Chapter 6.
Mollana held her breath and slowly stepped forward, moving her body into Reyno’s line of sight.
Reyno was concentrating intently on watching the stage below, completely unaware that the invisible Mollana was standing right in front of him.
His focused gaze passed straight through the transparent Mollana, directed toward the stage outside the VIP box.
Even though she knew he wasn’t actually looking at her, that intense feeling of being stared at—as if his gaze was examining her body—instantly made Mollana’s heart begin to beat violently.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!…
When she realized that the sound of her wildly pounding heart was leaking from her body, Mollana immediately began to panic.
This is bad—if she gets caught invisibly spying on Master’s date with another woman, her apprenticeship will be over!
“Strange… Why is her heartbeat so fast?”
Is she too excited about this play?
Reyno scratched his head in confusion, glancing sideways at Kleya beside him.
“What’s going on… why is his heartbeat so fast?”
Could it be…
“Kleya felt her palms getting sweaty, slightly glancing toward Reyno beside her”.
Both of them heard the violent heartbeat of the third person in the VIP box, but coincidentally both assumed the heartbeat belonged to the person sitting next to them.
The moment their gazes met, panic surged in Kleya’s eyes, and she immediately looked away:
“Why are you looking at me? Look down there!”
“Oh, okay.”
Reyno shrugged and once again turned his gaze toward the stage.
Watching their interaction filled with sweet undertones, Mollana’s mouth twitched violently.
As the narrator’s words ended, two beams of strong light instantly burst from the top of the stage, focusing on a beautiful silhouette in the center of the dark stage.
When that figure appeared, the area below the stage instantly erupted with cheers like a tsunami.
The opera’s leading actress—Miss Ika — had taken the stage.
She wore revealing dance attire with exotic flair and a thin veil over her face, perfectly displaying her healthy wheat-colored skin and full muscle definition.
Her figure was also tall and slender, but not thin like Kleya’s. Whether it was her arms, thighs, or waist and abdomen, you could faintly see those firm muscle lines, yet they didn’t appear bulky.
You could tell at a glance that they were developed through dance and similar physical training.
Under the fabric that barely covered her body, a pair of firm, full breasts rose prominently, pressing the dance costume woven from silk and golden thread into layers of alluring wrinkles.
The proportions were absolutely perfect—neither too modest nor appearing overly prominent or bulky on this slender figure.
After taking the stage, she smiled and nodded to acknowledge the audience, her shoulder-length golden hair flowing like waves around her neck and shoulders.
Then, music began to play on stage, and Miss Ika began her solo performance.
Her singing was excellent—whether it was emotional control or vocal modulation, everything was absolutely peak level, practically flawless.
Her voice was full of passion and pride, perfectly displaying that sense of noble family arrogance.
This opera told the story of a noble family’s decline, where the heir played by Miss Ika received a letter from her ancestors and traveled alone to a dilapidated town to inherit property, only to discover the town had long been occupied by evil demons and become a cursed place.
Reyno, who had no artistic sensibilities whatsoever and could fall asleep watching art films in movie theaters in his previous life, was now watching with great interest, his eyes captured by Miss Ika on stage.
Kleya beside him slightly shifted her gaze toward him, seeing how absorbed he was, a faint smile curved her lips. But perhaps because he was too absorbed, a slight sourness also rose in her heart.
But soon, she felt relieved.
“After all, that’s Miss Ika.”
Well, any man who couldn’t be attracted to Miss Ika was either impotent or gay.
Of course, she had come to terms with it, but someone else hadn’t.
Mollana watched Reyno’s completely mesmerized expression and felt like she had eaten eight hundred lemons raw.
She had spent so much time with him, yet had never experienced that kind of gaze from him!
Every time it was only that loving look like one would give a child.
The feeling she wanted to be looked at with—she actually had to ‘steal’ it from other women!
After spending so much time with Reyno, Mollana’s feelings for him had long transcended mere ‘master-apprentice’ or ‘family’ relationships.
She yearned for another kind of feeling—a sublimated emotion.
But no matter how hard she tried, Master always seemed to see her only as a child.
But she clearly wasn’t a child anymore.
In that instant, she began wanting to get even closer to Reyno, greedily wanting to draw all the attention he was directing toward other women to her own naked body.
At first it was just a thought, but her body unconsciously moved a little closer to Reyno.
When she came to her senses, she was only millimeters away from Reyno—she could even feel the warm breath from his nose and mouth hitting her exposed skin.
“Oh no, what am I doing!”
Mollana’s heart instantly tightened, and cold sweat immediately began forming on her hands, feet, and the back of her neck.
She immediately wanted to back away.
But by unfortunate coincidence, at that exact moment, Reyno happened to raise his hand, wanting to reach for fruit from the fruit plate.
Just as he extended his hand, it happened to brush across the sensitive area of Mollana’s chest.
Instantly, an electric-like tingling sensation shot straight through Mollana’s body from skin to spine.
She almost cried out in surprise and nearly collapsed with weakened legs on the spot.
