Chapter 71: Script Reading
Watching Freya’s unwilling expression, Hill, for once, refrained from mocking her.
He simply stood silently to the side, his gaze fixed unerringly on Janna.
…
Janna, who had become the focus of attention, was at that moment calmly observing the dozens of actors in the rehearsal hall.
Sensing the subtle tension in the room, Janna, already wearing her social mask, skillfully raised a kind smile and greeted the nearest actor.
"Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Janna Roland."
"You... hello, I’m Richard Joe. Nice to meet you too."
As a background character with barely any lines, few people ever approached him except those he acted with.
Faced with the friendly smile of the girl in front of him, Richard Joe’s ears instantly burned with heat.
"Janna, you finally made it."
Striding across most of the rehearsal hall, the scruffy David Berg quickly came to stand before Janna.
With his greeting, the room, as though someone had pressed a pause button, began to stir again with hushed murmurs.
"David, you look quite exhausted today."
"Do I?"
Rubbing the stubble on his chin, David Berg shrugged nonchalantly.
"Sometimes, a beard is a mark of an artist’s taste. You just don’t know how to appreciate it."
"Is that so? Then I suppose I still need to refine my sense of aesthetics."
Seeing Janna respond so smoothly to his nonsense, David Berg couldn’t help but laugh.
"You're the undisputed lead here now. A lot of people came today just to catch a glimpse of you..."
At that, Janna swiftly scanned the number of people in the hall.
As David had said, there were more actors here than were required for Act A.
"Sorry! I’m late!"
Panting heavily, a voice came from behind Janna.
Seeing the head of messy red hair, her polite social smile instantly became more vivid.
"Silks."
"Ah, Janna, I thought I’d get here before you… Dammit, how did the third female lead arrive later than the protagonist?!"
Listening to Liji Silks' dramatic and erratic speech, Janna’s smiling lips twitched ever so slightly.
"Don’t worry, you’re not late. I just got here too."
"Really?"
Looking around at the crowded room and then up at the mechanical clock on the wall that still read ten minutes to nine, Liji Silks realized she wasn’t late after all and patted her chest in relief.
"As expected of the Nightingale Opera Troupe—people arrive well before work starts. In the theaters I used to work in, that’d never happen..."
Though she was complimenting them aloud, Liji Silks, who was used to arriving just on time, silently clicked her tongue and worried whether this excessively early arrival was one of the troupe’s unspoken rules.
"Relax, it’s the same here. Today’s just an exception."
Saying that, David Berg couldn’t help but glance teasingly at Janna, who was still smiling serenely beside him.
"Let’s go."
Though ten minutes remained, seeing that most of the newcomers had arrived, David Berg led the two toward the mirrored side of the hall.
"There are six of you who passed the audition. I’ll introduce you to the other actors in Act A shortly so it'll be easier to get into character during rehearsal."
Janna remembered that during the last audition, forty-two people had competed. And there were ten available roles.
"Six out of forty-two? And selected from experienced actors too… It seems the Nightingale Opera Troupe really has high standards."
She thought to herself.
Besides herself and Liji Silks, she also remembered the other four who had been selected.
Especially the man playing the villain, the Bloodborn Count Charlotte—a middle-aged man with a refined air. His impressive acting had left a strong impression on Janna.
"Hello everyone, I’m Janna Roland. It’s a pleasure to meet you all."
Without any shyness, Janna introduced herself with grace and humility, which won warm responses from the already favorable crowd.
"Hello, I’m Leon Flare."
Flare?
Hearing the introduction from the middle-aged man playing Charlotte, Janna realized that he shared the same surname as Soro Flare—clearly from the same family.
"Could he be Soro’s uncle?"
She wondered silently, though her expression betrayed nothing.
"Hi, I’m Lucy..."
"My name’s George..."
"I’m John..."
As she listened to each person introduce themselves, Janna’s smile never faltered.
Among the six, if one ranked them by the size of their roles, Leon Flare—who had key roles in Acts A, B, and C—was undoubtedly the male lead second only to the protagonist.
Janna was ranked second, playing the female lead Natasha in Act A.
Third was Liji Silks, playing Nachusa, the third female lead in Act A.
The remaining three played supporting roles in Act A.
Though they didn’t have many lines, they were all seasoned and highly skilled opera actors.
Clap clap clap—
"Time’s up. All Act A actors, please gather around."
Clapping his hands and glancing at the mechanical clock that now pointed to nine o’clock, David Berg began organizing the rehearsal officially.
"I gathered everyone today not only to help the veterans get to know the newcomers, but also to hold a traditional script reading. Let’s start from the opening scene, skipping the acting and going straight to the singing. That way, you’ll become familiar with each other’s vocal styles and sync better later."
Hearing this, Janna, who had already memorized the script thoroughly, knew exactly which scene he meant—it was the one where the girl Natasha first made her appearance at the royal banquet.
The scene wasn’t difficult in terms of acting.
Its main purpose was to use operatic singing to quickly establish each character’s identity and personality.
It also involved many supporting roles like nobles, butlers, and maids.
One could say it was among the more lighthearted and upbeat segments of Bloodshadow Rose.
"Janna, you’ll go first. Let’s give everyone a taste of the lead’s talent."
The comment was meant casually, but it didn’t land that way.
Hearing David Berg refer to Janna as the female lead, Freya and Hill, who had been quietly watching from the sidelines, instinctively straightened their backs.
"I’ll be watching closely to see if this ‘female lead’ David is so fond of is really worthy of the role..."