Romantic Drama at the Masquerade (Part 2)
A Buono! ~From the Carnival to a Dining Table~ Event Side Story
Caught up in the Masquerade
Kathrina: So Kokona’s the older sister and Niizuma’s the younger. And Shizuka’s supposed to mistakenly propose to Niizuma, right?
Panda: Yup, you get it! This cast is well thought out! Actors, are you mentally ready?!
Yae: Kokona-san, please, treat me well ♪
Kokona: Right, Yae-chan, you’re my little sister now! What should I do, I might end up pampering you too much…!
Yae: Fufu. Big sister Kokona ♪
Kokona: Ah, you’re so cute~…!
Shizuka: Look, do I really have to be the main character? Why doesn’t Kathrina or Sasuga play him instead?
Panda: Oshizu-chan, it has to be you, without you this improv would be impossible! Please, you have to help save Panda’s face…!
Chisa: Hmm. Looks like our director Panda has something in mind. Why don’t we hear it?
Panda: Indeed! Our improv features a masquerade ball! But we only have one mask we can use!
Panda: But Oshizu-chan can bypass that! She can copy the mask Niizumacchi wears!
Kokona: Oh, you’re right! She can imagine herself in any clothes!
Kathrina: That’s certainly a crucial requirement neither me nor Sasuga fit. Looking forward to watching your performance.
Chisa: Where do we buy the tickets?
Shizuka: You don’t need to buy them! And there’s no way I’ll play the main character for a reason like that!
Kokona: Shizuka-chan, don’t worry so much! Yae-chan and I will support you! Right, Yae-chan?.. Yae-chan? What’s up? Is everything alright?
Yae: Ah, sorry. I’ve just been thinking about my role. I wonder how I should respond to Shizuka-san’s proposal…
Kokona: Wow, incredible! I should give some thought to my role as well! Say, Panda-chan, so I’m portraying a childhood friend--
Panda: No, girls, we are doing an improv here, so you aren’t supposed to prepare for it. Just take it as it comes and enjoy yourselves. You too, Oshizu-chan.
Kokona: Shizuka-chan, I’m all hyped!
Shizuka: Gah… Why both of you are so excited…
Chisa: Alright, I’ll play the king who holds the ball. By the way, the context for my character is that he’ll be overthrown during a revolution that will happen a few years later.
Panda: Yeah, yeah, just don’t bring that into the play! Well then, Panda will be the narrator. What about you, Kathrin?
Kathrina: Guess, I’ll be someone who asks Kokona for a dance. Am I allowed to upstage the lead actor?
Shizuka: Try as you might…!
Panda: Girls, save your quarrelling for the performance! Alright, hereby our improv begins!
Panda: Once upon a time, in a certain kingdom, two young people met on the night before a masquerade ball.
Kokona: “Fufu, I’m so excited! The ball is tomorrow already. We’ll even get to wear matching masks.”
Shizuka: “Y-yeah… Though, I feel like there’s no point in going to a masquerade when you know who will be under the mask…”
Kokona: “It doesn’t matter. I just want to dance with you.”
Panda: Oh my, these two get along so well. And our young man seems to be rather shy, don’t you think?
Shizuka: “…!”
Panda: But the story continues, and the two make a promise to each other--
Kokona: “…You know, I’ve made up my mind. If tomorrow at the ball you find me and ask me for a dance, I’ll marry you.”
Shizuka: “I know what mask you’ll wear, so it shouldn’t be hard…”
Kokona: “But if you didn’t know, you wouldn’d be able to find me at all. So promise me, that you will and I’ll be the first one you ask for a dance. Then I can convince my father to approve of our marriage.”
Panda: They come from the families of different social standing, so only a proof of true love can make their marriage possible.
Panda: Yes. If their affection is so strong that mere chance brings them together, then that can only be fate! They are bound to find each other at the masquerade!
Chisa: “Hehehe… So you’ve come, those who choose to hide the truth behind a mask.”
Panda: Panda hasn’t finished with the narration yet, you know! Patience, please!
Panda: Finally, the night of the masquerade comes. The guests arrive at the palace wearing gorgeous masks. It’s a bewitching and dazzling sight to behold.
Chisa: “See through the lies, and uncover the truth! Let the masquerade ball begin!”
Panda: Instantly, the majestic music of a string orchestra fills the dance hall as if it couldn’t wait for the king’s greeting.
