While Elysia went to catch up with Eden, Silas and the others had already settled into their seats. Thanks to Ato's arrangements, their tickets were for the first two rows. But since Kosma had been avoiding looking at Dystopia the entire way there, the group decided to spare his feelings— the boys sat in the second row, the girls in the first.
Leaning his elbow on Kosma's shoulder with a mischievous grin, Silas whispered,
"Come on, Dystopia's been so forward with you, and you're still not making a move?"
"I… I don't have those kinds of thoughts…" Kosma tried to keep his voice firm.
Silas rolled his eyes. Yeah, right. You didn't have those thoughts? Who was it in the last life that treated the harmonica she gave you like a sacred treasure? Who was it practicing the thing in the middle of the night?
Kevin joined the teasing.
"You can't just keep ignoring her forever. I mean, you even danced with her at the ball, didn't you?"
"That was Pardofelis…" Kosma groaned, rubbing his forehead. That night after the ball, he hadn't slept a wink—every time he closed his eyes, all he could see were scenes of him dancing with Dystopia.
"If you're not interested, you could just tell her outright, you know?" Silas delivered the killing blow.
"I… that wouldn't be very nice, so… the concert's about to start. Let's just listen to Eden sing," Kosma finally managed to deflect after a long pause.
Kevin looked like he was about to say more, but then his gaze shifted away from Kosma, and his expression turned slightly startled.
"Forget it, it's your problem," Silas said, patting Kosma's shoulder. Both he and Kosma noticed Kevin's odd expression and followed his line of sight to the left.
His pupils constricted.
The silver-haired girl from their memories was sitting neatly in the seat beside Silas. As if sensing someone watching her, she turned her head and gave him a gentle smile.
Lilith?!
What the hell is she doing here?!
Suppressing his surprise, Silas smiled back, then shifted his gaze toward the stage. He had to keep his expression in check… After all, Lilith theoretically shouldn't have memories of their previous life. And this was a public setting—she had a fiancé. It was better not to be overly friendly.
Kosma was still frozen, while Kevin's eyes were now studying the blond young man seated beside Lilith. So that's her fiancé? Hmph, doesn't look like much. Obviously, Silas would suit her better.
At that moment, Elysia returned. She was just about to greet Silas when she spotted Lilith sitting next to him. Lilith also noticed her, smiling softly and waving.
Elysia barely kept her smile from cracking. If Adams wasn't sitting beside Lilith, she might've thought Lilith did have her past-life memories.
Wait… what are the odds? Lilith's seat just happens to be next to Silas? And directly behind mine?
Elysia waved back, then took her seat in front of Lilith.
Lilith's gentle voice came from behind, "Since you're Eden's good friend, I guessed you'd definitely attend this performance. Considering Eden's popularity, the audience would usually be seated well before the show starts. Among the front-row seats still empty, there was only this one, so I figured it must be yours, Elysia."
Hearing her tone, Sakura and Pardofelis—seated in the front—turned around in disbelief. Just like Elysia, they were struck by how unlike their Lilith this soft-spoken girl seemed.
Dystopia simply thought Elysia had a lot of friends, while Rin, sitting next to Sakura, blinked her wide eyes curiously at Lilith.
Kevin and Kosma both wore puzzled looks. Su, however, opened his eyes, his gaze toward Lilith laced with caution. There it is—that strange, unsettling dissonance. No… this is even stronger than in the last life.
Silas only arched a brow. So Elysia met Lilith before me, huh? This tone of Lilith's… tch, he'd seen it before. It was just her usual act when pretending to be meek.
He remembered when they had first brought her back to Fire Moth—she'd nearly killed him for witnessing her true nature. Almost succeeded, too.
Fortunately, it only happened once. She didn't pull an Emile—that lunatic who kept trying to assassinate Kalpas daily. Otherwise, I'd have eliminated her on the spot to avoid future trouble.
Elysia instinctively glanced at Silas. She really wanted to ask him why Lilith was acting like this. This wasn't the Lilith she had known in their last life at all.
Lilith also glanced at Silas, then continued,
"Oh, by the way, Elysia—this gentleman next to you, is he your lover?"
"L-lover?"
Lilith's sudden question blindsided Elysia. Everyone else was just as stunned by the move.
Silas wore a look of complete nonchalance — here it comes, Lilith in her "troublemaker and instigator" mode.
Adams, seated beside Lilith, glanced at Silas with mild surprise, then at Elysia, and finally turned back to Lilith, clearly waiting for her explanation.
"Because, Elysia, you seemed rather surprised when you first saw me, didn't you?" Lilith explained in a soft, gentle voice. "It looked like you were about to greet someone, only to notice me instead. And after hearing my reasoning, you subconsciously glanced at the gentleman sitting next to me. So, I concluded that you two must know each other quite well."
