Chapter 304 An unexpected but pleasant surprise
May would never have thought that by the time she was about to set foot on the road back to Border Town, her heart would once again be filled with so much expectation.
The woods along the Redwater River had already begun to turn yellow, and the breeze blowing directly in one’s face brought along a trace of chill. The waves of the shimmering river were rolling under her feet, and from time to time she was able to see the fallen tree leaves floating past the side of the ship.
Now, without all of the anxiety and restlessness she had felt on her last trip, the exuberant surrounding autumn landscape seemed like it was something which came out of a poem or painting.
“Miss May,” a voice, full of respect, came from behind. “Your play of the ‘Witch Diary’, is it true that His Highness wrote the play for you personally?”
When May turned around, she saw that a group of actresses had gathered behind her, the person standing in front looked at her with a tense expression. She recalled that this one’s name was ‘Swallow’.
“Aha, sorry,” Irene waved at her, then bowed and said with an apologizing smile. “I wasn’t able to answer this question. So without any better option I had to let them come and ask you.”
This fool… May thought and gave her a supercilious look. If it had been her from the past, she would have only dumped them with a sneer. But now, after having spent so much time together with Irene her patience had unexpectedly grown stronger day by day, and thus she dared to answer, “No, His Highness didn’t write it for me. Rather it was the City Hall’s Minister of Education, Lady Scroll who had written the Witch Diary.“
“Uh, is that so?” Swallow blinked in wonder, “At the time you argued with Bella, we all thought it was the truth.”
“His Highness wrote it personally” and, “His Highness wrote it personally for me”, the meaning of those two wordings were poles apart, how could these people grasp the first half of the sentence, but totally dismiss the second half? Thinking of this, she then said to them, “But His Highness endorsed both the script writing and the theatrical performance. Therefore, when Bella ridiculed the script it was indeed equivalent to mocking His Highness. Regarding that point, I haven’t fooled her.”
“Have you ever seen His Royal Highness?”
“I heard that he has the royal family’s mark of long gray hairs and looks extraordinary handsome, is that right?”
“I also heard that he was born with the natural disposition of a romantic and has many lovers!”
“Eh, was it really like that?”
“…” Looking at this group of lively little girls, May couldn’t help but knit her brows. Curse it! I should never have responded to their curiosity.
“Alright, that’s enough, don’t you girls bother Miss May,” Rosia said and began shooing the group of females away while showing an apologizing expression towards May.
“No, harm” she shrugged and then continued to enjoy the scenery along the coastal area. “After all, I was the one who sought out trouble.”
“I… do not understand,” Rosia scratched her head, “Why did you want to take them along when we left? Of the thirty-five people, only two people have stood on stage before, while twenty-six of them have not yet completed any of the courses for their drama classes. According to what you’d previously said, they cannot even be considered as baby chicks. They are still inside their eggshell, yet to hatch… Even if the Lord’s requirements for the play are not so demanding, I’m afraid that even His Highness would find it difficult to accept them. In case you want to retaliate against Bella, you should have tried to court some more experienced supporting actors.”
“I didn’t intend to let all of them perform.”
“Ah?” The other side froze in place for a moment.
“They can read the scripts for a play, isn’t that right?” May asked laughingly, “Although they still have a long way to go until they can enter the stage, all of them can at least read and write. Don’t tell me you haven’t discovered it yet? His Royal Highness is currently exactly in need of that exact skill.” She paused for a moment, “Do you truly think that His Royal Highness Roland Wimbledon loves drama so much, that he recruited us for a play?”
“This…”
“In case it was Lord Petrov, then the answer would be yes. Before he had taken over Longsong Stronghold, he had the habit of going to the theater once a week. However His Highness Roland, apart from viewing the first play of a new theatrical work, he didn’t appear in the town’s square for the rest of the time – so he never promoted the drama for his own enjoyment. Instead, he intends to spread his views to the masses through the drama.” May paused, before going on to say, “Compared to the first shows, which emphasized resisting oppression and the message that witches aren’t evil, the new play, ‘The Dawn of a New Era’ and ‘New City’ have moved towards recruiting people, and ‘one becoming rich though one’s own efforts’ as the message. I’m merely following along with his idea and using the small amount of power I currently have.”
