The stage went black after the Fairy Godmother and Cinderella left. Sunto heard wood creaking and metal screeching. It made him flinch in his seat. Of course, when the lights came back on, the stage was set with a completely different scenery.
The stage was now covered in decorations that made it look like the ballroom from the Cinderella movie. There were white pillars between large windows. The walls were covered in banners with family crests. One was a knight's helmet and a blue feather. Another, a lion's head and a raven.
The ballroom was flooded with people. All of them wearing huge ball gowns or weird suits that looked like the grandfathers to tuxedos. More than that, everyone had a mask on. Some were made after animals, others with card symbols on them, a few with just glitter and jewels.
There was a man with a crown and a mask on, sitting on a throne that was higher than the rest of the stage. Sunto figured that the man was the king. Next to him, a younger man with a simpler mask watched the people moving around.
Girls with crazy looking dresses went up to the king and the other man and bowed to both of them. This gave Sunto the idea that the young man was the prince. AKA, the man Cinderella met in the marketplace earlier.
While the girls giggled and blushed when they looked at the prince, he was not as happy to see them. He was feeling something sunto knew well. Boredom and discomfort.
It's like when your parent makes you meet people you don't know because they want you to make friends. The other kid may like you and enjoy hanging out. While you just want to go home and play with your toys.
That was the face the prince was making. He certainly looked weirded out by all of the girls watching him. He rocked back and forth on his feet, as if waiting for something to happen. Then again, if you were bored and sick of greeting people who annoyed you, you'd wish for anything to distract you.
Thankfully, the prince got his wish, and a spotlight followed one girl as she entered the stage. The girl was in a blue ball gown and had a mask with the same color. That was it. The mask was simple and plain, like the dress. But both were still beautiful and better than the clothes other people had on.
Seriously. A woman in the crowd had a dress and mask that were made entirely out of feathers. It was both insane and frightening.
Cinderella searched the crowd for a reason Sunto remembered well. She'd gone to the ball to meet the guy she met in the marketplace. He'd said he would be there after all. Now, she was scanning the area for him.
The prince saw her and his frown turned upside down. He turned to his father and said, "Excuse me, father."
The king smiled at him. "Spot someone you wish to dance with, Henry?"
"Let's hope," the prince answered as the left his post and moved past all the girls who were fawning over him. Three girls asked him if he would dance with them, to all of which he nicely said "no thank you".
It took a few minutes, but the prince got to Cinderella, who was standing at a table covered with more food than Sunto had ever seen at once.
To get her attention, he tapped her on the shoulder and smiled at her. Cinderella spun on her heels and took a step back when she saw the prince behind her.
For a moment, she squinted at him. Her eyes lit up as she said, "It's you. From the marketplace."
He grinned back at her. "I'm surprised you recognize me in this mask."
"I'm surprised you found me. This place is fill to the brim with people." Cinderella kept away from most of the other ball quests as best she could. Probably hoping no one would recognize her or that her step family would not see her.
The prince motioned to the crowd. "To be fair, you weren't hard to find. Your dress and mask are the only ones not covered in random junk."
They spoke for a while, and Sunto grew bored with their conversation. Not enough to ask if he could go home. But enough to make him tune out the play and doze off for a minute or two.
Or as he later found out, ten.
Later, he'd find out he'd slept through an entire song from the crowd and some girls fighting over the prince. When he woke up, Cinderella was helping the prince escape to the outside of the palace. For some reason, neither of them were wearing their masks anymore.
The lights dimmed again, and Sunto was convinced that people were running onto the stage while it was dark and changing the set before the lights came back on. The only other explanation for the fast scene switches was magic, and Sunto wasn't sure the people running the show could use magic.
Yet, if the Fairy Godmother was really a fairy, then they would have no problem with magic.
Outside, the prince was taking deep breaths and leaning on his knees. Cinderella stood near the door and kept her hand on the handle. She waited patiently for the prince to get his breath back.
As he stood up and wiped his sleeve across his forehead, Cinderella looked at him, perplexed. "Why didn't you tell me that you're Prince Henry?"
The prince, of course, lied. "W-what? What are you talking about? I'm not the prince." He rubbed the back of his neck and scoffed. His eyes trailed the floor and the plants outside. Eventually, they went back to Cinderella, who was visibly skeptical.