"Is… that so?" Elysia stared at Lilith's smiling face, catching a fleeting glimmer of mischief in her eyes.
Silas spoke up, "So you figured out they were acquaintances and decided to use this kind of trick to liven things up?"
Of course. Even if she was playing the part of the demure young lady, deep down she was still the same little devil. She probably also wanted to see the looks on Sakura's group and Kevin's group. Given her intellect, deducing that Kevin and the others were his and Elysia's companions would have been child's play.
Elysia: "…"
This method of "breaking the ice"… felt way too familiar. She herself would occasionally tease someone like this to brighten the mood — but being on the receiving end, and with Silas as the target, caught her completely off guard.
"Hehe, when I see a beautiful girl like Elysia, I just can't help wanting to make a little joke. Please forgive me." Lilith pressed her palms together, all smiles and contrition.
"It's nothing. A few lighthearted jokes between pretty girls can add a lot of color to life," Elysia replied.
Then the performance began. Out of respect for the performers and love for the art, no one spoke again during the show.
When the intermission came, Lilith softly commented on Eden's and the other artists' music and dance performances. While the concert was held under Eden's name and she featured in most of the songs and acts, other musicians and singers also took part. Those around them couldn't help but admire Lilith's refined artistic sensibilities as she gave thoughtful, piece-by-piece evaluations.
But Silas, knowing her true nature, only grew more puzzled. What was she aiming for with all this? Even pretending to be perfect shouldn't require this level of effort.
Before the second half began, Silas noticed that the opening act was a saccharine romance play — the kind that made his skin crawl. He'd seen it in his previous life and… well, his appreciation for it was nonexistent. He decided to slip out for a while and time his return for later.
Not long after Silas left, Lilith also stood, saying she'd received a call from her father and needed to step out for a bit.
Elysia instinctively felt something was off. This was a little too coincidental, wasn't it? But Adams, sitting right next to Lilith, couldn't possibly be unaware of whether she had actually received a phone call… so… was it really just coincidence?
Meanwhile, Silas had found a quiet spot by himself, leaning against a wall as he typed a message to Klein, telling her to keep an eye on Mobius's diet. If he came back to find that Mobius had skipped even one workout during his absence, she'd be down to one less week of instant noodles.
Next, he sent a message to Vill-V, asking her to keep track of the progress on the God Key's manufacturing.
Suddenly, he felt someone's gaze on him. Looking up, he found Lilith standing right in front of him.
Why was she here?
Just as Silas was about to speak, Lilith stepped forward, wrapped an arm around his neck, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him. A faint, elegant fragrance filled his senses.
Silas: "???"
Caught completely off guard, his brain stalled for a moment. But very quickly, he realized—Lilith had memories of her previous life!
Before he could react further, Lilith released him, revealing that signature little devil smile he remembered so well.
"Long time no see, Silas. Guess I couldn't quite hold back."
You call that 'couldn't quite'…?
Silas instinctively touched his lips, forcing himself to stay calm. "You…"
"A reunion after so long… and surprises don't stop at just one. Looks like it's not just me — Elysia and even Kevin's group seem to have their memories too." Lilith slipped back into the tone from his memories. "But this time, it's clear that Elysia genuinely likes you. Congratulations, Silas, you finally got what you wanted~"
Silas wasn't sure what she meant by that, but decided to check on her situation anyway. "Coming out here like this… what about your fiancé…?"
"Adams?" Lilith twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers, speaking with open disdain. "He's probably too busy pretending to appreciate those boring plays to bother with what I'm doing."
Then she hugged Silas again. "Lucky for me… this trip was just a gamble, and I won. You showed up~"
"What do you mean?"
"Before coming, I told that old man the time of the performance — but I gave him the wrong intermission time on purpose. With his personality, he'd be sure to call during the break to ask how Adams and I were getting along. Heh… people with a little bit of cunning are often easier to manipulate than outright fools. Of course, if you hadn't shown up, I'd have found an excuse to leave after the first half anyway. Seems fate's still tying us together." She rubbed her head against his chest. "Ah… I really don't want to let go…"
Silas had no idea what to do now. Then he remembered that Vill-V might have planted a bug on him… meaning he'd probably be dragged into a "dark little room" for questioning when he got back…
After a short while, Lilith finally let go, smiling as she said, "Guess I was a bit willful. But we won't be seeing each other for a long time after this. I'm honestly worried I might just break without you around."
Silas simply stared at her in silence. Somehow, she seemed even more aggressive now than in their previous life.
"Well, my time's about up. I'll be looking forward to our next meeting…" Lilith said, then turned and left.
On her way back to the venue, she murmured under her breath, "Looks like I'll have to speed things up… a brief reunion like this is nowhere near enough…"
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15+ advanced chapters available on Pat/NoobyIdiotka
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