Although Kuro's words had slightly broken through her defenses, Noah, knowing that Kuro only meant well, didn't say much.
Kuro was right; no matter how much she cared about the Nearl Family family or how much she wished for the Nearl Family family to return to its original state, she was, after all, an outsider.
However, she quickly composed herself.
After all, today she was going out to see Viviana, and it wouldn't be good if she appeared too preoccupied, potentially affecting Viviana.
"Speaking of which… why is a Great Yan troupe performing this opera?" Noah pondered, then tilted her head. The troupe was quite famous, but they used to perform plays more often, didn't they? Why the sudden change to opera?
Noah was still deep in thought when she heard familiar footsteps approaching from afar. These light, delicate steps belonged to only one person.
"Viviana, over here, over here!" Noah cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and shouted, "I'm here!"
"Noah—" Viviana finally spotted Noah and made her way through the crowd. "I thought I was too early."
"You certainly are very early. Didn't we agree to meet in half an hour?" Noah said with a smile, "Viviana, you almost beat me here."
"…Going out takes a lot of time, after all, so I always leave early. That way, if anything goes wrong, I have time to fix it…" Viviana reached out and helped Noah tidy her hair. "Did you sleep at the company yesterday?"
"How did you know?"
"Your hair is messy. If you had come from home, you would have at least asked Kuro to help you with it," Viviana said with a smile. "While hard work is important, you shouldn't completely immerse yourself in it. There are many other things you can do."
"It's not like I'm completely immersed in work…" Noah shook her head, a little embarrassed. "For example, aren't I out with you to see an opera?"
"Yes, I'm really looking forward to it," Viviana said with a smile. "And who knows, I might even get inspiration for a new poem."
"Is that so?" Noah also smiled at this. "Oh, right, I asked your little fan, but the review might take a little more time."
"Oh… I see." Viviana was clearly looking forward to others' opinions. After all, it was her debut work, and she naturally had higher expectations. However, Noah could already guess that Mackey's review wouldn't be very high.
After all, Mackey was perhaps too honest…
"Although there's still some time before it starts, we have VIP seats, so we can enter early," Noah said with a smile. "Also, Viviana, if you keep showing your face like this, tomorrow's headlines might be very exciting."
People around Viviana had already started to notice that she was the famous and incredibly popular Candle Knight. Some had stopped to take pictures, and reporters were probably already on their way. Viviana, aware of her popularity, frowned slightly, troubled. To avoid trouble, she could only follow Noah's suggestion and enter early. Only when the two arrived at the theater's VIP box did Viviana finally relax.
"Being famous is really a lot of work," Noah said with a smile. "It's hard to imagine that before I invested in you, you were just an unknown little Knight."
"Who could have known what would happen back then…" Viviana and Noah's friendship began when Noah invested in Viviana, who was then just an ordinary competing Knight. At the time, the Candle Knight was being cultivated as an idol Knight, but she herself was not satisfied with this. Later, she became an independent Knight and participated in the competition. Noah eventually sought her out, with no intention of controlling her actions, only providing funding and logistical support.
The result was that although she didn't win the championship, Viviana still made it to the semifinals and earned the title of Candle Knight.
From then on, Viviana became famous, and many people wanted to profit from her. There was an endless stream of gossip about her. Although Noah helped manage it, with her immense popularity, even Noah found it difficult to control, especially with newspapers like the Red Wine Report. Even Noah had no solution. While it wasn't Noah's intention, the Candle Knight's current troubles were indeed inseparable from her.
However, this didn't affect their personal friendship.
"Recently, I've also heard some rumors, saying that you actually like women. They probably realized they couldn't dig up any male scandals about you, so they finally decided to shift their target, right?" Noah said with a smile. "Or did someone take a picture of us going out together?"
"Huh?" Viviana was startled. "Why… why would there be such news?"
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Noah felt that Viviana seemed a little flustered and asked, somewhat confused, "Do you… do you really dislike such things?"
"Ah… that… perhaps a little," Viviana hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "It's just too baseless… a little."
"I see. If it really bothers you, I'll try to make that tabloid shut up," Noah nodded. "You can tell me if you have any trouble, after all, I'm still your big investor, aren't I? And I've recently been promoted to spokesperson for the Commercial Federation."
"Spokesperson? Congratulations." Although Viviana wasn't very familiar with the Commercial Federation, she knew that a spokesperson held great power, so she was very happy for Noah's promotion. "Just as you didn't know that I, a small Knight, would become the Candle Knight I am today, I also couldn't have imagined seeing you reach such a position in the future. I suppose we're even, right?"
"Indeed," Noah nodded, deeply agreeing. "And I'm also very glad to be friends with you, rather than just a simple investment target."
"I see…"