“Hmm – Do you already want to send the second prince to another country?”
“Did our elder brother agree to that?” Enrico thought of the king, who had been watching him silently with unreadable eyes since he was a child, and slowly put on the gloves he had taken off.
The king was a man who occasionally showed uncomfortable emotions, but quickly hid them. The late king and queen, in an attempt to take care of the current king before they died, gave their youngest brother, who was still very young, a distant land far from the capital, but who could have known that inheritance would be discovered in that land?
Because of the late king’s vow, it could not be taken back, and Enrico had suddenly become the one holding the kingdom’s great weapon, and the relationship between the current king and him had become even more distant.
TL/N: TO ANYONE WHO DIDN’T UNDERSTAND
ENIRCO(GRAND DUKE)
THE KING (NOW) (ENIRCO’S BROTHER)
THE FORMER KING (THEIR FATHER)
THE CROWN PRINCE(ENIRCO’S NEPHEW)
As he left the art museum, a cold wind ruffled his hair. Enrico brushed his hair back and walked down the stairs.
“It’s none of my business, so deal with the invitation yourself.”
“I understand.”
“How is Emilia?”
“She is practicing hard. I am a little concerned that she spends more time in the practice room than the others, whether because she has a lot of practice to do or not. Oh, and I think she is a little disappointed with her role. She doesn’t show any signs of the trouble that happened on the day of the casting announcement, but there are times when she dances the choreography of the role she missed when practicing alone.”
“Hmm… I’ll keep an eye on that. I’m curious to see how murky the water will be.”
“I understand. And I confirmed that she had a brief conversation with the crown prince at dawn.”
“…with the crown prince?”
“Yes. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince seemed to be very happy to see Lady Emilia.”
“Was it written in the report that the two of them know each other?”
“Viscount Este visited Desiro 11 years ago for a patent matter, and he was with Lady Emilia at the time. It was confirmed that he met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince four times.”
“He remembers that long ago and is still happy to see her?”
One of Enrico’s eyebrows was raised slightly. Fabio bowed his head once at his seemingly annoyed reaction.
“Yes. However, Lady Emilia seemed to have no memory of it.”
“…Like a flower, the insects gather.”
“But most of them still don’t have a clear relationship. Antonio Chiavelli, whom I reported to you before, was just a partner at the Art Academy, so he talked to her more than the others, but they haven’t had any contact since.”
“Well, if you leave her alone and she gets into trouble and it gets in the way of her ballet, it will be too late.”
“…”
“Watch her closely. A situation where you notice something may already be too late.”
“I understand! Shall I take you to the mansion?”
Enrico got into the carriage and stopped for a moment. He seemed to be thinking about something and stared into the air blankly, then sat down nonchalantly and took out a cigarette.
“Yeah. And call the jeweler.”
Click. The tip of the cigarette turned red and burned brightly, sending up a plume of white smoke. A red light flickered in his lazily downcast eyes for a moment.
* * *
When the Sub Director, Silvia, appeared in the practice room, the dancers felt a surge of tension in their eyes. Although they had seen her passing by before, this was the first time she had come in and sat down.
Emilia reached down to tie her toe shoes, but she hesitated as she gently touched her ankle, which had been aching since yesterday. She regretted postponing the treatment, thinking the intermittent pain would subside by tomorrow.
“Is your ankle hurting again?”
Juliana, who had approached quietly, whispered. Her reaction was familiar to Emilia, as she had seen Emilia occasionally massage her ankle or do hot compresses in their days at the art academy.
“No, it’s just…”
“It’s not just… You practice too much, Emilia. Besides practicing all day, you move around so much on your own. How do you expect your body to be okay? It’s difficult for us to get treatment in our position, and there’s really no way to fix a sore body. We just have to endure it, but you’re pushing yourself too hard.”
“There’s no other choice. Using our bodies is our job.”
“Even so, I doubt anyone else pushes themselves as hard as you do…”
“Maybe. But ballet requires long practice so that we can move on stage without getting tired.”
“…That’s true, but if you hurt yourself and can’t do ballet for a long time, that’s another problem in itself.”
