It was a blatant gaze that stimulated shame. Emilia gritted her teeth and stretched out her relatively free hand forward.

She tried to push Enrico away with force, but all she felt was Enrico’s firm muscles twitching under her palm, and he didn’t move an inch.

“Should I just imprison you like this……”

The end of his words, spoken as if grinding them, was strangely rough.

He seemed to be emanating a confused atmosphere, as if angry or strangely anxious. He looked like someone immersed in his own thoughts regardless of her reaction.

“How about it. That might relieve some of this frustration.”

Emilia’s lower lip trembled. His purple eyes, overtly bubbling with possessiveness, were mixed with various emotions.

And it felt as if that confusion was being transferred to her as well. Even though she couldn’t exactly identify what that emotion was, it strangely felt like deep quagmires were spread everywhere.

The only clear thing was that he wasn’t considering breaking the contract with her at all. At this rate, she would have to continue being swayed by him just like before.

Emilia, who had been trying to calm her intensifying breath while her chest heaved for a moment, belatedly opened her mouth.

“If you do that…… Will it somewhat ease Your Grace’s anger?”

One of his eyebrows bent slowly.

“But regrettably, I cannot wait indefinitely until your anger subsides.”

“So.”

The air felt heavier. However, she looked at his eyes again after scanning the hands holding her one by one with an unwavering face.

His dark desire, saying that just looking wasn’t satisfying enough and that he would understand if he took this body, vividly came to mind.

Perhaps he was doing this more because he found her rejection of him fresh. If she had clung to him like others from the beginning, things might not have come to this.

She was tired of wasting emotions talking with him. As if refuting his sarcastic words that her body was the only value, she spoke calmly like someone who had let go of everything.

“If you get to have my body, will your interest in me fade then?”

“…What?”

“It seems you were angry because I failed to understand my place and showed inappropriate pride.”

Enrico’s eyes wavered greatly.

“Especially the image of me maintaining my pride while considering this body as my only value.”

Those were clearly words he had said. The images of him constantly mocking her, saying her willpower to protect her body’s worth was commendable, and spitting out curses at every opportunity as if desperate to hurt her quickly flashed through his mind.

In his memories, she always had hurt eyes. The images of her reddening her eyes with humiliation and trembling her arms with anger were very vivid.

However, the her in front of him now had all emotions dead black to the point where it didn’t feel like she was talking about herself. Yes, she looked like someone whose emotions had burned out completely, turning to ashes.

It was strange. Originally, he should have been furious at her insolent words, or at least sneered to crush that stubbornness. But it was strange.

Clearly these were words that should have hurt her, not him, but instead they came back to him like daggers.

The pain in his body started to throb incomparably more than the frustration in his chest when things didn’t go his way with her.

“…Do you know what those words mean when you say them?”

“Yes.”

His hardened face was reflected in her jade-colored eyes, calm beyond measure. His hands gripping her unconsciously tightened.

“If I completely possess you…”

Emilia murmured softly as she slowly grasped his hands holding her wrists.

“Then you’ll get tired of me, won’t you?”

It sounded like she was asserting that it would happen soon. Enrico’s jaw tensed.

What did it mean to completely possess? What he originally wanted was sincere affection towards another person. Not just the superficial body, but that sincere heart…!

His Adam’s apple bobbed greatly. For a moment, he held his breath without blinking, and no sound reached his ears.

Neither the clock nor her breathing. Only a precarious silence enveloped him. His hand where her hand touched went limp and dropped.

The emotions he had rationalized as merely curiosity, wanting to have her out of interest while desiring her affection, surfaced as if they could no longer be hidden.

While wanting her more sincerely than anyone, he had been doing useless things like trying to cover the sun with his palm. He came to acutely realize that it was actually him, not her, who had been trying to assert his pride.

“I…”

While he went through many emotional changes in an instant, she remained silent. She looked drier than ever before, to the point where he thought she might crumble like desert sand if touched.

“If I don’t get tired of you.”

“……”

“Rather, if it’s sincere, what will you do then?”

“If it’s sincere…”

She calmly removed his arm from her shoulder and paused briefly before continuing impassively.

“For my sake, please let me go. Then I’ll believe those feelings.”

One corner of his mouth lifted crookedly. Along with a bitter, self-deprecating smile, a short breath escaped through his teeth.

‘Let her go if it’s sincere?’

Just as he finally acknowledged his feelings, an absurd logic blocked him. Why should he let go of what had entered his heart?

If that was possible in the first place, things wouldn’t have come this far.

‘Then you shouldn’t have provoked me.’

It was a feeling he didn’t want to know, a relationship he wanted to keep just as an amusement. But it was she who kept pushing him to realize his true feelings. And now she asks to be let go.

Even when he treated her as a work of art, he wanted to possess her, but in this situation where his heart was captivated by her, it was impossible.

Enrico relaxed his legs and leaned back comfortably against the backrest. His eyes, staring into space as he rested his head, deepened like an abyss.

What could he do? Growing up alone, shunned even by his parents, all he learned was to never let go of what he had in his grasp.

“…Unfortunately, that won’t be possible.”

Emilia looked straight ahead as if she had expected that. Enrico, still resting his head, slightly turned to take in her side profile.

“I have no intention of turning back now.”

Her brows furrowed at the sudden words. However, feeling his gaze piercing her cheek to an uncomfortable degree, she hesitated to look back at him.

Emilia turned her gaze towards the window to avoid him, then opened her eyes wide at the scenery that shouldn’t be seen now.

“Why… Why is the carriage heading towards Your Grace’s mansion instead of my home? Could you please explain?”

The carriage was rapidly heading towards the Michele mansion. Perhaps he would get off at the mansion first and then send her to her home?

While trying to reassure herself that it might be so, she finally turned her head at his words.

“As an apology for not meeting your wishes, I’ll allow outings only until this performance.”

“What do you mean only this time?”

Their gazes met in mid-air. She glared at his rude behavior of suddenly taking her to his mansion without notice, but this time he turned his head as if avoiding her gaze.

“After that, it’ll be enough for you to dance only inside there.”

His face, which had lost all expression by then, somehow looked precarious.

The heat disappeared in an instant, pushed away by the autumn wind. The lush trees dyed their heads in colorful hues, occasionally shedding their leaves to the ground like taking off clothes when shaken by the wind.

Along with the smooth change of seasons, the [Cinderella] performance also flowed smoothly as if nothing had happened.

Emilia swallowed a sigh while massaging her ankle, which had been aching more severely these days.

It was fortunate that today was the last day, for if there were more performances left, she worried whether her ankle could endure any longer.

‘I should rest for a while after the performance ends.’

It was her first lead role since joining the Avaliante Opera House ballet company, and she had practiced excessively to make up for the accident during [La Sylphide].

On top of that, her ankle was severely overworked from forcing higher jumps during performances to achieve greater leaps.

The problem was that she had to spend that rest time at Enrico’s mansion…

‘Is he really not going to let me out?’

It was somewhat understandable to stay at his mansion to prepare for possible dangers, given that Christina’s whereabouts were currently unknown.

But even so, controlling her so forcefully like this by confining her was excessive.

Currently, since it was the performance period, her daily routine consisted of just sleeping at the duke’s mansion and coming straight to the theater, so staying at his mansion wasn’t felt as much.

But after the performances ended, there would be relatively more free time, meaning more time to stay there, and she already felt gloomy about the future.

‘What is he thinking? Suddenly saying nonsensical things like it’s sincere.’