Deputy Director Silvia exhaled with a troubled expression.

“But the previous director, even though he wasn’t from a ballet background, wasn’t someone without an eye for talent. Seeing him nitpick you unreasonably made me think there was something going on. So I asked Duke Michele what conditions I’d have to meet if I received his help.”

It seems Enrico’s hand hadn’t just stayed on her. To think it reached even inside the ballet company.

“He just said to judge fairly. That there’s nothing else to worry about and to focus only on what’s in front of me.”

It wasn’t surprising intervention from someone who had told her to take the lead role. However, the fact that she couldn’t achieve even ballet solely by her own strength made her heart sink. No matter how skilled she was, she felt that without someone backing her up, she was nothing more than a doll in a music box, just as he had said.

She had thought that at least ballet was purely her domain…

Emilia lowered her head slightly and smiled painfully.

“Emilia?”

“…But, is it okay for you to tell me this?”

“Ah! Of course. If you’re worried about that, it’s fine because I’ve already asked Duke Michele for permission to tell the person involved.”

So he even asked for permission. Then Enrico must have known that she would hear about this.

While it was true that the troublesome issue had disappeared thanks to his help, she couldn’t help feeling like she was being played in the palm of his hand. Her jade-colored eyes, which had been shaking like a violent storm, had now settled like a deep, calm lake.

“Thank you for telling me. I might have been completely unaware otherwise.”

Emilia raised her head and smiled slightly. Deputy Director Silvia briefly looked puzzled at her empty-seeming expression, but soon attributed it to stress and added:

“I want to not only grow this ballet company but also improve the perception of ballet in the kingdom. For that, we absolutely need a skilled star ballerina like you.”

A light flashed in Deputy Director Silvia’s eyes as she whispered about the future.

“It seems like various situations are drawing Emilia in, I’m sorry. But don’t doubt the casting. I’m a thorough meritocrat.”

However, even with these hopeful words, Emilia’s expression remained calm.

Emilia’s mood hadn’t improved even by the next day. Her face, as gloomy as the overcast sky outside that looked like it might rain, lacked energy.

Of all times, to have to meet Enrico on a day like this.

She sighed as she got into the waiting carriage. Today, she especially felt the desire to know the truth quickly and end this relationship. She was afraid that if she stayed like this, she would become someone who couldn’t do anything without his help.

‘I should go to the ball after all.’

Quietly waiting and receiving only the information he gave was time-consuming. Even if she wanted to increase the number of times she performed on his stage, night practice time was an issue, and from Enrico’s standpoint of wanting perfection even in a single performance, he probably wouldn’t be very keen on it.

‘It should be fine since it’s a masked party.’

In reality, even if she met someone suspicious at the ball, she probably couldn’t do anything, but if it was someone who had some connection with her parents, there might be traces left.

Since Giorgio had been living in the capital since becoming a viscount, he probably hadn’t touched the family home. Even if he had searched here and there for something valuable, it would be difficult to discover places known only to her parents and herself.

She hadn’t been near Bacorta since fleeing to the art academy, but it seemed like a good idea to visit once during Easter. As she was thinking, the lengthening shadows were being completely enveloped by darkness.

Enrico didn’t particularly interfere with what she danced on stage. So Emilia sometimes chose choreography she was practicing for upcoming works, and sometimes showed creative ballet she had made before. If he had been picky even about the choice of works, she wouldn’t have had the confidence to maintain this contract for long, so that was fortunate at least.

‘Let’s finish quickly and go.’

As soon as she arrived at the duke’s residence, Emilia changed into the pure white ‘Giselle’ costume and warmed up.

Although the costume looked similar to [La Sylphide], which appeared fairy-like, Giselle had a subtly different atmosphere, exuding a calmer and more delicate feeling.

Originally, she liked the solo part at the beginning of the play, but today, not feeling in the mood to dance smiling in front of Enrico, she had come prepared to start from the part where Giselle appears as a ghost.

