Chapter 70: First Steps into the Workplace
"Thousand Transformations—"
The moment she stepped through the vine-covered tunnel, Janna skillfully cast her Transfiguration spell.
With a light tap of her feet, she transformed into butterfly-winged form and soared into the air.
“Pata—”
With a gentle flutter of her butterfly wings, she traveled at a speed far surpassing the usual pace of using only the Featherlight Spell. In less than a third of the time she would normally take, Janna had already flown through the outskirts of the Misty Forest and arrived at the edge of Turin City.
"Retract."
Since flying was prohibited within Turin, Janna retracted her wings before entering the city.
Treading across the soft, newly green grass of early April summer, she quickly made her way—guided by memory—to the grand entrance of the Nightingale Opera Troupe.
"So the performance today is Song of the Ocean, huh?"
Seeing the stream of attendees entering the venue and the promotional signboard for Song of the Ocean at the entrance, Janna habitually brushed back her long hair.
After carefully checking her outfit details, she walked straight through the crowd and headed for the rehearsal hall on the underground floor of the theater.
"Excuse me, are you Miss Janna Roland?"
"Yes, I am."
Just as she stepped into the theater’s entrance, a sharply dressed woman in a dark uniform, with short hair and a capable demeanor, looked at Janna for a few seconds before confidently walking up to her.
"Allow me to introduce myself—I’m Julie Anne. I’ve been temporarily assigned as your assistant manager by Director Roman Roland. If you have any work-related or even personal matters, feel free to tell me. I can help take care of them all…"
Hearing Julie Anne’s introduction, Janna nodded instinctively.
When she heard that the other woman could also help with personal matters, she was suddenly struck by an impulse to ask whether Turin offered small, interest-free loan services.
But the thought passed in a flash and was soon suppressed by the calm expression Janna maintained.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Julie. Just call me Janna."
"Alright… then please just call me Julie."
Looking at Janna’s excessively refined face and her gentle, courteous demeanor, Julie Anne suddenly felt quite fortunate—fortunate that such a high-quality talent had been assigned to her by Director Roman.
"Please follow me. The actors for Scene A and both directors are already waiting downstairs..."
"Wait, are you saying everyone’s already here?"
Janna looked a little puzzled, thinking back to her departure time.
She shouldn’t be late.
"Please relax—you’re not late. It’s just that all the actors for Scene A arrived especially early today."
Caught up in workplace competition already...
Hearing Julie Anne’s words, Janna nodded.
She then used her [Muscle Control] talent to adjust her expression and followed Julie Anne down the stairs.
"This is the rehearsal hall."
The light leading to the underground level was relatively dim.
As the two of them approached the rehearsal room, Janna could already hear the overly noisy sounds coming from inside.
“Creak—”
The rehearsal hall doors were gently opened by Julie Anne.
The moment the door moved, the hall suddenly fell silent. But upon seeing that it was only Julie Anne who entered, everyone quickly looked away, and the room returned to its noisy state.
"It’s the lead actress for Scene A!"
Someone exclaimed in surprise, and the previously noisy rehearsal hall went quiet again.
Facing dozens of eyes with varying emotions, Janna showed no sign of nervousness under the control of her [Muscle Control] talent.
"Is she really the lead actress chosen after such a rigorous selection process for Scene A? She’s stunning!"
"I heard she’s pretty strong too… though I’m not sure if that’s true."
"It must be. You can’t land this role on looks alone."
As they said, Bloodshadow Rose was currently the most popular production of the Nightingale Opera Troupe.
Even when casting minor roles with few lines, the selection process was extremely cautious.
In fact, several young opera actresses in the hall also possessed commendable looks and talent.
However, the famously picky Director Klan Roland still found them unsatisfactory.
These young actresses had already officially signed with the Nightingale Opera Troupe and had performed in non-prime time slots as “Young Natasha.”
Even under these circumstances, Klan Roland had no hesitation in publicly launching another round of auditions to find the prime-time “Young Natasha.”
"Freya, looks like she’s the new actress who’s here to replace you."
At the sound of a blunt taunt from nearby, the girl named Freya simply turned her head slightly to glance at the tall girl beside her, and replied with sharp sarcasm:
"Why don’t you worry about your own slots? It’s not like they’ll only pick weekend shows. When the time comes, we’ll see who replaces who."
The two exchanged barbed words with forced smiles.
Longtime rivals, they each found delight in the other’s misfortune.
Although neither had scheduled performances for the coming days, both had shown up at the rehearsal room early this morning, in perfect unspoken coordination.
Their goal was simple—to see for themselves the new actress who had been praised not only by several directors but even by the star performer, Anna Moonshadow.
Before arriving, they had various imagined impressions of this newcomer.
Would she be the innocent, pure type like Freya, or the glamorous, bold type like Hill?
Whatever her look, both girls were confident that the newcomer couldn’t surpass them in their own niche.
In fact, even before meeting her, both had already developed strong hostility toward the newcomer.
But...
Looking at that face not far away—a face one simply couldn’t look away from—Freya and Hill, who had already grown accustomed to beautiful faces in the opera world, still found themselves stunned.
"She really is beautiful."
Hearing this from Hill, who had always taken pride in her own beauty, Freya felt surprised, but also nodded instinctively.
"And... she’s not the kind of beauty that makes people hate her."
Beautiful women often admire each other. Yet when admiration gets entangled with self-interest, even the loveliest things become unpleasant or evoke jealousy.
But that didn’t seem to apply to this new actress named Janna Roland.
Her beauty evoked not a hint of envy…
"I hope her talent truly matches that face. Otherwise..."
"I won’t accept it!"