Chapter 91: The Best Natasha
The curtain rose, and the actors took the stage.
The first scene began with preparations for Natasha's upcoming sixteenth birthday banquet.
As servants bustled about the castle, a young girl stood center stage, her back to the audience, surrounded by four middle-aged maids. She sighed, visibly irritated.
“Miss Natasha, just one more. Once you put on this dress, you'll be the most dazzling rose in the entire kingdom.”
She offered no reply, seemingly resigned to a life bound by rules. Apart from her helpless sighs, she remained silent.
“Susan, is Miss Natasha's gown ready? Madam is already urging us—”
“It's done!”
With the final petticoat draped over her, the maids surrounding the girl finally stepped back.
“Miss, you look absolutely stunning today!”
Amidst the maids' exclamations, the impatient Natasha lifted her heavy skirt and slowly turned around.
At that moment, the true visage of young Natasha was revealed to all.
“Ah—”
Her ebony hair flowed like polished wood, her porcelain skin was flawless, and her features were exquisitely sculpted, as if by divine hands.
The rose-colored gown accentuated her beauty, leaving everyone present, including the audience, thunderstruck and unable to avert their gaze.
“She actually—...—is truly—Janna!?”
Unlike the audience's collective gasp, Vivian found the sight of the actress portraying Natasha utterly absurd and unbelievable.
“This isn't the Janna I know at all.”
This was a stark contrast to the Janna she knew—someone immersed in studies, experiments, and buried in the library.
“So this is the surprise David mentioned? It certainly is surprising.”
Seeing a familiar face on stage, Richard Eva, who had been specially invited by David Berg, was both astonished and captivated by Janna's performance. However, when he turned to see Soro Flare's nearly petrified, dazed expression, he couldn't help but shake his head, concerned for his naive friend.
“Some people are destined to pursue the path of the wizard. No matter how beautiful the scenery around them, to them, it's merely fleeting—”
And Janna, in Richard Eva's eyes, was precisely such a person.
“Who is this actress? She's so beautiful!”
In the audience, everyone fixated on Natasha's true face, whispering and inquiring:
“Who is this new actress?”
“She must be a newcomer; I've never seen her in any theater before.”
“She fits the role perfectly! Absolutely perfect! She looks exactly like the kingdom's most beautiful woman I've always imagined!”
Sometimes, an actor's appearance aligning with the character can account for fifty percent of the role's success.
The remaining fifty percent lies in the actor's skill and the director's professional guidance. Each of these elements is indispensable.
“La la—la la la ‘Spring rain whispers softly, roses bloom for the audience's delight—’”
“Day after day, day after day———”
[Character's special talent, "Voice of the Heavens," activated.
Effect: A voice like the heavens; listeners become somewhat entranced and develop a deeper affection for the speaker.]
At this moment, Janna sang the segment she had performed during the first rehearsal at the script reading session.
Her portrayal of helplessness, irritation, and yearning to fight on the battlefield like a man was more nuanced than during rehearsals.
The audience, hearing Janna's voice for the first time, instinctively quieted, afraid to disrupt the enchanting scene.
“How does it feel?”
As the plot progressed, everyone's attention was entirely on Janna.
Even the other actors' excellent performances couldn't overshadow her brilliance.
“You chose the actor, directed the play—do you really need to ask me how I feel?”
Backstage, Klan Roland stood beside Anna Moonshadow, boasting with pride. However, compared to Klan Roland's excitement, Anna Moonshadow's tone was indifferent, and her complex gaze toward Janna on stage revealed her inner turmoil.
“Anna, we chose her together. Today's success is partly thanks to you.”
“That's unnecessary.”
She glanced at the flushed Klan Roland, whose excitement seemed excessive. Strangely, a suppressed anger rose in Anna Moonshadow's heart. Yet, when her gaze returned to Janna on stage, that anger mysteriously subsided.
“Some people are born to shine. Even without us, without the Nightingale Opera Troupe, she would still radiate.”
After taking one last deep look at the stage, Anna Moonshadow turned away, ignoring Klan Roland's self-indulgent chatter, and strode out of the dim backstage, prop sword in hand.
Act A progressed rapidly, from young Natasha's debut to her first encounter with Loki, interspersed with background stories of supporting characters like Charlotte, Nachusa, her father Payne, and mother Yingge.
After about forty minutes, with the conclusion of Charlotte's battlefield scene, the climax of Act A—"Natasha Cuts Her Hair to Join the Army"—finally unfolded under the audience's eager anticipation.
“It's here! Finally!”
Unlike the audience's curiosity, backstage, Liji Silks, who had no more scenes, watched Janna on stage with excitement, her face flushed.
“Janna's performance in this scene—I wish I could record it with a memory stone!”
Though they had rehearsed this scene multiple times, after Klan Roland's repeated revisions, the "Cutting Hair to Join the Army" scene never ceased to captivate Liji Silks, no matter how many times she watched it.
“If only I could perform this scene in my lifetime—that would be wonderful—”
Though she knew it was unlikely, who would willingly play a supporting role? If given the choice, Natasha would always be Liji Silks' first pick.
“Mr. Loki, please—leave.”
“Natasha.”
“Please leave! Thank you—”
Same plot, different interpretation.
Compared to previous portrayals of young Natasha's hysteria upon learning of her father Payne's death, this version allowed the audience to empathize with her pain. Yet, it was the emotions beyond hatred in Natasha's eyes that moved them more.
Hatred and anger are merely emotional releases. Natasha's unwavering determination to fight for the kingdom, even when blinded by hatred, was the most compelling aspect of this portrayal.
It was at this moment that the promotional tagline was truly validated:
This is the best Natasha.