Chapter 156: Chapter 156: Who confessed first?

The staff carefully packed up the gown, the heels, and the jewelry before handing everything over to her.

"We’ll come to your apartment later for makeup and styling," one of the stylists said politely while Elara only nodded.

She still felt a little dissatisfied about everything. But she kept convincing herself that Adrian Vale just wanted to spend money recklessly and she had no reason to stop him. Afterall, it would only save her a chunk of change at the end of the day.

As she and Carris finally walked toward his car outside the building, a young lady suddenly hurried toward them.

Carris stared at the young lady quietly, his lips pursing a bit as his eyes settled on her. "A small problem," he muttered under his breath but Elara’s expression remained calm as the lady hurried toward them.

She recognized her as one of the minor staff she had seen in the building.

"Can I please have a picture with you two?" she asked excitedly after stopping in front of them.

The corner of Elara’s lips twitched faintly.

A picture. This could become quite troublesome.

But before she could even say anything, Carris had already pulled her gently by the shoulders. "Sure."

The young lady immediately giggled happily before standing beside Elara. A second later, she snapped a quick selfie, thanked them repeatedly, then hurried away like she had just won a national lottery.

Elara stared at her back silently.

This really was becoming serious...

By the time Elara finally arrived back at the apartment, Carris had already driven away after making sure she got inside safely.

The moment she stepped into the living room, Ziva rushed out from the kitchen looking completely stressed.

"We have to hurry Elara!" she exclaimed dramatically. "Things are already moving there. Some of the actors and singers have arrived already. God if you see their outfits..." She pressed a hand against her chest. "One of them looked like a walking chandelier."

Elara quietly took off her shoes while Ziva continued rambling without pause.

"And the crowd outside is already going insane. I’m sure the security team would still be fighting for their lives out there. Someone even climbed a barricade earlier because they thought Carris had arrived."

Elara stared at her silently.

Ziva finally paused and narrowed her eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She muttered.

"You sound very excited for someone who claimed premieres are exhausting yesterday."

Ziva immediately looked away with a cough.

"That’s different. I said it’s exhausting, not that I hate being associated with a multi million aurel box office hit. There’s a very big difference Elara."

–

Exactly six o’clock that evening, after the makeup artists had finally left and Elara had somehow squeezed herself into the silver black mountain pretending to be a dress, the car Adrian talked about arrived downstairs.

Thankfully, the vehicle carried no Vale insignia or recognizable markings, so most people would probably assume she rented it from one of those luxury celebrity agencies in Starfall.

Ziva had dressed up too.

She wore a shiny black suit with her usual glasses and a fitted jacket thrown over her shoulders. Then, for reasons only she herself could explain, she paired everything with red flat shoes that absolutely should not have worked with the outfit.

But somehow... they did.

Elara stayed calm throughout the entire ride, though her thoughts were far less peaceful.

She kept wondering if this was where everything would finally go wrong again. Things had been far too peaceful lately. And in Elara’s experience, peace usually meant trouble was simply stretching before arriving.

Beside her, Ziva hadn’t spoken a word. Her expression was very calm as she stared forward.

That expression made Elara suddenly remember the first morning after she arrived at Voice. The early knock on her room door and Ziva standing there with her chin in the air...

Finally, the car approached what Elara guessed was the venue.

Even from a distance, she could already see the enormous crowd gathered around the entrance. She could barely even spot the red carpet itself because the screaming fans and flashing cameras had swallowed the entire place whole.

Only when the car drew closer did she finally see it properly.

The driver quickly stepped out and opened the door on Elara’s side. She took a slow breath before stretching one leg out and stepping onto the red carpet.

The second she exited the car, the screams and blinding camera flashes hit her all at once. It almost felt like she had stepped out of a spaceship instead of a vehicle.

Ziva immediately came out after her and moved closely to her side like a lifeguard.

Elara maintained her calm expression as she walked forward. The crowd was unbelievably loud. Though honestly, she could not tell whether they were screaming because of her... or because of the dress she was wearing.

"ELARA WE SKIPPED EXAMS FOR YOU!"

A louder voice suddenly rose above the others.

Elara instinctively turned toward the source. She spotted them almost immediately.

Even after all this time, she still recognized the group easily. Those high school students.

And apparently, they had truly gone all out this time.

They held glowing banners with Sera Is Our Queen written across them while the girls had temporary star tattoos under their eyes just like hers.

Ziva rolled her eyes at them, though the fondness in her expression was impossible to miss.

After what felt like an endless amount of posing, waving and signing autographs, Elara finally dragged her curtain into the main hall.

And almost instantly... she saw Relanie.

It had really been a long time.

She turned almost at the same time Elara looked over. For the smallest second, her smile wavered when her gaze landed on Elara’s outfit. But just as quickly, she looked away like nothing had happened.

She was currently surrounded by journalists who were most likely asking about her dress.

The deep crimson gown she wore seemed inspired by a violin because of its structure. It was truly fantastic that Elara had to give kudos to the designer in her mind.

"Elara."

A familiar voice came from behind her.

She turned quickly and found Carris standing there. He looked breathtaking too.

"I thought you’d change your mind about coming," he whispered, a small smile forming on his lips.

Elara returned a faint smile of her own and opened her mouth to reply. But before she could even say anything properly, a horde of journalists suddenly rushed toward them.

"Miss Veyne! Mr Riole! Are the dating rumors true?"

"Did you two fall in love during filming or before then?"

"Who confessed first?"

Elara could already feel a headache forming. Her tired gaze shifted away from the reporters...

And suddenly met a pair of silver grey eyes staring directly at her from across the hall.