“So, it was originally like this. I never thought about that…” Rosia seemed to be speechless.
“To polish and refine the script for a play, in addition to putting yourself into the character you are playing, it is also important to try and understand the overall story as much as possible if you want to express its true meaning. This is also a quality that a good actor needs to possess.”
“Yes, thank you for your guidance!” She bowed.
“Be at ease,” May said as she showed her a reassuring smile, “Even in the case that you don’t want to perform any longer, you should still be able to find a pretty good job inside Border Town. Maybe you can enter the City Hall and become an administrative officer. After all, His Highness does not require you to have any sort of status, and he also doesn’t look at your family background. This road would be much easier than going on stage.”
…
When the vessel arrived at the town, May saw Ferlin Eltek waiting to greet them at the pier.
Naturally, he was here to see Irene.
When she saw the girl dash forward and happily throw herself in his arms, she could only gently sigh.
“Isn’t that man Morning Light?”
“He hadn’t been exiled by His Royal Highness …”
“The first knight of the Western Territory is magnificent” Swallow said, “I thought he and the theater star would be -“
“Who’s talking such nonsense,” May’s cold voice made everyone suddenly close their mouths. “Hurry up with your luggage and disembark. Ghent and Rosia will take you to the City Hall so that you can register your identity. Everything else will be arranged by them.”
“Yes,” came everyone’s respectful reply.
Walking down the pier, Ferlin, with his arm around his wife, came over to greet her, and spoke to her, “Miss May, Irene just told me about the clash in the theater. Thank you for the kindness you showed her.”
“There is no need for you to thank me,” May couldn’t accept it, “Even though it looked like the other party was looking for trouble with her, but in fact, their target was me.”
“Even so, I still want to thank you.” The Knight laughed brightly and continued to say, “If it weren’t for you stepping forward, she would have cried right on the spot.”
After the two had left, May curled her lips and alone she began carrying her luggage toward the residential district.
Although she had already let go of her feelings, but seeing such a scene still had her feeling some regret. Furthermore, that familiar figure also did not appear, which was contrary to the vow in his letter that he would be waiting for her with a pleasant surprise.
Well, the other side, after all, is an important man to His Highness. Unlike Morning Light who can walk around as he wishes, right?
Back home, May put away her luggage and was hit by a sense of relaxation that she hadn’t felt for quite a long time. She took a long breath, took out the white wine from the cupboard and was about to pour herself a drink when a knocking sound came from the door.
When she opened the door, Carter Lannis’ awe-inspiring figure appeared before her.
“I did not expect you to be half an hour early,” he wiped the sweat from his forehead. “The moment I heard that the boat from Longsong Stronghold has arrived, I immediately rushed over from the barracks.”
I don’t know why, I definitely didn’t catch sight of him at the pier, and he obviously didn’t go to receive me, but the moment I see him, my mood immediately lifts up, “Do you want to drink a cup?”
“No, I still have to work this afternoon,” Carter waved his hand.
“Well,” she nodded, “The matters of His Highness are more important.”
“I came because I want to give you a present,” The Chief Knight took a white wooden box from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Is this the latest product of the convenience market?” May asked full of curiosity as she took the wooden box. When she opened the lid, she saw a yellow-orange ring quietly stand at the bottom of the box. Its top was inlaid with a bright and transparent stone, it reflected the autumn sunlight falling through the window with a colorful light.
There is no doubt that this ring is worth a lot of money, which makes it unlikely for it to be a selling item for the convenience market. And when nobles give a ring, it means… she couldn’t help but cover her mouth.
“Miss May, are you willing to marry me?” Carter asked her earnestly.