THE ACTRESS

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A baritone voice echoed in the verse flower garden, "And CUT! That's the final scene. Thank you " Followed by that was the sound of many people clapping and Ronan was one of them.

He watched the heroine actress wipe the tears she shed, painfully just a second ago with now a bright smile as she walked towards the movie staff with a bouquet in her hand.

"Thank you!" She bowed and waved her hands excitedly as the staff cheered loudly.

As she began to give a speech Ronan began walking away from the spot but was stopped by the owner of the baritone voice, the director of the historical-war movie 'Bloody Spirit: The Tear of Rose', Darcy Mcnamara.

"Thank you so much, Mr Guardian. This place was perfect for the shoot. I love it!"

"I'm glad you love this place." The owner of the garden smiled.

The director was a head shorter than Ronan and hence, it was natural for him to look up while talking to the middle-aged man.

As they chat quietly a bit far from the cast and the staff, Ronan was called by one of his workers and had to end the conversation.

"We'll talk later." The director went back to his workers while the owner walked towards the garden's office.

On the way, he saw the gate to the restricted gate open and saw a figure standing with her back facing him.

He immediately knew that she was one of the actresses in the shoot since she was wearing a blue, elegant rococo dress with her white hair in a fancy fontange. But not just AN actress.

She carried an aura more than that, more powerful than the female lead actress he just watched. He couldn't say for a hundred per cent since he hadn't seen her face nor her acting skills, but if this woman stood next to the lead, it would be a shame and a shade.

She must have heard him walking in because she twirled around without making any sound and faced him directly, not looking surprised or anything.

The two stared into the other's eyes for a few seconds until Ronan spoke, "This place is off-limits."

"Oh... Apologies. I didn't know." She had a deep voice for a woman but was very pleasant to the ear. Calm, soothing and satisfying.

The woman bowed lightly and gracefully and began walking out of the little red garden.

As the woman passed him, he stopped her. "Wait."

The actress stopped and once again faced him.

He was closer to her this time and could study every feature of her face.

She had a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones coloured pearl pink. Her black eyes were upturned and deep into her face, giving the impression of a strict and harsh personality. Combined with her cold expression and powerful aura, she looked more like a fictional historic merciless queen than an actress.

In Ronan's eyes and maybe in many people, she was surely one of those people with unforgettable faces.

"What do you think of this place?" He asked the actress, who squinted her eyes and tilted her head ever so slightly.

She looked around the place expressionlessly and questioned, "You said this place was off-limits, correct?" She continued after he nodded, "It should stay off-limits. It's too precious. People like us, we shouldn't taint them."

She spoke while looking at the red ocean around her.

If a human face could be priced and treasured, her face was at the level of a national treasure. Her facial features were placed more than perfectly and especially her side profile... He even thought that she was hand-crafted by God from a block of perfect.

And the way, she looked at the flowers was, also eye-catching. It was different from how she looked at him. Her eyes were soft, caring and tender which was the exact same look his wife used to give to the flower.

"Anything else?" She asked calmly after she noticed that the owner of the garden was studying her face intently.

Ronan blinked rapidly and moved his eyes to the petals on the ground, avoiding her soul-staring eyes, "No."

"Okay then." She said and finally stepped out of the forbidden garden. Just then, someone seemingly her manager came for her.

"Eirene. They want you to give a speech."

"I'll be right there," The actress nodded at the man and turned to Ronan to bow slightly and walk away.

Ronan watched the woman and the man walk back to the last shooting scene and got out of the staff-only garden. When he was closing the door, he realised that someone had put a jacket over the sign and it was unreadable. No wonder the actress got in. She was not at fault.

The owner watched the actress give a speech with a bouquet in her hand in the distance and remembered about his wife. Until her last moments, his wife, Sunny, supported this one actress in particular.

She used to watch every drama and movie the actress performed from her hospital bed excitedly and she would tell him how much the actress was working hard. And if he remembered correctly, the actress's name was Irene with an E in the beginning.

She told him that the actress had gone through a lot of things but still kept going and that was what she loved about her.

And there was another name that she kept mentioning but he forgot. The name started with a J and ended with an N. Was it John? And that was the name of the actress's manager who encouraged her to come back to her acting life and helped her get popular and successful.

Watching the actress give a speech, he was struck with familiarity. The descriptions his wife gave fit perfectly that actress. From who she looked to how she carried herself.

"It can't be..." He murmured and turned his back to her. But before he could take a step, the wind carried her voice to him and heard the thing he needed to hear.

"... I also want to thank my manager, Jaxon, for advising me to audition for this role. I wouldn't be here and met all of you if it wasn't for him. Thank you very much for this role and everything that you have done..."

When Ronan turned the direction of the voice, his eyes met the actress's and instantly knew that she was the one his wife supported and wanted to meet.

But because he was called again by the same worker to the office, so he tore his eyes from her and hastily followed the worker.

Even when he was done solving the problem they had, the cast and the staff of the movie were still there and it was a perfect moment for him to get to know the actress Sunny admired.

As he walked past the staff, he found the person he was looking for in the red queen's garden. As if she was from a painting in the old days, she looked faultless and divine like she belonged there.

She was touching the red flowers with her blue-laced gloves, delicately with a small sweet smile on her lips. The scene was truly a piece of art like someone could write a whole backstory out of it just back looking.

"These are glorious. I prefer these than the roses." Eirene Queen, dressed as Valentina Mae Payne, stood up from the bending position and faced the owner.

Ronan looked at the ground and smiled. The actress was saying the thing his wife said.

He originally planned to use red roses for the Red Queen's Garden, but Sunny begged and pleaded with him that the garden needed to be camellia and indeed that made it unique.

Thinking about it, he definitely made the right decision to listen to her.

Camellia gave off a unique and fresh impression to those who came here thinking it was going to be roses just like any other flower garden. But, no. This garden was built differently.

"You take a great care of these flowers." Eirene touched the flower next to her tenderly.

"We do." Ronan replied.

The owner watched the woman touch the flower quietly. She was careful not to accidentally rip the petal or squish the blooming flower. She was extremely careful as if she was handling a bubble.

Just by watching her, he could certainly understand why his wife adored her. There was just something about her that attracted people.

Just when Ronan snapped out, he saw the actress standing in front of him. "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I am Eirene Queen." Her gloved hand was in mid-air between them.

He was tall but she was also tall. She only needed to look up a bit to meet the eyes. Doubtlessly taller than the director.

"I know you." He replied and swear he saw her eyes widen for a split second until they went away.

Hearing that, she nodded to herself understandingly and slowly lowered her hand as well as her eyes.

Then Ronan continued to say, "My wife was a huge fan."

The moment he said that her eyes shot back up to his with shock and happiness.

He held her lowering hand and shook it as he told her, "She passed away from cancer a few years ago but she watched everything you acted in and adored you dearly until the last. She was happy and proud of you. Thank you for acting and living."

The actress frowned upon hearing that and removed her hand from Ronan's. "I don't deserve those words and I'm sorry for your loss. I'm going now." She looked sad and guilty saying that herself.

Before Eirene could fully walk away from him, Ronan shouted to her, "You are welcome here, any time and you do deserve those words!"

She halted momentarily on the stone path and slightly turned her face to him but continued to walk away seconds after.

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