It was when I was about to ask why Fabio’s eyes looked somewhat complicated. Zabeta, who had knocked on the slightly open door, was entering.

“Zabeta? What’s the matter?”

“Then I’ll be taking my leave.”

Fabio and Zabeta passed each other as if changing shifts. Emilia, who was watching Zabeta approach, turned around for a moment to look out the window at the sound of rain pouring refreshingly.

“The rain is pouring heavily.”

“Indeed. It seems better to depart tomorrow.”

“Depart?”

Emilia blinked her eyes, looking back at Zabeta. Zabeta then smiled, neatly folding her hands in front of her stomach.

“The Duke has granted permission for you to return home now.”

“…Is that so?”

For a moment, her gaze touched the door and then fell away.

“Yes. But since it’s raining so much today, we should arrange for a carriage to depart tomorrow.”

When she had asked Fabio to inquire earlier, it was fine, but now that Zabeta delivered the news that she could leave, her mood strangely sank.

Did she expect him to come when she asked that? Why was she looking for him?

Recalling her recent actions, Emilia trembled at her fingertips. Was he really not planning to fulfill the contract now? Her small hand clenched into a tight fist.

Behind her confused back, the sky briefly flashed. With a boom, the delayed sound and the light from outside the window cast long shadows into the room.

It still seemed far from the rainy season, but apparently not. Emilia sighed as she looked at the rain that had been falling incessantly for the past few days.

“The ground will sink. Why are you sighing so much?”

Emilia, who had been sitting on the practice room floor staring blankly out the window, noticed Juliana coming to sit beside her and relaxed her expression.

“Just. The gloomy weather is making me feel down.”

“That’s true. How’s your body?”

“It’s fine. Except that I can’t use it.”

“Hehe, can’t you bear it even though they said to rest only until this week?”

“I guess… I’m bored.”

Emilia returned four days ago but was frustrated to be told to rest for a week until her wounds were completely healed, if not fully.

She wanted to learn the choreography as soon as possible, but watching others dance made her feel even more complicated.

Why was she feeling so anxious? Without even ballet, it seemed like there was nothing left for her. Even the investigation of her parents was being done by Fabio instead… Enrico…

At the sudden thought, she bit her lip.

‘It’s good if he doesn’t look for me, right? Troublesome things will disappear too. He even prevented my uncle from appearing…’

Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since she’d seen Giorgio. Although he was a person she didn’t want to call uncle, they were legally entangled, so it was a relationship that couldn’t be helped until it was clarified that they were not actually relatives.

But how could that shameless person not even show his face like this?

Suddenly, Enrico’s position felt real. Even the stage accident resulted in Christina receiving a heavier punishment.

‘…I received more help than I thought.’

Always being wary of him and focusing only on the contract, it seemed she had viewed the things he had done with clouded eyes. Thinking he was just trying to punish those who lowered the value of his commodity.

“Emilia.”

“Huh?”

“I have something to ask you…”

The practice room with just the two of them was quiet. The sound of rain hitting the glass windows occasionally resonated inside like music. Emilia, who had been looking curiously at Juliana suddenly whispering softly, urged her with a gaze as if telling her to speak.

“Are you perhaps in some kind of relationship with Duke Enrico Michele?”

Her heart sank for a moment.

It was a different question from when she had asked if Emilia was interested in him after seeing a newspaper article about Enrico visiting the theater. What kind of relationship?

“…Why, suddenly?”

Emilia’s lips quivered before she managed to speak.

Although she tried to hide it, Juliana, who had always watched her closely, couldn’t miss the momentary agitation. Juliana moved her face closer to Emilia as if she couldn’t take it anymore.

“There’s a rumor going around in the theater about you now. That your relationship with Duke Michele is unusual.”

“What?”

“Actually, the talk started from the day of your accident. People who heard the Duke calling your name started spreading words. He only comes to the theater on days you perform, and you even received a bouquet of flowers on the performance day.”

“…!”

“With suspicions that it was given by the Duke, it’s become almost an established fact that people are talking about.”

“Ha… Just because they heard him calling my name, rumors spread like this?”

“Well, in places like this, rumors tend to spread faster and more exaggerated.”

