Chapter 2187: Backstage

Luwia and Dorothy naturally stood up too. They both heard the words of praise spoken by the people around them, and Luwia was not stingy with her own praise, but her praise was not sent to the actors, but to Dorothy:

"It both displayed the unity of the royal family members and expressed the King's kindness and approachability, while also quietly inserting some warnings, warning the girls to look for the right man... How did you think of this?"

Although Dorothy was smiling, she was not proud:

"Come on, Luwia, the story of this opera is truly boring to the extreme, and the story's direction and ending are also truly vulgar. Even when I was still in school, I hadn't written a script like this, which is like trash thrown away on the street. I just handed in a regular answer according to someone else's proposition; there is nothing worth praising. However... it seems that for this year's Kingdom Literature Award, I finally have a chance to strive for an award other than popular literature."

Luwia was noncommittal, and the writer miss watched the actors on the stage appear together, letting reporters take photos and take group photos with the King. She suddenly turned her head and asked Luwia:

"In a while, we and Xia De... are going to read the handwritten copy of 'Summer Night Collection.' Do you want to come together? Don't be polite with us; we are all one family."

The purple-eyed girl raised her eyebrows, but shook her head with a smile:

"I won't disturb you; this is your time. Have fun... Did you bring the leaves?"

Dorothy smiled with a blushing face:

"Of course I brought them."

The opera that served as the opening of the banquet finally ended officially after everyone's group photo. If there were no accidents, the front-page headline of tomorrow morning's newspaper should be this photo. His Majesty the King was going to say a few words as usual to thank everyone for attending his birthday banquet, and at the same time, the people who had just performed in the opera had returned to the backstage to remove their makeup and change back into their original clothes.

Even the princesses had to change clothes. Although that costume was beautiful, it was not decent to attend the banquet wearing such clothes. Xia De naturally also had to take off that robe covered with glowing little sequins; he highly suspected that this piece of clothing was designed by Dorothy based on a "glowing silver dragon."

He did not wear makeup, so he just had to take off the clothes and change back into formal wear and shoes. Rixia specially sent two maids to help Xia De, but compared to smoothing out the wrinkles on the clothes or reminding Xia De that his tie was a bit crooked, their more important role was to lead Xia De, who had changed his clothes, to Rixia's dressing room, rather than letting Xia De run around everywhere.

Although it was adjacent to Yodel Palace, and there was even an internal passage connecting the two, St. James Palace was not strictly part of the Yodel Palace building complex. This was a place specially used by the royal family to hold banquets, so the internal area was extremely large. Even for a major occasion like the King's birthday, it was impossible to utilize every corner.

Also because there were many empty rooms, Rixia could have a separate dressing room. When Xia De walked in, Rixia was standing in front of a full-length mirror, letting the maids remove the crinoline of that heavy long skirt. Although Rixia would likely not wear this dress again, expensive formal wear also had to be carefully preserved, so they dismantled it very slowly.

Besides Rixia, Dorothy was actually here too. However, the writer miss was just sitting in front of the dressing mirror, applying makeup to herself in the mirror. Seeing Xia De walk in, Rixia waved her hand to let the irrelevant maids go out, leaving only those who were trustworthy.

Dorothy said while drawing her eyebrows for herself:

"Luwia is outside now, listening to the King's speech with Galina. Calculating the time, it should be about the topic of the difficult situation and hoping that everyone will tide over the difficulties together in the second half of 1854."

Xia De sat down beside her, but did not look at her in the dressing mirror, but instead looked at Rixia. So Her Highness the Princess spread her arms and wantonly displayed her figure:

"Dorothy, evaluate how we performed?"

Dorothy was still concentrating on applying makeup:

"Very good, better than I thought. Is there really no acting in the educational courses of the princesses of the Cavendish family?"

"Of course not, but we have to learn dance, music, and at least one musical instrument. As for acting, this is the talent of the Cavendishes."

Saying this, Rixia also praised Xia De:

"Knight, your lines were truly spoken well. That sentence 'What do you want with me' when you opened your mouth scared even me. Truly good, very majestic. When we went off stage just now, my younger sisters were still praising you."

Xia De smiled, deciding to tell them later that he had used the effect of the Ringed Shushi.

And the maids finally dismantled the crinoline at this time. After placing it well, they helped Her Highness the Princess take off the skirt and change into the blue-and-white dress that was being displayed on the skirt rack nearby.

They did not stop their work because Xia De was watching Rixia. Rixia's personal maid naturally knew the unique relationship between this famous "Hamilton of Lei Jiede" and the princess.

