"They're really going at it huh?"
Ortrun said casually while flashing a smirk in Delilah's direction.
"Not unexpected"
But the response she got from the witch was bland, confirming one of her suspicions.
"You really did it, didn't you?"
"You lost"
The two exchange such words, on the surface they looked like they were having a rather calm discussion but the reality was anything but.
"Those two are really going at it"
In the distance, seated among one the crowd, a single dressed rather differently from the rest of the crowd sat with her legs crossed. Her appearance could easily catch the attention of any man yet the women around her steered clear of her gaze.
'I wonder what the Third Prince has done to make them act that way?'
Marie von Schulz thought as she gazed at the two infamous Duchesses bickering.
She was neither a high ranking noble nor was she an important figure in the Empire. In fact, her family had nothing to do with the wars or anything to do with the economy.
They owned no land and even if wealth was the only consideration, they wouldn't even live up to the title of "Noble".
This could be easily seen through in the dress she wore.
Clean and orderly as it looked, the combination of a white button up shirt, one that looked like it was fitted for a man only fitting on her body due to being oversized was matched with a simple black satin skirt.
Yet those two articles were the most expensive parts of her "dress" as the rest of her attire consisted of a casual brown underbust corset. Unlike the expensive, heavily decorated full corsets that emphasized one's bust, the underbust corset she wore was one that was used by female knights and other "lower classes".
It was nothing more than a support for one's back, a practical piece rather than a show piece and the appearance it had proved it.
Yet, the combination of her clothes led to a rather interesting look, one which, if seen by Rexford, would make him see Marie as "more fashionable" than the rest of the crowd.
It was an appearance that took advantage of one's "attractive features" and Marie who sported short hair, an athletic physique and dignified yet "down to earth" air had a style closer to the modern world which Rexford was more familiar with than the current noble atmosphere filled with gems and wealth.
In fact, Marie, much like the Third Prince, rarely attended balls. Moreover, their reasons were pretty much similar.
Marie didn't care about her family's wealth, she was not ashamed at being unable to afford the same dresses the noble ladies around her wore. That was pretty much the reason why she avoided balls.
To her, focusing on her own craft, her own goals and dreams was more important than some worthless social gathering where people just try to make others feel bad about themselves.
Yet Marie still decided to participate in today's social gathering and her reason was simple-
'I wonder what kind of entertainment marvel that hedonistic prince came up with'
The Schulz family, despite having no territory obtained their high noble status through their powerful bloodline.
Most members of her family joined the military and became terrifying foes to the empire's enemies.
Marie… She didn't want to join such a business. Unlike her family, she chose a path of creation.
Inspired by the traveling bards, Marie chose to dive deep into the arts.
The Schulz family are subordinate to the Martell's, their bloodline though were not of dragons or lizards, but instead they were of birds.
Corpusa, that was the name of their race, a descendant of ancient harpies, they have a humanoid form with jet black wings on their backs and terrifying voices from their Crow-Harpy heritage.
Despite this, Marie still chose the path of an entertainer, a bard.
But she had recently faced problems in her endeavors as few people were willing or even dared to listen to the singing of a Corpusa.
Their singing that brings nightmares to the enemies of the Empire is a well known talent they bore. So when Marie, with her jet black wings appear before an audience, offering a song-
"Please spare us noble miss!"
"We don't want to die!"
She is immediately faced with the begging of her "audience", unlike other bards who were paid to sing and tell stories, Marie was a bard who was paid to stay silent.
Even when her fellow bards and even her teacher spoke of how she was living a rather lucrative life, Marie had not chosen the path of a bard for money.
While she was thankful that she didn't need to suffer all too much, she was also rather bitter at the fact that no one wanted to hear her sing, wanted to hear her tales. Some even went as far as to run away screaming while throwing anything valuable towards her.
Yet, a few weeks before, a notice spread throughout the Imperial City.
Marie had arrived in the capital just a month before, she had tried to leverage family connections and her recently acquired title of a Countess, the female equivalent to an Earl, in order to look for opportunities.
But her actions did little to help her forward her career-
No, it did in fact, push her career forward but not in terms of performance but of earnings.
Her titles made it harder for many to reject and it allowed her to talk to more influential figures in the entertainment space rather than just entering pubs like every other bard.
Alas, even after using her influence, all she received was money that once again, was a price for her to "not sing".
It was during her search for a method to perform when a rumor came out about the Third Prince looking for "performing talents".
She was skeptical, yet when she heard of what the prince wanted from the people, she realized that-
She understood nothing.
Some of the applicants who had failed said that they were, "Told to act as a knight choosing between loyalty and love".
But no matter how "good" their performance was, the prince only called them "superfluous and exaggerated with no real emotion".
Initially, Marie questioned if the performer was truly good, if the prince was right or just biased. But her queries only intensified once she learned of the names carried by the many performers that the Prince had labeled as such.
Talents who were mainstays for large opera's, famous actors in major theatres-
The people who the Third Prince rejected were all outstanding individuals, some of them nobles with a very extensive background of knowledge, talent and experience.
