At half past nine in the evening, amid thunderous applause, the audience applauded the actors onstage as they stood in three rows in costume to take their curtain call. Luvia was flushed with excitement, while Shade woke from his brief nap and realized the opera had ended.
He tried his best to suppress the impolite urge to yawn. As the curtain slowly closed and the audience discussed the performance enthusiastically while leaving, he said to Luvia:
"It's over? That was really quick."
"You slept through nearly a third of it. Of course it felt quick."
The two followed the crowd out through the door on the right side. At the corridor entrance of the Opera House's grand foyer, Miss Benanis's maid had already been waiting to lead them backstage, but Shade heard a commotion coming from outside the Opera House.
"What happened?"
"Someone is protesting."
The young maid said softly, leading them away from the crowd and toward a side corridor:
"The local Stone Masons Association is protesting because the royal family owes them wages."
"The Kasonlik Royal Family owes wages?"
Shade was rather surprised. He glanced at Luvia, who was equally puzzled.
"Is the Kasonlik Royal Family's financial situation really that bad?"
"The matter is quite complicated. It has something to do with the previous king and the Colossus that collapsed during a storm. About twenty years ago, the local Stone Masons Association received a royal commission to build a ten-meter-tall Colossus at the royal mausoleum in Weilun Dai'er City. But before it was completed, heavy rain and lightning destroyed the statue."
The maid spoke quietly. She herself was a Third Ring Arcanist with faint Witch powers, and judging by her appearance, she was probably under twenty.
"So the Anjou Royal Family withheld the final payment for the project?"