I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

Ella opened her eyes the next day after noon had passed.

She saw the dimly lit high ceiling.

She realized she was lying in the school auditorium.

Beside her were rows of beds, all filled like hers.

In between, doctors and nurses bustled about, occasionally a person dressed as clergy was seen.

Ella grabbed her throbbing head and sat up.

A passing nurse noticed her rising and went out of the auditorium, then returned with Wonderstein.

“You’re awake.”

“What happened? The reception…?”

Wonderstein laid her back down to rest and briefly explained what had happened yesterday.

Ella’s expression showed disbelief.

The manifestation of an Avatar in the school.

She felt like trouble followed her wherever she went.

“Did anyone die or get hurt?”

“No. Everyone is unharmed, except Professor Pyrene.”

She vanished without a trace.

Whether she was eaten, digested, or escaped, no one could tell.

Ella looked around and sighed with relief, nodding her head.

“Yeah…? That’s a relief.”

Her expression, however, wasn’t bright.

She buried her head in the pillow, pulled the blanket up to her eyes, and stared at the ceiling.

Wonderstein didn’t ask her why.

He had heard enough about what the victims of Cinepecus had gone through while being here.

Ella, lost in thought, gently pulled her arm out from under the blanket and extended it to him.

“Hold my hand, please.”

Wonderstein smiled and accepted her hand.

“Shall we dance, my lady?”

He mimicked the words she said at the ball last night.

Ella recalled yesterday’s events and chuckled softly.

But it was short-lived.

Soon her expression turned gloomy again.

Still, Wonderstein said nothing, quietly keeping her company.

After a while of lying still, she spoke.

“It was the voices of my friends.”

It was a statement without context, but Wonderstein understood what she meant.

“Was it?”

Silence ensued again.

She hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

“They cursed me.”

She muttered in a melancholic voice.

She wasn’t friends with all the kids at school.

But she had never heard such hatred and malice.

Even among the voices, there were those of kids she had been friends with.

“They said they’d get revenge… they’d kill…”

Wonderstein could guess the situation roughly.

Perhaps her friends didn’t know she followed Wonderstein to save them.

Knowing Ella’s personality, she would have endured it alone, without giving them a chance to follow her.

They likely thought of her as a traitor.

“Are they there… Did I do something wrong?”

Fear was visible in her eyes.

In such a situation, she could have lived happily without knowing the truth.

But now, she had glimpsed part of the truth.

And in the most painful form for her.

She would continue to tremble in fear now.

Thinking about what she had lost in memory.

“Maybe… were you trying to hide memories for my sake? Were you hiding something because I made a mistake or did something wrong?”

Wonderstein felt a twinge in his heart.

Even in such a situation, did she trust him?

It was a joyous yet poignant misunderstanding.

“No. Ella, you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Really?”

“The voices you heard are all fake. Tricks of Cinepecus.”

“Is that so?”

Ella chuckled.

She could see through his words as lies.

But she was grateful that he cared for her.

Maybe her dislike of him before was just a misunderstanding.

She didn’t know if the hypothesis she had deduced before, “confessing and then rejecting”, was true.

He was a good person, and she liked him.

That was a fact that wouldn’t change even if her memory returned.

“You know… I’m always grateful to you.”

Wonderstein smiled wryly.

It was a bitter joke.

That she was comforted by the very person who was responsible for her friends’ resentment.

What would happen when she found out the truth?

Whose ego would determine how she accepted the truth?

Would the “current Ella” feel betrayed, or would the “original Ella” feel ashamed?

Wonderstein hoped it would be the latter.

If it was the latter, she might feel ashamed and upset, but if it was the former, it would bring her too much pain.

Having vented her melancholy, she changed the subject.

“But was I alone since yesterday?”

“No. Yurakne took over at night. And I wasn’t alone. Maya was with me.”

Ella raised her head and looked around.

“But I don’t see Maya?”

“Just as Ella woke up, Karen also woke up and she went to see her.”

Wonderstein gestured with his chin towards where Maya was standing in front of a bed.

“Ugh, really. She should’ve come to see the Assistant Director first.”

Ella muttered under her breath, but there was a smile on her lips.

Thanks to that, she could spend some time alone with Wonderstein.

Karen had just managed to speak up.

It had been quite a while since she had regained consciousness, but due to the aftereffects of her injuries, moving her body wasn’t easy.

It took a considerable amount of time just to move her fingertips.

“Um… Hi…?”

Karen awkwardly greeted Maya.

She had saved her life, but it couldn’t be said that it led to reconciliation or the restoration of friendship.

But then, an unexpected word came from her mouth.

“I was worried.”

Karen’s eyes widened.

