Her very small muttering voice pierced his ears. The smile on his lips, which had been frozen as if he had been doused with cold water, slowly faded.

“What?”

He asked back in a whisper. It must be a different thought. She couldn’t have meant him. He desperately added denial.

While satisfying the silence filled not by the clock but by her and savoring the sweet air, the word hell, so different from him, was too clearly imprinted.

Thinking that she couldn’t be talking about this situation, he stared at her urging her to explain quickly.

As Emilia’s lowered gaze slowly rose, her eyes that looked so anguished were revealed. His heart dropped to his feet with a thud.

“…Hell, you say? What is?”

He didn’t want to ask, but the words flew out of his mouth on their own.

“Ha…”

She let out a sigh and soon smiled with a face that looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

“This whole situation right now.”

Emilia’s face looked somehow pale, perhaps because of the blue moonlight. He had seen her cry before, but it seemed like the first time he had seen her face swallowing sorrow like that.

His lips quivered a few times before finally letting out a voice that was about to die out.

“…Being with me, is like hell?”

The tone was full of disbelief. Even though she kept pushing him away and mentioning the contract, he thought she wasn’t completely devoid of feelings for him.

Perhaps he thought she was suppressing even the slightest feelings of attraction while maintaining her last bit of pride.

But Emilia’s expression of saying it was like hell with such a suffocating face was enough to shock him.

Now that he had come to realize that he felt more empty without her than this clock, her saying that it was hard to breathe plunged him into deep despair.

“Yes. Now every minute and second is becoming more and more painful.”

The thought of ignoring her feelings and doing as he pleased was instantly erased.

If he forcibly tied her down, would this woman think every moment was like hell and look at him with those eyes filled with anguish?

As if mocking the thought that he could just have her body and fill the gap rather than craving some unknown affection, an unknown sense of helplessness weighed down on his shoulders.

His jaw, which was tightly closed, trembled slightly and then slowly opened.

“Why? You’re getting what you want.”

“…I guess so. I know I should endure it because of that, but the process is more exhausting than I thought.”

“What do you have to endure so much? What’s so tiring! I’m giving you everything. The information you want, ballet. I’m letting you do everything.”

“It’s just your whim anyway. A position that can be cut off at any time depending on Your Grace’s mood, that’s exactly what I am.”

“I clearly said I would definitely keep the contract. I said I would provide you with information until the end, even if I get tired of it.”

“…Will you really? You’ve been trying to oppress my everything as if it’s natural by bringing up things that weren’t in the contract.”

His eyes blinked briefly.

“How can I trust Your Grace?”

“I haven’t gotten tired at all. No, I won’t ever get tired.”

Enrico answered uncharacteristically quickly.

Although his tone betrayed his impatience as if his inner thoughts were transparently revealed, Emilia’s eyes, which had been wide open as if trying to hold back tears, blinked once as if reaching their limit, and a single tear fell.

“I can’t believe it.”

“…!”

“If I could, I wouldn’t want to have any relationship with Your Grace.”

Those words about not wanting any relationship hurt Enrico’s heart more than her saying she couldn’t believe him. He felt as if all the blood in his body was draining to his feet, as if searching for his heart that had dropped earlier.

In the end, his wandering heart was trapped in an abyss.

As usual, she came early to the practice room, but Emilia’s body didn’t move an inch from the floor. Her unfocused eyes just kept staring out the window, thinking about yesterday’s events.

Enrico’s caustic words no longer caused much pain. Rather, seeing him show possessiveness towards her was more painful as her heart kept trying to harbor vain hope.

To think that after agonizing over her own emotions, she was now speculating about his feelings.

Even if he might have some feelings of attraction towards her, it would only be temporary anyway, so why did she keep getting swayed by attaching meaning to his actions?

If there was something that should never be started no matter what, it was a relationship with him, but knowing this and still being constantly swayed by him felt foolish and pathetic. To the point where she unknowingly blurted out that it was like hell.

