mtlumby2d Chapter 165: ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE!
Chapter 165: ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE!
"ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE!"
One of the biggest stadiums in North America was filled to the brim with fans, thousands of phones raised above the crowd while Elisebeth’s final note still shook through the air.
At least, they were trying to record her.
Most of them weren’t even looking at their screens. Their hands swayed with the beat, their arms shook from excitement, and more than a few phones tilted at strange angles that would probably capture the ceiling, the lights, or the screaming stranger beside them.
No one cared, because Elisebeth had stolen the whole stadium’s attention.
She stood at the center of the catwalk as if the entire venue existed just to show her off. Gold and rose lights washed over her, sliding across the wine-red dress wrapped around her body. The satin shone with every small movement, and the dress hugged her so well that the cameras had no choice but to chase her.
The outfit belonged on a celebrity stage, but it was still shameless enough to make people stare. The bodice held her figure tightly, while the high slit opened with each step and gave the crowd a clean look at her leg. Faint flame-like embroidery ran through the fabric, subtle most of the time, but when the light hit it, the pattern seemed to flicker for a second before disappearing again.
There were no heavy jewels and no decorations trying too hard. Elisebeth didn’t need any of that. The dress, the lights, and her confidence were enough.
She looked rich, proud, and impossible to touch. With one smile, she could probably ruin some poor man’s life by making him fall in love from the cheap seats.
The last song had pushed her voice hard, but even her exhaustion worked in her favor. She had held the final note raw and bright, long enough for the crowd to feel as if they had survived something with her, and the stadium roared so hard it seemed to hit her in the chest.
Elisebeth laughed, breathless and glowing, then placed one hand over her chest.
"Haha! Let me catch my breath," she said, her voice still carrying that heated, excited rasp from the song.
Her shoulders rose and fell with deep, relieving breaths. Sweat shimmered along her throat and collarbone, catching the stage lights in a way that made even her tired body look like part of the show. Her lips parted slightly, her lashes lowered, and the front rows leaned toward her without even realizing it.
Of course, the pause was calculated.
Everything about Elisebeth onstage was calculated, from the breath and the silence to the way she let her gaze drift over the audience as if she could see every single person in the darkness. Still, she really did need that moment.
Her schedule had been brutal. Her throat ached from singing, her legs still carried the pulse of the choreography, and the heat from the lights stuck to her skin. Yet the moment she saw the audience waiting for her next word, her tiredness turned into fuel.
"How are you all feeling today?" Elisebeth asked as she walked slowly down the catwalk.
The crowd screamed back at her.
She tilted her head, pretending their answer wasn’t good enough. "Definitely much better after seeing me, right?"
Then she winked, and the stadium exploded.
People jumped, screamed, and clutched one another near the barricade as if Elisebeth had personally blessed them. She didn’t simply walk across the stage. She made the stage look lucky to have her.
The catwalk, the lights, and the huge screens all existed to make her look even more unfair. When she stopped at the end of the stage and raised her hand, the crowd quieted with almost embarrassing obedience.
A second later, the music began again, and Elisebeth took control of the next song as if the entire night belonged to her.
Backstage, Rias watched with her tablet held against her chest.
Only when the first verse began cleanly did she let out a long, quiet sigh of relief.
Her name was Rias, and she was Elisebeth’s manager as well as her best friend. She stood near the side curtain with the expression of a woman who had already fixed three problems that day and expected more idiots to create new ones before midnight.
Where Elisebeth made people lean closer, Rias made them straighten up before they got yelled at.
She had medium-length blonde hair, too long to be a bob and too short to fall properly down her back. It brushed around her jaw and collar in messy layers, with a few stubborn strands always slipping out of place no matter how neatly she tried to fix them. That slightly ruffled look should have made her seem softer, but her face ruined the effect immediately.
Rias had sharp, composed features, calm lips, and eyes that made staff members lower their heads before she even opened her mouth. One look from her made people feel as if they had already done something wrong.
Worse, lowering their gaze didn’t help them.
Rias was flat-chested enough that her suit looked almost severe from the front. There was no softness there, no generous curve to ease the pressure of being stared down by her. Just clean fabric, strict posture, and the uncomfortable feeling of being judged by a woman who had no mercy to offer.
But then she turned around, and the problem changed completely.
Her ass was huge.
Not cartoonishly huge, and not vulgar enough to ruin her professional image, but big enough that her suit couldn’t hide it no matter how hard it tried. The fabric pulled over her backside whenever she moved, and the shape of it stood out so clearly that people who had been terrified of her a second ago suddenly found their eyes following her for a very different reason.
That was the unfair thing about Rias.
From the front, she looked like someone who could destroy a person’s confidence with a single comment. From the back, she made people forget they were supposed to be afraid of her.