All of them were rejected-
Yet the people who were rumored to have been chosen by the prince-
One of his palace maids…
A travelling bard who none knew about…
A dwarf whose greatest talent was in telling lies…
The people who the Third Prince chose were all "special" individuals in that they lacked any "notoriety". In other words, the Prince chose nobodies, people who were ignored by the vast majority, by the entertainment industry.
People who were viewed as "talentless", individuals who were seen as "worthless".
The Third Prince chose them all to start his new "entertainment project".
When she heard of such rumors, Marie immediately tried to line up for the second day of auditions. People said that the Prince had not completed his search and that he was still in a "severe shortage" of actors and other talents.
Hopeful, Marie rushed to the palace only to be turned away as the Prince had stopped his search.
Nobody knew what happened, some speculated that the prince gave up or that his talents did not perform well or that the Prince simply forgot about his project.
Yet, not long later, a rumor that came from the Third Prince's special village emerged.
It was said that the prince had started his project and had obtained the assistance of not only the two Duchesses who were chasing after him, but also the support of the two other princes.
Nobody knew what the Third Prince was planning but the lineup he had for "support" made people wonder what it was that the Hedonistic Prince was cooking up.
While everyone was wondering what was happening, a message was suddenly delivered to all nobles within the capital.
It was an invitation, not to a ball but to a social gathering, it was called a "screening" of a new form of entertainment created by the Third Prince which he called a "Movie".
When this invitation arrived, Marie did not hesitate, she immediately cleaned up her only presentable clothes and quickly prepared to enter the palace.
Now, amidst the crowd of noblewomen dressed in gaudy dresses and clad in strong perfume, Marie waited patiently yet with a hint of excitement and wonder at what kind of "entertainment" the prince had made.
Unlike the crowd who were questioning why a large wall had covered the stage or why the Imperial Theatre was renovated, Marie looked at things in pure wonder.
Then, as the lights suddenly vanished, the hall enveloped with pure darkness, a light shone on the white wall.
Shock could be heard, not because of the light but because of the sudden spell of darkness.
Yet all of it was turned into exclamations of shock and awe as images appeared on the white wall.
Everyone in the hall was familiar with the communication technology that had recently been incorporated into the Empire's daily life.
The Imperial family had used it extensively during the war to relay messages to the people and allowed even the common citizens to be familiar with the face of the Emperor.
Yet, the record that was being displayed was not the "lifelike projection" that everyone was familiar with.
Instead, what they saw could be more accurately described as a "moving painting".
But, none criticized it, not because it was made by the prince, no-
The reason no one criticized the "movie" was because of what they were watching.
An opening scene that showed the First, Second and Third Prince as actors.
They carried different names, the First Prince acted as the Commander of a Knight order named Leon.
The second and third prince acted as the subordinates under the Commander with comparable strength. Regulus, the second prince acting as a bright, energetic and somewhat funny knight named Claude. A stark contrast to his usual brooding and serious atmosphere.
On the other hand, the Third prince, Rexford, had acted as the shining star of the knight order, "The most handsome, talented and whose strength is only second to Leon", the shining knight Ferrand.
Few of the noblewomen got a chance to see the Third Prince, most of them knew him based on portraits alone.
In fact, if it weren't for the presence of the Duchesses, many of the noblewomen in the hall would have swarmed Rexford outside the theatre.
Yet, the handsome image the Third Prince bore was different in person and in the film.
When Marie saw the prince outside, he bore the noble elegance and dignity of a Prince. His handsome face truly was attractive and she could easily understand why many noblewomen long for his attention.
But the Rexford- no, Ferrand who was shown in the movie was unlike the prince.
He still carried the same handsome image but without the dignity and air of an Imperial Prince.
Normally such a change would have made many ignore Ferrand but the image of Ferrand was that of a "Noble Knight who bore an unrivaled beauty" was something that immediately struck the hearts of the countless noblewomen watching.
The Third Prince was like a valuable piece of treasure, the only one of its kind, everybody wants it but few could even have the chance to touch it.
Ferrand on the other hand, he was like gold, rare and special yet not particularly hard to come by.
If the Third Prince was an unattainable treasure, then Ferrand was the valuable gold coin that anyone could get.
But Marie was not only amazed at how such an image was framed, she was also entranced in the use of music.
Plays also used music, some used singing in the performances but- no matter how perfectly it is made, the music would always interfere or disrupt the story telling.
Songs could tell stories but some stories took time yet songs would force the singer to rush. Shorten stories focusing only on the "most important" parts.
Plays faced the same problems, songs are powerful, especially for emotional moments yet sometimes it ends up "prolonging" such moments.
Emotions of the audience had already long passed, the initial sorrow, joy- empathy for the tale would pass long before the titular piece would finish creating a rather- dull moment in between acts or musical pieces.
The movie? It didn't do that, it kept the viewers at the edge of their seats, the song, the storytelling-
All of it flowed well, so well that viewers were not simply watching, they were being led by the nose.
"Amazing…"