Not A God

Chapter 96

The night was perfect, a full moon was in the sky, and under the twinkling stars, the city was filled with dense pipes carrying steam for the daily use of its inhabitants. The streets are lined with traffic, gold-trimmed carriages with family crests drive through the narrow alleys, the noblewomen inside with feather fans covering their faces, the ragged passers-by walk by in a state of indifference, not daring to complain even if they are touched by the carriages.

In a city where the gap between rich and poor is so wide, people are used to such distinctions.

One by one, the carriages drove through the streets.

It was a rare opening night for a play at the Maria Theatre, and many of the noblemen and women, who were usually socially inclined, were eager to get here, and the carriages were crowding the streets.

The young man named Mistret jumped down from one of the carriages and looked at the large poster in front of the theatre. The tall woman reflected on the poster, with her white skin and red lips, was the city's most popular theatre actress, Prill.

She was also Mistret's favourite.

He had been courting Prill recently and felt he was on the verge of success. Prill has agreed to have dinner with him this evening after the show, the first date since Mistrey has been courting Prill.

Impatient, Mistret enters the theatre and sits in the seat closest to the stage, waiting with great joy for the woman he loves to begin her performance. The play was called "The Life of Altus" and was said to be based on a true story, the veracity of which was open to question, but the audience was moved and cheered by the combination of horror and love.

Mistret looked at the actors on stage, one of whom was playing the role of a down-on-his-luck painter named Artus, holding a painting covered in black cloth and describing the inspiration for the painting in an impassioned tone.

"...... From gods beyond the distant stars, where long dreams cannot reach, is where we seek!"

Simply put, it is the story of a painter who continues to ask the gods for inspiration in his quest for a better painting, and gains love in the process of achieving fame and fortune. Prill plays the heroine in a white gown and sings so beautifully that the audience is mesmerised, and Mistre is no exception. He is so engrossed in his beloved's beauty that his eyes inadvertently fall on the painter-actor standing next to his beloved, the painting still covered in black cloth in his hand, but with a facial expression that is uncomfortably twisted in a strange way.

Mistret, who felt the scene hurt his eyes, frowned in displeasure, unable to imagine that this play could have had such an ugly actor in the lead role, who was not worthy of his Prill.

But whether Mistret was satisfied or not, the play went on.

On stage, Prill danced to the painter's footsteps, surrounding the prop statue and praying for the gods' blessing to make their life happy. The love between the two eventually blossomed and they lived happily ever after under the watchful eye of the statue.

"...... Everything is the mercy of God~"

At the end of the play, the curtain slowly fell to the chorus of the hero and heroine, covering the sacredly shaped idol on the stage. Mistret heard the audience nearby let out a contented sigh, as if in praise of the love between the hero and heroine, but he felt little, his attention inexplicably drawn to the idol on the stage.

He could not remember a similar style of the statue in the city.

It was ivory in colour, holy and beautiful.