Chapter 434: The Sincerity of the Nightingale Opera Troupe |
After the ceremony ended, the atmosphere inside White Coral Academy suddenly became lively.
Especially with the year-end gatherings of various societies, many of them seized the chance while most members had not yet gone home and began making preparations in full swing.
In particular, the White Ballet Shoes Club, as one of the oldest societies in White Coral Academy, had long since reserved a private room at the Feathered String Tavern, preparing to spend New Year’s Eve together.
And this time, the number of attendees was clearly much larger than last year. In addition to old members such as Soro-Flare, Bell Moonshadow, Hugh-Stone, and Lo Silverfox, there were also new members who had later joined the White Ballet Shoes Club, such as Maro-Heigel and Nia-Flare.
"Ding-a-ling—"
As the wind chimes at the entrance rang lightly, Janna, wearing a wide wizard’s hood, followed the Feathered String’s glass revolving door and entered the already packed first-floor hall.
"Maro, what happened to your eye?"
Led by a waiter, Janna quickly arrived at the entrance of the White Ballet Shoes Club’s usual second-floor private room 【Floral Rendezvous】.
But before she could push the door open, she spotted Maro-Heigel, who had arrived at the same time, and on his left eye was a regular-shaped bruise—“a panda eye.”
Seeing Maro-Heigel’s clear reluctance to elaborate, Janna didn’t continue pressing him. Instead, she removed her wizard’s hood and pushed the door open together with him into the 【Floral Rendezvous】 room.
"Look, our superstar has arrived!"
As soon as Janna entered, Hugh-Stone’s enthusiastic shout successfully drew everyone’s attention toward her.
Being long used to this, Janna, under the dozens of gazes as bright as searchlights, remained perfectly composed. She didn’t even need to use her 【Muscle Control】 talent, yet still responded to everyone’s “spotlight greeting” with her most graceful smile.
"This is green plum wine I brought from Elemental Soul. Its taste is no worse than Fairy’s Kiss. Everyone can try it later."
Saying this, Janna took out the green plum wine, prepared according to headcount, from her 【Thorn Bracelet】 and neatly placed the bottles on the table.
"Oh, green plum wine! I also had it when I went to Elemental Soul—it tastes really good and packs quite a punch. Thank you, superstar Janna!"
Looking at the elegantly packaged wine bottles on the table, Hugh-Stone, always good at hyping the mood, chimed in at the perfect moment.
"Thank you, Miss Janna!"
With Hugh-Stone taking the lead, several newer members—who had already heard of Janna Roland’s name—quickly followed suit, expressing their gratitude.
『You’re welcome, it’s just a small token of thought.』
After saying this, Janna sat down beside Vivian.
"You came so late. I’ve already been sitting here for over twenty minutes."
Barely seated, Janna was met with Vivian’s complaints.
"I was discussing some details about a new contract with the Nightingale Opera Troupe today, so I arrived late."
"A new contract? You’re going to renew with that troupe again?"
Hearing Vivian’s question, Janna nodded.
Just this morning, before attending the ceremony, Janna had received a letter from Roman Roland, head of the Nightingale Opera Troupe.
The general content of the letter was that Roman Roland hoped Janna could spare some time that afternoon to discuss the contract for next year.
Thus, after accompanying Vivian shopping, Janna hurried to the Nightingale Opera Troupe, entered Roman Roland’s office, and began discussing next year’s cooperation and treatment terms.
In truth, when she went there, Janna carried the mindset of “parting on good terms.”
After all, ever since she obtained the final qualification for the White Tower Trial, she knew deep inside that entering the White Tower was only a matter of time.
By then, it would be inevitable that she would cut ties with the Nightingale Opera Troupe, located in the distant Turin City, and end their “long-distance cooperation.”
However, just as Janna was about to openly state this intention to Roman Roland, one sentence from him completely disrupted her plan—
"You mean, the Nightingale Opera Troupe has decided to relocate with you to Dordogne?"
"That’s right."
Hearing this, Vivian’s eyes widened in disbelief.
"So they plan to cling to your leg tightly, never letting go?"
"More or less."
Saying this, Janna lifted the goblet before her and took a light sip of green plum wine.
"But no matter what, the Nightingale Opera Troupe is still just a relatively small troupe. How could it possibly compare with the grand opera houses in Dordogne?"
Indeed, as Vivian pointed out, apart from being called the “Capital of Magic,” Dordogne was equally renowned as the “Capital of Music.” The city was never short of opera houses or talented artists from across the world.
"You’re right. Compared to Dordogne’s famous local opera troupes, the Nightingale Opera Troupe is indeed far inferior in scale and reputation—yet, they are very sincere."
"Sincere? What sincerity? You can’t eat sincerity——"
"They want to invite me to become a shareholder of the Nightingale Opera Troupe, as one of its partners."
Hearing Janna’s words, Vivian, who had been complaining nonstop, suddenly felt as if her throat was stuffed with cotton.
"Is it a financial investment?"
"No, it should be considered a ‘technical’ investment."
"And what about the profit distribution?"
"The agreed result is that I can take twenty percent of the remaining profits."
"Twenty percent… well, that is indeed very sincere."
With no monetary investment at all, just by virtue of the “Janna Roland” nameplate, she could enjoy the status of partner in the Nightingale Opera Troupe and still receive twenty percent of the remaining profits. This was beyond sincerity—it showed that the troupe was willing to pay any price to keep Janna.
"And what’s your decision?"
"My decision is to accept."
Hearing Janna’s reply, Vivian nodded approvingly. Then, as if recalling something, she lowered her voice and asked:
"But once you truly join the White Tower, will you still have spare time to perform in operas?"
In truth, Vivian’s concern was the same as Janna’s own.
Just as Black Cat Bell had warned her earlier, once she officially entered the White Tower, the majority of her time would be devoted to pursuing her “Wizard’s Path.”
"Regarding that, I already told the Nightingale Opera Troupe beforehand. But their stance was even firmer than I had expected—"