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In the inner city area of the old king’s city, Kajen Fels was reading a script at his study inside his theatre.
After a while, the silence was broken by a round of warm applause from outside his study, which meant that a wonderful play had come to an end.
At this moment, he also finished reading the script.
He took off his glasses and rubbed his sore eyes, then he closed the script and placed it back on the shelf beside his desk.
The title of the story on the script’s cover page is
The Wolf Princess
.
This movie script was placed together with many other scripts from Neverwinter, including those such as
The Witches’ Story
,
New City
and
Dawn
. May had given them to him as a farewell present, which his students had regarded as making a mockery out of him. Surprisingly, Kajen Fels, a well-known playwright, had accepted all of the scripts and brought them back to his own theater. He placed them in the most convenient position on his bookshelf, and by now he had already read each of them several times.
In his view, all these scripts lacked an engaging plot as well as a vivid story-telling style. He reckoned that the writer must have been a beginner who was only able to write the story in a straightforward manner. However, he still kept reading these stories since he had nothing else to do at the moment.
He found himself unable to write a stage play anymore.
Whenever he picked up his quill, he would think of the scenes that he had seen in the magical movie.
Those images would somehow sneak into his mind and occupy his thoughts, making it difficult for him to envision a stage performance.
Someone who had tasted honey could hardly be satisfied with the sweetness of dew. That was how he felt now. Watching the magical movie was a really eye-opening experience for him. Unlike stage plays, the magical movie could show much more realistic scenes and can even present close-up images of the characters to its audiences. Such a mind-blowing experience had inspired him and given him many new ideas, but unfortunately, he had not acquired a chance to take part in a magical movie production.
But this discouraging fact did not stop him from thinking about the new techniques he had spotted in the magical movie.
Whenever he had an idea for a story, he would begin to wonder on how he was going to present it in a magical movie. He wanted to use close-up images of the characters’ smiling faces to show audiences how they felt when they met each other for the first time. For their separation, he wanted to show a bleak background that gradually widened. Such ideas kept coming to him continuously.
But none of these ideas were suitable for a stage play.
He became stuck and felt depressed.
Only by reading the scripts from Neverwinter could he temporarily forget about his troubles.
However, he was clear that reading them could not solve his problems.
But he had no choice at the moment. May had refused to disclose more details about the magical movie. The Administrative Office had not responded to his request. It seemed that Neverwinter had completely shut him out. Until he could find a different way to learn more about the magical movie, he knew that he would continue to suffer.
At this moment, his maid knocked on the door and said,
Mr. Fels, here are some letters for you.
While closing his eyes, he leaned back into his chair and said,
Put it outside, I’ll check them later.
Every time after a play, his students, such as Roentgen and Egrepo, would come to his study to discuss their performance with him and ask for his advice. He intended to take some rest before they arrived.
But… there’s a letter with Graycastle’s royal seal on the envelope. You told me that if it’s a letter from Neverwinter, I should give it to you imme—
Before the maid finished her sentence, Kajen suddenly opened the door.
Where is it?
The maid was startled and hurriedly handed a stack of letters to him. He quickly picked out the letter from Neverwinter and threw all the other letters back to the maid.
The next moment, he slammed the door upon the stunned maid and swiftly returned to his desk.
He opened the wax-sealed envelope and examined the letter.
To his great surprise, it was from the king!
Does the king finally know that we went to Neverwinter and wanted to perform a play for his coronation ceremony?
If I can directly contact the king, will I have a chance to know more about the magical movie?
Thrilled by the thought, he excitedly read the letter.
…
How many roses did you receive today?
Egrepo asked Roentgen as they walked together towards Kajen’s study.
About a dozen, I didn’t count them,
Roentgen replied as she shrugged.
I’ve received much fewer roses than before, but that’s alright. I don’t care.
Aha, if your admirers heard these words, their hearts would break,
Egrepo laughed and said.
It’s inevitable. We have smaller audiences for the plays ever since the king had sent over half of the nobles to the mines and made Neverwinter the new king’s city. But as long as this city still stands, things will gradually improve.
We’re lucky enough to receive flowers in the current situation,
Bernis muttered.
There were six toupes in the city, but now three of them have already become bankrupt. I hope that we won’t be the next one.
Alas, that war changed everything…
Roentgen sighed.
Ahem, ladies, we also need to see the benefits.
Egrepo cleared his throat and continued,
We’ve expanded rapidly after taking in the former members of the three disbanded troupes. We can survive regardless of who is the king. Come on, hold your chin up. Don’t look so frustrated because Mr. Fels is waiting for us.
Thinking about the drama master, everyone simultaneously nodded their heads and cheered up. After Kajen Troupe’s bitter return from Neverwinter, they all worked hard to improve themselves in trying to win honor for their teacher, Mr. Fels. They all hated May because she had refused to tell Mr. Fels how the magical movie was made and had even said that it was confidential.
Mr. Fels.
Egrepo opened the door of the study and then stood agape.
He found that Mr. Fels did not look normal.
He had expected that his teacher to be waiting for them comfortably in his chair as usual, but now he saw him listlessly standing by his desk.
Mr. Fels, is there something wrong?
Bernis asked with concern.
I have received a letter from Neverwinter. It’s from the king.
Kajen picked up the letter on the desk and said to them.
Here, take a look.
Is it… okay?
That’s alright. Read it.
Hearing that, Egrepo took the letter.
The people around him all leaned over to read it.
Seeing the excited look on their faces, Kajen discreetly sighed. He knew that they must have taken it as a letter of apology like what he had thought in the beginning. Just as he expected, his students were delighted to see the letter from the king and believed that the king must have already discovered and punished the person who had prevented Kajen Troupe from performing a play for the coronation ceremony.
However, the content of the letter was entirely beyond their expectations.
The king was forthcoming in answering questions about the magical movie. In the letter, he explicitly explained that it was made by a special instrument which was capable of recording images. His Majesty also said that he could not provide this instrument for another troupe since it was extremely rare. According to the letter, this instrument could only be made and operated by witches and was made of some rare materials from an ancient relic.
At present, we need to mobilize all the resources in all the regions of Graycastle for the imminent battle. Given the unique viewing experience and the great disseminating effect of magical movies, both of which I think you’ve already witnessed in ‘the Wolf Princess’, I’ve decided to let these movies play an important part in spreading information and awareness for the war effort. It’s regrettable that at present, I can’t afford to use the instrument to shoot other movies that are not directly related to national policies.
But please rest assured as this situation is only temporary. After the war, when Graycasle returns to peacetime, magical movies will gradually become a popular art form and everyone will be able to shoot such a movie one day. When the time comes, I believe you and your troupe will produce an outstanding movie.
Kajen could accept this explanation about the magical movie.
But he still felt heart-broken after reading the letter.
This was because he knew from the letter that it was the king himself who had turned down Kajen Troupe’s offer to perform a play for the coronation ceremony.
He felt hurt.
It turned out that from the very beginning it had only been his own wishful thinking to perform for the king.
Considering that such a well-prepared play had failed to garner favorable attention from the king, Kajen believed His Majesty was just being nice to compliment his troupe in the letter.
He felt regretful for being so full of himself and for unjustly blaming May.
