my next life as a villainess, all routes lead to doom x fem!oc [Book 2]

The play

'Oh no...I suddenly forgot all my lines!!' Kiana thought to herself. Mary started speaking to Maria while pointing at the floor, before turning to Kiana to make her tell Maria as well. But Kiana just stood frozen, realizing the paper on her fan was gone. She looked around frantically, before spotting it a few feet behind her. "Kiana? What's wrong?" Mary whispered to her, before seeing the paper. Mary had an idea and put it into action. "Now now, let's leave Marianne and practice dancing for the ball!" Mary said, as she grabbed Kiana's hands and intwined it with her's, before starting to dance over to the paper. Alan seemed confused, probably thinking that it wasn't in the script, before changing the music to waltz. "Alan! Please hand me the paper in front of you!" Kiana tried to whisper at Alan, but to her avail, he didn't hear it. 

'Aish...screw it!' Kiana thought and winked at Mary with a determined look, who got the hint. They twirled and twirled and twirled, before Mary grabbed Kiana by the waist and leaned Kiana backwards. Kiana tried to reach the paper, acting like it was a pose as well. She reached it, but the paper flew down the stage, making both Kiana and Mary widened their eyes. "Kiana! I need to get off the stage in a few seconds!" Mary whispered to Kiana, before standing back up. 'AHHHH I'M SCREWED!!' Kiana thought to herself. "Well then, I'm off to find a dress for the ball!" Mary said while walking back behind the curtains, fake laughing a bit. Maria suddenly appeared beside Kiana. "Dear sister! may I join you at the ball?" She asked. Kiana turned to Maria with her lips parted a bit. 'I believe this is the scene where I bully her..' She thought to herself. "Kiana..?" Maria whispered to her. 'WHAT SHOULD I DO!?!' Kiana thought to herself again, before deciding on ad libbing to the best of her abilities. 

"Do you seriously not know your place?" Kiana started, putting on a cocky face, while crossing her arms. Maria widened her eyes at the sudden change of attitude. "A pathetic pig, rolling in the mud like you, is going to the ball with other nobles? with ME? Don't make me laugh!" Kiana said again. "My dear sister, am I not allowed to go to the ba-" Kiana cut off Maria by roughly kicking a chair, which flew past Maria. "Hah..It's like you have to be born a million times over, to understand that single answer." Kiana said, before turning to the audience and opening her fan while making a dramatic pose. "Only a perfect, young and a beautiful lady like me, is worthy of going to the ball!" Kiana said, before placing her left hand on her hip and her right hand near her face, which was holding the fan. "Getting all down on the dirty floor suits you so much!" She said, before laughing in an evil way, as Maria was sadly sitting on the floor. Her laugh echoed in the auditorium, as the curtains slowly closed down. She could hear a lot of clapping and cheering, making her a lot more relieved. 

She let out a sigh as the curtains finally closed. Everyone gathered around Kiana, cheering her because of how she saved the scene. Sophia suddenly said she had another idea, making everyone confused. She held up the script that had some lines scratched with red markers and rewritten by red markers too. Turns out, she wanted to add a new character who was a black masked knight. She also included that there will be romance between the black masked knight and Kiana, which caught everyone's attention. Alan volunteered for the role, which Sophia denied, saying that he was in charge of the music. Geordo volunteered, which Sophia denied again, saying that there was no way. Mary volunteered, which Sophia denied again, saying they also need the step mother in that scene. Keith volunteered, which Sophia denied, saying that a young farmer can't be a knight. 

Only one person was left, Nicol. Sophia walked up to Nicol and asked him if he will take the role, which he agreed to. It was settled, so they started to open the curtains again. They opened it and saw Maria talking to Keith, before Keith went away and Maria waked in the castle. Everyone was then dancing in the ball, and Maria was dancing with the prince, AKA Geordo. Kiana purposely glared at Maria in front of the audience as she spotted Maria dancing with the prince. Suddenly, there was a glass shattering noise and everyone looked up at the stairs while a few were screaming. The black masked knight came down and stood at the start of the stairs. "The black masked knight, has arrived." Nicol said while extending his left hand to his left. He suddenly took Kiana's hand and drew out his sword, aiming it at Geordo. "I will be taking the treasures." He said, before Kiana let out a scream. 

