[Genshin Impact] A world where only travelers are alone

The lights dimmed, and the leading actress on the stage walked slowly from behind the scenes to the front of the stage to the beat of the drums, singing her beautiful voice and expressing the throbbing in her heart.

Chloe had to admit that she might not have any artistic talent. Even though everyone around her was infatuated and completely immersed in the emotions presented by the water goddess Finina, she did not have any feelings other than that she sang very well.

This is probably why she has never liked watching opera since she was a child.

She let herself be distracted, leaning back in her chair and quietly turning her head to look at the people around her.

Like everyone else, Villette was concentrating on appreciating everything on the stage. Under the stage lights, her profile was stained with a halo, like a soft light filter, full of a sacred and noble aura.

Chloe was caught off guard by the beauty and couldn't help but retract her hand, but she never thought that this small movement happened to rub the man's palm.

So the hand that was originally loosely holding her suddenly tightened, and Villette's eyes, which had been on the stage, turned to her: "Ms. Chloe, what's wrong?"

Normally, she shouldn't talk at a time like this, but Chloe felt a little jealous for some reason, hoping that he could pay more attention to her. She couldn't help but lean over and whisper in his ear, "Does Lord Villette like watching opera?"

Villette showed a thoughtful expression: "... Maybe. Ms. Chloe should know that I am actually very curious about how people get along with each other, but after reading relevant books, I found that this does not seem to apply to me."

Chloe nodded.

Villette had told her this on the day they met.

"Then I tried to watch an opera at someone's suggestion. Art comes from life, and the emotional interactions between human beings shown in some scripts are really real and fascinating. Every word of the actor seems to hide another word, which comes from the person who wrote the play and the people who watched the play."

The drama on the stage has reached its climax. The male and female protagonists are forced to separate due to the intervention of the bad guys, and are cast under an evil spell that will never allow them to meet again even if they meet again.

The lonely female protagonist walks among the thorns, searching hard for her lover whose face has changed.

And so was his lover.

Thorns scratched their hands, tears blurred their vision, and they performed the tragedy of passing each other by in their search day after day.

Until the day when all the suffering was trampled away, they heard the heartbeat of their loved one.

[I once heard your heartbeat, you said it was proof of your love for me, now I hear its sound again, even though time has passed, you have never given up telling me how much I love you.]

As the last line of the lyrics sounded, the red curtain of the stage fell.

In the darkness, Villette's voice seemed so clear -

"Ms. Chloe, did you hear that? She's asking me for you. She's saying, 'Do you understand what your heartbeat means?'"

"What do you think my answer would be?"

*
Chloe didn't quite understand why things had suddenly turned out like this.

Wait, she was hoping that today's opera would help Villette to open her mind, but wasn't this a little too effective? It was no longer just a one-step process, but a one-step process to heaven!
In fact, she didn't know that the dragon had very good hearing. As early as when Aurelie and she started to plot, Villette had heard everything they said.

Including Chloe's secret love for him that began when they exchanged letters; including Chloe's lie to him that she didn't know why her heartbeat quickened; including today's drama.

It was just that he didn't understand what all this meant at that time. The arrival of Furninna gave him some small hints about possessiveness.

He loved holding hands with Chloe, loved Chloe's eyes on him, just.

He wanted these to belong to him alone.

He thought he probably understood a little bit, but before promising anything, he hoped to get a more definite answer from Chloe first to prove that all this was not just his self-deprecation.

Even though Aurelie had already revealed some of it in her conversation with Chloe.

*
The lights came on again, and the enthusiastic applause silenced Chloe's mumbled response.

Maybe we should give her some more time, Violet thought.

So Villette took the initiative to accept the bouquet of flowers that the staff had prepared for the actors, leaving Chloe, who was still dizzy and unable to react, some time to think alone, and slowly walked onto the stage.

Chloe's eyes followed him subconsciously, and after the man stood still, they fell on his tall back.

Then, she slowly calmed down.

She has the answer.

*
After taking his bow with Funina, Villette took the staff passage. When he finally left the Opicle Opera House, Chloe had been waiting at the door for some time.

The girl was wearing a light-colored dress and his coat. She was kicking the pebbles at her feet out of boredom, waiting for someone.

Villette seemed to be feeling a little nervous for some reason, but she didn't show it on her face and walked closer step by step.

Hearing the footsteps, Chloe immediately looked up, and after confirming that the person who came to know her was the one she was thinking about, she immediately smiled brightly and greeted him: "Then Lord Villette!"

That Villette stood one step away from her and said, "Ms. Chloe, do you have an answer?"

Chloe stepped closer and said, "I have the answer, but I'm not sure if this is what Lord Villette thinks. I can't guess what Lord Villette thinks. After all, I'm just an ordinary person."

"But..." She mustered up her courage and said, "If I were to choose an answer that Lord Villette would give, I hope you would say that you have understood the meaning of heartbeats, and that every time I get close to you, my heartbeats are like thunder because I like you, and your heartbeats accelerated because you liked me."

"Is that right, then, Master Villette?"

She gave her own answer.

That Villette's heart also gave the answer.

"Yes, Ms. Chloe, I like you." He smiled.

(End of this chapter)