(MC POV)
I stared at Kiyomi who was busy looking down at the tail she had been brushing for the past five minutes.
If you're curious about the play, it ended up as you might have expected it.
After the confession, we overthrew the tyrants and then my character went on ahead to marry Kiyomi's character and it was basically a happily ever after scenario.
The genius part of it was the ending was done in such a way that it was both a conclusion but also a hint at a possible sequel, which allowed our troupe to decide if this story should be continued depending on the audience's reaction.
Needless to say, the audience really enjoyed it and we even received a standing ovation too.
And listening to the conversations from our actors after the performance was over, I found out that the entire thing was indeed orchestrated by Kiyomi herself.
So this was what she meant by making the performance even better than what this version of her could come up with…
I have to give the staff props for being able to make such last minute changes in just two days though. That would have been impossible under normal circumstances but I guess when you have someone like Kiyomi looking over your shoulder, you don't have a choice either.
So here I am, staring at Kiyomi since she also figured out that I realised what she had done.
"So… Anything to say for yourself?" I asked.
"Hmmm? Oh, I suppose I would say that I outdid myself for this, don't you think so, Master?"
I patted her head, "I suppose you did, it was indeed quite an interesting story you came up with. None of the other versions of you received a standing ovation like that at the end of the performance like you did, much less with the problems you've faced too."
"Kukuku~ Thank you, Master. I tried my best."
"That said… You really planned this out, huh?"
"Oh? I don't understand what you mean by that, Master."
"Don't play innocent with me, you planned all this out just so you can hear me propose didn't you?"
"Kukuku~ Seems like I was caught, as expected of Master~ I will admit, it took all I had not to break out of character when I heard you say that, Master."
"You really are one cunning girl."
"Oh, I'll take that as a compliment, Master~"
Nothing really phases her huh?
I sighed, "Well, what now? Unsurprisingly, Guiying declared herself as our patron after we pretty much stole the show. We still have until the end of the day before we return back to our World too."
"Oh, isn't it obvious, Master? Now we party of course."
Just as she said that, all the staff members of our troupe suddenly appeared around us.
"Oh!! There's our boss and the Master!!"
"We've been looking all over for you two!"
"Are we still going to party?"
Kiyomi waved at them, "Of course we are. I've already booked the venue ahead of time so everyone can head there first. We'll catch up in a bit."
"Ohhh! As expected of boss!!"
Huh… And not even a few hours ago you were working them so hard and saying things that lacked empathy… Yet here you are being so considerate of--
"Kukuku~ Once they are busy eating and partying, I can have our alone time together, Master. I reserved a separate place for us with wine and a nice view of the city. Shall we?"
I take that back, she's just basically trying to get rid of them with the food so she can spend time alone with me.
But in this case… Just because she pulled a fast one on me…
I pulled her up by her hand and waved to the other staff members who were still walking away, "Wait up everyone! We're coming too!"
"Oh!! The boss and Master are joining us!"
"Hooray! Let's drink lots today, Master!"
I started pulling Kiyomi along to join them as they beckoned me over.
"Ma… Master? Wha… What are you doing?" Kiyomi whispered.
"What do you mean, Kiyomi? Isn't it more fun to party with more people? We have to properly answer our staff's feelings too, you know? After working them so hard like that, we will have to party hard with them as well!"
"Ma… Master… That's not what I--"
"Heyyyy! Let's go before the others eat up all the food, boss!"
My little white fox was forced to swallow her complaints as the troupe members surrounded us again, lest her true feelings were revealed there.
I chuckled inwardly as I led all of them to the bar that Kiyomi had reserved while listening to the others banter along the way.
When we reached the bar, we found most of the troupe already there and enjoying the food that was laid around the room. It seems like Kiyomi went ahead to reserve the entire bar for us.
The moment we entered, the people in the room immediately pulled the two of us in and we were swarmed with cheers and various members congratulating us while pushing food and drinks into our hands.
And as both the main female lead and also the director cum supervisor of the play, Kiyomi was getting a lot of attention from everyone.
It got to the point that even Kiyomi herself was unable to hide her embarrassment at being praised so much.
As I said, getting the Empress to become our patron was a really huge deal so everyone here is pretty much set for life after tonight.
As long as they don't do anything stupid, they can live comfortably while performing our plays. To them, this was basically a godsend and Kiyomi was the one who helped them achieve that.
Drinks and food flowed freely and everyone was enjoying themselves. I received several toasts as well as compliments for my acting, since the me of this World only acted as a manager and not an actor so most were surprised by how well I did.
Finally, there was a lull in the people coming to find us and Kiyomi leaned closer to me, "This is revenge for me changing the script behind your back, isn't it… Master?"
"Oh, it seems like I was caught~ As expected of my Kiyomi." I chuckled, using her own words against her. "But aren't you also enjoying yourself?"
"Mnnn… I suppose I can't say no… But it's still true that I'm enjoying myself much more now that no one else is bothering us…" She muttered before laying her head on my shoulder.
Cute~
I almost regret that we were leaving for home after this.
