Unlike her uneasy heart, the wide-open space was filled with well-tended flowers in full bloom. After quietly observing the fragrant flower scent and beautifully colored petals, she closed her eyes tightly and looked at him again.

“That trust, wasn’t it something that would never develop anyway?”

Enrico blinked and then chuckled. It was just a small laugh, but strangely, for a moment, it seemed as if the fully bloomed flowers that made one forget the bleak winter were in harmony with him.

“Why are you jumping to conclusions already? You’re a person full of prejudices, more than I thought.”

Emilia’s brows furrowed slightly. As he leaned on the table as if finding this situation interesting, she rather pressed her back against the chair backrest as if avoiding him.

‘As if I’m not prone to prejudice.’

Now she knows that his offer to accompany her wasn’t out of concern that she might run away, but simply out of curiosity. Who could trust someone who wields weaknesses and inflicts humiliation at every opportunity?

Even if the world completely turned upside down, it was clear that Enrico would never change. It was simply unimaginable that this arrogant man, more than anyone else, would trust others and yield his own opinions.

Emilia swallowed a sigh inwardly and took a sip of the sweet juice. She wasn’t even angry anymore. She had reached a stage where it was easier to just go along with most things unless it was a truly troublesome request.

“…Then shall we meet in Bakota?”

“No. At the train station.”

He means to take the train together. It would be comfortable. Knowing Enrico, he’d probably reserve the best VIP compartment at the very end of the train, so she might as well think of it as a comfortable train ride back to her hometown.

As if suddenly enlightened, Emilia nodded calmly and fiddled with the glass she had set down on the table. A droplet of water that had formed on the crystal surface slid onto the table.

Watching her overly nonchalant attitude, he leaned back against the chair, looking somewhat displeased. Sitting with his legs slightly apart and crossed, he picked up the wine glass he had pushed aside and called for a waiting servant.

“Aneda Mountain.”

Whether it was the name of a wine or not, when he spoke, the servant brought a new wine bottle and filled his glass with red wine.

“Come to think of it, you seemed close to the Crown Prince. Did you know each other?”

It was ambiguous whether he was asking because he didn’t know or if he was testing her while already knowing. While Enrico always seemed to know everything first, when it came to the Crown Prince, he might have only seen him a few times at the palace long ago, so it might be difficult to know even if he investigated separately.

“I met him at the palace when I was young.”

“At the palace?”

“Yes. I came to Desiro with my father once. But we didn’t meet often, and we’re not close.”

Enrico lowered his eyes and slowly swirled his wine glass.

“Well. For someone who doesn’t want attention, he seemed quite receptive. Considering the fuss he made at the theater.”

“What fuss are you talking about?”

“I heard he came with a bouquet of flowers. That was meant for you, wasn’t it?”

His eyes looked at her again. The smile that had been shadowing his eyes earlier was nowhere to be seen.

“I didn’t accept it.”

At her firm voice, he raised one eyebrow.

“Then why does he keep coming?”

“How can I control him coming? And he only came to the dressing room on the first day.”

Though she never understood why she had to make such excuses, Emilia answered with a voice tinged with a sigh, knowing that Enrico would continue to grate on her nerves if she didn’t. His lips, now devoid of any expression, opened slowly.

“…Draw the line yourself. I have no intention of sharing what’s mine with others.”

Always treating me like an object. Though she knew this, whenever he spoke as if delivering a coup de grace, she felt a tightness in her chest.

Emilia impulsively opened her mouth.

“Really, Your Grace…”

But when she actually tried to say something to him, she thought it would only prolong the conversation and she wouldn’t even get her money’s worth. It seemed that if she belatedly added that it was nothing, he would probably pressure her to speak, his mood soured again.

Arrogant purple eyes gazed at her indifferently. He slightly raised one eyebrow as if urging her to continue.

Unconsciously, her clenched fist tightened.

“You always know how to make people feel good.”

Words that sounded like praise but were subtly sarcastic slipped out. She had just tried to speak nicely, but couldn’t stop her emotions from seeping in. Emilia looked at him as he lazily curled his lips, half resigned to whatever response might come.

