Staring intently at the slightly moving door as if someone had just left, she sighed and rubbed her neck.

It’s natural for the door to be open since people come and go, but am I being oversensitive because of the last performance?

It’s not like such accidents are common, and the culprit was taken to the labor camp, so why do I still feel uneasy?

‘I’ll be fine once I’m on stage.’

Thinking it was just nerves before her first performance after the accident, Emilia swallowed a hollow laugh and turned her body completely.

She waved back at Juliana, who had just spotted her and was waving from afar, and started walking towards her.

“…He’s here.”

Juliana, who had come to stand beside her, whispered softly as they walked down the corridor together.

“Who?”

“I heard Duke Michele has arrived.”

Emilia furrowed her brow and blinked in confusion.

“Didn’t he say he wouldn’t come? He even sent a bouquet to the dressing room.”

“When? There was no bouquet until just now.”

“Oh, then it must have come after you left. But people were whispering about it, and it was annoying to hear. If they’re jealous, they should just say so…”

Juliana swung her fist in the air with a displeased look on her face.

“…He even sent flowers?”

However, Emilia muttered in disbelief, seeming more fixated on the flowers than people’s gazes.

She had thought he definitely wouldn’t come, so she couldn’t believe he even sent a bouquet. She couldn’t understand Enrico’s intentions at all.

‘Is he doing this on purpose? To show he won’t terminate the contract?’

It would be just like him to do so, but she couldn’t understand why he came to see the performance when he said he had urgent business.

He did leave because of urgent matters, but his expression had been so unpleasant on the day she brought up terminating the contract.

A faint sigh escaped Emilia’s lips. Juliana, who had been quietly observing her, widened her eyes.

“But didn’t the Duke say he probably couldn’t come because he was busy… Does he really like you that much?”

“It’s not like that.”

“It’s not? Tsk- Well, if you say so.”

Seeing Emilia’s resolute appearance, Juliana awkwardly laughed as she stepped back slightly.

“Anyway, don’t worry too much about other people. It’s really just a few of them.”

The rumors had already spread as far as they could, and it was obvious that gossipers would continue to talk behind her back, so she wasn’t too concerned anymore.

More accurately, she was too busy thinking about Enrico to spare thoughts for others.

‘I’ll just focus on doing my job.’

It was more important that Alessandro might visit after the performance than the fact that Enrico had come to the show.

After finishing her preparations, Emilia waited in the wings, double-checking her pointe shoes. The bright lights illuminated the stage, which was still hidden behind the curtain.

There won’t be another fall like last time. That was a deliberate accident, and that person is gone now.

‘It’s okay. Just do as usual.’

Emilia stared at the ceiling of the stage before closing her eyes tightly. She took a deep breath, trying to relax her body, which seemed more tense than usual.

With a thud, the curtain slowly began to rise, and the sound of the orchestra started to fill the theater.

As if signaling the start of the performance, the maestro bowed to the audience. Enrico, who had been quietly waiting for the curtain to rise, slightly furrowed his brow as he saw Fabio enter the box seat and whisper cautiously.

“…When?”

Fabio bowed his head slightly with a serious expression.

“I apologize. From what I’ve heard, his whereabouts have been unconfirmed since the day before yesterday.”

“Are you certain?”

“It’s difficult to be sure. Given that he escaped without being caught by our informants, it seems there might be an accomplice inside. I’ll go to the labor camp myself to confirm.”

“Ha,” Enrico sighed softly, leaning his head back against the backrest. Languidly crossing his legs, he slowly swirled the whiskey in his glass before downing it in one go.

As the burning sensation went down his throat, his Adam’s apple moved slowly up and down.

“Send someone else to the labor camp. You strengthen Emilia’s guard. If Kristina comes here, she’ll target her first.”

“Understood. I apologize for not handling this in advance.”

Enrico, seemingly too annoyed to reply, gestured towards the door with his eyes and put down his glass.

As Fabio quickly disappeared from view, Enrico habitually reached to refill his glass but stopped when he saw the curtain rising on stage.

