In the center of the Commercial Street, a massive complex stood, its entire structure made of polished brass walls.
On its dome hung the glowing letters “Novalis Grand Theater.”
“Is this… a movie theater? Isn’t it a theater…?”
Unlike the pitch-black environment outside, the three of them walked into the bright lobby.
“It’s both a theater and a movie theater. After the movie technology came out, the grand theater expanded into this area of business.”
“Fen, by the way… what exactly is a movie…?”
The word “movie” was something completely unheard of to someone from the Holy Capital like Elena, and even to most Aiseriel people.
But well, unfortunately, he was not a proper local Aiseriel person.
As for movies, he had watched plenty of them before.
“Uh… Just think of it as an art form similar to opera?”
“An art form?”
The silver-haired girl tilted her head in confusion.
“For example, Little Elena, the operas you usually watch—they find actors in advance, rehearse the script, and then perform in front of an audience, right?”
“Mhm.”
After receiving the girl’s response, Fen continued.
“As for ‘movies’… people use some kind of technology to ‘record’ the script in advance. When a customer wants to watch it, the business plays the recorded footage for them to see.”
Since Elena really didn’t understand anything, Fen felt it was necessary to explain clearly to her.
“With this technology, the recorded footage is no different from a live performance on stage.”
“I see…”
“So that means you don’t need to specially find opera actors and do rehearsals beforehand, right?”
Elena’s little head nodded blankly.
“As expected of you. You catch on quickly.”
“But… the power of technology is so amazing…”
Elena muttered quietly.
“Alright, you two! Come take a look and see what film you want to watch?”
While the two were talking, Masha had already walked to the front desk and was waving at them.
“A… film…? What’s that again?”
“It just means they’re asking what story or script you want to watch…”
“Hmm… is that so…”
As if she had made a mistake, Elena looked up awkwardly and hurriedly stared at the repertoire list displayed at the front desk.
Usually Elena had an air of knowing everything—a “know-it-all”—
But now, staring at this silly, bewildered girl in front of him…
Fen actually found her unexpectedly cute?
‘Speaking of which… what kind of movies do Otherworld people watch…?’
‘I’m kind of curious.’
Fen casually picked up a list.
“Novalis Grand Theater, movie program. Recent popular films are as follows:”
“‘White Horse Prince.'”
“?”
“Wait… What’s this?!”
Isn’t it ‘Snow White’?
“‘Big Red Hood and Little Gray Wolf.'”
Isn’t it ‘Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Gray Wolf’!
And they’re shipping a big one, huh!
The rest of the list were all “fairy tales” that Fen knew from before his transmigration, such as ‘Beautiful Little Duck,’ ‘Little Match Girl Seller,’ ‘One Thousand and One Days,’ ‘Aladdin’s Divine Lamp,’ and so on…
Except they had been twisted into children’s cult classics.
“What’s wrong, Mr. Fen?”
Masha stared at Fen, who was showing a troubled expression, and asked curiously.
“No… nothing.”
“Just a thought—Novalis’s movies… really are uniquely designed.”
Beside him, Elena nervously tugged at her dress.
“By… by the way, Masha, since we’re visitors, what film do you recommend?”
“As for me…”
“I recommend you watch ‘White Horse Prince.'”
She put the list down and looked at the two with a smile.
“I’ve heard it describes a beautiful love story… It’s pretty suitable for couples to watch…”
“Th-then… how about we watch this one… Fen?”
Elena turned around and timidly asked the man beside her.
“Huh? I… I have no objections.”
He was actually curious about where the story’s script would go.
White Horse Prince… he wondered what his relationship was with the White Horse Prince from ‘Snow White.’
“Great!”
“Boss, two tickets!”
Masha cheered loudly.
“W-wait?”
“Masha, aren’t you watching?”
If Masha wasn’t watching… that meant…
He would be alone with Elena…
“Oh my—”
Masha glared at Fen with a look of exasperation.
“With this kind of love story… having a third wheel would totally kill the mood, you know…”
“I’ll stay out of it now—”
She took the tickets from the front desk and handed them straight to the two.
“Here.”
“I still have things to do, so I’ll go first.”
Masha grinned and flashed a V-sign at Fen.
“Hey! Wait—”
“Good luck—I’m rooting for you!”
Before leaving, she didn’t forget to wave goodbye to the two.
Then, after passing through the lobby doors, she instantly vanished.
Leaving behind only the two of them, holding tickets, at a loss in the crowd.
“F-Fen?”
“Haha… I’m fine…”
“Then let’s go see that damn Snow—”
“Uh… what story ‘White Horse Prince’ is?”
With that, he led the girl, ready to pass through the crowd to the screening room.
“!”
Fen suddenly got goosebumps because his hand was held by the girl.
“W-wait.”
“Don’t walk so fast… It wouldn’t be good if we got separated…”
Elena shook his arm in a very girly way.
“O-okay… I apologize.”
Fen forced himself to stay calm, not daring to look back at the petite, cute girl behind him.
‘It’s all Masha’s fault…’
Under that bad woman’s subtle hints, whenever he was with Elena now, he had a strong sense of déjà vu like he was on a date with his little girlfriend.
He felt like he could never go back…
…
“Hmm— it’s a bit dark…”
After entering the screening room, Elena tightly gripped Fen’s hand as they fumbled in the dark, found leather soft seats, and sat side by side.
“Yeah… that’s a necessary condition for projection. A darker space gives a better viewing experience.”
Fen looked up and surveyed the surroundings.
‘Speaking of which… this screening room is pretty good.’
‘It even has heating.’
Despite the dim lighting, he could vaguely see protruding pipes on the ceiling, from which came a humming sound, seemingly delivering warm air.
Ahead was a huge curtain.
Following the ventilation pipes, looking toward the back of the screening room, the high platform at the rear must be the projection room.
He could faintly see a projector standing there, almost identical to the “film projectors” Fen had seen before his transmigration.
Fen and Elena’s seats were towards the back row, enough to easily overlook the front.
But was it because Novalis had been in turmoil recently…
The screening room wasn’t crowded; many seats were empty.
Only a few scattered seats in the front rows were occupied.
“Click—”
A clear sound of a machine starting.
“Is… is it starting!?”
The silver-haired girl was obviously excited; at this moment, she was no different from a lively, adorable little girl.
“Little Elena… you’re in high spirits…”
“I… I told you not to call me that…”
Fen’s teasing made Elena blush easily again.
“It’s my first time, after all… a bit excited.”
“Then let’s focus on watching.”
The two decided to focus their attention on the movie first.
A flash of light.
Gradually, images appeared on the curtain.
……