With Emilia between them, his hands grasped each end of the chair in turn. Reflexively, she grabbed his shoulders, but he didn’t budge.

Rather, as he slowly lowered his head, Emilia rubbed the area around her shoulder blades against the backrest as if she wanted to keep backing away even though there was nowhere else to go.

“If possible, that is.”

A strange, lingering energy enveloped the surroundings. The ends of his black hair brushed against her forehead. Emilia’s startled expression was reflected in his violet eyes that had drawn closer.

His face came so close that their breaths mingled, and it seemed as if their lips would touch at the slightest movement, causing her trembling body to freeze.

However, as if he had no intention of stopping, the tip of his nose brushed against hers. Although the touch was so faint that it was barely noticeable, his head tilted at a sultry angle.

Maintaining the distance just before contact, he delved deeper. Emilia’s two hands, which had been gripping the shoulders of Enrico’s jacket, turned pale.

“Don’t put on a pathetic display of pride. The only time you’re allowed to show emotion in front of me is when you’re dancing.”

He whispered as his hot breath spread near her ear. The low voice mixed with breaths that seemed to scrape the deepest depths made shivers run down her spine. Her eyes, which had been tightly shut without realizing it, flew open.

“……”

“Shall I have them warm up the food?”

The atmosphere that had felt as taut as a pulled string was suddenly severed. The man who had been approaching her so slowly that it was suffocating casually raised his head as if nothing had happened.

Her gaze, which had been staring at the empty space where his face had been, followed upwards. The moment their eyes met, he raised an eyebrow as if amused.

Unlike her eyes filled with a mixture of resentment and anger, her cheeks, flushed with shame, looked as soft as a ripe peach. He nonchalantly brushed her plump cheek with his index finger.

“It would be a pity if you lost more weight here. I’ll have to feed you well.”

A glimmer flashed across his violet eyes that had been gleaming with an unsavory light. Emilia, who had been quietly looking up at Enrico, took a deep breath, and then her gaze shifted elsewhere. After staring down at her for a long time, he turned around.

Emilia closed her eyes tightly as if suppressing her complicated inner thoughts, then slowly opened them. Don’t waver, this is something you had anticipated to some extent. From the beginning, she didn’t expect him to purely have her dance.

Wasn’t it impossible for a man who referred to her as his work of art and displayed a strange possessiveness to be normal in the first place?

Even if he was pleased with her now, there was no telling how long his whims would last. Even if it was written in the contract that he would continue to investigate, there would definitely be a difference in the quality of information depending on whether he was interested or not.

‘Just one year… I just need to endure it for one year.’

The hands gathered under the table clenched tightly, then soon relaxed.

In the meantime, the attendants waiting outside moved swiftly. They took away the cold dishes one by one and brought out new appetizers.

“Do you drink?”

A butler dressed in a black suit carefully poured alcohol into the glass in front of Enrico. His long fingers touched the glass filled with a transparent red wine.

“…No.”

“Then at least enjoy a drink with a similar color to lift your mood.”

She thought he would insist on her drinking, but surprisingly, he backed off nonchalantly. When he gave a signal to the maid standing nearby, a glass that had been empty was filled with a purplish liquid with a reddish tinge.

Even though it wasn’t brought close, the sweet scent of fruit suggested that it was grape juice.

It was evident that this place was not bound by the seasons, even though it was a fruit that grew in midsummer. But the juice was the same color as the eyes of the man sitting in front of her. Perhaps because of what had happened earlier when she had looked at them up close, it somehow felt strangely off-putting.

She slowly reached out her hand to the glass and meaninglessly swirled it slightly in a circle. The purple color swirling inside the glass kept making her heart flutter.

“About the visitation schedule from now on.”

The words she had been waiting for finally came out. Emilia glanced at him, gently pushing the glass away.

“Yes.”

“Let’s make it twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays.”

“Twice a week?”

“That’s right. Today is Wednesday, so we can start the day after tomorrow.”

“Ah… Then will you be specifying the dances separately? Or should I prepare them on my own?”

“You can prepare them yourself. The ones you’ve danced before are fine, and the ones you’ll learn in the future are fine too. Just dance a solo performance of about 20 minutes and then leave.”

20 minutes. It was a short time for a play where everyone danced together, but it was quite a long time to fill the stage alone. Of course, it wasn’t an excessive demand, so it was understandable.

