Throne Steps

The auditorium of the Pesa Center was packed.

On the stage, only the "Prince" and "Swan Princess" were exchanging their hearts, and the orchestra played a soft accompaniment, but the backstage was full of activity.The group dancers squeezed into the temporary dressing room, changed into prom outfits, and arranged makeup for each other; the set group was behind the side curtains on the second and third floors, reporting the number in groups to ensure that the parts were in place in time; the process leaders were scattered in each aisle, Monitor the situation on site in real time, and stop passing students from time to time to check the props.

Li Chen came to the edge of the first side curtain, and the person in charge of the first curtain heaved a sigh of relief when he saw him, and dragged him to the side of the curtain.

The white swan and the prince agreed to be engaged, and they withdrew from both sides of the stage. The "Necromancer" emerged from the deep shadows like a ghost, telling his plan of destruction while walking to the front of the stage.The first curtain was closed behind him, covered with colored paper, the set of the forest tower.

The "Necromancer" moved to the left, flipped off the huge dark cloak and turned around, the staff tapped twice on the stage board: "My dear Rapunzel!"

"Rapunzel" stepped out through the opening of the opening cloth, "she" did not speak, but glanced at "Necromancer", and stood aside with lowered eyes.The curtain and the "Necromancer" made the stage dim, and she was dressed in a light green dress like the only light in the darkness, so soft that she seemed to be swallowed at any time.

"Dear Rapunzel." The Necromancer approached her, "I've brought back a beautiful story, do you want to hear it?"

"Do not."

"No?" "Necromancer" was only half a meter away from her, "This is a true story, you don't know how wonderful and delightful it is."

"Rapunzel" raised his head slightly, and cast his eyes into the void: "I pity this world, it must be a disaster that will make you happy; I pity myself even more, trapped in this tower all day, only sad news will bring you happiness." Pass it here."

"I pity you too." "Necromancer" raised his staff, and the handle hooked "Rapunzel"'s chin, forcing her to turn her head. "Poor Rapunzel, the prince is going to be engaged to that swan."

"Rapunzel" was taken aback for a moment, as if she hadn't reacted, but she replied the next moment: "Impossible."

Her voice was calm and cold, as if she had heard a bad joke.But the "Necromancer" didn't give her a chance to escape. He even had a mocking smile in his tone: "Why is it impossible? The prince met the princess by the lake. The beauty made him dizzy, and his life experience made him feel pity. .”

"Rapunzel" pushed away the staff, and her raised voice revealed her shock: "This is impossible!"

"Hahaha, my dear Rapunzel!" "Necromancer" laughed, "I grant you permission to go to the royal court tomorrow night. You will stand in the crowd and watch your beloved prince change his mind and announce that he will Marry another man!"

"Rapunzel" covered his face and let out a wail: "He said he would marry me!"

"Poor girl—" "Necromancer" stood behind "Rapunzel" and stared at her like a devil in the dark, "Your family abandoned you so that you never understood family affection; your friends betrayed you." You make you hate friendship; your lover forgets you and makes you lose love forever!"

Rapunzel screamed, "Shut up!"

"Dear Rapunzel—" "Necromancer" stuck to her ear, the darkness swallowed the soft light little by little, "tomorrow night, the royal court will be brightly lit, the prince will hold the princess' hand, and everyone will toast , I wish their love will always be as beautiful as fine wine..."

"except me!"

"Rapunzel" put down his hand quickly, his voice was cold and mocking.The music gradually rises, the melody is heavy and depressing, and the drum beats make the rhythm very obvious. "Necromancer" raised his cloak, his raised hands seemed to be manipulating the supports of a puppet, and "Rapunzel" danced slowly with his movements.

This dance first appeared when the princess and Rapunzel made friends and played. The light and joyful pas de deux conveyed the intimate friendship between the two; and the princess also used this dance when she met the prince, and the graceful movements showed that she was cursed. The girl's yearning for love; now, Rapunzel dances solo again, but not as smoothly as before.Her body seemed to be connected with silk threads, and her puppet-like movements were slow and stiff.Sometimes when she raised her head, her eyes were out of focus, and her expression was blank and indifferent.Even if you stay away from the necromancer occasionally, you will be pulled back immediately.She got closer and closer to him, and finally stuck to his cloak, clasped her hands over her heart, and closed her eyes.

The music stopped abruptly, and the hands of "Necromancer" dropped down, even the hands with "Rapunzel" fell down.The light green dress suddenly turned black as if it had been drenched in ink.

The black swan was born.

She opened her eyes, left the embrace of the "Necromancer", and walked down the stage with her head bowed.But after two steps, she stopped again, then raised her head, straightened her body, and walked down proudly and gracefully.

The curtain opened again with the end of the two, the music was exciting and people were buzzing, and the extreme excitement at the dance pulled the audience out of the loneliness of the black swan.The girls danced cheerfully together, which was in great contrast to the previous solo dance; the guests dressed in fancy dress were drinking and mingling with each other, laughing and laughing endlessly.

