Lora shook her head. She walked up to Furina, reached out, and rubbed her hair.
"I could never bring myself to hit you. You're right. As your bodyguard, I really should stay by your side more often."
"You don't actually have to stay right beside me every second..."
Furina was pleased by the head pat and murmured softly, "Just... pay a little more attention to me, okay? I'm the Hydro Archon. I'm your boss!"
"Got it, Boss." Lora nodded, then asked with a smile, "Then what would Boss like to eat tonight?"
"Anything is fine," Furina said.
Lora got up to prepare dinner. Sitting on the sofa, Furina said to her, "Actually, you could just have the people downstairs bring dinner up. You don't need to make it yourself..."
"It's different." Lora shook her head and said nothing more.
After busying herself for a while, Lora prepared a full table of food and had dinner with Furina. During the meal, she said to her, "I heard the famous magician Lyney will be performing at the opera house. Are you interested in going?"
"A magic show by the great Lyney?" Furina thought for a moment, then nodded. "Of course I'm going! I never miss a single performance at the opera house!"
Lora smiled and rubbed Furina's hair again. "Hurry and eat."
"Are you really treating me like your little child?" Furina quickly understood from Lora's attitude, but she did not dislike the feeling. Instead, it gave her a strange sense of ease.
"Of course," Lora said with a smile and a nod.
Late that night, when it was time to sleep, Furina still reminded Lora not to come near her room, and Lora still nodded and agreed.
A faint blue glow danced around Furina, circling her body in gentle flickers. That soft light was like a mother's comfort, allowing Furina to relax in her dreams in a way she had not felt in five hundred years.
At least for now, Lora could make Furina feel less exhausted at night.
Lyney's magic show opened grandly, and the entire Opera Epiclese was packed. Lora was still seated in the middle of the audience. This spot was almost becoming her exclusive seat.
On stage, Lyney had already begun his performance.
The opening water-tank escape trick was truly spectacular. The technique was extremely subtle, and it quickly stirred up the audience's excitement. Riding that lively atmosphere, Lyney introduced the second trick.
He brought out two large boxes, placing one on the stage and the other in the aisle between the audience seats.
Standing onstage, Lyney smiled and said, "I will choose one lucky audience member. The selected guest and I will enter these two boxes at the same time. After one minute, we will each emerge from the other's box. Everyone here, please keep your eyes fixed on the boxes before you."
Lyney then used a number selector to choose a lucky audience member, and the magic troupe's assistant led her over to the box.
After saying a few words to the selected guest, Lyney invited her into the magic box.
However, before the young lady entered, her stiff and nervous manner caught the attention of Chaya, who was seated at the front. Chaya had existed for thousands of years and had seen countless people. With just one glance, she could tell something about the girl was off.
Something was wrong with her.
As for what the problem was, that was still unclear.
The young lady entered the box. After Lyney had the audience begin the countdown, he also stepped into the box onstage.
Once inside, he quickly slipped away from the stage through a hidden passage and approached the door to the chamber of the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale.
But just as he was about to open the door and enter, he heard a woman's voice.
"You'd better not go in, Lyney."
The voice appeared suddenly, yet it felt familiar, as though he had heard it somewhere before.
"Who is it?" Lyney frowned nervously. He had not expected anyone to know what he was doing.
This was clearly something he had planned for a long time. There should have been no way for anyone else to know.
"You should recognize my voice by now. Are you really going to keep hiding there? The countdown outside is almost over. If you don't come out soon, you're going to ruin the act, Mr. Magician," the woman continued.
Lyney had no choice but to leave quickly.
When the countdown ended, he pushed open the door of the magic box in the audience aisle and stepped out.
His successful appearance there immediately drew another wave of gasps from the audience.
But just as everyone's attention focused on the stage, the ropes suspending the water tank above suddenly snapped. The massive tank crashed down, smashing the magic box beneath it to pieces.
Among the wreckage, a hand was exposed. It was not the young lady's hand, but a man's.
Chaya watched everything happen, her expression still calm. Neuvillette glanced at her, and seeing her remain quietly seated, said nothing more.
This sudden accident caught the audience completely off guard. Some people were so frightened that they stood up from their seats, staring at the stage in shock.
Even Furina, who had been watching from the VIP box, came to the edge of the balcony. Her brows furrowed slightly as she watched the stage.
One excited audience member asked, "Mr. Lyney, is this also part of the magic show? Are you going to restore the stage next?"
"No... no, that's not right..." Lyney frowned and shook his head.
People soon realized something was wrong.
But before they could raise any questions, movement suddenly came from the stage again.
The pile of debris began to shift, rising and falling as if something underneath was pushing upward and trying to get out.
Seeing this, Neuvillette quickly stood, his gaze fixed sternly on the stage.
Chaya said calmly, "Do not panic."
Hearing her say that, Neuvillette looked slightly confused.
Lora leaned forward a little, watching the stage.
A loud shout rang out, and the debris blasted outward, scattering across the stage.
A petite figure leapt out from the tunnel beneath the stage, muttering, "What the heck was blocking us..."
Right after that, a gust of wind swept out from the tunnel below, carrying out the young lady who had just entered the magic box. Then, a graceful figure leapt out and stood together with the petite girl.