"There's actually no need to put on makeup. To me, Miss Benannis looks her most beautiful without makeup."
Xia De said this while standing at the door of the office, actually thinking about going back early to accompany Luvia.
"Shad, if you want to compliment Vanessa, it's better to say it to her, not to me."
Hillis sat behind the table and said with a smile:
"Don't waste time, go downstairs and wait."
"What on earth is Miss Benaness going to perform?"
Xia De asked curiously, and Hillis pretended to "reprimand" and said:
"Knight, don't you know that the most beautiful lady is the one who has a secret?"
Shad's body shuddered, which was a natural reaction. Then he remembered that these were the words Desire said outside Oxenfurt Manor.
"The secret... I know."
"But I can tell you secretly, this is a performance that Vanessa has never performed before."
Hillis winked at him.
"You must enjoy it."
Performances at a city-level opera house like the Wilde Opera House usually last until nearly midnight, but Miss Benaness coordinated the show in advance and kept Hall 3 empty for the entire night, specifically for Shade's performance.
Hall No. 3 is also the largest hall in the Wilde Opera House. Although this hall has no boxes, the auditorium is divided into two floors, with a total of 1,059 seats.
When Shad walked along the aisle between the empty seats, from the back to the front row of the auditorium, the red curtain of the stage was drawn. The opera house was well soundproofed, and there was silence all around. After he sat down, looking at the empty seats around him, he was still sighing that this opportunity to enjoy Miss Vanessa Benanis' performance alone might be hard to come by again.
Sitting here alone, time seemed to slow down. But when the time reached nine o'clock, a soft bang interrupted Xia De's thoughts on time. The bright lights above the auditorium disappeared from the back to the front. The darkness lasted only a few dozen seconds, and then the first light appeared behind the red curtain.
"here we go!"
Xia De sat down holding the armrest. He thought there would be another female solo tonight, but when the sound of the small drum came out as the curtain opened, he knew he was wrong.
The stage behind the curtain was decorated to resemble the springtime scenery of a river valley. A blue silk ribbon was even laid on the stage background to represent the river.
The only actress on the stage, the lady who walked out to the sound of drums, was wearing a blue and white belly-baring top. Her tightly bound waist was embroidered with beautiful colored gemstones and colorful beads. Around her waist was a wavy crotch belt inlaid with gold and silver sequins. Below her waist were pearl beads, colorful beads, and gold flake chains that hung down like waves. The belt was attached to a sky blue low-waist skirt. Under the skirt were legs that were not covered with anything except a few gold ornaments and completely naked feet.
Xia De took a deep breath and leaned his upper body back slightly until his back was completely against the back of the chair:
"My little Mia~"
The sound of drums became clearer and clearer, and the blonde dancer, who was spinning on the spot with her long legs crossed, stretched out her arms as flexible as a white snake, and began tonight's performance under the stage lights.
Her long, smooth hair swayed in the spin. On her forehead was a green teardrop-shaped gem. Although she wore a thin veil, her body danced to the beat of the drums, and the pair of golden and green eyes behind the veil still flirted with Shad, as if they could attract his soul.
Her arms were crossed and stretched forward while shaking her body. Her ten fingers were adorned with six gemstone rings of various colors. Her left hand had two gold bracelets and her right hand had three silver bracelets. Her fair and slender neck, which was completely covered by her short top, had three gold necklaces colliding with each other. In the light and pleasant drum beats, her waist chain, anklet, and bracelet collided with her dancing to create a music that made her heart beat faster.
She covered herself with as many jingling ornaments as possible, so that the sound itself became part of the music as she moved her hips and abdomen to the ever-changing, rapid rhythms.
These ornaments, which symbolize wealth and power, are not only not vulgar, but even bring the atmosphere to another peak.
Even without any fabric attached, the slender legs are more attractive than Miss Sylvia's "invention". The nails of her light feet are coated with oils like pomegranate and ruby, which makes her even more charming when dancing.
She moved her feet, twisted her body, and swayed her body, tapping her belly, which was small because of her slim waist. A circle of tiny rubies dotted around her belly, and in the belly were flawless diamonds that sparkled in the light.
