked at Julien pointedly.

<nulli>'You want compensation from me? Are you crazy? I am the one who made your career. What sort of nonsense is this?'

In actuality, Olga didn't mind the fact that Julien was late.

She had already taken it into account. However, it was the perfect excuse that she could use to dump him without any repercussions.

"No, but didn't you sign a contract? From what I know there should be a close for stuff like this."

"Bah, that thing is meaningless."

Olga waved her hand.

They had indeed signed a contract, but Olga had reason to believe that she could turn things around if she employed the right people.

She also didn't think two cadets would even trouble themselves with something so troublesome.

Even if Aoife did use her family, it would be a bad look overall for them. Olga didn't think she would do that.

Rather, she was starting to feel a little irritated by the exchange.

"If you two have nothing else to talk about, then it would be helpful if you leave. I have matters to attend to."

Olga tried to push her way past the two, but Aoife didn't budge and remained firm.

"What? Are you going to stop me because I found a replacement?"

Suddenly, Olga's demeanor shifted as she massaged her face, and her complexion crumbled, shocking Aoife.

"Listen, he was late, and I replaced him with someone better. This is how the industry works. Don't like it? I couldn't care less. I need you two to keep in mind that I'm the reason that you two even had any remote success in this industry."

Her head flicked toward Julien.

"You have talent, but that got over your head."

Olga started to lay out her thoughts to the two of them. She was venting out her grievances.

Why act like you are a big shot when it's all due to me?

"You're good, but you can play one role. What does that mean? It means you're a type-cast. What else can you offer besides the deranged man known as Azarias? And even if you can play him well, there's someone better than you that I have found. Tell me, for what reason should I even think about keeping you?"

Olga's tone raised as she addressed Julien who remained quiet the entire time.

"....."

He seemed to be at a loss for words.

And then, turning her head, she proceeded to Aoife who seemed to be taken aback by the sudden situation.

"And you who are you to meddle here!? I understand that you're a princess and that you played with us before, but you've got no talent for acting! You're at best a mediocre actress. The only reason you were even in the play was because I had no choice but to include you in the play!"

Olga was practically shouting at this point, and a crowd was starting to form.

Aoife, the center of all of this, stared at Olga with a ghastly look.

"The fact that you received one vote baffles me, and I honestly find it an utter embarrassment!"

That was indeed a stain on her record.

Thankfully, her awards had managed to overshadow the blunder, but it was still humiliating to see one of her actors receive such a low score that had never happened before.

One vote?

If not for the fact that the staff checked several times, one might think it was fake.

But it wasn't, and she felt a lot of resentment due to it.

"If you want compensation, then you two can take it up with the organization. If you would excuse me."

Olga pushed the two aside and left.

".."

".."

On the other hand, Julien and Aoife remained still. It was unsure what they were thinking, but there was some clear bafflement in their expressions.

Just what in the world happened?