For a moment, only the sound of shoes echoed in the hallway. Soon, the employee who stopped in front of the reserved room opened the door and politely gestured inside with their hand.

As she entered the room, her hand that had been held in his was finally freed.

“Stop worrying about useless rumors and take off that annoying hood.”

As they entered the guided room, Enrico said casually while taking off his coat. The employee who took the coat nodded in agreement, looking at Emilia.

“We operate under a strict membership system and never disclose anything that happens inside. You can rest assured.”

After hesitating for a moment, Emilia took off her hooded coat and handed it to the employee. The employee truly seemed to have no interest in the young woman who came with Enrico. They just focused on their job, organizing the coats on the hanger, then bowed and left the room, saying they would prepare the ordered dishes.

When the door closed, silence fell for a moment. As if avoiding Enrico’s gaze staring at her from across, Emilia looked around unnecessarily.

The three-story building, though not as spacious as the dining room of the duke’s residence, was divided into quite large private rooms.

Outside the arched window opposite the entrance, a narrow river flowed, and behind it spread a forest thick with trees. The branches spending winter were still bare, but the sparkling ripples in the sunlight flowed unhindered.

“The doctor is supposed to visit in the afternoon.”

It was when she was blankly watching the flowing water. At the low question, she blinked and looked at Enrico.

“…Yes.”

“If there’s anything strange at all, tell me clearly. Don’t make it a bigger issue later.”

Following his earlier words, this seemed to be concern disguised as management. Looking at him, who seemed to be checking for any flaws in advance, Emilia nodded obediently.

Just then, the employee quickly returned. Her eyes darkened as she watched the dishes being set on the table in an instant.

Even with the appetizing aromas filling the air, she had no appetite. While it was understandable to have meals together after finishing schedules at the duke’s residence, facing him for a meal from Sunday morning like this made her quite uncomfortable.

It’s true that meals between sponsors and sponsored are quite common, but from the beginning, he and she were not in such a typical relationship.

‘It’s my fault, isn’t it. If I had just taken proper care of my body, the schedule wouldn’t have been canceled…’

From Enrico’s perspective, who pursues perfection, it would be a waste of time to watch a performance by someone who seemed even slightly unwell, so canceling was understandable.

The problem was that he was creating this awkward situation as if trying to get compensation for it.

Since Enrico doesn’t speak while eating, for a while there were only the sounds of cutlery. He didn’t open his mouth once while the courses were served one after another, and only put down his utensils when dessert was served, just like last time.

“How was the audition?”

He asked, languidly looking down at his wine glass. His amethyst eyes slowly turned towards Emilia.

“Even with that incident, you would have finished it, right?”

“Yes. It was the same as usual.”

“What’s usual like?”

“…I meant the audition proceeded as usual.”

I don’t understand why someone who receives reports on everything and might even know the casting results would ask such a question. Emilia responded calmly, thinking she’d like to go home now that the meal was over.

“Ah – So that’s why you applied for that mediocre audition role again like last time.”

However, he didn’t seem to want to end this conversation easily. Her hand paused while drinking water at his tone that felt subtly scathing.

“The role of Epi is also important.”

“Oh my, are you saying you applied for that role because I didn’t specifically say lead role?”

“You’ve seen the role of Sylphie many times. I thought you might want to see other roles.”

He smiled faintly out of courtesy, narrowing his eyes slightly. His expression seemed to say ‘how should I handle this’, and she blinked, trying to stay calm.

“You’re such an incomprehensible woman. You’re so zealous about unnecessary things, yet unexpectedly docile in other areas.”

The slightly drooping eyes under his thick eyebrows created a discordant atmosphere. Even when he smiled or spoke gently, he didn’t look affectionate at all. Rather, perhaps because of the cool arrogance always present in his eyes, the underlying pressure remained unconcealed.

Enrico swallowed the remaining red wine and muttered in a dry tone.

“What other role, you say. It is interesting.”

“…”

“But is that all?”

Perhaps he had noticed her inner thoughts of not wanting to stand out and thus not being greedy. At his words that seemed deliberately probing, she kept her mouth shut.

