Release That Witch

The curtain slowly fell with the audience's endless whistles and cheers. May wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at Irene, who gazed at her in excitement and expectation. She responded Irene with two slight nods.     

The response made Irene cheer out loud. After the curtain fell to the ground, she could not help rushing over and hugging May forcefully.     

"Hahaha, did I really play very well?"     

May thought her troublesome and gave her a supercilious look. She pulled Irene away and said, "You have made some progress and can perform on the stage independently."     

"Miss May, what about me?" Another witch actress Rosia asked her cautiously.     

"You still have a long way to go," she said without hesitation, "your expression was stiff, your movement was tardy, and you spoke the lines without any feelings. Furthermore, you made two mistakes in the second act and made another one during the fourth, which was a typical mistake of not memorizing the script."     

"Ha-ha, Miss May is really strict," Gait touched the back of his head and said, "however, the audience's response seems very good. You can hear that the applause has not yet subsided."     

"Most of these people are civilians who have never been to the theater, and play is a fresh thing for them," May said frankly, "If it was a regular show, the several mistakes were enough to make the nobility hiss its displeasure." She paused, "If you want to go down the path of the actor, you can't be satisfied with the temporary success. Only by constantly improving yourselves can you gain a firm foothold on the stage."     

"Yes, thank you for your guidance!" The surrounding people bowed and said simultaneously.     

May sighed. She thought, [here they come again. I am definitely not their drama tutor.] However, she was too lazy to care about such little thing. She said, "OK, let's continue to work hard. Since the show of 'The Witch Diaries' will last until September, we have several more chances to make the performance. This opportunity is so rare that we shall not miss it."     

"Yes!"     

May was informed by the Ministry of Education a month ago, that all members of the crew were arranged to go to Longsong Stronghold and perform there. The so-called all members were the inferior players following her to the border and Irene Eltek.     

Perhaps it was because that His Highness had reached an agreement with the agent Petrov, the theater specifically adjusted its schedule for the crew to perform "The Witch Diaries" trilogy. Hence, the inferior players, who had poor acting and even could not be regarded as new artists, openly appeared on the stage of Stronghold Theater. If as usual, they were even not possible to be selected for the supporting roles. However, they could take the stage as important roles and perform together with the Star of the Western Region, which made people lament the capriciousness of the fate.     

After returning to the backstage, May frowned.     

She saw a crowd of people making a great noise seemingly disputing on something in the lounge. When seeing May and her members, more than a dozen people gathered around under the leadership of a woman.     

These people were all the players in the theater. May also knew the leader, Bella Dean, who was a famous actress and belonged to a different crew. Some nobles once thought that she was the strongest competitor for the Star of the Western Region. Actually, no matter on acting or reputation, May always firmly pressured her.     

"Guess what I've seen?" Bella bypassed May, walked toward Irene step by step and said, "I've seen a group of ham actors sneaking back from the countryside."     

"What did you say?" Irene asked confusedly, while Gait, Rosia and others looked stiff and could not help moving back two steps.     

"Puff," Bella said while covering her mouth, "look, she even doesn't know her identity." These words caused the crowd to burst into a laughter. Bella continued, "I just say it directly. The big city like Longsong Stronghold is not the place you should come, and your poor, vulgar and third-rate performance is not welcome in Stronghold Theater. What's 'The Witch Dairies'? It's just several stray dogs struggling and wailing. Who would be interested in this kind of cloying play? You'd better go back to Border Town early."     

"You—" Irene suddenly colored as she said, "what did you mean by 'third-rate performance'? Don't you hear the applause of the audience?"     

"Ha, the audience?" Bella dismissively quipped, "did you call those people who worked with mud, hoe and furnace audience? Don't make me laugh my teeth off! Even if you catch several monkeys and let them run on the stage, they will still cheer loudly! If it was not for the free tickets, how could they have the spare cash to watch your performance?"     

"I..." Irene opened her mouth a little but did not know how to contradict her.     

