“…” Irene looked at the Prince with big round eyes, unable to believe what she had just heard, without even bothering to ask whether he was making fun of her, she nodded excitedly, “Your Honored Highness, I would really like that!”
Standing on the stage has always been her dream, but after leaving the theater in Longsong Stronghold, she knew that she might never again get the chance to play in a theater. But in front of Ferlin, she had never expressed this regret. Instead, she had buried her desire deep within her heart. But on this day, she unexpectedly got the chance to return to the stage. What more could she hope for?
“These plays will be performed for the masses to see, so my request from the actors won’t be high, it will be enough as long as they can deliver the story clearly. Maybe you have some friends in the theater of Longsong Stronghold who would also fulfill the conditions, who would want to go on stage, but never had the chance? If you could write a letter to them, telling them that we will have a performance each weekend and that the payment will be the same as for the stronghold’s theater.”
“I know a lot of them,” Irene said happy, “I’ll write to them the moment I go back home, I think they’ll be happy to get the chance to come and perform in Border Town!”
“All right,” Roland handed three books to her, “These are the scripts, they each have a number on their cover. Your performance will start with the first story. The content of it has been revised by Scrolls, and it should be very in line with the life of normal people. You can take these books back with you and read through them carefully. If there is something you do not understand, you can come to Scroll and ask.”
“Yes, Your Highness, thank you!” Irene bowed.
…
“Was that all right?” Scrolls later asked, “Do you think that all of those stories should really appear?”
“What is your concern? Do you believe that in their eyes, the Prince could never write such vulgar stuff.” Roland stretched his body, “And without your last modified polishing, the script could never have been completed in such a short period of time.”
“I do not think the story is too vulgar,” Scrolls shook her head. “Although I do not know why you know so clearly about this, these are topics that concern the people. They are quite touching and thought-provoking, so the show will definitely be very popular.”
Of course, they will be popular, Roland thought, the first two scripts were modified versions of “Cinderella” and “The Rooster Crows at Midnight”, and had already been well-tested by the audience. The former describes a touching love story between a civilian and a member of the royal family, while the latter was about people of the lowest rank and their struggles against the unscrupulous landlord.
Of course, he had adapted them to the local conditions, such as changing the good fairy in Cinderella into a witch, and the landlord in The Rooster Crows at Midnight also become a fierce little aristocrat. Roland intended to achieve a far-reaching and long-lasting impact with his first two plays before he could release his third work, “The Diary of a Witch”, which was his true purpose.
This script had been completely written by him. It told the story of three children who all became witches, but each of their lives went in completely different directions. Instead of directly referring to the Church, he focused his attention on the fateful journey of these three girls: one girl had been abandoned by her parents, another girl had become a tool for others, and the last one was lucky and had parents who still loved her, and then gave their own life to protect their daughter.
Eventually, the three women would meet with each other by chance, help each other to prevail over those who want to sentence them to death, and would try to blend in with the ordinary people to find their own happiness.
Roland intended to make the Diary of a Witch into a series, and with the help of the three views, he would reshape how the outside world would look at witches. With the twists and turns of the touching drama, imparting in them the thought that any of their relatives could become a witch, and it had nothing at all to do with the Devil.
Chapter 173 Irene’s wish
When the two of them had returned home, Ferlin shook his head and reluctantly asked, “Couldn’t you have told His Highness that you would need a few days to consider the offer and before you could give an answer?”
On the way home, it had seemed that she was dancing rather than just merely walking. I’m afraid to say that the last time I’ve seen her so happy, was on the day of our wedding.
“That just wouldn’t do,” Irene stuck out her tongue, “Doing that would make it impossible for me to fall asleep at night.”
That was the way she was, her love for the theater was so strong that she could often be seen practicing her lines at the stronghold’s theater even during midnight. If it hadn’t been for the Duke, she could have already turned from the flower of the theater not only in name but also in reality, into star of the show. theater. Thinking about this, he hugged his wife from behind and whispered into her ear, “I’m sorry, dear.”
“…” Irene patted his head comfortingly, “It wasn’t your fault, he transferred you to other cities, there was no way you could have stopped him.” Softly laughingly she continued, “If you want to waste your time apologizing, you should go into the kitchen and cook something, I would like to take a look at the scripts before anything else.”
“That’s alright, I’ll do it.” Ferlin gently kissed her earlobe, “I’m going to make meat porridge, fried eggs, and a sausage to celebrate.”
In many ways the new home had been furnished differently compared to their old home. For example, the cooking stoves, in Longsong Stronghold, whether it were the aristocrats or the civilians, would all have an open stove in their main living room, while in their new home, they had a separate room for the oven.
The stove was surrounded by walls on three sides, with the backside of the stove directly connecting to the chimney. The intersection was even provided with a baffle plate which could be shifted horizontally, and when it was not needed anymore could then be closed, preventing the smoke from the other tenants from coming out of their stove.
Ferlin could easily think of several advantages with the new design, for example after closing the door, the living room also wouldn’t be affected by the cooking fume or scent, and during the summer the stove also wouldn’t increase the indoor temperature any further.
After filling it with firewood and wood chips, the flames soon started to rise, and he could now fully start concentrating on making tonight’s dishes.
After having dinner, Irene continued delving into the scripts and she was only able to put the third book aside after the candle had reached its end.
“How are they?” Ferlin couldn’t help himself, he had to know how good the scripts were, after all, she had spent so much of her time reading them. Previous when she had still worked in the theater, she would read ten books just as thick as these in just half a day.
“Honestly… it is hard to describe,” Irene exclaimed in admiration. “All of the books are full of new ideas, I have never read these kinds of stories before. For example, in ‘Cinderella’, the prince isn’t in love with another princess, but instead he falls in love with a beautiful peasant girl. Yet this is not the most surprising part, what is surprising is that he insisted even until the very end to take the peasant girl as his wife.
“I even got to the point where I started to think, maybe the Prince has never read this story himself, if that is not so shouldn’t the incredible odd content of the improbable couple be giving birth to dissatisfaction in his heart? Despite that, the whole story was completely exciting. I could not help wanting to applaud when the Prince finally found Cinderella again, and then slipped the crystal shoe onto her feet.