And Reyno, who had just learned Keen Perception and whose sense of touch had been greatly enhanced, instantly noticed that he seemed to have touched something. His eyebrows furrowed immediately as he looked puzzledly toward his side.
After Mollana forcibly suppressed her body’s reaction, she immediately held her breath and began backing away.
“What’s wrong?”
Kleya, who had been secretly watching Reyno, saw his sudden expression and couldn’t help but show confusion on her face.
“Huh… I just felt like my hand touched something in mid-air…”
Seeing him like this, Kleya asked worriedly:
“Have you been under too much financial stress lately?”
Ever since Reyno came to Haila Royal City, his financial pressure had been enormous—this was something Kleya knew.
Not only did he run around daily looking for commissions to do, but he was also frequently pressured by creditors.
Just thinking about Reyno’s creditor made Kleya’s heart tighten, nearly shivering on the spot.
“If only I could help him more…”
Kleya felt somewhat guilty.
Ever since her father had gambled away almost all their family fortune with those dwarves, her family’s situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse.
The only remaining savings she had brought to Haila Royal City to open this potion shop.
Selling discounted magical materials to Reyno was already the greatest help she could provide.
Hearing Kleya say this, Reyno replied:
“Maybe so… but I really felt like I touched something…”
“Are you saying… someone drank an invisibility potion, then precisely found their way to the VIP box we’re in, stayed unnoticed the whole time, and then deliberately got close to your face to brush against you? What would they gain from that—coming to the opera house VIP box to steal fruit?”
Kleya said teasingly, eventually making herself laugh.
Reyno, seeing Kleya’s flower-like smile, felt his heart suddenly relax and awkwardly laughed along with her.
Perhaps he really had become too sensitive after just learning Keen Perception and was experiencing some kind of illusion.
“Probably so, thanks for your concern.”
“Who’s concerned about you? I’m just worried you won’t focus and waste my luxury ticket.”
Reyno looked at the witty [person in front of him]
Seeing the two gradually quiet down and redirect their attention to the opera, Mollana slowly relaxed.
“What on earth am I doing…”
Mollana felt somewhat drained, wearily supporting her forehead.
On the stage below, Miss Ika moved with the music, each dance step fluidly hitting the beats and rhythm.
The many supporting actors around her completely became background foliage to highlight her brilliance, while cheers and applause from below the stage rose and fell continuously.
“You know, Miss Ika is half-elf. That’s a mix between humans and elves.”
“Really?” Reyno rubbed his chin.”
“Of course! She’s not only incredibly hardworking in dance and singing, but her talent is absolutely first-rate!” Kleya raised one slender white finger, showing off to Reyno.”
As the final act was performed, Miss Ika once again began a solo performance.
Unlike the pride at the beginning of the show, this time her voice was suppressed and melancholy, rendering the final dark and heavy atmospheric feeling of the plot.
After the song ended, the performance concluded. The audience once again erupted in loud applause.
Miss Ika smiled and bowed to the audience, then walked gracefully backstage.
“How was it? Wonderful, right?”
As the lights in the opera house gradually brightened, Kleya’s smile became particularly clear under the illumination.
“Yes, quite wonderful. Now I understand why Miss Ika is so famous.”
Reyno answered Kleya while eating the remaining fruit from the plate.
“Well, what if I told you…”
Kleya spoke halfway, slowly stood up, walked in front of Reyno, and slowly bent down to look him in the eyes.
“I could take you to meet her?”
“Huh?”
“You might not believe it, but she and I are old acquaintances. These two VIP box tickets were also given to me by her.”
After speaking, Kleya turned around, the hem of her purple-red dress swaying gently around her.
“I’m not specifically taking you to see her—I was planning to visit her after watching the play anyway. If you don’t want to come, forget it.”
“Of course I don’t mind, I’d love to.”
Didn’t Reyno know her personality by now?
Now he had to go whether he wanted to or not.
“You don’t seem surprised at all—I know the number one celebrity in Haila Royal City!”
Kleya tilted her head, her eyes showing three parts confusion and seven parts curiosity.
“I already knew you were capable, Miss. Even if you told me you knew the King of Haila, I wouldn’t be that surprised.”
Reyno said while forking the last piece of fruit from the plate and pointing it toward Kleya.
“Come on, open your mouth.”
Kleya was completely stunned but instinctively opened her mouth toward the fruit.
But after she opened her mouth, Reyno suddenly popped the fruit into his own mouth.
“Not giving it to you, hehe.”
“Oh you’re so mean!”
Kleya was both angry and embarrassed, a red flush appearing on her face as she stamped her thick-soled leather sandals on the ground several times.
At some unknown point, Mollana had quietly slipped out of the VIP box during the commotion when the opera ended.
The invisibility potion’s effect wouldn’t last much longer—she had to get back to the alley early and put her clothes back on.
But when she slipped out of the opera house and ran breathlessly back to the alley, the scene before her eyes was like a lightning bolt, striking her completely stunned.
In the corner of the alley, that pile of old burlap used to cover her clothes was still there, but had been disturbed by someone unknown.
And when Mollana tremblingly lifted that piece of burlap—
The clothes hidden underneath had long since disappeared without a trace.
