Although the situation was quite tragic for the prince, the audience couldn’t help but laugh when the comically large frog jumped all over the place as he desperately tried to avoid the sharp pikes of the soldiers.
Moreover, although they were supposed to be just acting, the ‘soldiers’ really seemed to be trying their best to be ‘realistic’, and Emilia couldn’t help but worry for Randy. ‘Is he going to be okay? Even if they’re blunted, it won’t feel good to be hit by those things, right?’
Fortunately, the script didn’t really call for the soldiers to skewer the frog, and they soon calmed down and realized that the frog couldn’t just talk, but also had valuable information.
Perhaps he was too scared for his life, so the prince just honestly confessed everything and didn’t complain about almost being killed. “Y-You must let the King know as soon as possible, or I fear it might be too late!”
The curtains closed, but this time they didn’t reopen immediately, and Penny rushed to her in a hurry instead, looking panicked. “P-Princess, c-can you come with me for a moment?”
Emilia blinked a little in surprise, but just nodded and decided to follow the petite girl, giving Dixie an assuring nod to let her stay put. “I’ll call if you needed, don’t worry.”
Emilia noticed that the curtains had opened again at this time, and the play seemed to have resumed at the king’s castle, where a knight was informing him of his daughter’s news.
She couldn’t help but sigh. ‘Pity I’ll miss it…’
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Looking at the girl shivering in ‘distress’ as she buried her face in her embrace, Emilia couldn’t help but pat Penny’s head in both consolation and worry. “Calm down, Penny, tell me what’s wrong? If you cry, it’ll make me sad.”
How could she know that Penny was only taking deep whiffs of her fragrance while enjoying the tender valley of heaven to its fullest?
’There really is nothing quite like this… ahh… no matter what punishment awaits me in the future, it’s all worth it!’
But of course, she couldn’t let her princess worry too much, so Penny quickly resumed from her previous ‘state’. “N-Nothing’s wrong with me, princess, b-but there’s trouble with the play!”
After Emilia nodded and motioned her to continue, the petite blonde turned her head to the room’s entrance. “You all can come in now and explain it to the princess yourself!”
The door opened, and Emilia couldn’t help but blink in surprise when the actresses who had been playing the princess and the witch both walked in shyly.
”H-Hi!”
”H-Hello…”
Up close, Emilia confirmed that the ‘princess’ of the play really had been Hazel, and although the girl seemed to be walking a little strange, the crimson-haired girl just smiled, putting it off as discomfort with the costume. “The two of you look really good on the stage, and so talented too!”
Of course, she thought that Hazel would have looked even better in her role without all the makeup and the wig, but Emilia didn’t mention it since it didn’t matter at this point, and would only make them feel bad.
Seeing the two of them blush and stutter as they tried to be humble, Emilia couldn’t help but giggle. “Speaking of which, Hazel… You really managed to prepare for all of this so well while still going through my training, huh? As expected of a top student, so hardworking!”
Of course, although Hazel was a top ‘senior’, she was still slightly worse than her little genius, Crystal. But Emilia naturally wouldn’t say such a thing out loud to such a sensitive-looking girl.
Hazel covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. “T-Thank you, and a-actually… t-that’s the thing we need your help with, princess. I-I can’t continue the play, a-and we don’t have any substitutes!”
Emilia frowned. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
She couldn’t help but be a little confused. ‘How come I never noticed any accidents on stage? Was I not paying attention?’
Hazel rubbed her nose in embarrassment. “I-I sprained my ankle after the last scene, and there are quite a few scenes ahead that need me to move around a lot, a-and I really can’t…”
Seeing Emilia step forward and kneel down to examine her ankle, the dark-skinned girl couldn’t help but panic. “W-Wait, n-no, y-you don’t need to—!”
Of course, Emilia was having none of it, but even after looking very carefully and feeling the girl’s ankle with her nimble fingers for a while, she couldn’t tell what was wrong at all. “Tell me where it hurts?”
Fortunately, even Emilia couldn’t see how heavily the dark-skinned girl was blushing through her thick makeup. “I-I’ll go get it checked out later, princess, b-but first we have to do something about the show!”
’Princess touched my ankle with her soft little fingertips, ahhh!’ But the more she thought about it, the more Hazel lamented having taken the oath of ‘always maintaining their hygiene to the best of their abilities’.
Of course, the commander couldn’t be blamed, since she mentioned it was a request from the princess.
Seeing how her companion seemed to have lost her ability to speak after the crimson-haired beauty touched her, the ‘little witch’ coughed. “That’s right! Please, Emilia, I’ve worked really hard on this, and you’re the only one who can play this role now!”
Emilia tilted her head curiously. “Oh?”
The ‘little witch’ gulped. ‘Holy fuck… she really is fucking adorable up close! How lame that I can’t see her after graduating, no wait, focus! I’ve prepared for this play for six months, I can’t lose it now!’
The shorter girl took a deep breath before nodding enthusiastically. “Yes, yes, the character is all based on you, so it won’t be hard, and the others will improvise as needed! Just take a look at the script and try to remember what you can, oh—!”
Emilia obviously realized that this ‘little witch’ was actually a senior, and was also the one ‘directing’ this whole show, and she couldn’t help but giggle. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had it all planned out.”
If it were limited to just her name and mannerisms, the crimson-haired girl naturally wouldn’t think about it so much. But why would Hazel need to wear a crimson wig, blue contact lenses, and even have her skin tone changed to a fair color?
Since the girl was already quite beautiful and wouldn’t look out of place in the role of a princess, Emilia could only think of it as a deliberate setup, the cause of which was now clear.
The ‘little witch’ froze, and none of the other two dared to refute her either as they alternated between biting their lips and gulping nervously, as if waiting for punishment.
Emilia couldn’t help but ruffle the dark hair of the ‘little witch’ with a smile. “Why do you look like a criminal? I actually don’t mind it so much. It’s just, in the future, you don’t have to be so shy when you just want to play with me, you know?”
Seeing the three of them breathe a sigh of relief, the crimson-haired girl giggled. “Plus, as it just so happens… I have a few ideas for a fun ‘game’ myself, if you’ll let me add a few minor details to your script, wanna hear it?”
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