"If you didn't let me wear such strange clothes, I would probably be very satisfied too."

Xia De said again, and then attracted dissatisfaction from Dorothy beside him:

"Oh, are you dissatisfied with the clothes I picked?"

"Oh, Dorothy, a conservative and old-fashioned person like Xia De certainly can't stand such trendy clothing."

Rixia also joked, but immediately asked again:

"How is it, did you gain anything from this extracurricular practice? You don't need to write the report, but you have to report to us orally."

So Xia De sat up straight:

"The changes in ancient prototype stories are all adapting to the changes in the times and customs. People will always describe and adapt those stories in a way that they can understand and that satisfies the thoughts they want to express. Therefore, comparing different versions of fairy tales is actually comparing different eras."

He paused to organize his wording:

"For the fairy tale 'The Little Mermaid Princess,' the version Dorothy adapted into an opera is clearly catering to the preferences of King Laris III. Therefore, she did not modify most of the content of the original fairy tale, but added plot twists to reverse the tragedy, thereby highlighting the mutual care within the royal family, to weaken the King's strictness and majesty in people's impressions, and enhance the King's benevolence and responsibility to the family."

He paused again:

"There is actually nothing to say about the version Dorothy adapted; I think it won't be long before people forget the content of this opera. And those fairy tales that can be passed down for a long time have the characteristic of emotional and value resonance for a longer time, besides being close to the era in which they were adapted."

"The content of the first version of 'The Little Mermaid Princess' is no longer verifiable, and although the mainstream versions currently are all tragic endings, all are sad for the ending of the mermaid princess, and all are trying to warn girls not to be blinded by love, but..."

"Say what you want to say, speak freely."

Dorothy encouraged, so Xia De summarized:

"Perhaps some people disagree with my point of view, but in fact, people regret the mermaid princess's approach, yet praise her persistence for love. Some girls will think that praising a story of giving up one's life for love is actually a means for men to try to subtly tame young girls. But I think on the mermaid princess who finally turned into bubbles in the sun, that kind of persistence to use any means to achieve one's wish is also worth learning and drawing lessons from."

"Well said."

Rixia applauded softly, and the maid helped comb her hair behind her. Different gown skirts had to be matched with different hairstyles, so she had to re-apply makeup. Green eyes stared at Xia De, her face carrying full smiles:

"Although I know you are very talented, isn't it a bit too exaggerated that you can say so many sentences just after thinking for a second or two? If I didn't know your learning situation, I would even think that you had undergone long and boring reading comprehension training before."

This sentence originally had nothing, but the outlander still sighed in his heart:

"This is what you taught well."

"Look, Dorothy, he is truly good at talking."

The matter of going to see the handwritten copy of "Summer Night Collection" together was not urgent; after all, Rixia could not stay away from the banquet for the whole night. Therefore, after changing clothes, the princess and the writer miss returned to the banquet hall with Xia De.

Wang Hou Diana, who was seven months pregnant, also came here, but she was going to leave after just showing her face. Taking advantage of the fact that Wang Hou Diana had not yet left, Rixia joined Ajelina, who had changed her clothes, and then walked over with Xia De and Dorothy. But even if Rixia and Ajelina approached, they had to wait for the Wang Hou's maids to check before they could come to her.

Looking at her two daughters, the Wang Hou, who was now inconvenient to walk, held their hands separately. She didn't say much to Rixia, but she felt quite sorry for her youngest daughter:

"Really, your father insisted on you going to another place to recuperate for a while. It's just a headache; it's not like there are no famous doctors in Tobesk, so how could he arrange for you to go to such a far place?"

The Wang Hou naturally also knew about the Ringed Shushis, and even knew that Rixia had gone to a mysterious place to study in order to learn those skills. But His Majesty the King had no intention of letting out the relationship that the Cavendish family had cooperated with the Zaras Academy for generations, and coupled with the concern that the Wang Hou was pregnant and afraid that she would worry, he did not say what Ajelina was actually going to do this time.

"Mother..."

Ajelina, whose eyes were a bit red, said softly, and opened her arms to hug her gently. Recently, even the princesses found it difficult to be alone with Wang Hou Diana. Approaching childbirth, Laris III was cautious, even though he already had enough offspring to rehearse a large-scale opera. As for the fact that the Wang Hou was pregnant with twins, the doctor had also diagnosed it. Of course, the only ones who knew it was two boys were Xia De and Rixia and the others. ===== CHAPTER 2188 =====