Emilia stood in the center of the stage, moving pitifully. Enrico naturally focused on her, continuously taking in her appearance as if he hadn’t seen her in a long time, even though it had only been a few days.

‘Come to think of it, she happened to take on a role similar to herself.’

As the play progressed, Enrico thought that the female protagonist in “Cinderella,” which he had seen once before, resembled Emilia’s unfortunate life.

A father who couldn’t function properly due to alcohol and gambling, and a stepmother and stepsisters who endlessly tormented her – these people who could hardly be called family seemed quite similar to Emilia’s current solitary situation.

Moreover, meeting the prince, dancing freely, and finally escaping from her hellish life through him appeared similar to his current relationship with Emilia, causing him to momentarily forget his anger towards her and focus on the performance.

However, as the performance continued, Emilia moved across the stage as freely as a bird, as if to correct Enrico’s thoughts. His index finger tapped the armrest repeatedly, ignoring the rhythm.

‘…Should I have finished our conversation before leaving?’

Fabio had reported that Madrind Dikaph, who had been rescued, had finally woken up after being unconscious for a long time. He had left immediately upon hearing this, but now he wondered if there had been any need to rush back.

It was obvious that even if she had regained consciousness, she wouldn’t be able to immediately talk about the circumstances of her kidnapping due to the shock. He couldn’t understand why he had left in such a hurry.

Indeed, all he had heard upon returning that day was that the pervert kept touching Madrind Dikaph’s blonde hair and even brought the ends to his nose to smell them.

It was a mistake. He should have firmly dealt with Emilia that day to prevent her from constantly mentioning contract termination.

‘Even though I had anticipated she would have difficulty speaking immediately after regaining consciousness… Despite being heated to the tips of my hair, I deliberately turned my back in that situation.’

Enrico stared intently at Emilia as she danced gracefully on stage.

Perhaps he had wanted to avoid the conversation with Emilia. Although it was an utterly implausible assumption, somehow he couldn’t immediately deny it.

At that time, he had been filled only with thoughts of wanting to hurt her and had been so consumed by the urge to forcibly drag her to the duke’s residence.

However, he had a feeling that if he did so, those aquamarine eyes, clear as the sea under sunlight, would never look at him again.

‘But was there always this much contact with her partner?’

Enrico’s eyes narrowed slightly. The ballerino who appeared at the beginning of the second act dancing with Cinderella, who had joined midway, was particularly irritating.

Before, only Emilia’s fingertips, body lines, and expressions had caught his eye, but today, every movement she made with the ballerino seemed to catch his attention.

As beautiful melodies flowed, the dancers who had filled the stage like a grand ball gradually retreated, and the protagonists’ dance became more frequent.

Their dance, which seemed to reveal their growing feelings for each other, filled the vast stage with a poignant atmosphere.

Enrico’s expression deepened. The ballerino’s hands, which constantly held Emilia, interfered with his appreciation of the ballet.

Those large hands gripping her slender waist. And those slow hands caressing her legs. Every touch was bothersome.

Especially Emilia’s gestures of entrusting her body to the ballerino and leaning on him comfortably made Enrico’s chest feel tight. His hand, which had only been moving his index finger, was now gripping the armrest tightly.

The blue veins prominent on the back of his hand began to tremble as more force was applied to his entire arm.

‘…Should I get rid of him?’

He wanted to render useless all the hands that had touched Emilia.

Although he had felt possessive watching her perform ballet before, this was the first time he had felt this way about her being touched by someone else.

However, since he had never denied his interest in her in the first place, rather than being surprised, he was filled only with the instinctive desire to remove that annoying man from his sight.

Enrico, though not wanting to watch, couldn’t tear his eyes away and strained them with a hardened expression. As the music gradually subsided and Emilia gently leaned into the ballerino’s arms, resting her cheek against him, he felt his breath catch.

The heat of summer waiting to be pushed away by the autumn wind seeped into his body. His eyes, burning with passion, were filled with Emilia.

That woman was his alone. Whether she requested termination or not, until he let her go, she must not look at anyone else, must not be touched by anyone else, and absolutely must not leave his side.

The wooden armrest he had been gripping began to crack and crumble under the constant pressure.