The dance is sacred and enchanting, and the figure is mysterious and charming.
Even a well-informed outsider felt that his brain was completely filled with the scene in that short twenty minutes. Every sway and turn of the blonde dancer, every tap of her bare feet on the ground, prevented him from thinking about anything unrelated to the moment.
He forgot the time, his location, and even forgot to breathe for a moment.
"She" surprisingly did not disturb Xia De when he was distracted, and he was fully immersed in the wonderful dance on the stage as a spectator.
When the drums stopped, the dancer, who was breathing slightly, crossed her legs and twisted them together, turned backwards for the last time, and winked at the only audience member as a farewell, Xia De finally felt how sore his eyes were.
Remember to blink next time.
But Shade didn't want to argue with "her" now:
“This is really great!”
He blinked, gasped for breath, and stood up to applaud. He could not think of any words of praise to praise the dance he had just seen.
He fully understood why Vanessa Benanis was called the best actress of this era. Even though he was the only one who saw the performance, he fully understood the meaning of the name "Vanessa Benanis".
But the performance was not over yet. When Xia De stood up and applauded, the sound of drums and bells rang out again. The dancer, who kept her legs crossed and her back to the audience, bent over and shook the metal bracelets on her hands again. After she stood up with this difficult move, she smiled softly, bent over and stepped back, waving to the only audience member under the stage.
Why don’t you go now
"She" urged in a whisper, her voice was so gentle that Xia De really thought that there was a girl with silver hair leaning over and whispering softly behind him.
So, Xia De climbed up the stage clumsily from the front. The drumbeats and bells sounded even more pleasant and cheerful at this moment. The blonde dancer walked over enthusiastically, holding Xia De's hand, and dancing with him to the beat of the music and the jingling sound of metal collisions on her body.
Or rather, she continued her sacred and enchanting dance around Shad.
When Xia De stepped onto the stage, he finally noticed the traces of the maze lock. But before he could figure out what effect the maze lock had, he was lost in the music and dance again.
Although there was a person like Shade who was not good at dancing on the stage, the atmosphere on the stage was not affected at all. Because this stage belonged to Vanessa Benanis, and she was in charge of everything here.
The palms gently slapped the skin, and as the metal of the wrists collided with each other, the palms made a dull but crisp sound. The swaying figures surrounding Xia De were like the witches in ancient mythology who prayed to the gods for good weather and prosperity of the tribe.
It was not until this moment that Xia De realized that the dance he was performing was actually using body movements to depict the endless cycle of nature and human reproduction, and was meant to celebrate women's fertility and extol the mystery of life.
The bare feet touching the ground are to maintain the connection with the land, and the exposed belly symbolizes fertility and life.
At some point, Shade found himself being held by the hand of a blonde dancer, spinning under the lights of the stage. She swayed her body and approached Shade's chest intimately. Her tightly bound upper body pressed against Shade's body, and her smiling eyes looked into Shade's eyes through the thin veil.
The strange drum beats, which had a brisk rhythm but were completely different from the mainstream music of the era, seemed to be engraved directly into Xia De's mind. And those golden eyes with a hint of green would surely appear frequently in his dreams for some time to come.
However, no matter how good the performance is, it will eventually come to an end.
When the drums stopped, Vanessa Benanis, who was breathing slightly, had her right hand held by Shad's left hand, and her left hand held by Shad's right hand, like soft silk, and she leaned back in his arms with her arms crossed.
Xia De gradually came out of the psychedelic dance, and then realized that he was also breathing heavily. He even noticed that his heart was beating at an alarming speed, so fast that he was worried that the dancer in front of his chest would feel uncomfortable.
"Shad Suren Hamilton..."
Looking up and back, there is a tender and charming soul in the witch's eyes, and the fiery emotions in her trembling voice can almost melt steel.
She stared into his eyes, her eyelashes trembling in the light as she asked softly:
"Can you remember me forever?"
Xia De's Adam's apple moved when he came back to his senses, and then he slowly lowered his head. The dancer, whose skin was swollen and sweaty due to the intense dance steps, also closed her eyes. As the curtain slowly closed from both sides to the center, he kissed her on the stage.