I AM A MAGE BUT WITH MILF SYSTEM-Chapter 666: The performance begins

"Here they are," he said. It came out almost jovial. He reached for his wine with one hand and gestured with the other. "Here they finally are."

Mara stepped smoothly into the space between the performers and the watching lounge. She turned to face the three of them, and made a small gesture toward the pool.

Obediently, Thomas, Sarah, and Helena moved. They crossed the chamber and stood silently at the pool’s edge, facing the sofas. Thomas still had Sarah’s hand. Helena stood slightly apart from them, her eyes now lowered.

The lamplight fell over all three of them evenly.

Mara joined her hands together and turned slightly.

"My lords," she said, "allow me to have our performers introduce themselves." She paused, letting that sit for a moment, then turned her attention fully to the three at the pool’s edge. "Please introduce yourselves. Your names—" a slight pause, "—and your relation to one another."

Silence.

Thomas, Sarah, and Helena looked at each other in a quick glance. However, nobody spoke.

Mara waited precisely three seconds, then her gaze settled on Thomas.

"Thomas," she said. But her tone conveyed something else: you first, and don’t make me ask again.

Thomas exhaled through his nose.

He looked up. Not at the men on the sofas—at a point somewhere above them.

"I’m Thomas," he said.

His voice came out steadier than Julian had expected.

Then he stopped.

Mara’s head tilted almost un-noticingly. Go on.

Thomas swallowed, his hand tightening around Sarah’s.

"Sarah is my sister," he said. A brief pause, shorter than the first. "And Helena is my mother."

The words landed in the warm air of the chamber and stayed there.

Kraven said nothing. He was watching with the focused attention of a man who has waited a long time for something and is now savoring the fact that it has arrived.

Mara’s expression remained unchanging. She turned her gaze to Sarah. When Mara’s eyes found her, she looked forward—directly forward.

"I’m Sarah." Her voice was quieter than Thomas’s, but it didn’t waver. "Thomas is my brother." Her eyes moved briefly to her mother beside her, then back forward. "Helena is our mother."

Mara nodded once, then turned to Helena.

Helena had not looked up.

She was still standing with her hands folded in front of her, her eyes somewhere on the floor between herself and the pool’s edge. Her breathing was visible.

"Helena," Mara said. Her voice was softer here. Almost gentle.

A moment passed.

Then Helena raised her head.

She looked directly at Mara first—not at the men, not at her children, at Mara—with an expression that was tired and complicated.

Then her eyes moved to the sofas.

"I am Helena," she said. "Thomas and Sarah are my children."

The chamber was very quiet and Kraven reached for his wine.

Mara let the silence continue for exactly few more seconds before turning to Thomas.

"Alright, Thomas. You know what to do."

She stepped back toward the corner of the watching lounge, positioning herself to where she could observe both the performers and the two men without hindering anyone’s sight.

"Let’s start the party."

Thomas didn’t move immediately.

He stood frozen, and for a moment Julian thought the boy might simply refuse. But then something shifted in his face. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The particular expression of a man who has argued with himself for a long time and has finally, stopped arguing.

He finally turned to Sarah.

She was already looking at him. Thomas raised his hand and touched her face, his fingers curving along her jaw and tilted her chin slightly upward.

Sarah’s eyes softened.

He kissed her.

It started carefully. Scared and hesitant.

But Sarah’s hand found his chest and something in that small gesture seemed to unclip something in Thomas.

The kiss deepened.

Julian watched Helena.

She was the most interesting thing in the room. The performance itself was not bad, but the woman standing beside it, watching her own children was something else entirely. She was doing what she had been doing all evening: managing herself. Keeping herself at a distance so that her emotions didn’t swallow her whole.

Her hands, still folded in front of her, had tightened. The knuckles gone pale.

Beside Julian, Kraven had set his wine glass down. He was leaning forward now, elbows on his knees, his full attention on the three performer.

At the pool’s edge, Thomas broke the kiss and stepped back slightly. His hands moved to Sarah’s shoulders, then down her arms, then to the ties at the back of her dress. Sarah stood still and let him do his thing, her hands resting lightly at her sides.

The dress loosened.

Sarah shrugged it from her shoulders and let it fall.

Kraven exhaled slowly through his nose.

Julian simply watched.

Sarah’s hand moved next, reaching for the collar of Thomas’s shirt. Her hands lowered slowly, making their way towards the button. It felt heavy on her hands as she opened it once, twice.... until his shirt completely came off.

Thomas shrugged it the rest of the way and it fell beside her dress.

They stood together at the pool’s edge, the lamplight falling warmly across them both, and for a moment neither moved. Just looked at each other. There was something in that pause that was more intimate than anything physical.

Then Thomas turned.

He turned away from Sarah and faced Helena.

His expression was the most complicated thing Julian had seen on the boy’s face, and Julian had been watching Thomas carefully all morning and all evening. Desire was there—real and visible. But beneath it was guilt, and apology, and something that looked almost like grief.

Helena met his eyes.

She had been watching him since he turned. Julian could see her working at it. Could see the slight increase in the tension around her eyes, the jaw stiffening a fraction.

Thomas then extended his hand, his arms reaching towards her.

An invitation.

Helena looked at his hand.

The chamber was completely silent except for the soft shift of the water and the faint hiss of the oil lamps.