Enrico approached with large strides. He grabbed both her shoulders, revealing an ominous expression without reservation.

He had given her so many conveniences all this time. The information he had provided was much more, certainly not less, than the number of times Emilia had appeared on stage at the duke’s mansion.

Even when she occasionally frustrated him, he tried to dismiss it as just small mischief since she wasn’t openly rebelling. But now these small acts of defiance had crossed the line and reached their limit.

“Absolutely not.”

Instead of pushing him away, Emilia raised her head firmly. The distance between her and him looking down at her was not even a hand’s width.

“…You said to break it off if I can handle the aftermath.”

The area under Enrico’s eyes twitched. Looking at Enrico, who didn’t even blink, Emilia swallowed her trembling breath with effort.

Her clenched fists were shaking and it was hard to breathe as if her chest was blocked, but she spoke more resolutely than ever before.

“I’ll handle it. Whatever it may be.”

She had expected that he might not accept it right away. She was just a bit taken aback by his more intense reaction than anticipated, but she had no intention of taking back her words or changing her mind now.

For a moment, their confused breaths mingled in the silence that fell, but they were soon drowned out by the sound of fierce wind and rain rattling the windows. Emilia furrowed her brow at his grip tightening on her shoulders.

Is he doing this on purpose? Her eyes glaring at him trembled for an instant. A dark shadow seemed to fall over his unfocused purple eyes, and strangely, that appearance looked unstable.

“Do you know what I’ll demand?”

“…”

“Have you become arrogant because I’ve been accommodating you a bit?”

“…From your perspective, you may think you’ve been accommodating. Because you just need to bestow favors occasionally like alms.”

“You were thirsty for those alms, but now you seem to have had your fill?”

His face drew closer. At a distance where their breaths mingled, he whispered in a chillingly low voice. His two eyes looking down at her flashed dangerously.

“It seems you’ve fallen under the illusion that you’re sufficient on your own just because you’ve got some money now, but the reality is that someone like you can’t do anything alone.”

He briefly looked her up and down as if to say what could she possibly do. His glistening eyes right in front of her met her gaze again, revealing a sneer.

Then one of his hands holding her shoulder slowly stroked down her arm and back up. His hand moving along her shoulder line soon brushed her neck and stopped somewhere between her jaw and cheek.

“Just quietly accept my help. Stop having such presumptuous thoughts. If you sully my ears with talk of breaking it off one more time-”

“No.”

Emilia cut off his words without averting her gaze. At her voice, so resolute as to be cold-hearted, his fingertips trembling on her cheek loosened.

Taking advantage of that moment, she quickly grasped his wrist.

“Your help is suffocatingly terrible to me.”

She applied pressure to her hand as she slowly pulled his hand down.

“If I stay like this, I feel like I’ll die before I can even avenge my parents… That’s why I want to break off the contract.”

Thud, his hand fell down. Rather than pushing away Enrico’s hand still on her other shoulder, she took a step sideways. His face staring at the empty space came into view.

“I regret having to request the termination first. I can only hope you will show me leniency.”

Emilia turned her head. Her shoulders felt lighter and she had said everything she needed to say, so she should have felt relieved, but strangely her chest felt heavy, perhaps because of the oppressive air.

Her jade-colored eyes, which had closed for a long moment as if to hide her fluttering eyelashes, now shone darkly.

“Please let me know when the penalty fee is decided. I’ll be waiting.”

The rain had not stopped even by the next day. The interior of the practice room was filled with humid air. Emilia, who roughly wiped off the sweat flowing more due to the damp weather, reached for her ankle which seemed to be aching more lately.

‘…It got dark early.’

Originally, the view just before sunset should have been visible through the window due to the lengthening days, but today it was full of a gloomy atmosphere, perhaps because of the gray clouds.

As everyone prepared to leave work with tired bodies, she too slowly got up.

‘I wonder if Fabio will come today?’

Judging by how hurriedly Enrico had left yesterday, it seemed like something had happened, and thanks to that, the conversation had suddenly concluded.

If Fabio hadn’t whispered in his ear after abruptly entering during their talk, they might have kept repeating the same conversation.

Enrico, his face coldly hardened as if it was an important matter, looked at her briefly before turning his back and walking out without a word.

