Alessandro frowned and unnecessarily stroked his neatly styled hair.

“…It seems I’ve stayed too long. I’ll take my leave now.”

Emilia only raised her head when she saw Alessandro’s feet turning to leave. She watched his retreating figure, then slowly closed the door after seeing him board the carriage. The sunset was still burning the sky.

Bang! As soon as Alessandro got into the carriage, he punched the wall hard. He was emanating a menacing aura that was hard to believe came from the same person who had a gentle face just moments ago.

Not satisfied with hitting once, his hands showed no hesitation as he stomped the carriage floor with his feet and pounded the sofa with his fists.

“Hah, huff…”

At first, he enjoyed Emilia’s haughty reactions, thinking it wouldn’t be fun if she gave in easily, but lately he was starting to reach his limit.

He was getting angry that she clung to Enrico without hesitation, yet wouldn’t give him even a bit of closeness.

‘Damn wench. I’m graciously offering to save her family, and she sends me away like that?’

He never thought he’d be turned away at the door in his life, but this was the second time with Emilia. It was quite absurd that he had to leave after entering the front door this time.

‘Maybe I should have just gone in anyway.’

He was now proud of himself for holding back his temper to the end and leaving, perhaps too immersed in wearing the mask of kindness.

Saving it for later made the anticipation and taste multiply, so he was using a lifetime’s worth of patience for that pleasure, but lately he felt he was reaching his limit.

Was he getting more impatient because of Enrico?

He should have gotten rid of Enrico somehow. He thought Emilia would distance herself to avoid scandal if he paired Enrico with Princess Vivian, but the two were unexpectedly close and continued meeting steadily.

Even infiltrating spies into the duke’s residence had been repeatedly discovered before, so that was practically given up now.

‘Gloomy and thorough bastard. Just wait till I get on the throne, I’ll cut off his head first.’

Alessandro finally calmed his ragged breathing and drew back the curtain to look outside. The sky waiting for darkness came into view.

He was planning to stay quiet for a while, but it seemed that wouldn’t work. Today, he felt he needed to somehow quench this thirst of not having Emilia.

Alessandro’s eyes moved quickly beyond the window as if searching for a target, his chin resting on his hand. Then his eyes fell on a woman with long golden hair.

‘Found one.’

The woman, wearing a dress different from the style worn in Treano, perhaps from a foreign country, was carrying several shopping bags and appeared to have no companions.

‘A foreigner is even more perfect.’

Normally he wouldn’t have bothered with someone who looked like a nouveau riche who bought a title. But as if his reason was paralyzed, Alessandro knocked hard on the wall near the coachman.

As if reading his intentions, the carriage gradually slowed down. The door of the black carriage with no markings parked on the side of the road opened, and Alessandro slowly stepped out.

Alessandro quickly turned the corner and positioned himself to avoid being noticed, then moved as if to bump into the blonde woman as she passed by.

The blonde woman, who had been walking while swinging her shopping bags excitedly, stopped abruptly upon seeing the man who suddenly appeared.

“Oh my, are you alright?”

Alessandro asked as he lightly grabbed the woman’s hand, pretending to catch the shopping bag she almost dropped. The woman quickly scanned his tall stature and attractive appearance, then smiled coyly.

“Well, I think I’d be fine if a handsome gentleman could help me with these heavy bags.”

Alessandro immediately smiled, his eyes crinkling.

“It would be my honor to assist such a beautiful lady.”

Alessandro’s hand brushed against the blonde woman’s hand holding the shopping bags. Their gazes briefly entangled in midair.

The carriage that had been parked on the street, blocking the view, began to move again, and the beautiful man and woman who had been standing behind it had vanished without a trace.

The [Cinderella] performance was now only a month away. From next week, the rehearsal schedule would be even tighter, so this week she had to fulfill the contracted stage with Enrico that she had been unable to do due to various circumstances.

Recently, meetings with Enrico always ended badly, so it was burdensome to start conversations.

He would treat her with light favor at first, but when she refused due to the burden of accumulating favors, he would immediately sneer as if he had been waiting for it, resulting in a repetitive process of parting with hurt feelings on both sides.

