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When Cyno entered the Grand Bazaar, he was surprised by the large number of people gathered there. It seems that the theater was holding a huge show there, that would explain the large number of people gathered there, laughing and watching different artists on the stage. Unfortunately for General Mahamatra, he couldn't afford to have moments of rest like that, especially when he was on duty.
He pulled on the hood of his robe and walked through the crowd, looking around and moving among the people who were there. The truth is that the treasure hoarder he was chasing had found a good place to hide: among that crowd, Cyno would have a hard time finding that criminal... And with the noise there was, he could barely concentrate. Meanwhile, when it finally seemed that he had lost sight of the General of the Akademiya, the hooded hoarder moved away from the crowd and headed towards one of the bazaar's exits, stealthily so as not to be seen. Meanwhile, he did not stop laughing mischievously.
"Haha, I finally lost them!" he said, quickly fleeing the place, although he stopped for a moment to catch his breath. "These silly dogs from the Akademiya... I did well to blend in with the crowd, I lost sight of them..."
"Ah, there you are."
A cold and cruel voice sounded from behind the treasure thief. His body froze, he felt how he tensed and a chill ran down his back. He was already ready to run again, but then, he received a kick in the back that left him lying face down on the ground.
The treasure hoarder felt the edge of a spear at the back of his neck, and when he turned his head, the cold eyes of the General Mahamatra watched him as if there was no emotion in them.
"How did you call us? Say it again." Cyno watched the treasure hoarder as he felt how it began to tremble under his feet.
"G-General Mahamatra, have mercy please!" the treasure hoarder wailed and cried,
The white-haired youth only let out a long sigh in response. He had to deal with these kinds of people every day, some gave up easily, others gave him more trouble, and even he had to fight these people until they were knocked out. Luckily, this person easily surrendered to the power of General Mahamatra, which relieved the white-haired man. He wouldn't like to have to use all his strength, let alone in a place with so many people...
After a few minutes walking through the people, Cyno dragged that thief with him towards the exit, to where the other officers of the matra were.
"Well we have one... We only need his partner, right?" said one of the matra.
"Yeah but... It's much more slippery. We can't let it get away." answered another matra in an intrigued voice.
Suddenly, Cyno spoke.
"You two, take this one to the Akademiya for. Aarav, search the bazaar entrances, I'll go back inside to search the crowd." The red-eyed one looked at the treasure thief again. "This guy was using the crowd to hide, maybe his partner is doing the same."
The matras immediately complied. Two of the matra nearly dragged the hoarder away, while Cyno and the matra named Aarav split up to search for the other treasure thief. Once again, General Mahamatra entered the Grand Bazaar, although he couldn't help but feel somewhat uncomfortable. There were too many people there and the noise was loud. Cyno wasn't too used to walking around with so many people, though he certainly couldn't help but be curious. What was it that attracted all these people? He had heard that the Zubayr theater had talented people of all kinds, and their shows were unforgettable... Was it really like that?
Even though he aroused the young man's interest, he was very clear that he could not be distracted by such things. He was looking for a treasure hoarder after all. However, after a few long minutes there, he searched the entire place from top to bottom, looking for a suspicious person among all that sea of people. But he found nothing. The boy felt somewhat frustrated, with all these people it was normal to get lost, surely he had already managed to escape from there. It only remained to hope that Aarav had been luckier than him.
Feeling somewhat annoyed, Cyno sighed and started walking towards the exit; he could hear the crowd around him, laughing and enjoying themselves, without much care. Among those people he noticed a couple of children who, like him, were trying to pass through the crowd, bur unlike Cyno who was going to the exit, they were heading to the front of the stage, specifically to the first row.
"Run, Nilou's show is finally going to start!" said one of them.
Cyno was somewhat intrigued after hearing that. He remembered hearing that name before… Ah yes, it must be that star that everyone was talking about. He had heard that, despite being very young, she was already a truly talented woman. Although he had never seen her. When was he going to have time anyway? He had too many things to attend to, he had no time to enjoy art.
Suddenly, the lights in the Grand Bazaar went completely out.
Surprised, the young man was able to notice how silence reigned in the Grand Bazaar and people directed their gaze to the stage. Almost unconsciously, Cyno also turned his gaze forward, noticing a dim, warm light illuminating the set. A young woman with red hair and a blue dress walks to the center of the stage, she smiles at the audience and makes a small bow, while she thanks the audience that has come to see her out loud.
And at that very moment, Nilou's performance began.
Soft music began to play, people watched silently and attentively at the stage, as if it were a show they could only witness once in their lives. There, the young dancer walked her body around the stage, moving her hands gracefully and carefully, her legs moved following the slow rhythm of the music and she danced as if she had no other concern in her body. It was as if the music guided her steps.
Meanwhile, small particles of water appeared around her, accompanying the girl at all times. It seemed that she herself created the water with her hands thanks to her Vision, giving her show a unique and magical touch. It was amazing...
At this point, the General Mahamatra should have already left there, the treasure hoarder he was looking for was not in that place. But... Almost as if he were in a trance, Cyno's eyes were fixed on that girl, who danced as if she had no worries in her body. The General's eyes were wide open, following Nilou's movements.
Never in his life he had seen anything like this... The way she smiled, the way she danced with those hypnotic movements... It was as if she shone with her own light. There came a point where everything else, all the people around him ceased to exist, and for the General, nothing else mattered but that dance. It was as if there were only the two of them in the world, and he only had eyes for her. Something inside Cyno tingled and when he placed his hand on top of his chest, suddenly, he began to feel his heart beating very quickly.
This somehow shook the white-haired man. That young dancer had awakened something inside him, so much attraction, so much fascination... He wanted to see her dance forever.
