The Freak Show Foreman

Arriving at the Golden Carnival's lodging, Ella found herself assigned to Reyna's former room.

The journey here felt familiar, only to realize their villa was right across the street.

Ella contemplated sending a pigeon to Wonderstein but decided against it.

She received the time he agreed to "contact" from Gascon.

She could converse with him in a little while; there was no need to show the locals' wariness by sending pigeons flitting around.

She lay on the bed and activated Inspira.

It was a "Spirit Link" that allowed her to share the senses of her trained animals.

She sent Chick to explore every nook and cranny of the mansion.

While doing so, she overheard the members of the Golden Carnival gathering in the lounge, discussing.

"Is the Ringmaster really in his right mind?"

"He's certainly diligent in adhering to the sponsor's demands."

"Wasn't it a request to create a spectacle every month?"

"So why send Reyna away and bring in some unheard-of girl?"

"It's like selling a phoenix and buying a chicken."

Ella choked up.

She knew she wouldn't be welcomed here.

Still, speaking so disparagingly compared to Reyna was too much.

Fortunately, one of the members who came for the entrance exam today was there.

He defended her.

"Don't take it out on the poor girl. She didn't come here just to be berated. She's got skills. Comparable to Reyna's, if not more."

"What? Another one like Reyna?"

"If there hadn't been an accident last time, Reyna would've lost 13-12."

"Haha, who would've thought such geniuses would come in pairs in one era."

"But there's also Charlie. That makes three."

"Listen. How she caught the flying ball… "

The member recounted Ella's performance at the school, leaving the others amazed.

Ella smiled inwardly, nodding her head.

Yes, that's more like it.

But as the conversation shifted to draft talk, the atmosphere turned grim again.

On this, Ella had no defense.

She also didn't expect Lord Fantastic to choose her over his daughter.

The members felt the same.

"He's at it again."

"Why does he have to treat Reyna so badly?"

"Is it because of the obsession with being the best?"

"It's too much, no matter what."

Ella listened to their conversation, feeling relieved.

The members of the Golden Carnival were all famous people from before.

The person who teased her earlier about being a chicken was one of the acrobats she admired.

As a fan or as a junior in the industry, Ella genuinely wanted to become friends with them.

But she hesitated because she couldn't understand Lord Fantastic's intentions.

However, from what they said, it seemed he didn't bring her here with any special intentions.

It seemed he had scolded his daughter like this several times before.

She was surprised to learn there was a shadow even on someone as perfect as her.

But she didn't feel sorry for her.

Her friends from school had it worse off.

Just being able to eat three meals a day was a blessing.

"So, should I consider myself here for a two-week visit?"

She said they had group practice tomorrow.

Thinking about observing the training of first-class acrobats, she involuntarily hummed a tune.

Getting up from bed, she explored Reyna's room.

Despite being a mansion owned by a noble, the interior of the room wasn't much different from where she stayed.

There was a mat on the floor for practicing acrobatics, and there were light tools in the corner for stretching.

And by the bedside were books stuck in.

They were familiar covers.

Most of them were circus magazines.

Ella, who thought she was on the same circus side road, found something strange.

Dust sat white on the magazines stuck in the bookshelf.

It was the same until last month's issue.

As soon as she received the books, she put them on the bookshelf and didn't touch them as if they were.

Even going through past issues, there were ones that weren't even unwrapped.

Ella looked through the magazines.

There were places where she had read a few.

All those articles contained the same content.

It was an interview where Lord Fantastic mentioned his daughter.

Ella looked around the room again.

Now, she noticed a few things she hadn't seen before.

It was because they weren't there that she didn't notice.

The owner of this room hadn't put up a poster of their favorite acrobat on the wall like Ella.

The owner of this room hadn't collected tickets from shows they had seen unlike Ella.

The owner of this room didn't have any circus-related souvenirs or toys unlike Ella.

Ella remembered the girl who, despite her warm approach, responded coldly.

She remembered her father sitting in the audience, only focusing on the difficult moves and not smiling even once.

She remembered what her fellow acrobats said about her father.

She just thought he was a boring lover obsessed with winning.

Explore more at empire

But now, the other person's face was starting to show.

'He doesn't do it because he likes the circus.'

But how could she have such excellent skills?

Ella felt jealousy welling up inside her.

She picked up the oldest book on the shelf.

It was the family album.

There was young Reyna imitating acrobatics with awkward movements between her smiling father and mother.

'I don't even know my dad or mom…'

Ella muttered softly, thinking of Reyna who would be with Wonderstein by now.

"She should be grateful just to have a family…."

She waited for the time to come to talk to her partner.

***

The next day, Reyna arrived at the training ground early in the morning.

Wonderstein looked at her in her workout clothes before sunrise.

Ella also got up early to practice from dawn, so it had become a habit for him too.

