Ch.214Chapter 214: Beauty Under the Moonlight (2)

On stage, the male protagonist’s monologue continued.

“…How?”

A line filled with bewilderment escaped his lips as he unexpectedly noticed a potted plant.

And for good reason. That very pot was what had once inspired the man to make a momentous decision to pull himself together from his withering heart after hearing the name of the flower that would bloom from this cactus.

Accepting the goddess’s request, he had wielded his sword with the sole determination to prevent tragedies like the one that befell his homeland, saving countless worlds.

Though he received sincere gratitude and praise from many, building unparalleled fame.

Yet the greater his fame grew, the deeper the shadow of guilt for failing to protect his own world became.

Like a withering flower, the man who rarely expressed joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure had nurtured that potted cactus with the only affection he could muster, determined to change his withering self.

The emotion that crossed the man’s face as he recalled having to discard the cactus that had withered due to a moment’s carelessness was melancholy.

Yes, there was no other word but melancholy to describe it.

The protagonist’s profound melancholy, which had felt so poignant even in written form.

The moment it transformed into something tangible through the actor’s masterful performance on stage.

A silent atmosphere of empathy for the man’s melancholy spread throughout the audience.

No words were spoken, only gazes fixed on the stage.

Yet the emotional resonance I sensed in their breathing told me the audience deeply connected with the protagonist’s inner world.

Since even I felt such empathy, what more needed to be said?

Watching an actor portray such melancholy was enough to make the play thoroughly enjoyable, but the story needed to progress.

After staring silently at the potted cactus for a long while, the man raised his right hand to scratch the back of his head.

“Haah… You’re unnecessarily kind, as always.”

A self-muttered comment emerged, filled with indescribable emotions directed at whoever had revived the withered cactus and placed it in the best spot in the beautiful garden.

The heavy atmosphere on stage gradually lightened.

The man punctuated this shift by sinking down to sit on the stage floor.

It was both a declaration that he would no longer continue with heavy steps.

And a revelation that his heart—weathered and worn down through countless ages—was coming back to life as he faced this unexpected sight.

Unlike moments before when he had appeared completely detached from life, the man’s expression now clearly showed difficulty and awkwardness.

Compared to his earlier solemnity, when one couldn’t even imagine such trivial concerns showing on his face.

It finally felt like facing a living person.

The scene that had been depicted in the original work through the author’s exquisitely delicate writing was now perfectly recreated through the actor’s wholehearted performance alone on stage.

The audience, without exception, focused intently on what would come next.

I was no different.

“…”

Beside me, Shizu remained silent, the sparkle in her eyes growing brighter.

As if responding to the audience’s expectations,

After taking a breath while sitting, the man continued the next scene with lamentations addressed to the flowers in the garden and the cactus in the pot.

His lament went like this:

A life that should have rightfully ended somehow continued on.

And in the process, he had attained unimaginable honor.

But the brighter the light of that glorious honor grew,

The darker the shadow in his heart became as he found no reason to continue living beyond duty.

About how peace might come to this increasingly troubled heart.

It might have seemed like a simple lament depending on how one heard it.

Though considerably lighter than before,

The actor’s skill in portraying a man who seemed to carry the weight of all the world’s worries gave the scene on stage a sense of reality that transcended mere theater.

When reading it in text form, the author’s elegant writing style hadn’t made it particularly impactful.

But now, the scene unfolding brilliantly dispelled public concerns that this moment might be difficult to properly recreate if adapted clumsily.

Seeing the actor’s wholehearted performance perfectly capturing this scene from the original work through dialogue delivery and facial expressions alone, even I, with little theatrical expertise, couldn’t help but be repeatedly amazed.

Soon, after continuously muttering to himself, he let out a deep sigh while bowing his head, not even attempting to rise from his seated position.

It was a heated sigh. So expressive of the deep emotions lurking in his heart that it created anticipation for what words would follow.

As the actor’s performance continued,

The audience held their breath, all attention focused on the actor’s next move.

