I Am Me

Lilja: 'Well. Your face is like a book. You can't hide your secrets from anyone, and they can see right through you.'

Lilja: 'To deceive the world, you have to look like the world. You have to make yourself look like a beautiful flower on the surface, while hiding a snake beneath the foliage.'

Lilja: 'Leave it to me. It is my job to bring you your supreme power and title’.

Lilja: ‘Your gloomy face is proof of fear. Toss it aside quickly. I will take care of the rest.’

Chief Director: Start again.

Lilja: Again......?

Chief Director: Lady Macbeth's obsession with beauty is eating away at her soul. I told you that just reciting the lines was too shallow.

Contemporary Artist: ......

Hikari: Hey, hey, they’ve announced that we’re doing 'Macbeth' Koyomi-san and Lilja-san are becoming a trend!

Xue: Even if they’re doing well on social media, their rehearsals are the worst. They've been agonising over whether to kill Duncan for two hours, and it's killing them.

Ramona: Yeah, it's rare to get this stuck......

Koyomi: Yeah......

Contemporary Artist: ......Excuse me. What did the chief director mean by her earlier comment that it was shallow?

Koyomi: Are you talking about the criticism of Lilja-san?

Xue: It's a play without soul. That's why Koyomi-san said it was a difficult role......

Contemporary Artist: ......A flute glass.

Ramona: Huh?

Contemporary Artist: A beautiful but empty glass. It's meaningless.

Koyomi: ......

Chief Director: No. Show your true obsession with beauty.

Lilja: But I tried to make it look beautiful earlier too.

Chief Director: What we're looking for is the insane beauty of Lady Macbeth. What do you think Lady Macbeth is?

Lilja: Lady Macbeth......?

Lilja: I don't know.

Chief Director: That's what actors are supposed to think about, so give me an answer.

Lilja: ......

Chief Director: I'll change the question. What is beautiful to you?

Lilja: ......What do you mean?

Lilja: Aren't I here because I'm beautiful? Am I wrong?

Chief Director: ......Think about it again. Let’s take a short break.

Hikari: Here you go, Lilja-san. Water.

Lilja: Thank you. I'm tired......

Ramona: It looks like you're struggling, but are you okay?

Lilja: I'm fine. I just don't know what to do.

Lilja: It seems that Lady Macbeth can't just be fair.

Ramona: That's right. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth is a strong woman who pulls the weak Macbeth along with her.

Ramona: Can you tell me what you think? What kind of person is Lady Macbeth in your opinion?

Lilja: She's a fair, but foul woman. I don't really understand what foul is.

Xue: This isn't good. I can't feel any enthusiasm from her. Is it really okay for her to be Lady Macbeth…...?

Ramona: Well, wait a minute, Lilja does think she's ‘foul’. If we dig deeper, we might find something.

Lilja: No matter how much I think about it, it's the same. I can't think of something foul as fair.

Ramona: Let's find out the true nature of that assumption. Everyone has high hopes for Lady Macbeth, you know?

Stage Director: We'll resume from the scene we were in earlier.

Lilja: ......

Hikari: Lilja-san, we're rooting for you!

Chief Director: This Lady Macbeth is obsessed with beauty. She is a person who is so consumed by the idea of being beautiful that even her sense of morality is warped.

Chief Director: She is beautiful, but at the same time she is an ugly existence. Don't worry about appearances, and give it your all.

Lilja: ......Even though I don't understand her?

Director: Even if it doesn't make sense to you, we'll make the judgement. Try as hard as you can.

Lilja: ......Yes.

Lilja: ‘Your gloomy face is proof of fear. Toss it aside quickly. I will take care of the rest.’

Chief Director: No, try again. Put more passion into your performance. That won't move Macbeth.

Lilja: ‘Your gloomy face is proof of fear. Toss it aside quickly.’

Chief Director: You can't just be beautiful. Express your ugliness, Kurtbay.

Lilja: Ugly, foul......

Chief Director: Let's do it again, from the beginning of the scene.

Lilja: ......The rehearsal was long. I'm tired......

Lilja: ......

Koyomi: Lilja-san.

Lilja: Koyomi. Am I not beautiful?

Koyomi: Um. If you ask me if you’re beautiful, I can say without a doubt that you are, but…...

Lilja: But the director said I can't go on like this. She hasn't praised me once.

Lilja: I thought it would be fine as long as I was beautiful.

Lilja: Why am I Lady Macbeth?

Koyomi: ......I don't have the right to answer that question.

Koyomi: But there is one thing I can say. Like me, the future of this play rests on your shoulders.

Koyomi: You should understand that.

Lilja: ......

Koyomi: Speaking of which, I was looking for you. I have a letter from the artist for you.

Lilja: The contemporary artist?

Koyomi: Yes. She asked me to give you this as a thank you for letting her watch your lesson.

Lilja: Thank you. I'll read it.

Koyomi: Well then, please have a good night.

Lilja: The letter......

Lilja: (......'I'm grateful for being allowed to watch the lesson.')

Lilja: (You are like a flute glass, with not a single cloud in sight. That's why I was looking forward to seeing you perform, but I'm a little disappointed.’)

Lilja: ......

Lilja: (‘There are many beautiful things in this world. What I seek is charm that goes beyond beauty.’)

Lilja: (‘Let's meet again somewhere else, sometime.’)

Lilja: Why......?

Lilja: I am me, and fair is fair. Until now, that was fine......

Lilja: I don't understand. ......Isn't it enough to just be fair?