‘He’s probably just hurt in his pride. That a woman who ignores him is rejecting him.’

Emilia wasn’t rejecting him to build up her own pride. There was no such thing as favor without cost from the beginning, and because of what she had received so far, the scale of their relationship was now tilted much more than at first.

She worried that if she continued to receive in such a state, she would reach a point where she couldn’t refuse even if he made unreasonable demands.

Of course, the desire to avoid being hurt anymore was even greater.

Emilia prepared to go on stage, thinking it had been a while since she performed at the duke’s residence. It used to be something she prepared for calmly, but perhaps because it had been so long, she felt more nervous than when performing at the theater.

“Haa…”

Emilia took a deep breath and appeared in the center of the stage. Shortly after, music began to play from the phonograph.

Emilia carefully placed her toes and raised her right leg high. Her arms moved as if floating, and her legs moved densely, sometimes boldly jumping high.

Enrico watched Emilia’s performance, which always captivated attention, with an even hotter gaze than usual. His eyes seemed to have brought all the heat from outside the mansion.

She tried not to be distracted by the gaze that seemed to make her whole body tingle, and continued to entrust her body to the music.

After a while, as the music gradually faded, Emilia thought about the finale and took her position. Her body, which maintained its posture without wavering even while spinning rapidly, stopped perfectly with the ending music.

Her physical condition had properly recovered thanks to her diligent practice, despite worries due to her injury and long break.

Catching her breath, she bowed and left the stage. He, who sometimes left early, stayed in his seat until the end today.

After Emilia came out from washing up, the butler guided her to the dining room. It felt like going back to the beginning.

‘It might have been less uncomfortable back then.’

Emilia thought bitterly to herself as she headed to the table where he was waiting.

“I have something to tell you.”

Unusually, Enrico started the conversation before the meal. Or was it the first time? Emilia slowly nodded and looked at him.

“I found the lawyer.”

“What? You mean the one who was said to be in the north?”

Emilia put down the cup she was about to drink from and opened her eyes wide.

“Yes.”

“Where was he?”

“Surprisingly, he was still in the north. But he was still in a secluded place, so it took some time to find him.”

“Ah… Then I should go visit the north sometime soon.”

“No need. He’s agreed to come here.”

“Really? Then was he the last person to meet Father?”

“That’s what he said. He also said he heard about the accident belatedly.”

“Is that so?”

“He was originally recuperating there due to poor health, but he had previously investigated and promoted various bills, so he contacted Duke Este with the desire to see it through to the end one last time.”

“Ah… But will he be able to come all this way if his health is poor? Maybe I should go instead.”

“He said he has other business to take care of here. He plans to meet you first and then attend to his business.”

“Really? When will he arrive? Was there any other information?”

Enrico stared strangely for a moment at Emilia, who didn’t usually talk much but became talkative like a different person when it came to her parents’ affairs.

Seeing how the conversation flowed smoothly when discussing work like this made him feel somewhat frustrated and annoyed.

As if there was no reason like this, she didn’t seem to want to talk to him. If it weren’t for this contract, would she have ignored him even more?

“…He said he’d discuss the details with you in person. He’ll be here within a week with his subordinates.”

“Ah, it’s good he’s not coming alone. I was worried since it’s a long journey and his health is poor.”

If only she’d worry about him like that. She didn’t seem to show much interest in him except when he was injured.

‘Should I get injured once? I wonder how she’d react?’

He was curious. Would she worry about him like last time? Would she lower the cold walls she usually put up and apply medicine with those delicate hands?

Enrico’s eyes gleamed ominously. Seeing that no more words came from him, the butler, judging the conversation to be over, brought out the waiting dishes to the table.

After lightly wetting their stomachs with rice potage, dishes made with flounder and veal steak full of buttery flavor were served in order. Enrico slowly swirled his wine glass while watching Emilia eating earnestly.

“I heard the crown prince visited again.”

This was what he wanted to ask from the beginning. But since this topic had never ended well, he waited until the meal was almost over.

Emilia dabbed her lips with a napkin and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Why did you open the door for him?”