There was a twenty minute intermission following the completion of the first act and during this time, countless people who had received a flood texts from their friends already in the audience urging them to come lest they miss the greatest spectacle of the festival frantically spilled into the gym.
There weren't enough chairs in the audience section to accommodate this influx of latecomers so at the start of the second act, many students and even a few teachers were now sharing chairs, sitting on the ground directly, or even standing. This was the inevitable allure of Kigaku's most popular couple starring a crossdressing revision of Cinderella.
A few seconds into the act, Yuki who hadn't appeared for a while finally made a reappearance in the story.
Madoka cocked his head to one side and stared at the fidgeting Yuki. "Anxious?"
Yuki shook his head, then smiled. "I'd say I'm more excited than anxious. The Royal Ball is only four days away!"
Madoka winked. "Don't be. The almighty me is assisting you after all."
In front of the stage half the audience clutched on their hearts as they desperately tried to burn the image of an arrogantly winking Madoka into their hearts.
Yuki's smile widened. "Yes, and for that I'll always be grateful. Who would've imagined that someone like me would have a chance with Shiki ouji-sama?"
"You know, you really oughta stop thinking of Shiki-chan as some superior being far out of your reach, Eira-chan," advise Madoka as he carefully reclined against a chair making sure not to damage his fake wings. "Once you move pass the royal lineage, he's not that much different than any other boy in the kingdom. He has his strengths but he also has his flaws."
"Flaws?"
"Mhm." Madoka chuckled as he reminisced. "Did I ever tell you about the time that he nearly fainted because a teeny tiny frog jumped onto his lap?"
"I don't think so..."
"I might've forgotten to mention that one," Madoka admitted, "but I've definitely told you about his fear of insects right?"
"Yes, you have."
"Ooh, I might've also forgotten to mentioned this earlier but Shiki-chan has childish eating habits too!" Madoka snickered. "Isn't it funny that he refuses to eat green peppers at his age?"
"Really?"
"Yes, he hates them with a passion. Yet, for some reason he'll eat red peppers though."
"Wow..."
"Of course, he's not all useless though," remarked Madoka as his expression betrayed his evident admiration. "Shiki-chan is more hardworking than anyone I know. At least once a week he'll stay up all night to review documents. Whenever he reads a report about a village suffering from the effects of a bad harvest, he'll always secretly send aid with his own funds. Yet, despite all of this, he doesn't act ostentatious in the least."
"He really is amazing after all, isn't he?"
"Almost annoyingly so."
"You're really amazing too, fairy godmother-sama!" Without warning, Yuki enveloped Madoka in a hug. "If it wasn't for you, I never would've gotten to know so much about the person I love."
The narrator smiled mysteriously in his seat. "Although she couldn't understand the reason for it, Cinderella's wholehearted words of gratitude made our fairy godmother feel somewhat guilty."
Madoka laughed awkwardly as he stiffly patted Yuki's back. "Well, that's what I'm here for..."
"Still!" Yuki twirled around the room excitedly. "I can't believe that any of this is happening. I never thought that I, a mere commoner, would get to see Shiki-sama for a second time let alone learn all of these little quirks about him and even get a chance to dance with him at the Royal Ball!"
"Our fairy godmother couldn't help but ponder over Cinderella's words."
"Does that mean you've only met Shiki-chan once before, Eira-chan?"
"Yes, just once! Though we've never actually spoken to one another," revealed Yuki somewhat awkwardly.
"You met but never spoke?"
"Yes. Once while I was running errands for my older stepsister in town, some drunk men cornered me in an alleyway. These men had evil designs but before they could even lay a single finger on me, Shiki ouji-sama whom had been nearby, intervened and chased them off. I was too nervous to speak to him then but he told me to take good care of myself because it's dangerous for a girl to wander around alone." Yuki placed his hands on his cheeks in a show of embarrassment.
"So then what happened?" pressed Madoka.
"Then, he had a servant escort me all the way to my home." Yuki clasped his hands together. "It was the most magical encounter I've ever had. It was like everything I had secretly dreamed about. It was just lovely."
"Uh, but nothing really happened?"
"What do you mean?" asked Yuki confusedly.