He didn't do morning practice in Luz, but he had no choice but to help with morning practice here because he would be scolded if he didn't.

Raina's eyes had traces of being washed away, although she tried to hide them.

Maybe she cried all night.

Wonderstein approached her from behind.

"Would you like to do the usual training routine of Ella?"

As she finished her warm-up exercises and looked at the training equipment set up in the yard, her body stopped for a moment.

Ella.

Her face stiffened at the mention of that name.

Even when she lost to Charlie, she didn't feel any emotions towards Charlie himself.

But Ella was different.

The wench who took her father away.

The girl who showed the behavior of a circus maniac that she hated during the exam.

Today's morning training was 'board breaking.'

Wonderstein threw prepared boards and instructed her on the movements.

As directed by him, she broke the boards with a punch, split them with a palm strike, and kicked them with two kicks.

The boards rotated and flew, and if you didn't attack at the right timing, you could get hurt by hitting the edge.

But she smashed the boards flawlessly with precise movements and speed.

'I'm competing with that girl right now. My father is watching.'

She repeated this to herself, focusing her concentration.

Wonderstein smiled as he watched her effortlessly catch the thrown 2nd and 3rd boards, from various angles. She truly had the skills of a "top-ranked" individual. She easily replicated the training which Ella did.

After more than two hours had passed, the members came out to the yard for breakfast.

The members watched the two of them practicing.

"Is that kid who is Assistant Director Maya Yang's peer?"

"Looks much older than her…."

Everyone nodded at Bendict's words.

"That aside, she's quite a beauty."

"Yeah, indeed."

Without realizing it, Womon chimed in, and one of the triplets made a face as if to say, "This guy is hopeless."

"Womon, you can't keep your mind straight when you see a pretty girl?"

"You were all giddy when Maya came by…."

"M-Me? When was that?"

"At first, you were following Ella around saying she's pretty."

"Stop lying all the time! Ugh!"

"Eek! Womon's mad!"

"Run!"

"Kick kick kick!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The triplets lived for teasing the large, innocent 10-year-old boy regularly.

Womon looked at Maya standing beside him, unable to contain himself.

Ironically, Maya glanced at him once and showed no interest.

Watching Womon's reddening face, Yurakne chuckled.

Then, Sven, who had been quiet, remarked.

"Haha, come to think of it, don't they seem like an old family?"

It was the moment the last board was thrown.

He said it without much thought.

Watching the blond man and woman throwing and catching the boards reminded him of a father and daughter playing catch, despite the apparent age difference making them seem more like siblings.

"Oh."

The term 'old family' distracted Reyna's concentration.

She missed the timing to deflect the last board.

With a sound, the edge of the board hit her fist and fell away.

Failure.

Leaving one board completely intact.

"I lost again."

She shrugged and closed her eyes tightly.

Her body trembled.

It was a habit ingrained in her body over the past ten years.

Whenever she made a mistake, a chilling gaze would be directed at her.

But there was no reprimand.

Instead, cheers and applause followed.

"Amazing! Look at all the board pieces scattered around!"

"The kid who beat Ella, huh?"

"Wow, impressive! I couldn't even break one coming at me!"

"I couldn't even smash the one holding still!"

Wonderstein approached her with a smile.

"Well done! Hoho, indeed, the name 'Golden Libra' suits you perfectly."

It was only then that Reyna realized this place wasn't Golden Carnival.

This wasn't a real confrontation, and her father wasn't watching.

The moment she realized that fact, a sense of relief tingled and passed through her armpits.

She looked up at Wonderstein, who extended his hand towards her.

Instead of criticizing her final mistake, he praised her for doing well.

Judging by the atmosphere among the members around her, it didn't seem like she was being treated specially as a guest.

"She must have practiced in an atmosphere like this. That girl."

But how could she possess such outstanding skills?

Reyna felt jealousy welling up within her.

She pushed Wonderstein's hand away and stood up from her seat.

Last night, she came to realize something here.

The two men and women who walked arm in arm through the alley she had passed a few days ago.

Their laughter and voices.

Upon comparison, it was clear.

They were undoubtedly the man who was the leader here and the girl who had taken her place.

She had tried to downplay their harmony by asserting that her path was different from theirs.

But what was this sight?

She was outdone even in the acrobatics she prided herself on, and her father's expectations were also snatched away by that girl.

"If practice is over, let's have a meal together!"

"We've prepared a welcome ceremony for the new member who joined us yesterday!"

"Haha, I've never tasted it, but I recognize Yurakne's cooking skills!"

Reyna looked at the meal set up on the garden table with the monster members.

The image of Ella enjoying herself with loved ones came to mind.

Somehow, she felt rebellious.

She turned her back towards the building.

"I'll have my meal alone in my room."

It was just like her usual cold and indifferent character.

She walked past the bewildered members and went inside the building.