Perhaps it was because His Highness the Prince and acting Duke Petrov had reached an agreement with the theater to let them free its schedule, so that the crew could perform the “Witch Diary” trilogy. And so, with this group of amateur performers, together with the newly added actors who also couldn’t be considered as well-known actors, were now openly performing on the stronghold theater’s biggest stage. At normal times, they might not even be selected as a substitute for a supporting role. Now however, not only were they able to play the role of an important character on stage, but they could also perform hand in hand with the Star of the West, which made a lot of people lament about the impermanence of destiny.
When May returned to the backstage area, she couldn’t refrain from puckering her brows.
There at the lounge, she saw a group of people disturbing everyone with their noise, seemingly trying to start a dispute. The moment they saw May appear, more than a dozen followed the leadership of one woman as they stepped forward and began to surround her.
These people were all actors of the theater. May also recognized the woman leading them, she was called Bella Dean and was a famous actor that belonged to a different group. Some nobles even went so far as to say that she was May’s biggest competitor for the position as the Star of the West, but in fact, whether it was her acting or fame, she had never been able to pressure May.
“Guess who I’m finally able to see?” Bella bypassed May and slowly started to walk over towards Irene one step at a time, “A group of inferior actors who’ve sneakily returned from the countryside.”
“What did you say?” Irene asked with a bewildered face, Ghent, Rosia, and the other’s faces all turned stiff and they couldn’t stop themselves from taking two steps back.
“Pfff,” Bella covered her mouth and said, “She doesn’t even know her own identity and status.” These words aroused a burst of laughter from the group, “Then let me say it directly to you, a big city such as Longsong Stronghold isn’t a place where people like you should come to perform. Moreover, the stronghold theater also doesn’t welcome such a vulgar and third-rate performance. What ‘witch diary’? it’s just a few stray dogs all howling in grief. Who could ever be interested in seeing this kind of drama that’s bad enough to spoil one’s appetite? The earlier you get lost and return to Border Town, the better.”
“You,” Irene suddenly turned red, “What do you call a third-rate performance? didn’t you hear the applause of the audience?”
“Ha, audience?” Bella sneered sarcastically, “You call those people who work in the mud, and come in contact with hoes and furnaces every day, an audience? Don’t make me lose a tooth from laughing! Just catch some monkeys and make them run in circles and they will also be cheering loudly! If it hadn’t been for the free tickets, would they ever have the spare money to come and see you perform?”
“I…” Irene opened her mouth but didn’t know how to properly refute.
“The theater already has to deal with a continuous fall in revenue since you came to perform on the big stage every Wednesday. Furthermore, even we are being affected, as long as you and your drama keep on playing here, the nobility will not come!” Bella raised her voice, “Who would be willing to sit on greasy and dirty chairs covered with mud bits? I in turn, also do not want to come into a messy theater that your group of country bumpkins have left behind.”