The problem was that the twice-a-week frequency was a bit of an issue due to the ballet troupe’s schedule, but on the other hand, it was better to fulfill the contract as soon as possible if she wanted to know the truth.

Three times to get one piece of evidence. For the sake of the truth about the accident that would surely be revealed someday…

“…I understand.”

Enrico nodded once as if satisfied. He seemed pleased with her obedient attitude, but he gestured with his chin as if telling her to eat the food that had just been brought out.

A steaming potage was placed in front of her. The subtle scent of butter stimulated her sense of smell, but perhaps because she had a lot on her mind, she didn’t feel hungry. Rather, her mouth felt parched, but if she skipped meals every time she lost her appetite, her body would quickly deteriorate, so she forcibly picked up the spoon.

For a while, only the sound of cutlery clinking could be heard. As she ate the food the attendant served on her plate, her stomach quickly filled up.

“You don’t eat much compared to your level of activity.”

Enrico remarked, bringing the wine glass to his mouth as he noticed her eating pace gradually slowing down. The wine flowed down, and his throat rippled.

“When I don’t have important schedules, I usually eat a bit more than this.”

Emilia finally put down her utensils and lightly dabbed her lips with a napkin. Now that she had said this, she figured she didn’t have to pretend to eat more here.

At her attitude, he raised one eyebrow slightly.

“Even if you ate more, it doesn’t seem like the amount would be particularly enormous.”

“Most people are like this.”

“Be careful not to collapse from being too scrawny.”

Although it was clearly a statement of concern, it sounded like a warning not to damage his property. Emilia accepted that it was quite like him to think of her only as an art piece and simply drank the water.

“But why didn’t you audition for the lead role?”

At his unexpected question, she almost spat out the water for a moment. However, as if he had no particular interest in Emilia’s flustered expression, Enrico was slowly cutting the steak. The juices were flowing from the thick meat.

“…I thought it was still too early.”

He looked at her as he put a piece of meat, cut to an appropriate size, into his mouth. It was a strange feeling.

Although it was just the sight of him eating, his gaze that stared intently at Emilia was gleaming darkly as if it would devour her. Emilia picked up the glass of water again, feeling like the inside of her mouth was drying up for some reason.

“I don’t know what you mean by it being too early. The audition results won’t be great either.”

“What? What do you mean by that?”

“You won’t be able to do as much as you want. Because the assigned roles are few.”

It had only been a few hours since she had taken the audition, but he already knew the results. Emilia blinked her eyes as if confused. If he set his mind to finding out, what would be difficult for him? But she didn’t know he would pay attention to such auditions.

“What should I do for you?”

As he picked up the napkin, an attendant approached and took away the plate.

“Are you even paying attention to the auditions?”

“Of course. You’re the gem I discovered, so I need to make your value shine even more.”

It was a statement that made her head feel cold every time she heard it. The way he naturally erased her existence, as if reminding her that she was just a dancing doll, took her breath away once again.

“…I can do it on my own.”

“You probably can. It’s just a matter of speed.”

“…”

“What I’m doing is simply helping to ensure that no foreign substances get in the way of the position you should be rising to.”

He was a truly strange man. He disregarded her personality more than anyone else, but he might be the one who believed in her skills the most. He probably acted that way because he had complete faith in his own judgment.

Emilia slowly loosened the fists she had been clenching without realizing it. She felt the slightly indented nail marks on her stinging palms.

It was a sense of exhaustion she hadn’t felt in a long time. Thinking that dealing with Enrico was more demanding than dancing, Emilia opened the door to her house. Behind her, the sound of the carriage that had given her a ride was getting farther and farther away.

‘When did they even move my belongings?’

As she was about to return to the dormitory, Assistant Fabio told her that she could go straight home. Since she had to move out of the dormitory within this month, she had planned to move slowly, but they had suddenly moved her things like this. Fortunately, Juliana had left first, otherwise, they would have startled her by moving her belongings without a word.

The cold wind, soaked in the night air, followed Emilia as she entered the house. However, the warm air from the fireplace illuminating the interior immediately enveloped Emilia, and the chill disappeared. A house filled with warmth, Emilia’s brows furrowed slightly.

“Welcome back, Miss.”

“…Who are you?”

There was no time to appreciate the interior. Emilia blinked her eyes as she looked at the middle-aged woman in a maid’s uniform who was politely greeting her.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zabeta Natalia, and I have been ordered to serve you here from now on.”