After seeing a [Giselle] performance as a child, she had practiced alone, and had performed it once at the art academy, so the two choreographies were appropriately mixed and clearly imprinted in her mind.

Thanks to that, it wasn’t difficult to reconstruct the choreography to fill the stage alone.

Eventually, after stretching and warming up sufficiently, she climbed onto the stage. As always, a beautiful face imbued with arrogance was waiting for her.

‘I need to concentrate. If there’s even a slight flaw, who knows what kind of nitpicking he’ll do.’

Taking her position slightly to the left, she assumed her ready stance. Emilia’s eyes, which had been closed for a moment as she took a deep breath, slowly opened.

As music flowed from the phonograph, the expression disappeared from Emilia’s face. The eerie yet sorrowful atmosphere unique to Giselle enveloped her surroundings. The beautiful but gloomy Giselle soared high, as if defying gravity, surrendering her body to the music.

At first, she had felt a strong reluctance to do this performance. But at some point, Emilia was dancing, immersed in Giselle. Like someone who had forgotten reality for a moment, she began to focus only on this moment, and Enrico watched her with an inscrutable expression.

The light from the chandelier strangely resembled pale moonlight, softly enveloping Emilia’s body.

Enrico called Emilia to the dining room, seemingly with no intention of sending her away immediately today. Now accustomed, she sat in her place and ate the courses as they came out, waiting for him to speak.

“Have you thought about it?”

Finally, as the last dessert was served, his hand reached for the wine glass.

“…Do you mean the masked ball?”

“Yes.”

It hadn’t even been a day since he’d asked, yet he already wanted an answer. In a way, it seemed he had already decided.

Emilia looked at him once, then spoke with a half-resigned expression.

“I’ll go.”

“Surprising. I thought you’d refuse at least once.”

“Truthfully, I’m not sure what I should do there.”

“You don’t need to do anything. The atmosphere will form on its own. Quite a few people become bold just by wearing a mask.”

What kind of atmosphere could it be that people become bold, she wondered.

“Ask Fabio for the exact date. I’ll take care of the preparations on my end.”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t need to prepare for next week’s performance.”

“…Pardon? Did you have a separate engagement?”

Emilia opened her eyes in surprise.

“No.”

“Then why?”

“Seeing you today, it seems you couldn’t focus at all. Just rest for a while.”

At his monotonous words, her eyes wavered. It was only at the very beginning, she had focused quickly. But he noticed that brief moment? She thought it was absurd and quickly denied it.

“Couldn’t focus? I did my best.”

His eyes narrowed at her trembling lower lip.

“Well. It didn’t look that way to me.”

Enrico’s head tilted languidly. While it was such an important matter to her, his attitude was so light, as if revealing it was just a momentary amusement, making her blood boil.

It was true she couldn’t focus at the beginning, but she had soon immersed herself in Giselle and danced earnestly. Yet it felt like all that time was being denied.

‘With what heart do I dance…’

She had been ignoring the words rising from within, just to focus on reality. But each time, guilt weighed heavily on her shoulders. She had said she would dance ballet for her parents now, but sometimes she felt self-loathing, wondering if she wasn’t using her parents for the sake of ballet.

How contradictory it was to be completely absorbed in ballet itself. She rationalized it as immersing herself in the role, but she wasn’t unaware that she was actually enjoying ballet.

‘No. This man who’s exploiting this is the problem. I was trying to find out the truth…’

The guilt turned into a twisted arrow aimed at Enrico. She resented him so much for trying to toy with her pain in his grasp.

Emilia took a deep breath, lest any harsh words escape.

“Your Grace, if the performance dates are pushed back, so is the compensation I receive. I want to get the investigation results as soon as possible.”

“That’s why I’m taking you to the ball, isn’t it? I’m doing as much as I can.”

“Your Grace!”

She tried not to get excited. But her attempt to respond calmly so as not to provoke him crumbled futilely.

“Why are you insisting when I say I don’t want to see you? I don’t remember there being a clause saying I must see you unconditionally.”

Emilia bit her lower lip hard.