The second act was going suspiciously well.
Too well.
Aegis delivered her monologue about loyalty and sacrifice, and the audience hung on every word. When she collapsed to her knees after being banished by the false councilor, several noblewomen in the front row actually dabbed at their eyes.
It was all very, very easy.
[A little too easy,] Aegis thought as she exited stage right. [Something's off.]
In the original game, the play event was cut content. But, it was meant to be a major turning point for several romance routes before the devs decided not to go through with it. It was also a trigger for one of the first shadow magic incidents, though, again, that ended up being scrapped.
So why did everything feel so... smooth?
[Even if it was cut content, things should be a bit more hectic than they are... So what gives?]