Off the stage, the principal, the principals, and teachers sat in the judges' seats, tapping their fingers to the rhythm from time to time.The back row of the judge's seat is called the "golden seat", and there are several people who are not familiar to the students.In the middle sat two girls under the age of 20. They looked very similar, and their luxurious clothes were also of the same style, but the colors were different.There were several young and middle-aged people sitting next to the two of them, who occasionally turned their heads to listen to the girl's words, but just nodded without answering.

In the seats next to the back row, there is the new man of the school year of Pesa - the youngest twin of Saenlich.They are still young, but they have learned to express their emotions with restraint.When the other audience exclaimed or praised, they just laughed or whispered to each other.In a certain seat two rows behind them, there was a young man with brown hair and brown eyes.He propped his elbows, his eyes fell on the stage, but he was a little lost in thought.

The witch Xiao En shrank at the edge of the back row, she stretched out her fingers and pointed slightly in the void: "Two princesses, two little devils, and a highness... really alive."

Shortly after the "Princesses of All Countries" danced, "Black Swan" appeared again.She changed into a short one-piece dress, and her makeup was heavier. The whole outfit was very similar to that of a white swan, except that one was white and the other was black.In the whole play, only she and the "Necromancer" are covered in black, so there is no mistake.

Not long after the black swan dance started, Sean noticed someone standing up in the front row.Curling her lips, she could only follow along.Although she had already seen the rehearsal, the majestic formal performance in full armor made her very addicted, and it was a pity to leave the stage early.

In the background, the president of the furnace is listening to his deputy's report.The show has come to a head and the end is drawing near, but they still have a lot of work to do.

"The booths at each exit are ready." Because of the noise at the scene, the deputy and the chairman got closer, "According to your instructions, [-]% of the set of three volumes, [-]% of the total volume of the first and second volumes, and the rest It's all book three."

The president nodded: "Have you stepped on the passage directly outside?"

"I stepped on it, and now there are people maintaining order." The deputy replied, "The person in charge of leading the way is also in place. They will go out as soon as they get off, and they won't be blocked."

Just as he was talking, the white swan hurried past surrounded by several students.It's not that she has a lot of ostentation, it's just that to ensure a smooth performance, Furnace has assigned special personnel for each leading role to be in charge of costumes, hair, makeup and props.The president and deputy took the initiative to give way to the girls, and turned around when they got to the edge of the stage.

But before the deputy continued to report, the president found a person who shouldn't be here.He walked over and grabbed the opponent's cloak: "Sean!"

"Oh, I was discovered." Sean raised his hood slightly, "You came just in time, and I have something to tell you."

The deputy was about to come over, but was signaled to back away by the president's slap.He and Sean chatted aside, waved their hands and shook their heads for a while, and walked back with a worried expression after a while.

"There will be no one to take Riggsella later, he won't go to the booth."

The deputy looked blank: "Huh?"

Li Chen came down from the stage, but he didn't see the agreed guide.He gave way to the actors on stage, stood by the curtain again, and decided to ask someone.

At this moment, a girl in a cloak jumped at him, grabbed his wrist and dragged him away.The students in Lu Yu thought it was the leader of the black swan, and gave way to them one after another.However, they did not go to the stalls in the main passage, but passed through the backstage and entered another corridor.

The corridor was very dim, and there was no one there, and the music from the performance echoed here.The doors of the rooms on both sides are staggered and opposite, which is the place where the auditorium was originally used for rest and storage.Because the actors of "The Tower and the Swan" needed to change their costumes quickly, a temporary dressing room was built on the side of the stage, and no one passed by here.

Li Chen was puzzled, but more helpless, he had already recognized the guide, and knew how lawless this guide was: "Where are you taking me, Sean?"

Xiao En didn't answer right away, he just unscrewed a room door abruptly, and then pushed Li Chen in: "Go in!"

Li Chen was staggered by her push, and when he stood still, the door slammed shut behind him.The room was pitch black, and you couldn't see your fingers, and the sound of music from the stage became faint.Li Chen slowly backed away to the door, tried to touch the door handle, but it seemed that he couldn't open it.

Sitting and waiting to die is definitely not Li Chen's style.Even though he was still wearing a costume, he was prepared just in case.He fumbled to untie the neckline, pulled out a chain, and followed the chain to the pendant below—a small square crystal.

Li Chen was about to take Fang Jing off, but suddenly felt something was wrong.

someone!

He reacted, but it was too late.The opponent seemed to be able to see in the dark, and as soon as he got close, he snatched Fang Jing away.Li Chen was startled, and tried to break away with his backhand, but the opponent was obviously several ranks higher than him, so after a few back and forth, he grabbed his hands and twisted them behind his back, pressing them against the door.

"who is it?"

The other party's laughter rang in Li Chen's ears, only a few breath sounds, but it made Li Chen's ears inexplicably itchy.

"you guess?"