Lin Ke raised an eyebrow and quietly followed the sound.
Not far off in the bushes, his three singers, who should have been practicing, were "fighting."
A man and a woman were gripping another woman on either side.
"Sophie, you must promise me to make a mistake when singing today!" the male singer warned, grabbing Sophie’s chin.
The female singer beside him grabbed Sophie’s hand and pressed it against a big tree.
"But it’s the young master’s orders!"
Tears welled up in Sophie’s eyes: "I can’t make mistakes when singing..."
Hearing the young master’s orders, the man and woman frowned, then said again: "You can’t make a mistake, but you mustn’t sing better than us..."
Lin Ke listened to a few words and understood; those two were clearly jealous of the good-singing Sophie.
Hmm? Sophie? Why does this name sound so familiar?
"I promise you! I promise you! Just don’t hurt my mouth!"
Sophie, unable to break free from the two, could only beg them.
Only then did they begin to release Sophie.
They were careful not to leave physical injuries on Sophie.
This was the way of survival among the castle’s servants, where fighting was allowed, but they couldn’t let the lord, young master, or lady find out.
But just then, a shadow of a seven or eight-year-old child came into view.
The two singers were startled.
"Who allowed you to do this?" Lin Ke slowly emerged from the bushes, looking expressionlessly at the two.
The male singer immediately knelt, cold sweat pouring.
Damn, wasn’t the young master supposed to be doing experiments this afternoon!
The female singer beside him turned pale with fright, frozen, unable to utter a word, seemingly scared silly.
Sophie collapsed to the ground, turned her head, and saw Lin Ke.
"Get up, practice well, and don’t make a single mistake tonight."
Lin Ke’s gentle voice came through, like a soft breeze.
Sophie was stunned. She had imagined facing the young master again many times, like being summoned back to be his maid.
But she hadn’t expected to face him under these circumstances.
"Young master..." Sophie murmured.
"Get up and go practice."
Lin Ke was very satisfied with the songs sung by this maid; she was star-level now and would be a superstar in the future.
The other two he would have cultivated as well, since they were his servants.
But... getting into entertainment industry drama so early was displeasing to him.
Admittedly, wherever there are people, there’s strife, but he’d prefer internal competition based on skill, vocal ability, performance, and character rather than vicious competition.
"You two, perform well tonight too..."
Lin Ke glanced at the kneeling male servant and the female servant beside him who sat down weakly.
"Thank you, young master! Thank you, young master!"
The male servant hurriedly kowtowed in gratitude, and the female servant, not great at handling pressure, seemed to catch on and kowtowed in gratitude as well.
"...However, after your performance, report to Butler Billy about what happened, or I will for you."
After speaking, Lin Ke walked away without looking back.
That girl with the great singing talent was only about ten years old, while the man and woman were in their twenties.
This was the reason for Lin Ke’s anger.
If the two hadn’t remembered who they were serving, he’d have wanted to replace them.
Though he didn’t have any other suitable singers, and these two were a bit tone-deaf, they at least somewhat conveyed emotion in their singing.
The female singer followed Lin Ke, appearing somewhat frightened.
"Don’t fear them, go practice."
Lin Ke turned back with a smile and quickly walked away.
He was in a hurry to eat and didn’t have time to chit-chat.
And then... he suddenly remembered!
Wasn’t this girl his former personal maid?
In this place, a personal maid is often a candidate for future sexual awakening.
Lin Ke didn’t want his first experience to be in some inexplicable noble sexual awakening ritual.
Sophie stopped in her tracks, feeling somewhat saddened.
"See me again when I believe your singing is good enough, Sophie." Lin Ke’s figure faded away, but his voice lingered.
Sophie’s originally saddened expression disappeared; she stood still and watched Lin Ke’s retreating figure, a mysterious light flashing in her eyes.
Night came as expected.
In the "Enchanted Land," the crowd was even more lively.
A line of Servants of Truth and guards holding torches maintained order.
Lin Ke, although expecting onlookers, didn’t expect so many.
Fortunately, there were enough guards, and under Teacher Ove’s seemingly endless magic power, the Servants of Truth were endless too.
However, the noise was overwhelming; in the clouds, Lin Ke felt on the brink of explosion.
"Little Lin Ke, it’s so noisy here..." Beside him, Fulon plugged his ears with two fingers.
"It is noisy, a bunch of peasants." The lady, Antova, remained calm.
Antova and Fulon were stable now, showing none of the sadness or despair of when Garoce was trapped in the subplane.
It seemed Ove and Lin Ke’s assurances were effective, and Butler Billy’s emotional Keep reading on NovelHub - where stories come alive!
"Should I quiet the crowd, ladies?" Butler Billy bowed, asking Antova and Fulon.
At their feet was a floor formed by triangular Servants of Truth, where the four stood.
Ove was positioned higher, although he and Fulon had known each other, it was merely acquaintance, unable to mask his inherent social anxiety.
Lin Ke cleared his throat, magic power surged in him.
He then took a step forward and spoke with authority: "Silence!!!!!"
Despite its gentle nature, it spread powerfully as though by some force.
Not quite magic—sound amplification, or amplification technique.
Not even a level two practitioner, he couldn’t use even level one magic; it was just a little trick.
He learned this magic power trick to save his throat from constant shouting.
"That’s Master Azanen’s voice!"
At this moment, Lin Ke repeated "Silence," and the crowd gradually quieted, no longer speaking.
It grew calmly silent, save for the faint rustling sounds.
"Wow, Little Lin Ke, you can do magic now!"
Fulon was filled with delight; Lady Antova and Butler Billy were slightly surprised.
Lin Ke didn’t deny: "No, this is just a magic power trick taught by Teacher Ove."
Currently, it was a small trick, but later there would be large advanced magic like Soundwave Blade and Destructive Resonance.
"Fantastic!" Fulon exclaimed, then looked to Antova: "Sister, shall we celebrate tomorrow night?!"
"Mm." Antova gave Lin Ke an indifferent glance, then continued watching the stage: "The chatty male servant is up there...I hope I don’t waste my time here."
The chatty male servant? John?
Lin Ke found it amusing.
The lady spent her nights either staring at the night sky or having her maid massage her back, how was that wasteful?
But with a debt of 280,000 gold coins looming over her, it was understandable that the lady would be troubled day and night.
Seeing Fulon returning to her usual vigor also comforted Lin Ke.
So he remained silent and continued watching the stage.
John donned a bright red butler’s outfit, holding only a magic-enhanced wooden staff for amplification by Ove.
He wasn’t holding a script; he seemed to have memorized it well.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Enchanted Land!"
John’s voice was enthusiastic but hinted at nervousness and tremors.
Without courage-enhancing magic, he was somewhat nervous facing the massive crowd.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, the scene abruptly turned silent.
No one responded to him.
John swallowed hard, momentarily forgetting the speech he’d memorized so well.
ps: Another plea for those monthly votes~