“How dare you turn away royalty at the door.”

“Can’t you just pretend you’re not home?”

“…They might know I’m here and came looking for me.”

“Unnecessarily honest.”

Enrico muttered indifferently as he brought the wine glass to his lips.

“So why did they come?”

“Um… They said they would help maintain the family line.”

Emilia hesitantly opened her mouth after trailing off. Enrico raised one eyebrow.

“Tell me more.”

“They said they’d postpone deciding the fate of the family and try to push a new law. To allow women to inherit family lines.”

“Ha… They used their head a bit.”

A short, mocking laugh escaped from between his teeth.

His mood, which had been fine just moments ago, plummeted, and he felt his insides twist. Suddenly feeling a bad taste in his mouth, Enrico downed the rest of his wine.

“So.”

“Yes?”

“Were you swayed?”

He set down the wine glass and began tapping the table rhythmically with his index finger.

“There must have been some benefit in meeting them despite ignoring my warning.”

“…I’m not sure what you mean by being swayed.”

A sigh like a gentle breeze escaped from her lips.

“The Crown Prince must have made some demands while saying those things.”

“Why do you assume they definitely made demands?”

“Are you saying they didn’t?”

At his sharp gaze, she pressed her lips together once before slowly opening them.

“…It wasn’t quite a demand, they just asked if you had any weaknesses they could use against you.”

This is getting ridiculous. He was becoming increasingly irritated by how interested the Crown Prince seemed to be in Emilia and himself, constantly trying to pry.

Before, he couldn’t care less about royal affairs, whether they ascended the throne or not. But lately, because of Alessandro, his interest in the throne was overflowing.

It was all too clear that if Alessandro became king, things would become very troublesome for him. And seeing how persistently he kept approaching, Emilia seemed to be in danger too.

“Of course, I said there was nothing like that.”

“I know. There were no weaknesses to begin with anyway.”

Enrico replied indifferently to Emilia’s calm addition. If there had been any weaknesses to exploit, she would have been on her knees long ago.

He wouldn’t have even listened to her words that occasionally grated on his nerves. Rather, he would have ordered her to obey only his words every time.

If only these undefined feelings towards her hadn’t arisen, that is.

“Are there really none? I’ve always thought this contract was my weakness…”

Emilia quietly muttered, averting her gaze after staring at Enrico for a moment. Her words trailed off into almost a whisper at the end, causing Enrico to slightly arch one eyebrow.

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

Her lowered gaze rose again as she gently shook her head. The bright, attentive eyes she had when discussing the lawyer earlier were now lifeless.

‘Those eyes again…’

Since the day of the argument at Emilia’s house, that expressionless face she kept showing had been very irritating.

Before, he hadn’t cared when she made such a face, but now, perhaps due to some indescribable emotion, he didn’t want to keep seeing that face.

Enrico, who had been staring at her expressionless face as if displeased, soon stood up from his seat.

“Let’s continue the rest of the conversation after changing locations.”

Or maybe it was just an excuse because he was reluctant to part ways like this.

For some reason, he just didn’t want to let her go like this. It was obvious that if the conversation ended here, Emilia would go straight home, so he aimed to move to another place where it would be difficult for her to leave immediately.

“Prepare drinks in the greenhouse.”

As Enrico instructed the butler while leaving the dining room, the servants and butler around quickly left the hallway with hurried steps.

‘Maybe I should have told them to bring the jewelry box too.’

The accessories he had bought to give as rewards were piled up more than expected, divided into numerous jewelry boxes.

As the investigation progressed faster than expected, the information he gave her increased, but there weren’t many chances to open them. In fact, when he gave her jewelry before, she didn’t seem to like it much, so he had been putting it off, thinking of giving it with some appropriate excuse.

‘I should just give it to her after this Cinderella performance is over.’

Since she followed his words to take the lead role, it seemed appropriate to give a gift as a reward for that and to commemorate her successful lead performance.

He was quite satisfied imagining the pearl necklace he had recently bought adorning her white, slender neck.

Perhaps because of the two people walking without a word, the duke’s mansion at night was enveloped in even more silence than during the day. The sound of her quietly following right behind him as he walked leisurely could be heard.

Unlike other noble ladies who always wore high heels, she always wore low shoes, so her footsteps were uniquely unobtrusive.

Finally, after passing through the grand chandeliers and the door leading to the garden, the sky was filled with stars shining even brighter than inside.

It was his first time coming to the glass greenhouse at night rather than during the day.