“W-Worried? About me…?”

She murmured with an uncertain voice.

“B-But… I… I harbored ill feelings towards you…”

“It’s okay.”

Maya shook her head.

She didn’t feel the need to explain what her misunderstanding had been about.

But she did want to apologize.

“I’m sorry for saying harsh things.”

Having said that, Maya hesitated for a moment before awkwardly embracing Karen.

It was something she used to do to her often.

Karen found herself involuntarily gasping for breath.

Maya’s scent and the feel of her skin were intense.

Until now, whenever she had hugged her, she had instinctively held her breath to avoid seeming like a pervert, but this was the first time she had been hugged first by her.

She felt a dizzying sensation as if she was floating in the air.

When Maya let go of her, she sighed with regret.

Karen awkwardly chuckled and scratched her cheek.

“Um… Is this… Is this finally being accepted as a friend?”

“No.”

Maya shook her head expressionlessly.

Then, looking directly at her friend, she said,

“You were my friend from the start, Karen.”

Karen felt something solid rising in her throat.

A friend.

Finally, a girl friend for me…

She exhaled heavily, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

They were damp.

“Don’t cry.”

Maya said in a cold voice.

To an outsider, it might seem like she was annoyed by her whimpering.

But Karen could feel the warm comfort behind her words.

“Oh, okay. I-I mean, then… as a gesture of apology… um… can you, um… give me a kiss on the cheek?”

Maya’s eyes widened at her words.

At that moment, Karen realized.

Oh, this time she’s really annoyed.

Having heard older brothers and uncles jokingly make such creepy requests, she had blurted out these words learned from observation as a joke.

“R-Revoked…”

Karen awkwardly cleared her throat a few times and avoided eye contact.

“Oh, but by the way, where’s my brother?”

The one who answered her question was the patient lying on the bed right next to hers.

“Always asking so eagerly.”

Karen turned her head to look at him.

But she couldn’t find the words to say.

“Uh… Hopps, were you there?”

“Yeah.”

An awkward silence ensued.

At that moment, three people in black trench coats entered the auditorium.

They were members of the Papal Circus.

Maya stood up from her seat.

“I’m going to check on our Director.”

Even as she left, Karen didn’t say goodbye.

It was too embarrassing to open her mouth.

Her brother had witnessed her asking Maya to hug her and give her a kiss on the cheek in a ticklish voice.

She felt as embarrassed as when she had bragged to him about her first menstruation.

Hopps chuckled and pulled the covers over her, seeing her return to her usual brashness.

“Why not just leave with your friend? Huh? The school uniform you’re wearing suits you well.”

Karen growled at his teasing.

“You’re talking nonsense. Thirty percent of Papal’s shares are mine. Where am I going?”

As she returned to her usual blunt tone, Hopps chuckled again and continued to tease her.

That was the case until the members arrived at the bedside.

Karen could feel that he was forcing himself to appear lively.

She wanted to ask why, but out of consideration for his feelings, she continued to respond with playful banter.

Seeing Maya approach Ella, Arno stood up from his seat.

He had come here to inform Wonderstein of the outcome of this incident.

Wonderstein spoke to him as he left, or rather, as she left.

“Someday I’d like to see your real face, huhu.”

He replied in a cool voice to Wonderstein’s jovial tone.

“Nonsense.”

He glanced at Maya, who was greeting him, and then passed by her.

There was no awkwardness in his steps.

The movement of his joints and muscles, the sensation of shifting weight as he walked on the ground, everything was realistic.

Arno.

No one had seen his true face.

In the first place, the face itself was an illusion, so there was no wind blowing it, no reflection inside it.

But people didn’t know that not only the face but also his existence itself was a illusion.

Of course, there was a face inside the mask.

It was the idealized image of a man created by Byeonsa.

Byeonsa could see the face of the man inside the mask.

His appearance resembled Maya in some way.

If Maya had had a brother ten years older, this would have been his face.

A beautiful man who suited the word “beautiful” more than “handsome.”

But there was something vaguely unpleasant and repulsive about his entire expression.

This was the image of an old colleague that Byeonsa remembered.

Before leaving the auditorium, Arno glanced back once.

There, Maya and Ella were arguing.

She had inherited her appearance from her father and her white hair and red eyes from her mother.

She noticed Maya’s gaze repeatedly turning towards Wonderstein.

Was falling for a man with a lame laugh or a playboy-like appearance something she inherited from her mother?

After briefly looking at Wonderstein’s face, she quickly turned away and left the auditorium.

Arno’s mask wavered for a moment before returning to its original state.

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Chapter 194: Demon in the Bottle – 33

Chapter 196: Demon in the Bottle – 35