Somehow, word got around. The entire class had heard that Wuli was going to play the female lead.
Of course, that was something for Wuli to worry about. Diane, on the other hand, wasn’t worried in the slightest. She was actually quite happy about it.
Because Wuli was playing the female lead, a whole crowd of people suddenly wanted to audition for the male lead. The role had become unexpectedly popular. The problem was… who should be chosen?
Diane’s eyes shifted and landed on the black-haired young man.
If they were judging purely by looks, then when it came to the male lead, there really wasn’t anyone more suitable than Glenn.
But…
The First Prince might not have any acting ability, and he certainly wasn’t someone easy to deal with. Better forget it.
Just as Diane was about to give up on the idea, Glenn’s dark red eyes met hers. After flashing her a harmless smile, he walked over.
“Hello, Miss Diane.”
Diane: “?!”
“Have you chosen someone for the male lead of your play yet?”
Diane stammered, “N-No… not yet.”
“Then may I play the male lead?”
“…”
Although he had phrased it as a request, the truth was that once Glenn had spoken those words, there was basically no room left to refuse.
A troubled look appeared on Diane’s face.
Although, based on looks alone, the First Prince was undoubtedly the perfect choice for the male lead, but, but!
The male lead was the role that required the most acting and communication skills. It was the role that needed the most coaching and guidance. And the First Prince seemed… not particularly easy to get along with.
And, more importantly!
The male lead was a servant!!
Diane coughed twice. “Your Highness, why don’t I let you read the script first? You can think it over carefully afterward. There’s no rush.”
Glenn replied immediately, “That’s not necessary.”
Diane: “…”
“I think it is…” After all, the male lead was a servant.
Under the black-haired young man’s peculiar gaze, Diane handed him the script.
Glenn skimmed through it quickly, but suddenly paused when he reached a certain page.
Diane: !
That’s right, that’s right!
The male lead was a servant!!
Diane said, “If you’re unwilling, we can always consider someone else…”
Her gaze shifted and landed on the page beneath Glenn’s fingertips.
That line…
— The noble princess grasped the servant’s hand, her eyes filled with pleading. “I love you, dear Karan. Let’s run away together. Let’s go somewhere no one can find us.”
— “There, I won’t be a princess, and you won’t be a servant. We’ll be together forever and never be separated again. No one will ever tear us apart.”
— “…”
‘We’ll be together forever and never be separated… We’ll be together forever and never be separated… We’ll…’
“It’s quite well written,” Glenn said as he handed the script back to Diane. “If possible, I’d still like to play the male lead.”
Diane: “…”
She finally understood.
His Highness the First Prince wasn’t here for the role at all.
He was here for the female lead!!!
Under the pressure of Glenn’s gaze, Diane hurriedly replied, “A-Alright… I understand.”
After Glenn left, Wuli happened to return from the restroom. Both of them looked perfectly normal, and she didn’t notice anything unusual.
That normalcy lasted right up until the first official rehearsal.
Inside the auditorium, Wuli arrived just on time.
“I’m not the last one here, am I?”
“…”
The black-haired young man was chatting with someone nearby. He still wore that casual, careless smile, while the person beside him was talking about something else entirely. Only when Wuli arrived did he slowly turn his eyes toward her.
“Hm? Our leading lady has arrived,” the young man beside him teased.
Hearing the voice, Wuli turned her gaze in that direction.
“We meet again,” he said with a cheerful smile. “I’m Xilin, son of Prince Aipal and Glenn’s cousin.”
He was the one who had stood beside Glenn at the ball and told her to go to the rooftop.
Wuli recognized him immediately, and a trace of coldness flashed through her eyes.
She had thought that after that incident, Glenn would have no further contact with her.
Apparently, that wasn’t the case.
In the game, the person who ultimately played the male lead had indeed been Glenn.
So Glenn’s appearance here now most likely meant that he intended to play the male lead.
Wuli was suddenly at a loss for words.
“Ah Wu!” Diane laughed as she threw herself at her. “It’s all thanks to you! His Highness agreed to play the male lead.”
The force of the embrace pushed Wuli half a step forward. She froze for a few seconds, and there was no trace of a smile in her eyes.
Seeing her expression, Xilin inwardly let out a silent oh-ho before turning to look at his cousin.
The black-haired young man’s gaze rested lightly on Wuli. The smile on his face deepened with an almost unfathomable quality.
This eldest daughter of the Sinclair family was something else.
How many days had it been since the ball?
Yet she had already tested Glenn’s patience so many times. More astonishingly, his cousin’s patience seemed to have entered a Schrödinger-like state because of this young woman.
Wuli felt a headache coming on from her own thoughts.
Even after all this, she still couldn’t escape the male lead?
Diane, unaware of the history between the two of them, cheerfully called out, “Since everyone’s here, let’s do a full run-through first and see if anything needs changing.”
Under everyone’s gaze, Wuli swallowed her discomfort and nodded.
“Alright.”
Everyone moved into position.
*
Once upon a time, on a beautiful continent, there was a princess who was adored by all.
Everyone loved her.
The people loved her.
The Emperor loved her.
The Empress loved her.
And yet, she fell in love with someone she should never have loved.
The male lead made his entrance.