The interior, which he thought would only have faint lights flickering, was flooded with moonlight through the glass that showed the sky. The lukewarm summer breeze had cooled to a comfortable temperature by nightfall, alleviating the heat.

Approaching the table that had been set up in the meantime, Enrico pulled out a chair and gestured for Emilia to sit. She paused for a moment, quietly looking at him, then took a long breath before silently sitting down.

“How would you like the temperature of your tea?”

The servant who had prepared both hot tea kettles and cool drinks on the trolley asked politely.

Enrico gestured for Emilia to choose first, and when he saw her order warm tea, he slightly twitched the area under one eye and ordered the same.

After warm tea was prepared in front of each of them and the servant left, silence fell over the greenhouse once again.

Enrico picked up the teacup with white steam rising from it and looked across at her. She seemed to have no particular intention of drinking, just holding the handle of the teacup.

Apparently bothered by the unfinished conversation from the dining room, he barely moistened his lips with the tea before setting down the cup and opening his mouth.

“Don’t let the Crown Prince into your house no matter what. No, just don’t meet with him at all.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Don’t give such an ambiguous answer, alright? It sounds like you’ll keep meeting him whenever you get the chance.”

“…That’s not what I meant. If the Crown Prince comes without notice, there’s a limit to how much I can keep refusing, so I can only answer that I’ll try my best.”

“Tell him about me.”

“About you, sir? What am I supposed to say about you?”

“What do you mean? What does that mean?”

“It means exactly what I said. We’re just in a sponsorship relationship, would His Highness accept that? He’d probably offer to sponsor me instead.”

Just a sponsorship relationship, his lips pressed tightly together before opening again.

“Don’t tell me the Crown Prince offered to sponsor you?”

“…A while ago. Just once.”

“He’s been persistently clingy in places I can’t see.”

The corners of his mouth lazily turned upward. The smile revealed under the moonlight looked beautiful yet strangely dangerous.

“And you hid that very well.”

At his low, scathing voice, Emilia’s hands resting on her lap tightened.

“He just made a casual suggestion when he came to the theater.”

“How did you judge that to be a casual suggestion? That person is now coming to your house.”

“That’s…”

“Does it seem light to you that he’s considering the fate of one of those common families?”

At his words, spoken as if pressing down hard, resignation settled on her face. He quietly watched her body language, her chest and shoulders heaving as if swallowing a sigh.

“…I’ll try to refuse well from now on.”

The argument that would have normally dragged on ended with her calmly accepting. Rather than being pleased with her obediently following his words, he looked at her somewhat uncomfortably.

If the conversation ended like this, it seemed she might leave right away. She might not come for a while again, making excuses about focusing on the performance. Letting her go like this seemed to defeat the purpose of changing locations.

“Tell me if you’re in trouble. I’ll say it again, use me as an excuse if you have to.”

A bitter smile briefly appeared on Emilia’s lips.

“Yes, I’ll make sure to tell them that my sponsor doesn’t want it.”

“…Right.”

Sponsor, that was clearly their relationship. But why couldn’t he answer right away? Enrico pressed his lips tightly together.

Why has that word been bothering him so much? It was like the uncontrollable attraction he had felt towards Emilia all this time. What started as mere interest had now become irritating.

Outside the glass, the sound of foliage rustling in the wind could be heard occasionally, but it was so faint that the interior was mostly quiet.

‘Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter as long as she’s by my side.’

There was no need to hastily define it right now. As always, thinking about it leisurely would lead to a solution.

Enrico rested his chin on his hand, languidly closing and opening his eyes as he gazed at Emilia gathering her starlight-like golden hair over one shoulder.

Eventually, as if filling the glass greenhouse now devoid of voices, the sound of the watch on his wrist could be heard clearly. Enrico slowly lowered his gaze to his left wrist below the table.

The watch’s ticking was so loud that he couldn’t hear the sounds coming from her.

Impulsively, Enrico took off the watch. His freed wrist felt cool. He stared blankly at the wristwatch in his hand before stuffing it into his pants pocket.

With the ticking of the second hand gone, he could hear her sounds. The hand touching the teacup, soft breathing, the careful sound of swallowing. Everything became distinctly audible, and his mind felt strangely at ease.

Fortunately, Emilia didn’t seem to be thinking of leaving right away. Rather, like someone lost in thought, her downcast eyes with their elegant curves fluttered her eyelashes.

“…”

As Enrico was quietly watching Emilia and breathing comfortably, a slow smile formed on his lips. It was then that:

“…It’s hell.”