"In order to arrange your performance every Wednesday, the theater has suffered a continuous decline in income, and even we have been affected—as long as you perform here, the nobility won't come to watch our play!" Bella raised her voice and continued, "Who would be willing to sit on the chairs stained with mud and oil? If I were them, I also don't want to come into the messy theater after the party of a crowd of country bumpkins."     

May thought, [She is obviously to make trouble here. Many actors indeed have lost their performing chances due to the sudden appearance of the crew from the Border Town. However, Bella Dean hasn't been affected too much. Since I left Longsong Stronghold, the theater has intended to brand her as the new Star of the Western Region. Therefore, the play starred by her can't be canceled.]     

[Then Bella's purpose is clear. She seemed to yell at Irene and others, however, she actually aimed at me—if these people back down, I could not play 'The Witch Diaries' alone but go back to Border Town in disgrace. By doing that, she will be regarded to defeat me in the confrontation and restore the performing chances for other players incidentally, which will cause a corresponding rise in her prestige, and will build up her status of the new Star of the Western Region.]     

But May never made herself a stepping stone for someone else.     

"The theater's income has been declining. Are you serious?" May turned back and said casually, "How could you come to such a naive conclusion that the theater couldn't make ends meet due to offering the free tickets for our play? The theater operator has definitely come to an agreement with His Highness and Mr. Petrov. The missing amount would be complemented by the City Hall of Border Town. It's a commission contract, but not a game of playing house. You'd better use your brain instead of shouting here only based on your guesswork."     

"What... were you talking about?"     

"In addition, only your group of inferior players with low-performance level has suffered income reduction," May said with a smile, "I once played in the Grand Theater in king's city, which was an open-air theater. Unluckily, it was drizzling the day when we performed. However, the tickets were sold out and the theater was filled up with the nobility. So if you said that they didn't want to come to watch your play because of the civilians, you were wrong. Actually, they just didn't want to make a special trip for the show of a group of monkeys."     

"..." The scene fell into a strange silence. No one stood up to accuse May, or even made a defense.     

"Finally, did you say that 'The Witch Diaries' was vulgar and the stray dogs' struggling and wailing?" May raised her mouth, but her voice was extremely cold, "I might have forgotten to tell you that the script of the story was written by His Highness. Did you mean that the idea of His Highness was poor and vulgar? Insulting the royal nobles will be punished by cutting off the tongue. Do you still stick to your point?" She looked at the crowd behind Bella and said, "or anyone among you wants to have a try?"     

Under her gaze, these dozen players receded one by one.     

"Enough!" Bella clenched her chew and said, "Since you have gone to Border Town, you shouldn't have come back! May, do you think I don't know the reason why you went to that broken place? You went there not for the idiot Irene but for Morning—"     

WHACK!     

Her voice ended abruptly, and a bright red hand print appeared on her left cheek. Bella touched her face and said in disbelief, "You, how could you dare to slap, slap..."     

May realized that she was still impulsive and took a deep breath. This thing might bring her some trouble.     

As expected, two actors behind Bella stepped out and said, "Miss May, you've gone too far in doing this."     

"Don't you know the importance of appearance to a player? I think you have to apologize to her at least."     

Apologize? Isn't it to prove that she was wrong? May sneered in the heart. Even she was impulsive, she did not think that she needed to make an apology at all.     

She looked at the two greasy-headed men, and could not help thinking of what Carter Lannis had said.     

"Don't only look at men's strength, as they also have many weaknesses. The attack on their eyes and throat, also... on the place between their legs, will make them lose resistance instantly. As long as you have agility and reflexes, it is not impossible to knock down a man much stronger than you."     

Although she was not clear about how she had talked to him about this aspect, she had prepared to throw a leg kick, only waiting for the two to get closer...     

At this moment, as the lounge door was violently pushed open, a knight wearing a cavalry came in, followed by several warriors armed with long guns. When entering the room, they had the gun pointed at the crowd.     

"I heard that someone here slandered His Highness, and attempted to contemplate an unethical act on His Highness's crew?"     

May was shocked. She blinked her eyes and thought what she saw was an illusion. However, nothing changed. She even found the man smiling at her secretly—the knight before her eyes was exactly Carter Lannis.