‘This is ridiculous.’

Enrico slowly extinguished the cigarette that had been burning precariously between his fingers in the ashtray.

No matter how disinterested in royal power, he had no intention of marrying while lowering his position.

If he didn’t do it, he wouldn’t, but he absolutely couldn’t tolerate giving excuses to those vermin and having it go up and down through their dirty mouths.

Enrico pulled out another cigarette from the golden case. As he was about to light it, he paused his action and glared into empty space for a moment.

‘Since you like contracts so much, I’ll give you the same treatment.’

It seems he had been overly considerate until now. For now, it seemed necessary to make her realize her position once again. Click, as the flame ignited, suddenly a knock sounded in the office.

“It’s Fabio.”

Along with the polite voice, the sound of the door opening reached his ears. Enrico, with a somewhat irritated face, broke the cigarette he was holding and slightly turned his head towards the direction Fabio was coming from.

“We have found Miss Madlind Dicap.”

Since they had no idea about her whereabouts after her disappearance, he expected it to take longer, but they found her faster than expected. Enrico opened his mouth indifferently while pondering what to demand from the Princess of Caernt.

“Where?”

“As you instructed, we focused on investigating the lower-class areas, and she was found in the basement of a dilapidated building that had been rumored to be eroded for a long time.”

“An eroded building?”

“Yes. But unlike its shabby exterior, the basement was quite clean.”

Enrico threw the cigarette he was still holding onto the table and dusted off his hands. As if the break time was over, he stood up and headed towards the mahogany desk, with Fabio following behind.

“How is her condition?”

“When we found her, she was already in a state of having hanged herself, so we quickly took her down, but she’s still unconscious. I heard that the investigator felt a presence just before going down, but there was a separate passage in the basement, so they failed to track it. I apologize.”

“Were they trying to destroy evidence?”

“Yes. It seems they intended to plant suspicions of suicide rather than leave clear traces of homicide.”

“If it were just a perverted scumbag, they wouldn’t care about such things… Doesn’t it seem like they set up a last line of defense to prevent a major diplomatic issue?”

“Yes. I think the same.”

Enrico leaned forward, placing both hands on the desk.

“Where is the witness?”

“Ah, about that…”

Fabio’s face contorted with difficulty as he hesitated to answer for a moment.

“…I apologize! I just checked on that person in case, but they committed suicide early this morning.”

Enrico raised one eyebrow.

“Weren’t they under police protection?”

“Yes. But they bit their tongue while the night shift briefly left their post.”

Pff, his lips twisted. As he tilted his head slightly as if finding the situation interesting, Fabio quickly lowered his head, fearing he might make eye contact.

“I apologize!”

“I was thinking of showing you a portrait, but it’s a shame.”

Enrico muttered in a dry voice as he sat down.

“Keep a close watch on Madlind Dicap. She’s the last witness.”

“Understood!”

“And tell Emilia. Tell her to come perform on the designated date regardless of the performance.”

“Yes, what?”

Fabio suddenly raised his head at the unexpected words. Since Emilia had never performed on the Duke’s stage during the performance preparation period, he seemed unsure if he had heard correctly.

“Do I need to repeat myself?”

Enrico lazily raised the corner of his mouth while looking at Fabio. Although he was clearly smiling, the chilling atmosphere emanating made Fabio quickly straighten his back.

“No! I’ll deliver the message on my way home today.”

“Tell those guarding around her house to keep a strict watch.”

“Yes!”

Feeling the atmosphere grow colder when mentioning Emilia than when talking about the witness’s death, Fabio quickly stepped back.

It seemed that something must have happened between Emilia and Enrico last night, and he thought he should thoroughly report Emilia’s movements for a while.

At Enrico’s gesture of waving his left hand once while looking down at the documents, as if telling him to leave now, Fabio quickly left the office.

As the door closed carefully, Enrico, who had been looking down at the documents, slightly raised his head, his gaze lingering in the empty space for a moment. His eyes, unreadable in thought, sank darkly.

The practice room on a summer day was filled with humid and stuffy air.

Even with the windows open, the lukewarm wind was far from enough to circulate the interior, and the sweat soaking the entire body kept falling to the floor, requiring constant mopping.