That's when the prince caved. "Okay, I'm Prince Henry."
Cinderella left the door and took three steps closer to the prince. "Why didn't you tell me at the start? I told you my name."
"I know," the prince admitted. "I just ... I've never gotten to know someone who didn't know I was a prince. I've never had that, ever. All the people I meet only like me for my father's crown. They never want to get to know me."
Her hardened expression softened, and she took the prince's hand. "I know how you feel," she told him.
Bewildered, Prince Henry asked, "You do?"
"I'm a servant in my step family's household. And everyone in the kingdom knows it. Most people treat me like I'm ... less important than anyone else there before they even know me. Sometimes, it's like I'm don't exist."
"That's what you meant by the townspeople not calling you Cinderella, isn't it?"
Ashamed, Cinderella nodded, but made an attempt to see a better side to her situation. "So maybe, we know how we feel better than anyone else does."
Cue another song...
"The world of a servant is so small.
You have no choices at all.
You do as you're told, your life is so cold,
And things are so threatening and tall.
But I know, there's a life for me out there.
I just know, I have a heart to share.
I know I can see all I want to be.
And that I'll find someone who will care."
Sunto thought Cinderella was going to keep singing. That she would start again at any moment. Instead, the prince began to sing.
"The life of a royal is confined.
You have duties undefined.
You're ordered about, you're always in doubt,
And it's stress and and terror combined.
But I know, there's a life for me out there.
I just know, I have a heart to share.
I know I can see all I want to be.
And that I'll find someone who will care."
Sunto wondered who was going to sing next. But his question was answered when Cinderella sang first, then Prince Henry straight after.
"I come from a life where I must heed
The words of a woman who lies.
Oh, how my freedom to choose and to live
Would be a delightful surprise."
"I was born with a title I didn't want
But was force to accept in time.
How a life without crowns and these duties
Would be ever so sublime."
And the last verse, they sang together.
"But we know, there's a life for us out there.
We just know we have our hearts to share.
We know we can see all we want to be.
And that we'll find someone who will care..."
The two were looking into each other's' eyes, and Sunto thought they were going to kiss - like in the movie. He covered his eyes, then peeked through his fingers out of curiosity.
Sadly, they didn't kiss, though there was another surprise waiting for them. From the door the two had left the ballroom from, a girl with a mask decorated with pearls stormed out. When she saw the prince and Cinderella holding hands, she screamed in outrage.
"CINDERELLA!" the girl screamed. She ripped off her mask to reveal her face. It was the evil step-sister, Drizella. "YOU WERE NOT INVITED TO THIS BALL! YOU SHOULD BE SWEEPING FLOORS OR TENDING TO THE FIREPLACE! NOT STEALING MY PRINCE!"
Clearly, Drizella was mad. If she screamed any louder, Sunto would go deaf before he turned ten.
Another girl ran into the area, and her mask had two flowers on it. Peonies. She removed her mask and showed the audience that she was Anastasia, the other step-sister to Cinderella.
Anastasia tried to calm her sister, but Drizella would not heed her sister. "I DON'T CARE, ANASTASIA! SHE IS A FILTHY WENCH! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE TO BECOME ROYALTY!"
She returned her glare to Cinderella, but Prince Henry stepped in front of her to act as a human shield. "I won't let you harm Cinderella, young lady."
"Well it's not your choice, Prince Henry," said a third woman who took to the stage. It was the old lady with the crazy large hair from before. Lady Tremaine. "This girl is my servant. She has a debt to pay to my family. A life debt."
Cinderella was appalled. "I owe you three more years. Not the rest of my life!"
"You owe us what I say you owe us!" the old lady argued. "And I say, you owe us the rest of your life for all of the trouble you've caused. Especially the trouble you've made by arriving to this ball, uninvited."
"But she was invited," the prince interrupted. "I invited her, personally."
Lady Tremaine rolled her eyes and groaned. "Nonetheless, this child has duties to attend to at our home and is disobeying my orders by neglecting them. So she is going to be punished. Her servitude is not, and perpetually, extended!"
Sunto felt so bad for Cinderella. And he completely understood when she left everything there, including the prince, and ran.