Geordo pointed his finger at Nicol as he said, "Take your hands off of her!" but suddenly, there was a tension between Nicol and Geordo. "You're too close. Move away from her." Geordo whispered to Nicol, who replied by even pulling Kiana closer to his chest, still raising his sword at Geordo. Geordo made a 'tch' sound, before he drew out his sword too, raising it towards Nicol. They suddenly started having a sword fight as Kiana just stood on the side, confused and worried. "Don't think I'll let you be, just because you're closer to her or because it's a play." Geordo whispered to Nicol again. "It's not like you to be all worked up over a play, or Kiana." Nicol whispered back this time. The sound of their swords clashing can be heard throughout the auditorium. Everyone on the stage stared at them, confused and concerned because of their fighting. 

Geordo suddenly grabbed Kiana's wrist and pulled her to his side while glaring at Nicol. "G-Geordo what are you doing?" Kiana whispered to Geordo, who didn't reply back. The sound of the clock ringing could be heard, before someone's voice interrupted them. "Hey hey hey! I think I'm lost!" [Had to add this reference lol] "Keith!?" Kiana whisper-yelled. "Where am I? Should I be going there? or perhaps over there?" Keith said as he came between Kiana and Geordo, breaking them off. "Who the hell are you?! Geez..you don't have to come out." Geordo shouted at Keith, before whispering to him. "I'm just a plain o'l villager! Don't get any closer to Kiana than you have to." Keith said back, before whispering to Geordo again. "A battle between men? Amusing. Hand her over!" Nicol spoke up, before him, Keith and Geordo stood in battle stances as they pointed their weapons at each other. They all started fighting and Alan continued playing the music dramatically in the background.

Kiana continued to be concerned and confused, yet she knew a bit of what was going on. Geordo accidentally cut off Nicol's mask with his sword, revealing Nicol's full face, which made the audience in awe of his beauty. 'What should I do?? What can I do...AH! I GOT IT' Kiana thought to herself, before raising her hand in the air and snapping her fingers. The lights suddenly shone on Kiana, and Kiana only, as she placed her hands on each side of her hips. She started laughing in an evil way, before speaking. "The black masked knight...is actually my COMPANION! It was a farce set up to get the prince's attention, now I've outdone this woman and everyone else!The prince's heart..is mine!" She said as she pointed at Maria, before laughing loudly in a wicked way. The curtains closed again, as she let out a big sigh. "Thanks for saving our day, Kiana san! You did amazing!" Sophia said, which Mary agreed. 

They suddenly turned to Nicol, Geordo and Keith, before scolding them for getting too heated on stage. They apologized, before the last scene was about to start. They all got ready again, as the curtains went up slowly. Geordo was in the middle of the stage, as he picked up Maria's boots. "My one night princess.." He said, before going to Kiana, Maria and Mary's house. "I would like to ask the owner of these boots to become my bride." Geordo said again before Maria tried on the boots. Maria and Geordo hugged as they confessed to each other. Mary and Kiana stood behind them with angry expressions, before the black masked knight appeared beside Kiana. "Kiana san, actually, I've been in love with you for a long time." He said, which Kiana gasped at. "Oh my!" she said, before Nicol and her held hands. 

The play finally ended as everyone cheered and clapped. Kiana and Nicol were in each other's arms, the same with Maria and Geordo as the pairs stood in the middle of the stage. The actors all came out and bowed at the audience, before the curtains closed. "Wahhh it's finally over." Kiana said. Everyone gathered around her, thanking her and cheering her of how she did. "It was really interesting, Kiana san." Rapheal appeared from behind Kiana as she turned around. "It's good to hear that you enjoyed it too." She replied while smiling. A crowd of girls from the audience appeared too, asking Kiana to shake their hands, which startled Kiana but she did anyways.