"Truthfully speaking, I didn't really see how you could be so enamoured with him by that interaction alone..." noted Madoka as his voice drifted off ambiguously.
"Inside, the fairy godmother was recalling what the prince had said about people only loving the image of him and not himself as a person. This prompted him to ask this next question."
"Eira-chan, do you, and I'm not trying to imply anything by this, but do you um ever doubt your feelings of love for Shiki-chan?" Madoka's expression was perplexing as he awaited Yuki's reply.
"Hmm?" Yuki seemed more confused than ever. Not knowing how else to respond he once again asked, "What do you mean?"
After a moment of sorting it out in his head Madoka tried to provide clarification. "I guess what I'm trying to ask is, do you ever think that maybe you don't actually love Shiki-chan? Do think that just maybe you just...just..."
"Just what?" prodded Yuki.
"Just........nothing." Madoka bit his lip once before laughing a bit affectedly. "Sorry, I just lost my train of thought."
"Oh."
"I'm sorry."
Registering the other's embarrassed expression, Yuki quickly flashed him an understanding smile. "It's fine, fairy godmother-sama! Sometimes you just forget what you're going to say. It happens to me all the time!"
"Right. Well um I should get going," informed Madoka in a stilted tone. "There's uh some important stuff I have to do...I'll see you later."
Yuki waved. "Alright~ Good-bye, fairy godmother-sama!"
"Mn...Bye."
As Madoka exited the stage with a complicated expression, the stage lights dimmed overhead. Once it was sufficiently dark, Yuki too left the stage.
The following scene had Madoka sitting by himself on a tree stump as a soft blue-filtered light shone down on the stage.
The narrator's modulated voice marked the beginning of the scene. "In truth, the fairy godmother didn't really have any important matters that she had to attend to. She only said this as an excuse to leave. In fact, she often used this excuse when she needed to go away and recollect her thoughts in isolation. Normally, this period of self-isolation wouldn't last longer than an hour as she was a fairy with few complicated thoughts. However, this time, things were different. There were too many thoughts she couldn't work out and so she withdrew for many days."
Madoka's expressions rapidly shifted as he sat in silence. One moment his eyebrows were scrunched together as if he was greatly troubled by something and the next it seemed as if he had recalled a pleasant memory because his lips quirked up into a small smile. Finally, he dropped his head and sighed. "What am I even doing? Why do I bother entertaining these meaningless thoughts? Wasn't it I, myself, who said that love at first sight could be just as great as any other form of love?...Those two....they'll be great together. A sweet and beautiful girl always gets her prince after all."
Madoka fiercely pinched his own cheeks. "When the pain subsides, I'll stop thinking about impossibilities. When the pain subsides, I'll stop dreaming that someone like me is worthy of a happy ending. When the pain subsides, I'll remember that this job is a punishment and a chance for redemption." The hand that he had used to rub his cheeks slowly trailed towards his heart. "When the pain subsides..."
"Violet, is that you? Ah-it is!"
Madoka turned towards the direction of the voice and was met by the sight of Arisa dressed in a fairy costume similar to his own.
"Fledging fairy godmothers were seldom referred to by name simply because they did not possess one in the same way humans do," explained the narrator. "Since it was sometimes inconvenient to not have a proper name to be referred by in their line of work, it became somewhat of a standard practice for fairy godmothers take on the name of whatever plant was nearby when they first became a trainee fairy godmother. This was how our young fairy godmother became known as Violet."
The ends of Madoka's lip rose into a genuine smile. "Bluebell, long time no see."
Arisa made her way over to Madoka with a bright expression on her face. "It sure has been a while since we've last met. Life as a fairy godmothers in training keeps us much too busy."
Seeing Madoka nod without much spirit in response, Arisa placed a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Are you okay, Violet? You seem rather glum."
"Heh. Do I? I don't feel particularly glum."
Arisa straightened her lips disapprovingly. "I really hope that you don't think that that unconvincing tone of yours can fool anyone, lest of all me who works with mopey maidens all the time."
"I really can't hide anything from you can I?" murmured Madoka with a hint of despondency.
