Garasu no Kamen Synopses

Tankoubon 25


Dinner with Masumi Hayami and Fujiko Kitashirakawa.

Burm Restaurant. Maya is waiting for her purple rose fan. Someone steps in.
Maya takes a bow and starts saying how grateful she is but... It's Masumi Hayami! The girl blushes. Masumi Hayami pretends it's a coincidence: he was having dinner with a group of actors and actresses.
He sweetly looks at Maya:
That pink dress suits you...
Maya is confused by that man...
Someone else steps in. It's Fujiko Kitashirakawa, a middle-aged woman who used to be a popular opera singer. She received an invitation and a purple rose, but she doesn't know who invited her... Masumi Hayami asks the waiter for an other chair: he will have dinner with the ladies! Maya is disappointed...
Masumi introduces Maya to Fujiko Kitashirakawa: the girl finds out that the woman interpreted Ardis in "The red rose, the black rose", that is, the Opera version of "The two queens". Maya is delivered by the waiter a purple rose and a message:
I hope the lady will be of help. Enjoy the dinner! Your fan.
Maya starts crying: her fan will not meet her...
Masumi Hayami makes Kitashirakawa talk about her Ardis. Maya doesn't feel self-confident enough to perform that character... The woman makes her notice that she was 31 when she performed Ardis, not a pretty young girl like her: but she managed to look beautiful, because she herself believed she was Ardis! To make Maya understand, she picks a rose from the vase on the table, and she asks Maya to say:
What a beautiful rose!
Then she picks another rose and she destroys it; then she asks Maya to say the same words. But her tone is different now! The woman gives Maya only the stalk of a rose: Maya has to say the same words, as if she saw the first beautiful rose! Finally Maya understands: she recalls the feeling she had when she saw the first rose, and she manages to say: What a beautiful rose! with the same tone.

Tsukikage's special training.

Maya's and Ayumi's interpretations at the rehearsals are not appreciated by Tsukikage. She asks the director if she can personally train the girls for a while. The woman takes them to the storeroom of Nittei Theatre. She starts asking questions to Ardis and Oligerd, and the two actresses have to answer as if they were Ardis and Oligerd... It's very hard! The girls realize that they can't think as Ardis and Oligerd yet. They haven't understood the feelings and the past of the two princesses!
Tsukikage takes them to Kawakami meats wholesale shop. She locks them in the refrigerating room! They have to spend some time at -25°C to understand the climate of the cold kingdom of Lastonia! The girls are freezing. Ayumi almost faints. After a while Tsukikage asks Ayumi to recite Oligerd's words, and Ayumi finally performs a perfect ice-hearted Oligerd. Finally Tsukikage let them out. The two girl feel warm. It's Maya's turn to perform Ardis: finally she gets Ardis' feelings of joy and serenity.
Tsukikage's lesson is over: they just have to remember those feelings.
In a week, the girl will take a test: they will just have to obtain Hardra's rosary as Ardis and Oligerd would. If they pass the test, they will be allowed to rehearse with the other actors.

Maya and Ayumi spend some time together eating an ice cream. They look like very close friends! They promise each other that they will do their best to pass the test.

Maya visits again Fujiko Kitashirakawa, who teaches music to a choir in a church. She needs her help. The woman sings for her Ardis' part. Maya's is impressed: she looks much younger now! As Maya admits, the woman is not beautiful, but this is not important. She could become Ardis because she was self-confident enough to think she could be Ardis! For an actor, the face is not as important as the heart. You can use make-up to look more beautiful, but your beauty must come from your heart. Kitashirakawa suggests Maya to listen to music, enjoy art, watch the flowers, and everything beautiful: she will enrich enough to understand Ardis' heart.
Maya follows her advices... Little by little she realizes that she can do it!

Ayumi puts some make up on her face so that her face seems bruised: nobody would recognize her! She walks by the streets, enter some bars, she quarrels with some hooligans... She needs to feel rejected and hated by everyone.

One week later, both the girls pass the test:
Ardis kisses her grandmother on the cheek, she likes her rosary but she has not the courage to ask for it since she realizes that it's too important for her grandmother. Her grandmother understands and gives it to her. Oligerd tells Ardis that she envies her since she is loved by everyone, and so after some hesitation, Ardis decides to give it to her sister.

The day of the first show of "The two queen" is near.
Ayumi has been on a diet to lose 5 kg, so that she could be a more likely Oligerd...
Maya spends her time listening to music, eating sweets and watching flowers...
Masumi Hayami gets Maya's invitation:
Succeed, Maya! Win the bet!

"The two queens", first show.

Maya's friends are worried. In about a year, Maya has to win an important award if she wants to compete with Ayumi for "Kurenai Tennyo". This performance is so important for her! It will be difficult that she performs a likely beautiful princess...

"The two queens" - Prologue: Queen Katajina of Lastonia, King Adolf I's wife, has been unfairly accused of high treason: she is charged with having a love affair with her cousin the count August, leader of rebel troups, with collaborating with the rebels and with trying to murder the king.
Many corrupted witnesses confirm the accusation and many fake proofs are found. The queen understands it's a conspirancy: she knows that the king has a lover, Raguneid Godfried, and a daughter from her, Ardis. Raguneid, her father and her brother Hans have plotted everything to make Raguneid be the queen. Katajina has no chances, and she is exectuted. The king is entirely dominated by his lover, and he even believes the rumours that Katajina's daughter, Oligerd, is not his daughter. Oligerd, who is only 7, watches her mother's execution and is sent to prison.

Everybody is shocked... Is that beautiful girl Maya? Masumi, Mizuki, Onodera, Maya's friends, Sakurakoji hardly believe it. That beautiful, lovely, smiling girl is Maya?
It's incredible! Even the other actors find it hard to believe it... She's even better than in the rehearsals...

It's Ayumi's turn to appear on stage...


Attention!

Original story by Suzue Miuchi. Synopses by Francesca.
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