Chapter 254: 253 Everyone's Role Fits Perfectly

「Woof woof!!! 」

Just as Hearing Li Ang was touching the yellow hair on his forehead, about to say something, he heard an unusually excited puppy bark.

The cry sounded rather familiar, so Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but look toward the sound and discovered a little Husky with a tuft of yellow hair on its head, standing up on a distant counter, wagging its tail at him with a face full of joy.

Little Ha… so you have a role too?

Relying on that unique little tuft of yellow hair to identify Little Ha, Hearing Li Ang looked at the puppy whose face had been smeared with some kind of balsam and whose head had two little braids tied with pink rubber bands, and just as he was about to open his mouth to call out to it, a will transmitted through the silk threads on his body changed the words that came out of his mouth.

「What I want, Agatha — surely you know by now? 」

Pulling his gaze back from Little Ha and smoothing the pomaded yellow hair on his head, Hearing Li Ang — or rather, 「Mr. Joseph」 — raised a hand and lightly brushed it across his lips, and a bright red rose appeared between his teeth.

Holding the somewhat prickly rose sideways in his mouth and striking a few outrageously flamboyant poses, 「Mr. Joseph」 seized Agatha's arm, pulled her close, raised an eyebrow with smoldering bedroom eyes, and said:

「Compared to the watered-down swill in this tavern, what I truly want is to pluck you, a rose now in full bloom~」

「……」

Holy shit… what the hell kind of dogshit line is that?

The people disgusted by this flamboyantly cringey display were clearly not limited to Hearing Li Ang alone. After catching the eye-watering perfume wafting off 「Mr. Joseph」, the waitress 「Agatha」's radiant smile also turned strained.

「Mr. Joseph. 」

Placing a hand against Hearing Li Ang's chest and gently pushing him away from her body, the dazzlingly hot Agatha glanced at the rose in Hearing Li Ang's mouth and declined with a smile:

「That wouldn't be proper. If you truly love a rose, then please let her bloom in the garden!

After all, the rose you desire does not love those exquisite, expensive, ornate vases — what she truly wants is the boundless open earth, and the brilliant sunlight unobstructed by glass! 」

「Yes, yes, yes! You're absolutely right! 」

Apparently not the first time being turned down, 「Mr. Joseph」, having hit a soft nail, didn't get angry. Instead, he spat out the thorny rose, then while hissing and lolling his tongue over the wound on his lip, beamed and said:

「Speaking of land, the one with the most fields in this whole city is my family. The land my father left me, strung together, is absolutely boundless, and it's all on sun-drenched hillsides — exactly what a pretty rose like you wants!

Dearest Agatha, if you like wild roses, I could just plant you an entire rose field, haha! See, we really are a perfect match! 」

「……」

Got it — my 2b role is the landlord's stupid son, is that it?

……

「Mr. Joseph, that's not what I meant…」

Not expecting that even after hinting so heavily, the landlord's stupid son still hadn't caught on, 「Agatha」 couldn't help but shake her head helplessly.

Considering that she only planned to linger in this city for another two weeks, and would leave after successfully eloping, she didn't keep dwelling on it, and instead said with a smile:

「Let's discuss that later — you should order first! 」

「Alright, alright, alright! 」

Hearing his long-pursued goddess speak, 「Mr. Joseph」 nodded repeatedly with zero self-awareness as a yellow-haired pretty boy, then without even lowering his head, casually scrawled twice on the menu and handed it back, grinning cheap and waggling his brows as he said:

「That's all, and the usual — send it to the seat closest to the counter, the one best suited for admiring my rose. 」

「Alright…」

After the between-laughter-and-tears princess left, Hearing Li Ang sat back down at his seat, gently pulled the transparent fine threads on his body slightly apart, and narrowed his eyes in thought.

While he had been following the will of those 「threads」 to act, Hearing Li Ang hadn't done nothing — taking advantage of the moment when he held the arm of the princess playing 「Agatha」, he had secretly tugged at the threads on the princess's arm, trying to free her as well.

But unfortunately, for Hearing Li Ang, whose current Corruption value was still less than 5, being able to rely on the resistance provided by 【Materialism】 to break free of control and regain his own freedom was already his absolute limit. Trying to save someone from the hands of 【King of Drama】, whose Corruption value reached a whopping 16, was nothing but wishful thinking.

So he could only keep playing along for now…

After striking a few outrageously flamboyant poses at his seat, but feeling no obstruction from 【King of Drama】, Hearing Li Ang had roughly probed out the effective range of those threads.

Actions that were reasonable, in-character, and had a certain dramatic quality would not be obstructed too strongly.

But actions like what had just happened — clearly being prepared, yet not rushing to declare love to his 「goddess」, instead intending to chat with her dog first — were out of character and would be stopped.

With that, there was plenty of room to maneuver.

Looking at the handsome young man on the other side of the restaurant chatting happily with 「Agatha」, Hearing Li Ang's eyes couldn't help but narrow slightly.

Judging from the conversation just now, his role was clearly just a buffoon meant to set off the male lead — he was even 「jealously」 staring hard in that direction, and might well end up in a conflict with the male lead out of jealousy later.

And according to the princess, the Dafan Sect in this play 《Twelve Days of Wandering》 was a family member of the female lead Agatha — which meant he would most likely only appear in Act One, and after being slapped down and dealt with by the male lead, he'd be written off, with no scenes in Acts Two, Three, or Four.

That won't do!

After glancing toward the male and female leads, the yellow-haired Hearing Li Ang mulled over ways to 「steal scenes」 while pondering the core logic of the Domain ability 【Master of Drama】.

If his guess was right, the original actress playing Agatha was on the verge of mental breakdown under 【Master of Drama】's endless manipulation, so the princess, hailed as the capital's number one beauty, had been chosen by 【Master of Drama】 as the female lead.

After all, if someone else were cast as the female lead with Princess Veronica as a supporting role, the original lead's looks, temperament, and figure would likely be completely outshone by the princess in every way, and the play would simply fall apart — 【Master of Drama】 had no choice.

As for why he himself had become the landlord's stupid son…

Thinking over his past experiences, Hearing Li Ang's face instantly darkened.

Indeed, he really was a perfect fit. Setting everything else aside, just the identity of Duke Lionheart alone should make him the biggest 「landlord」 in the entire theater — that aspect lined up perfectly with 「Mr. Joseph」's backstory of inheriting his father's estate and becoming the richest man in town.

And as luck would have it, in everyone's eyes he was a super-spendthrift wastrel who had squandered his entire fortune for the princess's beauty, donating the whole Ryan family to the royal family. Now even the lovesick simp persona matched up — of course the landlord's stupid son had to be cast with him!

……

「Mr. Joseph. 」

Just as the dark-faced Hearing Li Ang was about to stir up some trouble to successfully insert himself into the later plot of 《Twelve Days of Wandering》, Agatha finished helping the male lead Elijah with his order, then circled through the kitchen and came over carrying a steaming tray.

「Your wine and dishes are ready. 」

Extending a nail coated in rose-petal juice, she lightly pressed two marks onto the menu, and 「Agatha」 said with a smile:

「There are other customers to attend to over there, so I won't disturb you further — please enjoy your lunch~」

「……」

Enjoy… my lunch???

Staring at the familiar sheep's head in the tray — roasted over charcoal fire until its whole face was bright red, slathered in black pepper sauce dotted with little bits of meat, and with a big red apple clamped in its mouth — currently locking eyes with him, Hearing Li Ang truly could not hold it together this time.

Wait… Little Ha I can let slide, but you actually have a role too!!!