"You can't. So tell me," urged Arisa. "What's gotten you like this? Is it job related? Is it perhaps related to your latest charge? Last time we spoke you were in the middle of aiding your 93th one. How many charges do you have left now?"
Backstage, Yuki beamed with pride and whispered, "Ari-chan really came a long way didn't she?"
"Mhmm. When we first started, she could barely stand on stage without trembling." Sakaki nudged Yuki. "All those extra rehearsals you guys did together must've really paid off!"
Yuki shook his head humbly. "I didn't do much. It was all due to Ari-chan's own effort."
Hayato smirked as he wrapped his arm around Yuki's shoulder. "Since when did you start calling Hattori, "Ari-chan" anyways, Honda? And why don't the rest of us have a nickname hm?"
Despite it being fairly dim backstage, the people around him could tell that Yuki was blushing.
Yet, before Hayato could tease Yuki further, Kiri ruthlessly smacked the back of his head with the hilt of a prop sword. "Be quiet already, Tachibana. You're disrupting the show."
Hayato clutched the back of his head and glared at her. "Damn you, Suzumori!" he hissed. "Why are you just targeting me? Honda and Sakaki started it!"
"Because your face annoys me," retorted Kiri unsympathetically.
Hayato was offended. "What does my face have to do with anything?!"
"Your voice annoys me too."
"You—"
"Shhh! Settle down everyone. The show's still going!" whispered another classmate furiously.
"Yeah, save your flirting for later!"
One classmate who was bitter regarding his own single status scowled and then grumbled to himself, "Since when did our class get so many damn couples? Don't they know school is a place for studying?!"
"Shhh!"
While all of this was happening behind the curtains, on stage, Arisa had discovered that Madoka was currently facing his 100th charge and was elated on his behalf. "You're nearly done! Why aren't you happier, Violet? We should be celebrating! You're nearly free!"
Madoka peered down at his clenched palms unable to meet her joyful gaze. "I know...it's just..."
"Just what?"
"I...I just kind of...have a feeling that I might fail this time..."
Arisa's eyes widened in disbelief. "F-fail? You can't possibly! Failure isn't a luxury we can afford! You know that!"
Madoka looked up into her eyes and then in a muted voice stated, "I know."
"Then, why are you like this? You know the rules! Help 100 charges attain happily ever afters and you'll attain full fledged fairy godmother status and all the perks that come with it. If you fail in helping even one charge attain their happily ever after then the punishment is-"
"I know what the punishment is, Bluebell. I know." Madoka stood up slowly and met Arisa's eyes. "I know it just as well as you..."
"So why?!"
"Because...because," Madoka began as he shifted his gaze away again.
"Because what?!!"
"Because I was just kidding, stupid~" Madoka suddenly shook of Arisa's hands and adopted a rakish manner.
"..........What!"
"I said I was kidding!" he asserted. "It was just a joke. I was just messing with you since we haven't seen each other in a while."
Visibly upset, Arisa pushed Madoka away and glared at him. "How could you joke about something like that, you fool! I was worried about you!"
"It's nice to know you still care about me." Cheekiness imprinted itself on Madoka's face.
"Not anymore I don't!" snapped Arisa.
"Pfft, don't pretend. I know you adore me."
Fifty or so people in the audience were unable to stopping themselves from screaming out, "Yes, Semi-sama, I adore you!" It took Aiko, Rei, and the members of Madoka's fanclub to settle them down.
"Was anything you said even true, stupid lying Violet?" huffed Arisa.
"Well, I am definitely on my last charge but I promise you I won't let it end in failure," insisted Madoka. "Speaking of which I have to back and help Eira-chan get ready. It's finally the evening of the Royal Ball."
Arisa received another shock. "An event like the ball is tonight and you're still dawdling here? Get going already!" She began ushering Madoka to go.
"Okay, okay!" Madoka smiled helplessly. "I'm going! I'll come find you when I become a full fledged fairy godmother!"
As he turned away from Arisa and made his way offstage his jovial expression slowly transformed into a more resolute but graver expression. This turn made the audience members suddenly doubt the words he just said to his friend about his fear of failure being a joke.
Just before he disappeared into the darkness they heard him declare to himself, "I won't let this end in failure. I can't let it end in failure."