In fact, bringing up the body talk was semi-impulsive. But I felt like I had to bring up this topic for the relationship to end, so I talked about pride to Enrico.

I thought if Enrico really came at me, my wavering heart would shatter completely and any lingering feelings would disappear. For the sake of future revenge, to become free, I brought it up with mixed feelings.

But contrary to what I said, Enrico put himself aside and didn’t even look for me, while I kept repeating the word ‘sincerity’ that he mentioned whenever I had the chance.

‘…I must be mistaken. I’m probably confused because this is my first time experiencing such a situation.’

The movement of rotating her ankle gradually slowed down. Emilia, who was staring into space while holding her now-still ankle, chewed on her lower lip.

‘What if he’s sincere? What would I do if he really means it?’

Emilia let out a big sigh.

‘Even if it’s real…’

Is that important right now? It felt like a luxury to worry about love affairs in a situation where revenge was imminent.

Even if Enrico was sincere, she would still end up being someone who had to wait for him in a corner of that vast mansion. That wouldn’t change.

Realistically, he wouldn’t seriously date her or think about marriage, and even if he did, a relationship with such a class difference couldn’t possibly end well.

Of course, it would be physically comfortable if she left everything to him and took revenge for her parents.

But would her mind be at ease? The image of herself becoming his doll, just smiling quietly while leaving her own affairs to Enrico?

Accepting him now would only be surrendering to a moment of comfort.

It was bitterly ironic that she was internally wavering towards an easy path when she had initially been determined to take revenge even at the cost of her life.

“It’s before the performance starts. Please standby!”

At the staff member’s voice echoing in the hallway, Emilia chased away her thoughts and stood up. As her gaze lifted, she saw two large bouquets placed on the table.

They were from Enrico and Alessandro.

Enrico, whom she hadn’t seen at the mansion or during commutes since the first day of the performance, always came on her performance days, and so did Alessandro.

The only difference was that this was the first time Alessandro had sent flowers. She thought it might be because it was the last stage, but she had a feeling he might visit her dressing room after the performance today.

“…Let’s finish this performance successfully for now.”

Emilia tapped the front of her pointe shoes alternately and opened the closed dressing room door. The sound of the orchestra tuning could be heard from afar.

Thud, tap tap.

Despite the rather cool weather, sweat was beading on the woman’s dirty face.

The woman, dressed in shabby clothes as if she had just come from the slums, quickly hid behind the curtain at the sound of movement from downstairs.

“…Didn’t I tell you? Huh? Don’t you smell something?”

“Smell? Oh, what’s this musty odor?”

“Did mold grow somewhere?”

“It smells more like garbage than mold, doesn’t it?”

“Ugh− What were the cleaners doing? It’s fortunate no one comes through here today, really.”

“Let’s hurry and go. I don’t want to come back here again.”

The two people, covering their noses and mouths with their clothes, held their breath as much as possible and quickly went upstairs. Soon, with the sound of the emergency door opening and closing, the woman standing behind the curtain slowly revealed herself.

‘Those who used to run errands for me…’

Christina’s eyes, twisted as if in humiliation, sank gloomily. It was disgusting to see those who used to run errands behind the dancers and decorate the stage pretending to be clean while mentioning janitors.

Christina surveyed her own tattered clothes and brushed back her hair, which looked reddish-black from sweat and oil.

Although she hadn’t been in the labor camp for long, she had experienced the worst time of her life during that short period.

In the labor camp, people were treated like animals and everything was governed by the rod. Due to their whipping, her once smooth body was now covered in wounds.

‘I’ll kill them. I’ll really make it hard for them to even breathe.’

To think she had become worse off than the slum dwellers she so despised. It was only natural that her resentment deepened day by day.

The despicable Peter had brazenly tried to approach her, but it was a labor camp where it was hard for each person to survive.

Christina had already maneuvered craftily to make the guards notice his misconduct, ensuring Peter’s disappearance.

‘Now I just need to deal with Emilia.’

Although her dirty appearance was unpleasant and her whole body ached, she had escaped the labor camp, gritting her teeth with the sole purpose of coming to this theater.