“I don’t hate that person anymore…”

The man slowly raised his head after uttering these words in a somewhat lighter tone that dispelled the heavy monologue.

His expression showed a slight lightness compared to moments before when he had fully revealed the suffering from the inescapable darkness in his heart.

This was arguably one of the most important scenes in the play, which depicted only the early parts of the original work.

The man’s blind anger toward the goddess for taking away the death that should have rightfully been his naturally faded with time, and simultaneously,

A form of emotion that couldn’t easily be defined gradually took root in his heart as he looked at the goddess.

This was the moment when he began to realize what that feeling was while looking at the cactus growing in the best spot in the garden, bathed in moonlight.

Just as the original work meticulously depicted the man’s emotions through the author’s carefully arranged words,

On stage, the actor playing the protagonist was reaching a climax with delicate acting that could only be described as perfectly seasoned.

Unlike earlier when he had fully revealed the darkness residing in a corner of his heart,

“…It’s been so long that I don’t even know how to apologize anymore. Do you know how I could apologize?”

As he directed this question in a somewhat weak voice to listeners who obviously couldn’t answer, the man’s worries began to take on a more realistic color.

What else could be more human than the emergence of such mundane concerns from the lips of a man who held an unimaginably lofty position as the goddess’s great warrior?

But separate from revealing these realistic concerns,

Since the man didn’t actually expect an answer from the flowers to his question,

“Heh heh…”

He rose to his feet with a bitter smile tinged with appropriate melancholy.

“Well… when I see her again, I’ll apologize first…”

As he muttered this brief soliloquy about offering an apology to the goddess, his gaze turned toward the potted cactus, and his expression gradually softened.

“And I should also thank her for reviving this.”

These warm words signaled that the lock on his heart, firmly closed for ages, was gradually opening.

There was ample room to view this emotional change as too sudden, considering it came from merely seeing a potted cactus in the garden.

However, the overwhelming performance by the actor playing the protagonist, whose name had yet to be revealed, created both plausibility and justification that commanded this grand stage.

In any case, having confirmed the gradually unlocking heart, the man wore a somewhat unburdened expression and tried to leave.

But as he turned from the garden and attempted to step elsewhere,

From a corner of the stage background—which would have been pitch black were it not for the full moon—a bright light reminiscent of midday emerged.

Step, step

Extremely elegant footsteps dominated the quiet stage.

The light source created by the bright silhouette emerging through the darkness filled the stage.

The man’s expression showed incomparable surprise at this suddenly manifested light compared to when he had discovered the potted cactus.

He tried to hastily leave, but

Despite his hurried steps,

The movement of something emerging from the bright light before him was faster.

Long silver hair, reminiscent of starlight in the night sky, fluttered.

Along with a pure white dress that brightened the stage, which was otherwise filled with darkness except for the full moon’s light on the elaborately crafted set.

And the goddess, with features that enhanced these lovely elements even more,

Reached out with an expression even more urgent than that of the man who had been trying to leave hastily.

Grab!

She firmly grasped the man’s arm with a sound clearly audible even to the audience outside the stage.

“…Alcor?”

The moment the man’s name was mentioned for the first time on stage from her lips,

Bright lighting shone down, completely clearing the darkness that had been gradually lifting from the stage.

It revealed the indescribable bewilderment beyond urgency on the face of the man, Alcor, whose arm was held by the goddess,

And the inexplicable anticipation etched on the face of the goddess who held his arm.

The play, which had proceeded as a brief monologue, finally signaled its transition to a composition like a duet dance performed to the rhythm of the two protagonists.

“Wow…”

I turned my head at the brief exclamation that tickled my ear from very close by.

“It’s beginning…”

I saw Shizu, focused on the stage like someone entranced, continuously murmuring in a low voice.

While the story unfolding between the pair on stage was enchanting,

I found incomparable enchantment in the sight of Shizu beside me, humming like a baby bird chirping before its mother.