Carried by a blinding white light that descended from above, the king arrived. He was wearing the same style as what he did before, only this time, his suit was red and his fur cloak was pure white. He also wore a golden brooch on his upper left chest which was engraved with a picture of a sun, moon, and star inside a circle, adorned with red gems at the corners. A faint golden glow emanated from him, unsure if it was because of the golden lights from the chandeliers or it was just his radiance manifesting.

“Everyone greets your highness and congratulates you for leading our victory,” said one of the Mythics. He was the same guy who summoned the king way back on the night of the women’s capture, the gray-haired man in gray robes. It seemed that he served as a personal attendant of some sort. His name, “Servus”.

​​

As he spoke, everyone chorused in congratulating the king and bowed their heads.

The king raised his hand ordering for them to halt, “No need for formalities. Quick, start the celebration right away.”

“As you wish, your highness,” he replied. Turning back and facing Malum and the rest of the Elites leading the concubine’s palaces, he continued, “May we all present the concubines to entertain the king?”

“With pleasure,” they answered.

“Which group will start?”

“We, from Trítos, volunteers” answered a dark blonde haired woman who led the group. She was beautiful and wore a long yellow gown with golden sparkles. Her name was “Magna”.

“Then it shall, Magna,” agreed Servus.

Immediately, every member of Trítos performed as a group. Some were dancing, some were singing and some were playing instruments. They performed Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake”. The quality of the music was amazing – the piano, violin, cello, trumpet, and others were all played with excellence. It was accompanied by the sweet and angelic voices of some of the maidens, while the others danced astonishingly to its tune. Every movement, every leap, every bend and curve was just flawless. It was as if you’re watching how professionals perform in London’s theatre – really marvelous.

“Splendid,” Magna thought to herself. “This is how it should be. The very first performer always sets the standards and the judges will compare everything from the first performer. Are they better? Or are they worse? And since our group is the best and most talented of all, none of them will be able to pull a better performance than us. Which means by the end of their performances, the king will be dismayed and remember us more. And if lucky, one of my girls may just catch his attention,” her face grinning now, “I am so brilliant!”

Watching their performance, Satis, the leader of the beautiful Próta, grunted. “Hmf. I’ve always known the reason why she picked the talented ones,” she added. Satis had dark violet hair and wore a violet gown similar to the color of the group she supported.

“Prudens”, the leader of the wise Défteros, in a blue suit, and “Genus”, the leader of the kind Tétartos, in dark pink suit, both looked apathetic to the performance. They too, had long guessed what Magna planned. On the other hand, Malum remained relaxed and simply enjoyed his cup of coffee.

After a few minutes, the group performance ended and everyone enjoyed the show. They all clapped their hands and the other stood up to congratulate them.

“That was a great performance, Trítos. You entertained me, ” the king complimented. “Great job, Magna. It seems I didn’t make the wrong decision of letting you lead them.”

“The pleasure is all mine, your highness,” she answered while her smirk could not be hidden from her face.

Next up, was the wise Défteros. Before they started, Prudens asked permission from the king if they could turn off the lights. The king agreed and so the lights all went dim.

The girls of Défteros may have not been as talented as Trítos but surely, they use their wits. The reason they turned off the light was for them to pull off a “light performance”. It was a short musical play with lights as their accessory. They were doing basic dance steps yet the coordination and balance of colorful lights were pleasing to the eyes. Their dance also showed a bit of a story – they depicted the victory of the king. The blinking of each light, the position, the timing, all was perfect. And by the end of the show, everyone was highly entertained as well. It was modern and a complete contrast of the classic Swan Lake made of Trítos. If this was a talent show, even the judges would have a hard time deciding which one was better.

The king was yet again pleased and commended Défteros for their performance. Prudens was delighted with the king’s remarks and Magna grew angry. They squabbled at each other not long afterwards.

The performances continued and the king was delighted with everything. The beautiful Próta performed a sword dance also depicting the victory of the king. Then, the kind Tétartos showcased their honed beautiful and angelic voices in a choir. Lastly was Pémptos who performed a very sexy and modern dance.

“Great job to all the house leaders. All the performances were very entertaining,” the king said merrily. The crowd smiled with him.

But then, as if a bad wind blew by, his face shifted from happy to dead angry in a blink of an eye.

The whole crowd was startled.

“Yes, it was all great..BUT…” after a short pause, “Why are they missing one?”

His voice thundered. The crowd was so confused and started questioning each other.

“Malum,” the king called. “Aside from your group not abiding by the rules and wearing Pandora’s dress, I see that you’ve neglected yet another rule.

That – everyone, EVERY candidate, should be performing for me tonight.

Yet, where is that girl?

I recall one of your members wore a pitch black dress. A color so strange, the news reached me.”

And with the final blow, he asked in a commanding voice, “Where is she?”