“Wow, I really feel like I’m going to die.”

Juliana muttered in a weak voice as she quickly undressed. Although it was the usual amount of practice, the body seemed to tire twice as fast in summer, making even washing up feel exhausting.

“Maybe we should skip afternoon practice and only do morning and night practice now?”

“I know. If it weren’t for the performance, we probably would have done that… I just want to go home and rest quickly.”

“That’s true.”

Emilia glanced at Juliana, who was nodding with a half-dead expression, and gave a faint smile.

Although she was feeling uneasy inside, she couldn’t live while revealing everything, nor did she intend to pour out her troubles to those around her, so she was trying to act as if nothing was wrong.

Following Juliana, Emilia quickly washed up and put on a two-piece dress consisting of a peach-colored blouse and a sky-blue long skirt. She then wrapped her still damp hair in a towel and roughly brushed it with her hand.

“The days have gotten so long. It’s still bright outside.”

“I know. These days it seems to get dark only around nine o’clock.”

“By the way, Emilia…”

“Yes?”

“Is your ankle okay?”

Emilia was startled by Juliana’s whispered question as she leaned in close. Ever since the accident on the [La Sylphide] stage, she had been feeling that the condition of her ankle was not right.

It used to only ache when she really pushed herself, but now it hurt almost every day. As a result, she had been constantly taking anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers given by the Duke’s family doctor.

“…Why suddenly?”

“No, you just seemed a bit uncomfortable walking.”

“Ah. Did I look like that?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Emilia gently grabbed Juliana’s arm as she lowered her gaze towards her ankle with a worried expression.

“It’s just like before. It’ll pass soon.”

“Really? Well, if you say so. You were the one who wanted to do ballet longer than anyone else.”

“Me?”

“What? Don’t you remember?”

Juliana and Emilia slowly walked down the corridor, carrying their bags.

“When you first entered school, you said in your first greeting that you wanted to retire later than anyone else.”

Emilia blinked. It seemed she had said such things because she had just escaped from Giorgio and lost her parents, so ballet was all she had to rely on.

“…I was quite passionate.”

“Why are you talking like it’s someone else’s story? By the way, that’s why I approached you after hearing those words.”

“Was that it? I thought…”

“Thought what? Don’t tell me you thought I approached you because you were pretty?”

The two looked at each other and giggled softly, gradually quieting down as they saw the main entrance in the distance. Juliana, who had been staring straight ahead, suddenly turned her head to look at Emilia.

“If you’re having a hard time, make sure to tell me. Don’t suffer alone.”

“…Thank you.”

Emilia, who had paused for a moment, soon replied with an awkward smile.

The last time she explained her situation, she had mentioned in advance that she couldn’t go into details about her parents because it was a sensitive situation. It seemed Juliana was asking out of concern because the situation appeared to be unusual. She understood; if Juliana were in such a situation, she would have done the same.

Emilia casually stroked Juliana’s back once and stepped aside.

“Did they come to pick you up again today?”

“Yes. We could go together…”

“No, it’s just inconvenient for me. Besides, I quite enjoy walking home through this area. It’s much cleaner than our neighborhood. Well, I’m off!”

“Get home safely.”

“You too.”

Emilia watched Juliana’s retreating back for a while before walking towards the carriage. As she approached the familiar vehicle disguised as a street carriage, the door opened automatically, and Fabio greeted her from inside.

“Miss Emilia, good work today.”

“Fabio.”

Emilia acknowledged the greeting with a slight nod and slowly climbed into the carriage.

The windows, which had been tightly closed in winter, had started to open slightly from the end of spring and were now fully open.

Perhaps in preparation for someone possibly seeing, Emilia was enjoying the breeze coming through the half-drawn, thinner curtains when she turned her attention to Fabio, who was carefully opening his mouth.

“The Duke says to prepare for the stage this week as well, without exception.”

Although it was a natural request from him, to her ears it sounded like a continuation of yesterday, and her expression hardened.

‘…I really need to terminate the contract.’

His signs of trying to suppress her somehow were ominous. She was once again overwhelmed by a bad feeling that if she stayed still like this, she would be hopelessly trapped in his cage.