Without curtains, without speeches, only a wooden board separated the stage and the preparation room. A group of people were performing a play on such a simple stage for the first time, which was also their first formal performance in their lives.
"The story takes place in the royal capital of a kingdom. In the outer city, there lived a beautiful and kind girl..."
As the narration began, Ailin slowly walked to the center of the stage. She was dressed in a dirty gray robe, her hair was messily piled on top of her head, and her face was covered with black ash.
Swinging the broom in her hand, she carefully swept the ground, occasionally bending down to wipe away stubborn stains with the corner of her robe.
After several days of rehearsal, Ailin had memorized the entire plot. The story was simple: a commoner girl who lost her mother suffered bullying at home. However, out of kindness, she saved a witch, who cast a spell to send her to a ball held by the prince, and they fell in love at first sight. But the magic time was limited, and she had to leave the ball in a hurry, leaving behind a glass slipper in her haste. The prince searched the entire city to find this beautiful girl, and eventually found her in the outer city. Afterwards, the two lived happily ever after.
The story was simple and easy to understand. The plot also changed the usual portrayal of the love between a princess and a prince. Instead, it was a commoner girl who won the prince's favor with the help of a witch, thanks to her kind nature. As the protagonist Cinderella, the actress needed to focus on portraying her journey from enduring to gathering the courage to resist oppression.
But what Ailin never expected was that Meiyi actually gave her the lead role.
She was already extremely happy that the Star of the Western Region was willing to perform on the same stage as her. Moreover, as the mainstay of the fortress theater, Meiyi had enough pride and confidence to play the lead role in any play. However, in Cinderella, she took the initiative to play the stepsister.
This made Ailin somewhat unbelievable, until the other party repeatedly emphasized that this was a performance for newcomers, Ailin accepted the role of Cinderella.
In the following rehearsals, she mustered all her strength, not only repeatedly practicing every scene, but also pestering Meiyi, who shared the same bed, after the candles were extinguished to teach her acting skills, just so as not to disappoint the other party's good intentions.
Fortunately, Ailin was not without experience. Looking at the countless eyes below the stage, she relaxed her body and reproduced the repeatedly practiced content one by one. So far, she felt that she was in good shape and had not made any mistakes. When Luo Xia, who played the witch, nervously forgot her lines, she also encouraged her with her eyes.
"Let me share half of my oatmeal with you. Don't eat too fast, it's still very hot."
"Thank you for your kindness, little girl. I will repay you."
As Luo Xia hunched her back and walked backstage, the crowd applauded – which relieved Ailin. She knew that if she forgot her lines during a formal performance at the fortress theater, it would be an unforgivable mistake. The nobles would only ridicule the actor with boos, instead of giving kind applause.
Just then, Meiyi appeared.
This scene was the first conflict between the cruel stepsister and Cinderella. Under the sister's oppression and humiliation, the latter could only respond with tears, hiding in the basement and crying silently at her mother's portrait.
But when the other party stood in front of her, Ailin suddenly realized that the atmosphere on the stage had changed dramatically.
She was no longer the taciturn theater star during rehearsals, but had become the ruler of the stage. Her high-spirited attitude, her perfectly appropriate body movements, and the undisguised contempt in her eyes all gave Ailin a strong sense of oppression.
"Oh, look who it is? Not working during the day, what are you dreaming about again?"
"You pathetic wretch that no one wants, hurry up and wash my dress clean!"
"Don't be so clumsy anymore. This is a dress for a formal banquet. You can't afford to pay for it if you damage it even a little."
Meiyi pushed her hard. Originally, Ailin should have pretended to fall at this moment, but under the other party's cold eyes, she couldn't help but take a few steps back, accidentally tripped over herself, and fell to the ground almost without cushioning, her elbow hitting the stage floor, and a burning pain came.
"What a useless waste..." Meiyi's eyes no longer looked at her, but
Instead, she walked to the center of the stage, facing the silent square and the crowd, and began her monologue.
"Meiyi xiaojie is worthy of her name," Mageli whispered, praising, "With just a few simple words, she attracted everyone's attention. She has completely brought this character to life."
"Well, she is indeed powerful," Roland nodded, but this person is too powerful. The disgust and contempt she showed for Ailin was almost real, and even sitting here, he could feel her ruthlessness. The emotional infection can be seen from the expressions of the entire audience... But, she is not the protagonist. Ailin's originally decent performance paled in comparison to her. If this continues, I'm afraid the supporting role will overshadow the protagonist.
Ailin was a little flustered.
She knew that she had to get up quickly. Meiyi's monologue mainly expressed her desire for the prince and introduced the palace ball. It wouldn't last too long, and she had to leave the stage before the scene changed. But the familiar feeling from past rehearsals had left her, and Ailin realized for the first time that the stage was so unfamiliar.
Is this all you've got?
It wasn't until Meiyi finished her performance and walked past her, her fluttering skirt hitting her face, that she came back to her senses. The other party didn't speak, but Ailin heard those words from the cold eyes of the Star of the Western Region. Ailin knew that Meiyi absolutely couldn't pull her up. The roles of the two of them were like fire and water. Once she reached out, this play would be ruined. She bit her lip tightly, and a metallic taste overflowed from her lips. Watching Meiyi disappear behind the partition, she wanted to climb up and follow her away, but Gete and Shanmu had already trotted up carrying props. Shanmu also took the opportunity to place a wooden barrel in front of her and whispered, "The next scene is still yours, keep acting, keep going!"
Ailin knew that this was against the rules, but indeed... she had missed her chance to leave the stage.
So the audience saw a wonderful transformation. Cinderella sat motionless in the center of the stage, while the surrounding scene changed from a living room to a basement. The beautiful round table and wooden chairs turned into wine barrels and rattan baskets. People carrying props came and went, but the girl maintained a single pose, as if frozen in time.
The next scene was Cinderella being trapped in the basement, and the witch appeared to rescue her, not only giving her beautiful clothes, but also summoning a carriage that could directly take her to the palace.
"Remember, the time can only last until midnight. You must leave the palace before the Dragon Clock strikes. Otherwise, the clothes and carriage will disappear."
"Ah... yes. I understand, thank you."
Ailin had not yet recovered from her confusion. In the past, when she secretly watched Meiyi's performances backstage, she only thought that this woman, who was so free and smiled at thousands of viewers, was very powerful. But when she stood on the stage and faced this dazzling star directly, she completely understood the other party's amazing strength in acting.
Is this the distance between a star and a flower?
After finishing her lines with Luo Xia in a dry manner, the next scene was the first climax of the play: the palace ball. In order to achieve the effect of a grand ball, this scene also required the entire cast to appear – except for her and Meiyi. Gete, Shanmu, Luo Xia, and Tina would all wear masks and dress up as other noble dancers. And the person who played the prince was none other than her lover, Feilin Xierte.