“Ah, alas!, your majesty asked,” Malum answered in delight, as if he was expecting Rania to actually not join the performance. “But do not be angered, your highness, for we simply reserved the best for last.”

With that, he gestured his hands towards Rania who was sitting quietly at the very end row of seats near the balcony window.

“My Odile, come. The king looks forward to your performance.”

Azalea, who had been looking for Rania the entire night, looked at the direction of Malum’s hands and finally, there she saw her dressed in black with eyes so dark it didn’t reflect any light. She got more worried for her now and frowned in anxiousness.

Rania stared for a whole minute at Malum, thinking if she should go or just blew it all up since she’s not the least interested in this gathering.

But then, she remembered Azalea’s words.

“Then why?, why are you throwing your life away? Why are you throwing the life he sacrificed himself for you? The life that caused his very own life! Why?!”

If she didn’t perform for the king tonight, she might as well be dead since the king will be angry and may kill her on the spot. Then, she thought, “Hmm…. What should I perform? I didn’t practice anything.” She then looked around to see what she could use. The piano caught her eyes. Finally, she stood up and headed towards the piano.

Malum who was a bit anxious a moment ago, calmed down and grew excited and curious of what Rania’s going to do. The whole crowd as well grew expectant. For what kind of performance will be better than the rest?

Rania sat in front of the piano and prepared her hands to play. Thinking of what she should play, she suddenly remembered Zeid.

“Babe, I really don’t know how to play the piano!” Zeid said.

“Oh come on… Pleeeease, for me? You can sing but you can’t play? How the hell did that happen?”

Dun…dun…dun

The piano began to play.

“Am I doing this right?”

“Yes! Yes, you are,” Rania chuckled.

Again, tears started swelling in Rania’s eyes. She then closed her eyes as she reminisced about Zeid and their moments together. She began playing and singing at the same time in the melody of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” – the song Zeid played on the day he proposed to her.

“Wise men say…

Only fools rush in…

But I can’t help…

Falling in love with you…”

Aahhh …. her voice was so soothing to the ears and so…. captivating and romantic. You could feel the love in her as she sang the rest of the song.

“Shall I stay?

Would it be a sin

If I can’t help falling in love with you?

Like a river flows surely to the sea

Darling so it goes

Some things are meant to be

Take my hand, take my whole life too

For I can’t help falling in love with you”

As she began to sing the climax of the song, sparkling lights started to surround her.

Why?

It was her dress! Her dress was changing its color!

“Like a river flows surely to the sea

Darling so it goes

Some things are meant to be”

From the bottom of her dress, it began changing. Up and up it went until her whole pandora dress was shining in bright white light.

“Take my hand, take my whole life too

For I can’t help falling in love with you

For I can’t help falling in love with you”

A moment of silence.

With tears in her eyes, Rania’s performance ended.

Her once pitch black trumpet dress was now a very pure and delicate gown made of flowing fabric topped with chiffon.

Decorated with laces and diamonds, it was really beautiful.

And alas, its color now reflects a very bright and vibrant “white”.

Everyone including the king was speechless. Some stood up their seats, some gasped in astonishment, some could simply not believe their eyes.

At this moment, the king remembered that day…..

“Your highness, one of the candidates was found to have an utterly evil heart. Her pandora dress turned to pitch black when she wore it,” a servant reported to the king.

“Pitch black, you say?” asked the king.

“Yes, your highness.”

“And what does pitch black mean?” the king asked, turning to one of his Judges.

A stunning man with light blue hair and light blue eyes answered, “It means many things, your highness, depending on the level of its blackness.”

“And what are those?”

“A grayish black means utter evilness and wish of death; dark black means death itself, either the wearer saw death, experienced it, or killed someone, and lastly, pitch black means void – a feeling of nothingness. It can also mean abyss, and a wish for everything to end.

But….”

“But what?”

“It can also mean the opposite, your highness.”

“Opposite?”

“Yes,” After a short pause, he continued. “It also means, the end, and the start of new beginnings.”

The king shivered from his own memories.

As the crowd continued to be astonished by what just happened, Rania stood up on her seat. She wiped her tears and slowly, very slowly …smiled.

She whispered to herself, “Thank you, Zeid.”

And there she stood up in front of the crowd, a brand new Rania.

Not forgetting, but moving on the past, and welcoming the battles ahead, with her head held high and a smile on her face.

===============

Hi Beloved Readers!

I won Nomination Awards on last year’s AnimeDaily.Net Spirity Awards Spring 2020!

It’s all thanks to all of your love and support! T_T I couldn’t have done it without you all. Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart! T_T

I’ll be joining again this year and hopefully, I win again. I’m so shy but I’m gonna be shameless and ask all of your support once more. XD Please check out my new story by searching for it in the app.

Title: “A Beautiful Catastrophe”

Please VOTE me with POWERSTONES on that story and leave reviews and comments. More PS, more chapter updates! And once again, thank you all so much!

Lots of Love,

Macy_Bae

===============