*They sit and watch the play, a romantic comedy with a somewhat convoluted but charming plot about an initially stuffy but well-minded nobleman and justiciar who falls in love at first sight with a beautiful girl he meets while on the pursuit of the notorious bandit king, Crimson Ember. After a romantic interlude, the nobleman is jailed under the charge of being Crimson Ember, as he is found to be in possession of some of the bandit king's stolen booty. When the real Crimson Ember saves him from jail, he is faced with the difficult choice between cooperating with his sworn enemy and allowing himself to be wrongfully imprisoned.
They discover that the nobleman had been framed by his jealous younger brother, but after the brother flees justice, the nobleman becomes an outlaw again when he saves Crimson Ember from the gallows. As they ride off into the forest, the nobleman discovers while treating the bandit king's wounds that Crimson Ember is really none other than his beloved.
They return to her forest bandit stronghold only to find that the nobleman's brother has taken over the role of Crimson Ember, without the bandits knowing, to make himself his own kingdom among the outlaws. Defeating his brother in a duel, the nobleman returns and brings his brother to justice for framing him and for being the bandit king, and he receives a pardon, returning to his estate to get married, with a happy ending for all, except the evil brother.*