Page 29 of I Dated a Retired Hero

He chuckled. “That is a novelty.”

She felt the tiny part of her that had been warming to what she guessed was flirting go cold.

The next few hours went by, and she watched the dancers, listened to the music, ate some pastry, and had copious amounts of tea.

When the chief came up to her with a wary look at Sergei, he bowed. “Madame Litha, thank you for coming to our aid and clearing the radiation from the site. Our people have had their farmland restored to their care, and we would like to invite you back when the first harvest is collected.”

She smiled. “I will be happy to return.”

The ballerina had a flat item pressed to her. “Ma’am? I asked my teacher, and she went through her magazines, and we found you. Would you sign this, please?”

The girl shoved the cover toward her, and she caught it with the pen. Litha looked at the image of her when she was strong, hopeful, and dressed in floaty, silky chiffon. They had asked her to repeat the pose, so she had. She looked like she was doing the splits in midair.

There was a strangled voice from next to her. “You are in ballet?”

“Not anymore. For them, the novelty of an active prima wore off, and I was quietly retired by the troupe. After that, it was back to school to finish my master’s, and then, I started working in the lab.” She signed it and handed it back to the girl. “It isn’t worth anything, but I am happy you asked.”

The girl clutched it to her chest. “Madame says that you have helped me more in a few hours than she does in days. It took a lot for her to say that.”

“It did. It might not last, but you had a different viewpoint for a few moments, just as you will if you go to the city. The teachers there will be brutal, but I wanted you to know that calm teaching is still teaching.”

The girl smiled. “Slow until it’s under control, and then, speed it up.”

“Yup. Well, on that note, I will take my leave.”

The young woman blinked. “You aren’t staying overnight?” She flicked a glance at Midnight.

“No. I haven’t been drinking, my exertions weren’t tiring, and I have to untangle my life and figure out which strands I want to keep.”

The girl nodded. “Thank you so much. It means so much to us that the fields are returned to neutral.”

“This is farming country. That makes total sense. I will say goodbye to a few people, and then, I am gone.”

She got off her seat and walked around to hug the young woman. The others figured out what was going on, and with a few looks at Sergei and her, she was hugged by every woman in the village and shook the hands of most of the men. That was tiring, but she smiled, walked into a clear area, and took off.

She showed off a little and let her aura blaze white-hot around her before she turned and headed home.

* * * *

Sergei watched theone sure thing in his universe fly away.

“She doesn’t associate with people. She doesn’t touch people. More to the point, no one touches her,” Petrov spoke quietly.

“She doesn’t react to me. I have been trying to pull at her all night, and she doesn’t react to me.” Sergei looked at him.

“She does, but she is reacting like a young woman, all diversion and blushes, but she has an adult mind and doesn’t blush.” Petrov shrugged. “I have to visit her to see if I can get some of her radiation-resistant plants, as well as the radiation-consuming ones.”

“When?”

“We need to figure out a budget. We already have a test site.”

Midnight stopped frowning. “You are going to speak with her? You can contact her?”

“I can. You can’t?”

“We did not discuss that. I was attempting to seduce her, but she didn’t notice.”

“Female actives are not trained in how to seek out sexual partners. They are neutralized for reproduction and basically left on their own unless they are omegas. Then, they are given as much training as possible.”

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