ocean-life Chapter 13
Chapter 13
“Bwahahahaha!”
“Ahahahaha!”
“Kyahahaha!”
...You crazy lunatics—!!
It had been roughly three days since I unleashed the Charlie Chaplin-style farce upon the world through the Geloruscina Theater.
With laughter echoing from all directions, it felt like I was genuinely losing my mind.
Was this what it felt like to be locked up in Arkham Asylum, in a cell next to Joker and Harley Quinn?
The incessant giggling, as if they were all infected with Joker venom, was giving me a headache.
But the real problem wasn’t the fellow students I encountered on campus.
“Ahahahaha! My stomach hurts! I’m dying! This is too funny!”
“Just die already then, from laughing!”
Maurice, after his trip to the theater, had been rolling around in bed all day, howling with laughter.
Even when I kicked him in frustration, he showed no signs of stopping.
With my own roommate acting like this, I was starting to hear things.
Auditory hallucinations of someone laughing so hard they choked to death...
“Huff, huff, cough, cough...”
...Not hallucinations, apparently.@@@@
“Breathe, you idiot! If the heir to the House of Lavalle dies from laughter, think of the disgrace it would bring upon your family!”
Of course I understood. Charlie Chaplin was a comedic god.
Especially
But there had to be a limit, didn’t there?
To make matters worse, Maurice wasn’t the only one severely affected.
“Um, Senior Rosalyn?”
“S-Sorry, Balthazar, heh! Focus... I need to focus... heeheehee!”
“...Maybe we should call it a day? The rest of our team members are also skipping today to go to the Geloroushina.”
Senior Rosalyn was trying so hard to stifle her laughter that she was practically sobbing.
Seeing her struggle was so pitiful that I decided to end our meeting for the day.
This was a group project for a liberal arts class that I was leading as team leader.
With even Senior Rosalyn, my best hope and partner, in this state, there was no hope for this project.
Rosalyn, having reached her limit, bowed her head apologetically and fled.
“Sorry, Balthazar—hic! I’ll... I’ll organize my part, heeheee! I’ll... I’ll send it to you by tomorrow—hahaha!”
“S-Sure. Take your time.”
I had experienced my fair share of group projects being ruined by freeloaders in my past life.
But a group project being derailed by uncontrollable laughter – that was a first.
And I couldn’t even scold my team members because I, the team leader, was the one responsible for the laughter in the first place.
As a result, I found myself sitting alone at a table, sipping freshly brewed coffee, while helplessly listening to the laughter of students echoing like background music.
‘...Should I cancel the contract for the sequels?’
And
I had promised to deliver them one after another, but the thought of their potential impact sent shivers down my spine. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said the capital might come to a standstill because of excessive laughter.
‘This won’t do.’
I had to find a way out of this situation.
As the old saying goes, ‘He who tied the knot must untie it.’
It was Balthazar Arture who unleashed this laughter hell upon the Empire.
Therefore, I had to be the one to put an end to it.
‘Should I write a devastatingly sad story? Something so heart-wrenching it would make people sob uncontrollably?’
There were plenty of historical figures who led tragic lives.
Vincent van Gogh, who struggled with mental illness throughout his life. Frida Kahlo, an icon of misfortune. Ivan the Terrible, driven to madness by childhood abuse.
But I quickly abandoned that idea. It felt like trying to chase away wolves only to invite tigers in.
‘What if, instead of a laughter bomb, I set off a tear gas bomb? Could I handle that?’
Any emotion, taken to the extreme, could be harmful.
Suppressing laughter with another emotion wasn’t a fundamental solution.
I needed a more ingenious approach to calm this chaotic situation.
‘Besides, I couldn’t break my contract with the Geloroushina to write the Charlie Chaplin series.’
Racking my brain for a solution,
The students were buzzing with excitement, choosing their cosplay characters.
As I had intended, the capital was finally able to take a break from the laughter hell as everyone focused on preparing for the competition.
And the one who was most excited about this news was none other than Rosalyn Wenford.
“A... a one-on-one meeting... with Phantom...!”
The Duchess of Wenford muttered these words, her hands trembling.
Seeing her friend’s severe case of fan-girl fever, Crown Princess Diana sighed.
“Take a deep breath, Rosalyn. You’re going to spill your drink.”
“A meeting... a meeting... one-on-one with Phantom...!”
...She had truly gone off the deep end.
Diana chuckled softly, watching her friend, whose passion for Phantom was unmatched in the entire academy.
Of course, the Crown Princess understood.
She knew how desperately Rosalyn longed to meet Phantom.
How eager she was to convey her heartfelt feelings to the playwright.
Under normal circumstances, Diana would have gladly cheered Rosalyn on.
She would have even offered support behind the scenes to help her friend win.
But this time, Diana herself found it hard to willingly concede the victory.
“Let’s participate together, Rosalyn.”
“Huh?!”
“You and me. Let’s have a friendly competition. To see who understands Phantom’s world better, who can portray their character more convincingly.”
That cheeky, elusive playwright who had blatantly ignored her fan letter.
Diana pouted slightly, picturing their appearance, which was still a mystery to her.
Even if there’s a winner, that person won’t reveal their face.’
Someone who had been so meticulous in concealing their identity wouldn’t suddenly decide to show their face now.
That person would surely attend the fan meeting in disguise.
Wearing a mask or a hood to hide their features.
‘But that’s enough.’
She had been trying to deduce Phantom’s true identity for a long time, but there was always a lack of decisive information.
To truly unveil who that person was, she needed to observe their impressions up close.
And this contest would be the perfect stepping stone for that.
“Are you disappointed, Rosalyn? That I’m competing and not giving you the opportunity?”
She asked tentatively, worried she might have hurt Rosalyn’s feelings.
However, Rosalyn’s reaction was the complete opposite of what she had expected.
“No, not at all. In fact, it’s the opposite.”
Rosalyn shook her head side to side, smiling.
But it was different from her usual gentle, elegant smile.
It was a determined smile, blazing with pure competitiveness and a strong will to win.
“I’m actually thrilled. It means that my best friend, Diana, adores Phantom’s plays just as much as I do. You have no idea how wonderful it feels to share the same taste with someone as amazing as you, Your Highness.”
“Oh?”
“So, I’m not going easy on you. Be prepared, Diana. I’m going to win this.”
“Heh heh, alright. Good luck, Rosalyn.”
Diana gracefully rested her chin on her hand, accepting the Duchess’s challenge with a knowing smile.
Her gesture was filled with the poise befitting a princess, truly dignified like someone who would someday become an empress.
In fact, Diana had already picked a character for the contest the moment she heard about it.
The beloved of Caesar, the protagonist of
Just like the princess herself, she was a woman of grace, charm, and wisdom – the Queen of Egypt.
— End of Chapter —
Author’s Note :-
As with most anecdotes from times when communication media were not well-developed, it is difficult to verify the truth behind Charlie Chaplin’s contest participation story.
Often, non-existent events were fabricated into rumors and spread, and newspapers frequently circulated such rumors without verification.
Due to this, the exact rank Charlie Chaplin achieved in the contest varies across different sources.
In South Korea, information that he finished 3rd is widely circulated on the internet.
However, a 1920s article from Singapore’s The Straits Times reported that he placed 20th.
Furthermore, articles from the same year from New Zealand’s Poverty Bay Herald and the following year from Australia’s Albany Advertiser indicated that he finished 27th.
So, was there really a Charlie Chaplin impersonation contest?
Whether it is merely an urban legend or a slightly distorted truth remains a matter for the imagination.