‘…Being with me, is like hell?’

The image of Enrico looking at her with a hardened face flashed through her mind. Seeing him react as if the word “hell” was so surprising, somehow looking hurt, she didn’t want to deny those words.

In a way, everything she said then was sincere. She really found every moment with him too painful now.

How contradictory it was that she who detested being treated like a dancing doll now voluntarily chose to become a doll, killing her own emotions to avoid being swayed by his words.

‘Hah… Let’s stop dwelling on it.’

Now he might distance himself after yesterday’s conversation. Maybe he’ll never seek her out again, or he might treat her well out of stubbornness, as if giving alms.

But that would only be temporary. She had now found a lawyer, and it wouldn’t be long before she found out about her parents’ accident.

The investigation was delayed a bit due to the car investment rights, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before they caught the culprit behind her parents’ carriage accident.

“Huh? Why aren’t you warming up?”

Juliana, wearing a light yellow dress as if she had stopped by before going to the changing room, was standing at the door. Emilia blinked a few times and slowly got up.

“Just…”

“Did you see the newspaper? Is that why?”

“…No? Was something published?”

She had been so rushed in the morning that she forgot to check the newspaper she had been reading lately. Emilia asked nonchalantly as she approached the door.

“You didn’t see this? You must see it!”

Emilia received the newspaper that Juliana held out as if urging her to look at it quickly, and furrowed her brow as soon as she saw the front page. The article emphasized that a noble lady from another country had gone missing and that she was blonde.

Although they couldn’t explicitly mention the blonde woman murder case, those who had seen the articles so far would know what this article meant, so it was bound to cause anxiety.

“But even if they targeted blondes, they’ve never touched nobles before.”

“The killer isn’t in their right mind, so how long will they keep that up?”

“…I guess so. Anyway, this is serious. They need to find her quickly.”

“Exactly. It says it could even turn into a diplomatic issue if we’re not careful. Not that we know anything about such matters.”

Juliana raised both shoulders once and widened her eyes. Emilia had told her about her identity, her relationship with Enrico, and her future plans, but she hadn’t changed at all.

Emilia’s lips curled up slightly, feeling grateful again that she treated her just the same as before, without showing any signs of unfamiliarity or discomfort.

“That’s right. It’s hard enough to take care of myself, how could I worry about the country?”

“Exactly. But seeing this article, you need to be more careful. If it’s true, it means they’re touching people regardless of status now. From now on, always make sure it’s the usual coachman when you ride a carriage.”

“Alright.”

Emilia nodded obediently and returned the newspaper. The sound of people coming from the central stairway began to be heard.

“Hurry and change your clothes.”

“Okay, take a rest.”

Juliana also hurried down the corridor as if she wanted to get to the changing room before it got crowded. Emilia briefly felt gazes directed at her through the open door.

Among the glances as people passed by in the corridor, there were eyes with no particular emotion, but there were clearly unfriendly eyes as well.

She sighed, wondering if the suspicion that Enrico had some influence on the audition would not subside even after the performance ended.

Emilia closed the door and turned her back as if trying to avoid gazes until people arrived. And finally, a deep sigh escaped.

Enrico pressed his temples as he looked at the uninvited guests who had barged in from the morning. The sunlight cast on the reception room was so dazzling that he was considering drawing the curtains for the first time in a while.

“Uncle, I apologize for the rudeness of visiting in the morning.”

The 2nd Prince Ricardo Treano, who had the same black hair as Enrico but eyes as clear as the sky outside, was lowering the ends of his eyebrows as if in a difficult situation.

Ricardo had a complicated expression on his face, as if this situation was just awkward but unavoidable.

“Given the nature of the matter, we had no choice but to visit you immediately.”

“Then why didn’t you come before this article was published?”

Enrico leaned back against the backrest, nodding towards the newspaper on the table. What did they want him to do now that the rumors had already spread?

The police would conduct the investigation on their own anyway, so he didn’t understand why they were asking him specifically.