Panda: Now, the curtain on the masquerade finally rises!
Chisa: Da-da-da-da-dum!
Panda: What’s that?
Chisa: The string orchestra.
Panda: Don’t suddenly insert a BGM! You’re taking too many liberties!
Panda: Ahem. Resolved to fulfill his promise, the young man desperately searches for his sweetheart who wears a matching mask.
Shizuka: “…She’s wearing the same mask as me. I should be able to find her…”
Panda: Fufufu. He looks nervous. But it’s no surprise. After all, he plans to propose to his loved one when he finds her!
Yae: “…”
Panda: Finally, he notices the person wearing the same mask among the crowd. There’s no doubt that it’s the one with whom he wants to build a future together!
Shizuka: Frankly, I feel like this makes no sense.
Panda: Ah! He is so nervous that he can’t help but let out his inner thoughts. Such a moment comes only once in a lifetime. He needs to calm down, so he takes a deep breath--
Shizuka: Sigh…
Shizuka: “…I promise to be by your side forever. Please… would you be… my w-wife?”
Yae: “Huh…?”
Panda: Ah! She didn’t hear him, so he says it again!
Shizuka: Goodness…! “I-I can’t live without you! Please, have my hand in marriage!”
Panda: The moment of truth is here! Now, what will be her answer?
Yae: “…My heart has always secretly longed for you. I’m so happy!”
Yae: “But… Are you sure it should be me? Didn’t you look for my sister?..”
Shizuka: “…!”
Panda: Yes, that’s when he realises it! The person whom he thought to be his childhood friend is actually--!
Kokona: “So you’ve proposed to someone other than me? Moreover, it had to be my sister…”
Shizuka: “No! You see… It’s just a mistake…”
Kathrina: “Huh? So that’s all what your love amounts to? Best wishes to you and your bride. Now, dear, shall we be off?”
Kokona: “And to think I believed you…”
Shizuka: “Ah, wait…!”
Shizuka: Hold on! This story really makes no sense!
Panda: Hmph! Do you intend to go against Panda’s will? She’s the god of this stage and can cast every possible misfortune upon you--
Shizuka: Enough with your narration! Even if they wear masks, there’s no way you can mistake one sister for another, you know?!
Panda: No, no. It’s just a fictional element to make the story more exciting. It’s rude of you to poke fun at it.
Chisa: How about the sisters being twins who look exactly alike?
Panda: That should work. Let’s change our story so that Koko-chan and Niizumacchi are twins and start over from the proposal scene--
Shizuka: There’s no way I’ll propose to her again! I couldn’t possibly mistake Yae-chan for Kokona!
Kathrina: I doubt anyone could. That said, you could try getting into the role.
Shizuka: It’s impossible to get into the role with the story this absurd!
Panda: Huh? Let’s start with the scene after the proposal then! The narrator has no choice, but to force the story to continue--
Kokona: Shizuka-chan.
Shizuka: Sorry, Kokona… I really can’t play--
Kokona: “I understand. You could never propose to the wrong person. That’s what it means to truly love someone! I’m glad I believed you!”
Shizuka: Wait, aren’t we already done with the improv?
Yae: “That makes me a little sad… But I’m sure it’s for the best… Although my eyes are full of tears, I wish you two to be happy from the bottom of my heart!”
Shizuka: Kokona… Yae-chan…!
Shizuka: R-right…! Then let’s join our hands and dance together! That shall be our happy ending!
Kokona & Yae: Ahahaha!
Panda: Hey, don’t change the plot all on your own! Panda was the one who came up with it!
Shizuka: Didn’t you say that since it was an improv we should take it as it comes and enjoy ourselves? I don’t see any problem with this ending!
Panda: But in the next scene Panda was planning to have Kathrin and Oshizu-chan fight over Koko-chan like they do it in soap operas! That would be a really intense development!~
Kathrina: Panda, are you aware that that would be tactless? What you see is true love. I admit defeat.
Panda: Is it really okay to give up just like that, Kathrin?!
Chisa: It’s fine. And they’ve lived happily ever after.
Kokona: Let’s all dance now! It’s great that our masquerade ball story has a happy ending!
Shizuka: Th-that’s right! We can finally end it with a dance! Aha… Ahaha! Ahahaha…!
Kokona, Shizuka, Kathrina, Yae, Chisa: Ahahaha…!
Panda: What kind of story is that…?!