Mid-January.
Ikelite Opera House.
Near the Yala Moat Bank north of the neighboring city-state and the southern bank of River Port Bridge, Ikelite Opera House was a multifunctional performing arts center in the capital of Hutton Kingdom, and one of the most famous and iconic buildings on the Southern Continent.
Designed a century ago by the craftsman Jera, it consisted of a series of starry-night-like ribboned roofs resembling the sails of a ship, all set atop a huge blue granite foundation, as if it were about to set sail beneath the stars.
It was a weekday afternoon.
The Bulida Troupe was rehearsing there.
"Miss Half-Demon, why are you sitting in my room?"
The male lead, dressed as a Demon Race governor onstage, asked the female lead, who sat in a chair on the other side of the stage.
The scene had been arranged as a room in a noble residence. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling illuminated the entire bedroom. Crimson velvet sofas and chairs sat beside the fireplace, where logs crackled in the flames. Even without seeing the snowy scene outside the window, the audience could feel that this was a warm, luxurious mansion on a winter day.
"Because I'm your fiancée."
The noble Half-Demoness sat in a vintage sheepskin chair. The curtains behind her had been drawn, and the light outside faintly filtered through the fine crimson gauze into the room.
She looked as though she had come to collect a debt, yet she also possessed a considerable degree of reasoned refinement as she spoke softly to the Demon Race governor.
"What will it take for you to stop pestering me?"
The Demon Race governor helplessly raised a hand to cover his forehead. Earlier, he had knocked on the door, hoping the butler would come and escort the