“From now on, bring only lead roles without exception. I prefer watching you dance on my stage, but you were quite beautiful shining on the big stage as well.”

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to expect an answer. He was only expressing clear intentions in his areas of interest.

She hesitated to answer rashly, worried it might become troublesome if she didn’t get a lead role. As he stared intently at her hesitating figure, he said abruptly.

“If you bring a lead role, I’ll give you a reward.”

“A reward? Ah… Jewels are fine.”

“No, I’m saying I’ll give you a piece of information.”

“…Information? Really?”

“Yes.”

There was no need to think about it. Emilia nodded immediately.

“I’ll try. Please, make sure to keep your promise.”

“Now that’s an eager expression. I was considering terminating the contract if you kept that gloomy face, so this is quite fortunate.”

Her eyes trembled. Unlike his gentle voice, his intense gaze seemed to pierce right through her.

“Though I am generous towards beauty, I’m not sure how far that goes. If you don’t want to test my patience, it would be better to rebel moderately.”

She lowered her eyes discreetly and remained silent. Sensing her acquiescence, he seemed to have no intention of saying more, and continued speaking while pouring red wine into the empty glass.

“Next week will be the fifth performance, correct?”

“Yes.”

“You must be disappointed to have the reward delayed by a week.”

“……”

“Emilia. Shall I tell you the reward in advance?”

For a moment, she couldn’t understand. Tell her the reward? Now? Emilia looked at him immediately.

“You wanted to know, didn’t you?”

“That’s true, but… Why suddenly, do you want to tell me?”

“Well. Because I feel like it?”

She watched him casually swirling the wine glass and shook her head. Though slightly tempted, she was reluctant to accept the inexplicable favor right away, thinking he might make an unexpected demand later.

“It’s fine if I don’t hear it in advance. Even if I know sooner, it’s not like I can do anything about it right away.”

“There are things you can do. You’ll need to think carefully.”

“…What do you mean?”

His eyes gleamed with interest.

“You might be able to meet a suspicious person.”

A suspicious person? Her eyes trembled greatly.

She didn’t know how yesterday had passed. Enrico had dropped her off at home and left immediately, but he hadn’t left Emilia’s mind until morning.

Emilia slowly climbed the stairs of the opera house, pondering again what he had said.

‘Your parents invested in the automobile business from the beginning. As a result, their investment shares increased, but the problem is that someone who found out about the investment belatedly became dissatisfied with the shares.’

‘Who on earth is that?’

‘Count Sebas Valemont.’

‘Valemont…?’

It was a name she had heard somewhere. Thinking all night, she remembered he was the old man who had taken a ballerina named Clarice as his lover last year, which many dancers had whispered about.

‘The Count, aiming for a monopoly, often demanded that Duke Este transfer all his shares to him. And when I checked the current automobile business shares, I found that a large investor was anonymously processed, not under Duke Este’s name.’

‘…Not in my father’s name?’

‘There seem to be more people involved than expected. The more I investigate, the more there is to sell.’

‘Ha……”

‘Well then, there’s an opportunity to meet Count Valemont. Would you like to go together?’

To think that Count Valemont and her father had clashed. Perhaps because it happened when she was too young, it was news to her. But what was more surprising was Enrico inviting her to a ‘masquerade ball’ together.

Saying that wearing a mask would make her identity less exposed and thus less burdensome, his whispered words urging her to go and see for herself what kind of person Count Valemont was were nothing short of a devil’s whisper.

In fact, even if she went there and saw Count Valemont, it’s not like she could do anything right away or discuss the matter openly. Yet, merely out of a desire to see his face sooner, she decided to follow him to the ball.

As she reached the third floor, she saw a small group of people gathered in front of the central bulletin board.

‘Ah, right. Today’s the announcement day.’

Normally, there shouldn’t be anyone at this time, but it seemed they had come early because of the audition results. Having forgotten even this due to her distraction, Emilia slowly rubbed her forehead, stiff from fatigue, as she approached the bulletin board.

“Oh, Emilia. You’re here? Congratulations on getting the role of Epi.”