The moment the spotlight fell upon him, the white-haired girl turned toward him. Her eyes brimmed with tender affection. Ripples stirred within her pale blue gaze like an unsettled lake, while the love she could no longer contain threatened to drown anyone who looked into it.
The moment the black-haired young man saw the look in Wuli’s eyes, a gentle smile curved his lips.
Stopping an arm’s length away from her, he bowed respectfully.
“Your Highness.”
The people around them swallowed nervously.
Good heavens!
Having a prince play a servant somehow felt… indescribable.
And he was even calling Wuli “Your Highness.”
It was strangely bizarre, yet oddly fitting at the same time.
Once Wuli immersed herself in a role, she was rarely affected by the people around her. Her gaze never left the black-haired young man for even a moment. When Glenn stepped closer, a faint smile even appeared on her lips.
— The noble princess grasped the servant’s hand, her eyes filled with pleading. “I love you, dear Karan. Let’s run away together. Let’s go somewhere no one can find us.”
— “There, I won’t be a princess, and you won’t be a servant. We’ll be together forever and never be separated again. No one will ever tear us apart.”
After the supporting characters exited the stage, Wuli followed the script and took hold of Glenn’s hand.
Tension filled her expression as she pleaded softly.
“I love you.”
Glenn’s pupils contracted sharply.
Almost instinctively, he closed his hand around hers in return.
Pain shot through Wuli’s hand, but her expression never changed as she continued her lines.
“My dear Karan, let’s run away together. Let’s go somewhere no one can find us.”
“There, I won’t be a princess, and you won’t be a servant. We’ll be together forever and never be separated again. No one will ever tear us apart.”
Wuli’s acting was simply extraordinary.
Everyone around them found themselves drawn into the scene, feeling the agony of a princess trapped in an unattainable love. For a moment, the surroundings fell completely silent as everyone waited for the male lead’s response.
After half a second of silence, Glenn let out a soft sigh.
It carried the contradiction of countless helpless reservations and a willingness to indulge her despite them.
The black-haired young man slowly bent forward.
Lifting her hand, he lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss a mere centimeter away from her skin.
Following the script, he answered, word by word, his voice low and deliberate:
“My princess, I am willing to do anything.”
The second act came to an end.
Below the stage, quite a few people had stars in their eyes.
“They’re both so good,” one of the actors standing beside Diane couldn’t help saying.
“As expected of the cast I picked.” Diane spoke proudly.
When Glenn performed the hand-kiss gesture, a wave of gasps rippled through the crowd, followed by excited murmurs.
“Your script is incredible. You actually got His Highness the First Prince to perform a hand-kiss for Miss Sinclair.”
“Did you see His Highness’s expression? My whole body went weak. I’m a man and even I couldn’t handle it.”
Diane laughed along with everyone else.
Then, after that scene had passed, she lowered her head and glanced at the script in her hands.
After checking it several times, understanding dawned on her.
That part wasn’t in the script.
‘As expected, he came for the female lead.’
Diane clicked her tongue inwardly.
Onstage, upon hearing those words, the tension around the white-haired girl melted into calm.
She looked at him with both happiness and sorrow.
Toward the person she loved, she possessed endless tenderness.
Because of that, even while trapped in suffering, she still found boundless hope in that love.
“Alright.”
“Those words are enough for me.”
…
After arranging a few stage movements and making some adjustments to the dialogue, the rehearsal was more or less finished.
The moment Wuli stepped out of character, she didn’t give Glenn so much as a glance.
Glenn understood perfectly well himself that a play was just a play. As such, he didn’t make any special move either. After greeting everyone, he left with Xilin.
That evening, Wuli finally returned to the Duke’s Residence.
The entire residence was bustling with activity. When they saw her return, a maid stepped forward respectfully and asked whether she had eaten yet.
Wuli answered that she hadn’t.
“Why are you back so late today?”
The moment she sat down, Shuen lifted his eyes and looked at her quietly.
Blinking, Wuli answered honestly, “Our class is putting on a play for the Academy Anniversary Celebration, so I came back a little late.”
The white-haired girl wasn’t lying.
Shuen’s expression remained indifferent, as though he wasn’t particularly interested in such matters. Yet he didn’t let the topic drop.
Wuli stood obediently beside the white-haired young man, silently praying that the maid would hurry up and call her to dinner so she could escape as soon as possible.
The white-haired young man glanced at her.
There was indifference in his eyes, but also a subtle sense of pressure.
“You’re playing the lead role?”
Wuli froze for a second.
She hadn’t expected Shuen to care about something like this.
And if he dug any deeper, things could become troublesome.
After all, the male lead was Glenn.
The two male leads were destined to be like fire and water.
Though that was a matter for the future.
Meeting his gaze with a trace of scrutiny, the white-haired girl answered, “Yes.”
Then innocence flickered across her eyes.
She smiled cautiously at the white-haired young man.
“Brother, will you come to the Academy Anniversary Celebration?”
‘You’d better not.’
The corners of Shuen’s lips curved slightly upward.
A faint glimmer appeared in his otherwise cold eyes.
Slowly, he replied, “My little sister’s performance? Of course I’ll be there.”
Wuli: “…”