The spies got to the end of the queue just as the woman dressed in the pink Mediaeval princess costume has finished. The next candidate up was a woman dressed as a Japanese princess, who took out a fan and started dancing as the traditional Japanese music sounded, which was played by the traditional instrument Shamisen. Behind her was a Chinese 'princess', who seemed to be ready to dance the moment she was born.
"OMG, her dancing skills wouldn't lose to a Japanese Geisha," Claire whispered as she admired the beautiful dance, "What are we gonna do? We are totally unprepared for this!"
"Well, our mission is not to win anyways, though I'd actually love to!" Eliza replied with a hair flick, "Luckily, our mission is to investigate this pageant, not to win it."
"Unluckily, in order to have an excuse to stay here and secretly investigate, we'll need to still be in the eligible candidates list for as long as possible," Claire reasoned, "And if we're out after the opening contest, our mission is practically ruined as we'll be kicked out immediately."
"You know what? You're right!" Eliza responded, "Looks like joining the Dance Society in uni this term has paid off, I'm so gonna shine!"
"Yeah, except that you've only actually been to it once, and that was before all those essays caught up with you, remember?" Claire said.
Before long, it was already Eliza's turn. She called up any old song she could remember that was related to flowers and improvised through the whole thing. After the performance, the spies could perceive some of the 'prince' judges shaking their heads in disapproval.
Afterwards, it was Claire's turn. Absolutely clueless about how to dance, Claire had a sudden idea and grabbed hold of two candle holders and called up 'Set Fire to the Rain' by Adele. As that was all she could imagine after hearing the song for the first time- a woman holding a candlestick to the rain drops, trying to 'set fire to the rain'. She managed to dance through the whole song without setting fire to either herself or the palace, so that was already an accomplishment for her.
Nonetheless, after her performance, she was absolutely astonished to perceive that the judges applauded so loudly that the entire hall was ringing with their applause, some were nodding their heads in approval too.
Will the spies successfully make it past the opening contest into the semi-finals?
~To be Continued~