She briefly considered running away and disappearing, but most escapees were quickly recaptured, and she had nowhere to go in her current situation.

If this was the case, she thought it would be better to at least drag down Emilia, who had ruined her life, so she came here immediately.

And Christina, who had barely returned and secretly hidden inside the theater, thought she had made the right decision when she saw Emilia not only standing on stage as the lead but also receiving attention from people.

I can’t just let Emilia be happy like this. After all, it’s because of her that I ended up like this…

As Christina gritted her teeth, the image of Enrico Michele also flashed through her mind.

She might not be able to do anything to that high noble lord, but recalling his actions on behalf of Emilia, she thought that ruining her alone might put the Duke Michele in a very unpleasant state.

‘It’s hard to do anything grand… He said he’d help once, right?’

For some reason, the man in the black mask who had helped her escape from the labor camp had promised to help her once more.

At first, she considered asking for clothes to disguise her identity, but since she would die after killing Emilia anyway, it didn’t seem necessary to make such elaborate plans.

So she decided to use the masked man’s help to kill Emilia more perfectly.

‘Let’s fall into hell together.’

Her yellowed teeth showed and her chapped lips cracked, revealing blood.

Christina, who was smiling nonchalantly as if she no longer felt the sting, kept thinking excitedly about how to kill Emilia.

Killing her on stage would make her look too much like a tragic ballerina, so it might be more satisfying to kill her where no one knows…

Christina rummaged through her clothes and pulled out a thumb-sized object given by the masked man.

‘He said to just stick it on the window, right?’

She carefully extended her hand through the window gap, making sure she wasn’t visible from outside, and attached the object to the window.

Suddenly, an unidentified sky-blue smoke started flowing from the object. Startled, she quickly hid her body behind the curtain and waited quietly.

For that moment that would fulfill her wish.

Emilia walked to the center of the stage towards the audience giving thunderous applause. Her colleagues, who had entered first for the curtain call, were clearing the center, waiting for her to come to the middle of the stage.

Everyone’s faces looked happy. The performance had ended successfully, to a degree that no one could deny, and it was also a performance that proved Avaliante Ballet Company might be able to take a bigger leap forward with this opportunity.

While bowing to the audience, Emilia unknowingly glanced at the box seat where Enrico was standing. Enrico’s gaze, standing still and clapping slowly, seemed intense even from a distance.

It was so noticeable even from the stage that it felt burdensome. Eventually, she closed her eyes tightly once, then opened them again as she walked to the center.

‘…Why can I see the box seats so clearly today? Usually, I have to look closely to see them.’

When Emilia saw Alessandro smiling brightly like a blooming flower from afar, she felt inexplicably anxious.

She didn’t expect him not to approach at all during the performance, but now that the stage was over, would he come to see her?

‘But I wonder if I’ll have time to talk to him separately because of Enrico.’

She already felt uneasy, sensing that Enrico might come after her if she returned home late. The applause showed no sign of dying down, and the audience’s response continued until she disappeared behind the stage curtain.

Emilia quickly greeted her colleagues and thanked the staff. She heard mentions of an after-party gathering, but she didn’t immediately respond as she wasn’t particularly keen on going.

As the lead, she probably should go, but Emilia dragged her suddenly heavy body towards the dressing room, as if realizing the performance was over.

The corridor was emptier than usual, with many people still immersed in the afterglow of the performance or preparing to leave leisurely since it was the last day.

“Um…”

She turned her head at the sound of a young voice calling her from a corner. She saw a boy wearing a hat holding a single red rose.

Emilia blinked and cautiously approached the little boy. He wasn’t unfamiliar. Remembering how Enrico had once sent a note through an errand boy, she approached, and the boy shyly handed her the flower along with a secret note, just like before.

She could hear people passing by, giggling as if finding it cute.

“Lady, thank you for the beautiful performance!”

The boy gave a spirited greeting right after handing over the flower and quickly ran down the corridor. Watching the boy’s back as he quickly disappeared, Emilia furrowed her brow and secretly read the note.

−To the 3rd floor emergency stairs.