She was concerned that it must be a big deal for him to leave so urgently, but she quickly dismissed that thought. Was this the time to be thinking about someone else?

Rather, if there was something to worry about, it was that Enrico might delay breaking the contract because he was busy.

The [Cinderella] performance was starting in just a few days, and she wasn’t sure if the termination would be finalized before then.

She would be busy with the performance too, but avenging her parents was more important than ballet, so the issue was how to approach Alessandro and extract information from him going forward.

For now, Alessandro would probably come to the ballet performance, but would he approach her first like last time? If not, she’d have to try to move to meet him herself, but it was uncertain if that would go as planned.

Emilia walked slowly towards where the carriage was waiting, inwardly swallowing a sigh. The rain had thinned considerably, with just a slight moisture brushing her skin.

“Emilia.”

Suddenly, a pair of shiny black shoes entered her line of sight, and the raindrops falling on her head stopped.

Slowly raising her head, she saw Alessandro slightly tilting an umbrella over her.

“…Your Highness.”

Alessandro looked to be in an extremely good mood, unlike the gloomy weather. She stared blankly for a moment at him smiling gently with a slight eye smile, before belatedly trying to give a proper greeting.

“Oh my, didn’t we agree on this last time? To skip cumbersome greetings.”

“Ah… It’s an honor.”

“We’re just skipping greetings, not being excessively formal. We used to be on comfortable terms, you know.”

“It’s just that it’s been a while since I’ve seen you. I’d like you to give me some time.”

Alessandro slightly lowered the ends of his eyebrows, looking quite regretful. His silver hair was slightly disheveled over his gray eyebrows, which gave a somewhat thinner impression than Enrico’s.

Come to think of it, he always used to have his hair neatly slicked back, but today he was dressed quite casually compared to usual.

“You look different today.”

“Ah, is it alright? I thought I should be mindful of others’ gazes if I was to meet you. You don’t like drawing attention, right?”

He not only took the bait but seemed to welcome Emilia’s attempt to change the subject. She blinked for a moment before nodding.

“Yes. So, did you come to meet me?”

“Well, the weather’s not good and the world’s been turbulent lately. I wanted to escort you at least once.”

It was a kind offer. A gentle tone, a warm smile. Everything seemed full of goodness, but Emilia felt a chill run down her spine for some reason.

Was it because of the rain lowering the temperature? Or because of Enrico’s warning?

Emilia looked up at Alessandro gazing down at her for a moment.

“…I’d like to ask, but I’m not feeling well today.”

Emilia carefully opened her mouth. It wasn’t just because of Enrico’s warning, but riding in a carriage together seemed a bit risky.

Although he hadn’t been definitively identified as the culprit yet, Alessandro was still a suspect, and being in a narrow carriage with him felt a bit burdensome.

Moreover, Enrico had even warned that he was dangerous, so it seemed good to observe for now and gradually arrange time to spend together.

“But I’d feel bad parting with Your Highness like this, so could I ask you to accompany me to the carriage at least?”

Especially now, it felt too sudden, so it would be better to meet after preparing some self-defense items or bodyguards separately.

Or perhaps it would be better to talk in front of the house since Enrico’s guards were still around the house. If Enrico removed the guards, then she’d have to look into hiring separate security.

“That’s a good idea.”

Alessandro smiled smoothly. Looking intently at his splendid face that showed not the slightest sign of discomfort, a faint smile brushed her lips.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Not at all.”

She clasped her hands in front and stood beside him. The rain, as if finished with a brief respite, began to fall heavily again. The sound of raindrops falling on the black umbrella rang in her ears.

“Is the performance preparation going well?”

“Yes. Will you be coming to this performance as well?”

“Of course. Whose performance is it after all?”

“Ah… Thank you.”

The discomfort was still unavoidable. Emilia moistened her parched lips slightly, trying hard to suppress the urge to quickly flee this place.

“I never expected you’d still be doing ballet that you did as a child. And I certainly never imagined I’d be watching it.”

“You’re right. I didn’t expect I’d still be doing it either.”

It was good that he brought up childhood first. Emilia continued speaking nonchalantly while staring straight ahead.

“Come to think of it, I became acquainted with Your Highness thanks to my father. If I hadn’t come to the capital following my father, I wouldn’t have known you.”