But the sound of applause interrupted that trance, and forced the young man to return to reality. He had been so gawking at the dancer that he hadn't even realized her performance had ended. He felt stupid with himself, and ashamed too. But Nilou began to wave goodbye to the audience and leave the stage, Cyno gasped loudly, and unconsciously ran to the front, trying to get through the crowd. An involuntary impulse forced him to move, not even he knew what was happening to him.
He just wanted to see that girl closer, just a little more... To feel that warmth that she emitted a little closer to him...
"General Mahamatra, we have found it!" Aarav's voice hit his ears, and he quickly stopped what he was seeing "Come quick!
The matra began to run down another path, his voice was frantic, it seems that they had finally found the hoarder they were looking for. But now, that didn't matter to Cyno. He turned his gaze back to the stage, only to see how he had completely lost sight of Nilou. He growled in annoyance, and he simply walked away, following Aarav to find their missing thief.
The young man recognized that his work was important, and that he could not afford to be distracted. The world needs people to serve justice, to protect the weakest and to help restore order. However, He couldn't stop thinking about what he had just seen. That dance caused something inside him to wake up...
Since he received his position as leader of the matra, Cyno was too busy, hardly having free time for himself. He could only take advantage of those occasions to go to dinner with his friends, but truly his life and his routine were always the same. Although he didn't care if his life was happy or not, he simply felt that it was his obligation, and he could not afford to fail as General Mahamatra.
The Akademiya never gave importance to creativity or art, for the wise, all of these were fallacies that only distanced people from following wisdom. It was just a distraction. For Cyno, the Akademiya collected all the important knowledge, he never believed that there wouldn't be something to learn inside it.
But it seems that he was wrong, someone showed up to teach him... The beauty of art, how a simple dance could convey so much feeling... Today that girl taught him something that he would never have learned if he faithfully followed what the Akademiya said.
And so, without being able to imagine it, Cyno had a change in his heart.
(...)
"Nilou, the dance has been splendid!" said a young woman from the theater, who was cheering up the redhead.
"You think so? I think in the last part I could have done better... But I'm glad people liked it."
Nilou was talking with some friends from the theater. She was exhausted after the dance she had just done and she wanted to go to her dressing room to rest. But as always, she stayed talking with her mates. After that, she said goodbye to them and was about to leave when she was interrupted by the voice of Sheikh Zubayr, who was calling her. She seems like she had some taks to do before she could go rest. However, when she got to her boss, she was in for a pleasant surprise.
"Padisarah? Where did they come from?" she asked, looking at the bouquet of padisarah that her boss had.
"I don't know, I found them on the stage. It says here they are for you." replied Mr Zubayr, giving her a note, thus arousing Nilou's intrigue. How strange, why would flowers like that suddenly appear? And were they... for her? Before asking again, the boss spoke. "You want them?"
Quickly, Nilou's face lit up.
"Of course!" she exclaimed, taking the flowers carefully and admiring them. It had always been her favorite flower. But despite her happiness, she couldn't help but have doubts. "But it's weird... Who opened them left here?"
Maybe a secret admirer? That would be even more suspicious, her fans used to deliver her gifts directly to her. This was the first one she received and she didn't know who had delivered it to her, that made her sad, but she couldn't help but wonder who it was... The smell of the padisarah ended up distracting her. The redhead breathed in that scent deeply, and then a long, relaxed sigh left her lips.
"Well, whoever that person is, I think they have been very kind. Besides, I love padisarah." Nilou said smiling, before saying goodbye to the boss and now, yes, going to her room with those photos of her.
Along the way, she couldn't help but continue appreciating them, they were beautiful and would undoubtedly look good in her room. Although she again felt sorry for not knowing who had left those flowers, she hoped she could thank him in person...
But the truth is that it was not necessary, since the person who had left those flowers was closer than she imagined.
In a corner without being seen, Cyno watched as the redhead happily took those flowers, a sigh of relief escaped from his lips. It seems that he had chosen the right choice, and seeing her accept those flowers certainly brought him a lot of comfort.
It was a good thing that those treasure hoarder had been caught so soon. When they were arrested and taken to the Akademiya, he let the matra take care of it and he, on the other hand, quickly ran to buy some flowers and head to the Grand Bazaar. Despite the fact that it was the first time he had seen her dance, Cyno already felt that this young woman was special, which is why he wanted to give her some detail about her, something that would serve to make her see that he respected her and that he had liked that dance.
But still, he wished he could deliver them himself... However, just seeing her made him nervous. Although he could disguise it well, on the outside he always had the same emotionless expression. But inside... he felt an immense warmth, as if he had butterflies in his stomach. He was too embarrassed to deliver those flowers himself. Besides that he might scare her, after all, it's not common to see General Mahamatra in the bazaar, he might be misunderstood.
That is why he preferred to remain hidden. But he didn't care. Just seeing the smile on Nilou's lips was enough for him. He didn't need anything else just... To see that smile on his face, just that.
And without wanting it, that became something common. Over time, day after day, Nilou began to notice padisarah flowers appearing on the stage, always after their performances. But he could never figure out who was responsible for leaving them there. On the other hand, whenever Cyno could attend one of her performance, he would bring a padisarah flower with him for the redhead, as a way of thanking her for her hard work.
But no matter how hard he tried, he was never able to give her those flowers himself. He would cower and back off, leaving those flowers on the stage for her to see. And although it seemed strange to the dancer, it was also a nice touch that someone always left her flowers.
Perhaps one day, the time will come when Cyno would be able to deliver those flowers himself, one day he will find the courage to speak to her and thank her for her dance. But until that moment arrives, those padisarah flowers will allow him to capture his feelings when words are not enough. Until the time comes when he can deliver them himself.