The Mysterious Art Museum
Chapter 6 (2) - The Mysterious Art Museum

'Don't be too disappointed, go home and get some sleep. A miracle will happen tomorrow.'

I didn't follow Mucha, but sat in the theater seat and waited for the situation that would soon unfold. Mikael checked the poster several times from the front row of the audience, scratching his head roughly and swearing.

“Damn it! Damn it! Sarah is going to be furious when she sees this. Damn!”

Do modern celebrity managers also live like this?

What is it like to live a life dedicated to shining a light on others? When their charge becomes a star, do managers also feel a great sense of satisfaction? I'm not familiar with the industry, so I don't really understand how it works.

Then, Sarah, dressed in stage costume, appears for the final rehearsal.

She stands majestically on stage, like a goddess. Even before the rehearsal starts, I quietly nod, seeing Sarah already in the role of the protagonist.

She is an actress who came from a background of prostitution.

Abandoned by her parents when she was young, she had no other way to survive but that. Born with a strikingly beautiful appearance, she worked as a high-class courtesan. Her past followed her like a lifelong stigma.

When she started acting, her immense talent led every play she was in to be a huge hit, and she became a star overnight.

But she was not just any star.

Even in her middle age, she lost one leg in an accident.

The beautiful actress became disabled.

Everyone thought her acting career was over.

But she chose roles that she could perform while seated and continued acting, overcoming everything with her natural talent, maintaining her fame until death.

‘She was an incredible woman.’

And now, this remarkable woman is right in front of me.

Sarah changes her gaze to focus on acting, then momentarily returns to her original look when called by Mikael.

“Sarah! The new posters have arrived, but…”

Mikael's voice trails off, apologetically unfolding the poster.

“The thing is... every print shop was closed for Christmas week. Eventually, I found a print shop where an assistant writer works and commissioned them... Remember the person who painted your portrait a few days ago? I'm sorry, I didn’t expect such a disaster to come out of it.”

Mikael climbs onto a chair with Mucha’s poster, which is unusually long and vertical, to show it to Sarah.

Sarah quietly looks at the poster, then her eyes light up as if she’s seen a beautiful flower.

She clasps her hands and nods.

“It's beautiful.”

“Right? I thought it was terrible too... Wait, what did you just say?”

Mikael, surprised, drops the poster he was holding in front of his face.

Sarah smiles and says, “Good job, Mikael. Go out now and stick the poster everywhere you can.”

“... Are you serious?”

“Yes, it's a really beautiful poster.”

[T/N:

File:Alphonse Mucha - Poster for Victorien Sardou's Gismonda starring Sarah Bernhardt.jpg - Wikipedia

]

“...”

I smile slyly, propping my chin.

‘The artistically talented Sarah recognized the value in Mucha's ahead-of-its-time painting.’

Sarah takes a poster to the stage, spreads it out, and sits down to admire the painting. Touching the part of the poster depicting her face, she smiles contentedly.

Mikael, stunned by the unexpected turn of events, stands there blankly, then rushes out with the posters as the next day is the day of the play.

I was about to follow Mikael but then looked towards Sarah, who remained alone on the stage, admiring the poster.

She touches the painting and mutters softly, “What kind of painter are you? Who are you to paint me so beautifully? I'm curious.”

I grin and run after Mikael.

When I go out to the street, it’s late at night and empty. Mikael is busily sticking posters everywhere. I comfortably sit on a metal bench on the street and watch Mikael sweat.

Mikael is plastering the entire neighborhood with posters.

When dawn breaks and morning comes, a miracle will happen.

**

The next morning.

Curious about the reaction to the posters he hung last night, Mikael steps onto the street and blinks in disbelief.

“The posters... where did they all go?”

Gone.

The posters he had sweated over were all taken, not a single one left.

I sit on the bench where I spent the night watching the situation and laugh at Mikael.

Then, I hear women passing by Mikael.

“Is the play called Gismonda? Where is it being performed?”

“At the Renaissance Theater! It’s the new play of the famous Sarah Bernhardt! Let’s definitely go see it today, okay? Okay?”

“I also felt like seeing it after you brought that poster home. But about the poster, wouldn’t it look great as a decoration in the living room?”

"I also felt like going to see it when I saw the poster you brought home. But the poster, you know. It would be cool to hang it in the living room as a decoration, wouldn't it?"

"Of course! That's why I brought it. I almost missed it. People who saw it in the morning were so greedy for the beautiful picture that they tore the posters off. I barely got one from the back alley and brought it home. Look at that. All the posters that were there are gone."

"That's right. Sara's play will be a hit."

Mikael listened to the women's words and his face turned pale.

"Th, th, the posters were so beautiful that people took them all?"

The streets of Paris, where not a single poster was left.

I smiled at the sight of Mikael, who was frozen with a ghostly face.