Chapter 13: The Princess and the Dragon

When Monica walked out of the school office building, it was almost 5:00 in the afternoon. She turned around and hurriedly made her way towards the auditorium.
Harvard University was one of thea top-tier higher education institutions in the country, with a long history.
This year, it was about to celebrate its centennial anniversary, and every department was preparing programs that best represented them. The Business School was no exception. Since they had a student who was the president of the drama club, she took the initiative to plan a drama performance. She had asked Monica to play a role in it.
She didn't want to agree at first because she didn't know how to act and didn't feel like memorizing lines and rehearsing.
However, under the persuasion and persistence of the club president, who even took the initiative to modify the script for her, she ended up playing the core yet decorative role of the princess abducted by the evil dragon in the proposedthis play.
Today was a day for full cast rehearsals, but unfortunately, it coincided with the day thatwhen her mentor asked her to revise her paper.
So she had to rush between the two, it was a very busy from morning and the busyness lasted late into the day. till now, Monica was so busy she didn’t even get a chance to eat anything the whole day.without even taking a bite of food.
People were coming and going in the auditorium, and the stage was in full swing with the performance of the plot. Monica walked backstage, changed into her costume, and carried the hem of her dress as she walked out.
In a hurry, she accidentally bumped into someone at the corner, lightly exclaimed, and stumbled backwards, but the other person quickly reached out to hold her arm.
She looked up at the person and said, "Thank you, I was in such a hurry, I'm sorry."
The tall guy was wearing a similar costume to the one Monica wore, Monica quickly realized he and was the protagonist playing the prince in the play opposite her..
He looked at Monica, realizing that he was still holding her arm, he quickly withdrew his hand, and blushed slowly, saying, "Hello, senior."
The club president had gone to great lengths for this performance, putting in a lot of effort into the selection of all the main roles. It was a rumor on campus said that she carefully chose this male lead, who was a sophomore and had a very princely demeanor.
The two stood there awkwardly in silence, until Monica broke the ice, saying, "Let's go out first, our part should be coming up soon."
"Okay." Was the simple reply.
The club president, wearing glasses, sparkled at the sight of Monica and eagerly exclaimed, "The destined princess! Even if you don't have many lines or scenes, just standing there, you are the soul of this play!"
Monica: ...
As evening approached, Steven checked the time, stood up, and prepared to leave work.
Assistant MochengCaspar knocked on the door and entered, saying, "Boss, Miss.iss Mingshi Li's secretary called me just now, saying that sheshe wants to invite you to dinner tonight."
"Next time." Steven didn't even lift his head, "Apologize to Missr. Li for me and say that next time when she is's free, I'll treat herim."
Assistant MochengCaspar didn't expect the invite to be rejected and was a bit stunned, "Ah? But you don't have any other business arrangements tonight?"
Since he had been being with Steven for some time now, MochengCaspar has fully realized his boss's fanatic attitude towards work. He hardly careds about personal time and would attend these business banquets as long as there are no conflicts in his work.
Sometimes MochengCaspar even felt els like he had s turned into a working machine, .
yetAnd this time, he actually refused.
"I have a date tonight." Steven took out his car keys from his pocket and walked towards the door, glancing back at Assistant MochengCaspar, who was still stunned in place,
"I'm leaving, aren't you going off duty yet? Sterling Holdings does not encourage meaningless overtime." Steven said before leaving.
"I'll leave right away!" Assistant MochengCaspar reacted yetand his heart was in turmoil.
Did the boss just say he had a date?! Did he hear it wrong?!
Steven drove to Harvard University.
Early in the morning, Monica had sent him a message saying that she had rehearsal tonight and wouldn't be able to reply promptly, so she asked him to go directly to the auditorium. He parked the car, locked it, and walked towards the entrance with a calm stride.
Outside the auditorium, there was silence. He tried turning the doorknob and pushed the heavy door open just a crack.
As it was a rehearsal, only a small section in front of the stage was crowded with people in the vast auditorium. In the back row where he was sitting, the seats were empty and it was quiet.
Even the lights above were not turned on.
He leaned against the wall and his gaze was fixed on the bright and lively stage.
Almost immediately, he spotted Monica. She was sitting on the high platform in a gorgeous dress, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders, complementing her fair face.
Her shimmering eyes were captivating, her lips slightly pursed, and the rosy hue on her cheeks appeared even more vibrant under the focused beams of light.
She was so beautiful that it was impossible to look away.
As the others on stage acted out battle scenes, she seemed somewhat bored, sitting there in a daze. Then her gaze started to wander, scanning the audience, until it stopped at him.
Monica had noticed him too.
Instantly, she averted her eyes in a fluster, but then thought of something and, taking advantage of everyone's attention being on the stage, she looked back at him, mischievously sticking out her tongue.
Her intention was to be playful, but she managed to be incredibly cute.
He couldn't help but curve his lips.
"Sorry, this is an internal rehearsal, are you... a student?"
A clear female voice interrupted him, and Steven turned his head.
The girl was startled when she saw him, "Um... are you... a teacher?"
Although his face was youthful and handsome, his overall demeanor was too mature, making it difficult for him to be mistaken ashim not appear like a student at all.
"No, I'm a relative of one of the actors," he replied politely, nodding towards her, "If there is a problem, thenThen I'll wait outside."
"There's no need! Since you're a relative, you can wait here. It's a bit cold outside," the girl hurriedly stopped him,
"Our rehearsal is almost over, please wait a moment. Once the princess is rescued, there is not much left of thewon't be any more plot." The girl explained.
Based on the scene setup he had observed earlier, he had already made a rough guess about the theme and storyline. Hearing the girl's words, he instantly confirmed that Monica was playing the role of the princess.
He took another look around and saw a boy on stage, dressed in elaborate attire, bravely battling a dragon that had transformed into a human, making one final effort to rescue the princess.
Another beautiful story of a princess and a prince.
Suddenly, he remembered Eric's words from a few years ago.
"My sister, you know," Eric said, holding a game controller, "Since she was little, her biggest dream was to be a princess. Her favorite type is the gentle prince, like Lawrence. Oh, you don't know him, he's a bit younger than us and works in photography."
With that, he raised an eyebrow and smiled at Steven, "So, what do you think? Should you give up? After all, with your emotionless face, you don't really fit the role of a gentle prince." Eric laughed.
Steven glanced at the stage. The play was already reaching its climax. Finally, the princess played by Monica was rescued by the prince, and the two slowly held each other's hands.
He turned around and walked out of the auditorium, stopping at the doorway. From inside the partially closed door came the resounding applause of the curtain call.
The evening wind was chilling, causing the newly sprouted green leaves on the branches to flutter and make a rustling sound.
Unfortunately, he was never a prince.
Instead, he lurked in the shadows, plotting to capture the princess, using every trick in the book to bring her back to his realm and dominate her.
All the precious gold and silver treasures were piled at her feet, with the dragon hoping she would stay by its side forever.
The princess was the dragon's most desired and cherished treasure.
**Chapter 14: Watching a Movie**