"The prince actor is quite handsome, but his expression is too stiff," Margie said.
"Ah, it's him," Roland said with a hint of surprise, "Dawnlight, the First Knight of the Western Region, now working as a teacher in Border Town. He's not really an actor to begin with."
"Not an actor?" The female merchant asked, astonished. "Then he can still go on stage?"
"We have limited manpower," he smiled. "Look at the other two. They were the actors who moved the stage props earlier. If they were to play the prince, it would really be...hard to imagine Cinderella falling in love with them at first sight."
"...You have a point."
Eileen, dressed in her finery, stood to one side, watching Mei walk to Philin.Hill, place her hand on his shoulder, and dance with him gracefully—no, Philin didn't know how to dance; he was simply being guided by Mei's exquisite dancing skills, swaying to her rhythm. This scene hadn't appeared during rehearsals. Eileen realized this was Mei's improvisation.
[The elder sister tries every means to seduce the prince, but the prince remains unmoved, simply speaking to her politely, until Cinderella appears before the prince, causing his gaze to shift entirely to this woman with bright eyes, white teeth, and a graceful figure.]
Eileen knew that as soon as she walked over, Philin would follow the script, push Mei aside, and enact a love story of love at first sight with her. However, anyone could see that her current dazed appearance was far less attractive than Mei's. Why would the prince abandon the more beautiful and moving her and choose the ordinary her?
Just then, she saw the look Philin gave her.
There was helplessness, comfort, encouragement, and...love.
Eileen felt the stage suddenly become quiet. The laughter, cheers, and discussions of the townspeople were gone. The friends from the theater were gone. On stage, only Mei, Philin, and she remained.
That's right, she was far from the Western Region's star in terms of acting. Was she going to give up here and admit defeat?
No, a voice whispered softly in Eileen's heart. No, she wanted to continue acting. This was a rare opportunity for her, or rather...the last opportunity. If she gave up, she probably wouldn't encounter such an opportunity again, to compete on the same stage with such an outstanding female performer.
She also wanted to become someone like Mei, capable of driving the atmosphere of the audience with every gesture, making everyone's focus gather on herself.
I'm sorry, Mei.
She said in her heart.
If the prince were a theater actor, she would have found it difficult to even muster the courage to compete. Right now, it was almost impossible for her to defeat the Western Region's star with her acting skills.
But he wasn't. He was Dawnlight, my lover, Eileen thought. Please forgive me for cheating. I don't want to lose to you in front of him.
The stage disappeared. Before Eileen was a field of wheat, the golden yellow ears of wheat were ripe, drooping heavily, swaying gently with the evening breeze, waiting for people to harvest them. In the distance, she could see the setting sun falling below the horizon, coating the slowly flowing Redwater River with a warm color. This was the place where they often met in secret. In the reddish-orange sunset, the prince transformed back into a knight, people who had fallen in love with each other long ago.
As long as she bloomed with her most beautiful side in front of him, she could keep his gaze from wandering away...not acting, but the real her. Eileen lifted the cumbersome gown, tied a knot, and walked towards Philin.
Confidence returned to her heart. Everything was so natural. Walking to the knight's side, she smiled at Mei, and the latter unconsciously released her hand from his shoulder.
"May I have this dance?" she asked.
A familiar smile appeared in the corner of Philin's eyes. "Of course, xiaojie."
Although not as skilled as Mei, the knight danced more naturally than before under her guidance. The tacit understanding between the two infected the audience, and everyone began to applaud, whistle, and then cheer.
The clamor brought Eileen back to the stage. She tiptoed and kissed the prince lightly on the cheek, then pushed him away and ran quickly backstage. At the same time, a deep bell sound rolled across the square, and distant echoes came from the mountains, no more, no less, exactly twelve times.
Soon, the play approached its end, also the final climax of the entire play.
The prince searched door to door in the outer city, finally arriving at Cinderella's house. At this time, the little girl had changed into a dirty gray robe, holding a broom, and was being ostracized by her sisters. The sisters were still beautiful and could wear the crystal shoe.
"Your Highness, what are you still hesitating about? I am the person you are looking for."
"No, she isn't."
"You...you shut up!"
Although Mei's performance at this moment was no less than before, even stronger in terms of oppressiveness, Eileen no longer cowered. She walked out from the corner, step by step to the center of the stage, faced the other party directly, and revealed a look of unyielding and resistance.
Everyone applauded this wonderful scene.
At this moment, the witch suddenly appeared. She raised her hand and let Cinderella put on her evening dress again—
"Your Highness, she is the one you are looking for."
Luo Xia forcefully tore off the gray robe from Eileen's body, revealing the evening dress underneath. Almost at the same time, her updo burst open, and after smoothing it out, the Cinderella who stole the prince's heart reappeared in front of everyone with an irresistible posture.
The atmosphere of the entire venue was instantly ignited.
Everyone erupted in cheers as the prince and Cinderella embraced, and the sound of salutes rang out appropriately outside the venue, pushing this atmosphere to its peak. The long-lasting applause and cheers merged into one, and everyone did not stop applauding until the ending narration sounded and the actors bowed and exited.
"That was really wonderful," Margie exclaimed, clapping her hands. "I thought the little girl would be completely overwhelmed by Mei, but I didn't expect her to be able to turn it around in the end. And I don't know if it's just my imagination, but her interaction with the prince was more natural than Mei's, as if...she should be with the prince."
"It was indeed surprising," Roland nodded. Eileen was a completely different person later on. It should have been a natural performance, so she was able to maintain her confidence under Mei's aggressiveness. It was also very impressive to turn the prince back into her husband and get rid of the shackles of the stage in a short period of time. Given time, she will probably become a rising star. In addition, the bells and salutes created by Echo were equally perfect. Since there was no rehearsal, Roland simply told her to improvise before the play began. The effect surprised him.
...
Lost, Mei closed her eyes.
She tried her best to have Philin.Hill play the male lead of the prince, just to leave him with a deep impression on her favorite stage. To completely defeat Eileen with acting skills, and to show him the gap between Eileen and herself in this way.
To this end, she stayed in the town for nearly a week, rehearsing plays with some actors that she would not normally look at. After such a long delay, even if she returned to Longsong Stronghold now, the theater owner would probably not be as enthusiastic about her as before. And the most ridiculous thing was that she didn't completely defeat Eileen even on stage. She lost not to the other party's acting skills, but to the other party's love.
In that case, it was time to let go.
Mei took a deep breath, changed her clothes, and left the preparation room with a straight face.
Just as she walked down the wooden stairs from the stage, a man suddenly greeted her.
He was also tall and handsome, wearing shiny silver armor. He should be a knight from Border Town - unlike Dawnlight, Philin's smile always had warmth, while his raised eyebrows, narrow eyes, and thin lips appeared arrogant and indifferent.
"What's the matter?" Mei frowned.
"Hello, Mei xiaojie," Unexpectedly, the other party's opening words completely dispelled his cold and compelling temperament, "I am Prince Roland's chief knight, Carter.Lannis. Your performance was wonderful, can I buy you a drink?"(。)