Emilia blinked her eyes with an astounded face. Despite trying to be so careful, rumors of her being involved with him were spreading for such a ridiculous reason.

But since it was true that she and he knew each other, it was too risky to explain that it was unfair.

Even now, rumors had spread about something unexpected, and as long as her connection with Enrico didn’t end, there was no telling when and for what reason talk would arise again.

“…But is it true that you really know each other?”

“…”

“I was a bit curious when you asked about the Duke in detail at the Arts Academy. I had slight doubts then. Because you’re not that kind of person.”

Her expression was as if she had already foreseen it. Juliana laughed dejectedly, having hesitated so much to speak after worrying alone all this time.

“Juliana.”

“So you must have had your reasons. I thought you’d tell me someday…”

“I’m sorry. But even I had circumstances that were difficult to explain. How it happened was−”

“No. I think I understand why you did it.”

Emilia urgently grabbed Juliana’s hand and lowered the corners of her eyebrows.

Emilia’s words, trying to explain the situation even now, were cut off by Juliana shaking her head. Juliana looked down at her grabbed hand, slowly pulled it back, and turned her head.

“But I can’t help feeling hurt. You’ll have to understand this.”

Emilia was even more shocked by the sight of her avoiding eye contact.

Juliana had always been there for her and smiled at her, but because of her needless anxiety, she couldn’t trust her friend and ended up making her find out like this, which seemed like such a terrible thing to do.

She could have trusted her at least once. Why did she build a wall alone and keep her mouth shut?

Seeing Juliana’s disappointed face for the first time made her feel so upset and hurt. Emilia slowly clenched her floating hand with a helpless expression and her lips quivered.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry. I was going to tell you…”

“Emilia. I’m not trying to resent you. I’ll be fine if I just sort out my thoughts alone for a while.”

Juliana stood up with a complicated expression. Emilia also stood up and followed her.

“I’ll wait. I’m really sorry… I was sincere about inviting you during the summer vacation.”

She thought she should definitely tell her about the contract then. She should tell at least Juliana, she had postponed thinking to herself, and now it seemed to be coming back like this.

She should have said it right away since she was going to say it anyway. She resented herself for delaying it for whatever reason.

“I was going to tell you everything then.”

“…Alright. Now let me warm up a bit. It seems like people will be coming soon.”

Emilia had a habit of coming to work early, so she came out as usual even though she wasn’t practicing, but she understood why Juliana came out so early today.

She probably wanted to give her a heads up about the rumors about Enrico. Probably because she couldn’t stand seeing people secretly talking behind Emilia’s back, who knew nothing, for the past few days.

“Thank you.”

Emilia said with all her heart. Juliana, who had paused for a moment, went to another spot and started warming up. And shortly after, the sound of people coming from the corridor was heard.

“So is it true?”

“I don’t know. Someone should ask her directly.”

“Hey, how can you ask such a thing to someone who just got injured?”

“We don’t even know where she got treated in the first place. Who was the person who took her away?”

“Nobody knows that. No, why is it so noisy this year? It’s a bit too much to say it’s because the ballet company has grown…”

“Isn’t Emilia at the center of all the incidents? Eva was also famous for really hating Emilia, you know.”

Emilia’s expression hardened. Juliana, who had been warming up, had also stopped and was listening to the approaching voices.

“Hey, that’s going too far. What does her hating Emilia have to do with her having an affair with the director?”

“Just… Anyway, it’s certain that Christina caused trouble out of jealousy for Emilia, and now it’s noisy because of the rumor about Duke Michele!”

“Honestly, it’s not like she’s seeing a married man like Eva, isn’t this level of rumor actually good publicity for our theater?”

The people who had reached the door seemed to have no intention of entering right away, absorbed in their conversation. The sound of grabbing the doorknob was heard, but through the unopened door, their voices, now lowered even more, could be clearly heard.

“Hey, we shouldn’t think about it so simply.”

“Then? Ah! Let’s go to the practice room first. I need to get the clothes I left behind last time.”

“If there really is something between them, she could even get backing, right? Does it make sense to be cast as the lead role in one go no matter how good you are?”