“That’s the virtue of a gentleman.”

Enrico replied shamelessly with an incomprehensible content. In the end, a short, hollow laugh escaped Emilia’s lips.

Time flowed like water, and soon the season for bay laurels to bloom approached.

Around the time when fresh flower scents lingered at the tip of the nose and green leaves began to fill the once-empty trees, the case of the missing blonde woman, which had taken a new turn due to a murder, quieted down without showing any notable progress in the investigation.

Juliana, who had been looking only for news about that case recently, closed the newspaper she was reading and burst out in frustration.

“Ah, how frustrating. What are they going to do if another incident happens while they’re like this?”

“I know, right.”

Emilia sat next to her, stretching her body as she responded. Juliana, who had pushed the newspaper completely to the corner, turned her body towards Emilia and opened her eyes wide.

“Emilia, be careful just in case.”

“Huh?”

“It seems like they’re only targeting blonde women. You’re the prettiest among the blondes, so you absolutely must be careful.”

“Well, I only go between home and the practice room. And I always take the carriage.”

“That’s true, but Easter is coming soon.”

“What about Easter?”

“Aren’t you going to be alone at home during the holiday? It’s good to rest, but I feel a bit uneasy because of incidents like this.”

“Ah− It’s okay. I won’t be in Desiro during the holiday.”

The problem is that I’ll be with Enrico. It’s ironic that Alessandro had warned me to be careful of the Duke before, but I never expected to end up going to Bakota with him.

Can I completely trust him? That man who suddenly approached me mentioning my parents’ death?

“Oh? Are you going on a trip?”

“Ah, um. Something like that.”

Emilia blinked and then answered weakly. Even if she had doubts now, she had already shared too much with him.

If he was somehow connected to her parents’ incident, she believed that no matter how much he tried to cover her eyes, what needed to be revealed would be revealed, and if it was true that he had approached out of mere curiosity, then he would just be someone who had stood by at the scene of the incident.

‘Whatever it is, it’s not great…’

Emilia felt somewhat gloomy and fiddled with her ankle.

“What do you mean ‘something like that’? Where are you go- Oh! They’re here.”

Juliana, who had been pressing for an answer to the vague response, suddenly stood up as she saw the door fling open. Emilia also stood up and turned around to see Deputy Director Silvia entering with the Chief Choreographer.

As the dancers stood in the center of the practice room, the two of them and the coaches moved to the front. Deputy Director Silvia took a step forward and slowly looked around at the dancers.

“Good job everyone on the performance. I’m very satisfied that this season’s first performance seems to have been successful. If there’s anything slightly disappointing, we can reinforce it during practice, so don’t keep it in your hearts for too long and just think about the next performance, okay?”

“Yes.”

“And I’m here to announce the upcoming schedule. As I mentioned before, there will be an opera ball at the end of April. We’ll invite sponsors and present a simple gala performance and group waltz dance. Think of it as mainly practicing for [La Sylphide] while also intermittently practicing for the opera ball.”

Deputy Director Silvia glanced down at the paper in her hand and then looked around at the dancers again.

“Now for the announcement about the next performance. September will be [Cinderella], and December will be [Giselle]. First, the Cinderella audition is scheduled for May, so after Easter, please apply for the role you want to audition for.”

Until last year, they only had two or three ballet performances a year, but this year it was clear that they were investing more aggressively. Silvia left, saying that detailed schedules would be posted on the bulletin board, so check there. Her gaze lingered on Emilia for a moment, but no one noticed.

At the coach’s word that they would start practice right away, the dancers pulled the barre to the center. Emilia’s eyes lit up as she grabbed the barre. Cinderella, it was a work she had wanted to do at least once, so she felt ambitious.

‘Although I was somewhat burdened by the lead role, now there’s no need for that…’

Recalling the search for the lucky lady that had decorated the newspapers during the performance, it seemed more reasonable to take on an important role if she was going to stand out anyway.

Thanks to Enrico pushing her to take the lead role, she made up her mind without needing to worry further. The sound of piano music echoed through the practice room. As she slowly started the barre work, she thought how nice it would be if the audition came soon.