"Shh…"

Nancy patted Linda's hand and whispered, "If you don't want to watch her, then don't. It's almost our turn. Get ready."

Linda pouted, knowing Nancy didn't want her to speak ill of others, and raised her hand, waving her fingers.

Although it was Nancy and Linda's turn to perform, Andrew and Patrick were extremely nervous. Listening to Linda's chatter earlier had calmed them somewhat, but now that she was silent, their anxiety was palpable.

"Nan…"

Andrew gently took Nancy's hand, "Don't be nervous, and don't be scared. Just perform as you normally would."

"Okay."

Nancy smiled faintly, "Master, I'm not nervous."

Andrew turned to her, surprised, "You're not? Then why are your palms all sweaty?"

Nancy looked at him with a mix of laughter and helplessness, "Master, that's your sweat, not mine… My hands are quite dry."

"Ah? Really?"

Embarrassed, Andrew withdrew his hand, rubbing them together and indeed finding his palms sweaty.

He couldn't help it. Nancy was his pupil, and this was an international competition. How could he not be nervous?

Worried his mood might affect Nancy, he took a deep breath, forcibly calming himself.

Two minutes passed quickly. Rivata finished her performance expecting a warm round of applause, but was met with sparse clapping, leaving the atmosphere quite cold.

Disappointed, she stood up, bowed to the audience, and walked off the stage unhappily.

Nancy took a deep breath, "Linda, let's get ready to go on stage."

Linda stood up and followed Nancy towards the side of the stage.

"Nan, I might not think highly of Rivata's performance, but she wasn't that bad. Why was there so little applause?"

Nancy tilted her head, speaking softly, "Not just us, even the audience is exhausted. Think about it, it's been seven hours. Even the most passionate audience would be worn out by now."

Linda bit her lip, sighing despondently, "So, aren't we at a disadvantage? Even if we perform exceptionally well, the audience might be too numb to react, making it awkward for us."

Just then, Rivata approached them. She ignored Linda completely, fixing her gaze provocatively on Nancy.

"Don't think just because I didn't get much applause that my performance was poor. By the time you two go on, the audience might have left."

Nancy rolled her eyes silently, grabbing Linda's hand and walking past Rivata, "Childish!"

"Hey! Who are you calling childish?"

Rivata turned angrily, about to grab Nancy, but Nancy looked back at her, "What's the matter, Rivata? You think you're inferior to me, so now you want to stop me from going on stage?"

"Inferior to you!?"

Rivata laughed in anger, "Nancy, who do you think you are? You're just a wild hen from the countryside, thinking you can compete with me…"

She couldn't finish her sentence as Nancy turned and walked away.

"You!"

Rivata, fuming and nostrils flaring, was left without a way to deal with Nancy.

Because if she grabbed Nancy now, she would indeed be stopping her from going on stage…