Although that was true, it wasn’t the time to relax. Juliana’s familiar, affectionate nagging still stung. Emilia ended up smiling ambiguously and rolling her eyes at Juliana’s unnecessarily sympathetic expression. Then, her gaze stopped as people started to gather in one place.
“What’s going on?”
Juliana chuckled at Emilia’s muttering. It was obvious that she wanted to change the subject when she wasn’t even that interested in others’ talk.
“Haa- I’ll stop. So, are you curious about what’s going on over there?”
“Huh? Not really…”
“If you’re curious, just go over there. Come on, grab your toe shoes.”
“No, there’s no need to go that far.”
“Miss Emilia, please stand up right now.”
With a firm voice, Emilia reluctantly stood up. Whether she was escorting her or supporting her, Juliana, with her left arm folded, went to where people were gathering and sat down next to them.
“Right, it seems like there have been more missing person cases lately.”
“Really? But it’s only occasionally rumored in Conillio, saying they ran away after meeting a guy. It’s understandable since it’s close to the slums…”
People seemed busy talking regardless of who approached. Emilia realized that they had just gathered to chat casually while stretching, and she sat nearby, slowly massaging her ankle.
“Oh, by the way, remember that girl who used to come to clean here?”
“Who?”
“The one with short height and pretty blonde hair!”
“Oh, the girl who used to clean here often? What about her?”
“She hasn’t shown up for a few days.”
“Oh, really? Now that you mention it, she hasn’t. She was cleaning so diligently because she wanted to do ballet.”
“You told her she was too short for it. She probably didn’t think she’d grow taller and gave up. Or maybe she needed to earn money.”
Although they were called a ballet company, not everyone was a graduate of an art academy, and there were some who hadn’t systematically learned ballet from a young age, making it ambiguous to call them ballerinas.
Some were just children from poor families, led by their parents to do odd jobs for free in the ballet company, learning from a distance with envy, but audition opportunities were sometimes given to children who seemed to have good body proportions and potential.
Some of these people were simply referred to as dancers, and some of them, wanting to seize the opportunity, continued to work at the theater even after becoming adults, only to be dragged back by their families, so it wasn’t surprising if they suddenly quit.
“Is that so? But she seemed so eager, I thought she would keep coming. Maybe she should try applying for a janitor position at the theater.”
“I heard it’s tough to get a janitor job here. It’s competitive, you know?”
“Well, it’s understandable that jobs are hard to come by, but I didn’t know people would clean for that reason.”
As Emilia gently rotated her ankle, Juliana, who was approaching, glanced at her.
“I know who you’re talking about. I saw her last week. Her hair is bright, although not as much as yours, of course.”
Emilia teased Juliana’s comfortably extended leg with her chin.
“Really? But talk to me while stretching. It’s time for the coach to arrive.”
“Already? Oh, they’re already here.”
Juliana glanced at the clock, then quickly got up as the back door opened. Emilia, who followed her lead, moved to the side and waited for the coach to enter.
“Good morning, everyone. Our morning class today will be attended by both the Chief choreographer and the Sub Director.”
The dancers murmured softly at the coach’s words.
“Even the Sub Director? Didn’t she say she only watches rehearsals?”
“That’s right. Although she sometimes watches our performances, she didn’t start watching this early last year.”
“Oh… It’s already tough enough with just the Chief Choreographer, and now the Sub Director too.”
“Well, it’s nice to get noticed.”
“But we haven’t practiced much yet to be noticed…”
Emilia stood in the center, glancing briefly at the Sub Director, Silvia, who had just entered the practice room.
It felt strange that a dancer who had been the lead in a ballet performance she had watched with her parents thirteen years ago was now teaching her. Memories flooded back naturally.
On a snowy day, wearing a red velvet dress, holding her parents’ hands, she went to the theater. Even if her nose turned red from the cold, she was simply happy, and it was just as good to sit still for two hours. She was so deeply captivated by the beautiful dance of Giselle on stage that she didn’t even realize how time flew.
Now, instead of warm hands, she felt the cold barre in her hands. Emilia looked at Silvia, the Sub Director, who was looking at each dancer with her arms crossed from a distance. The once happy memory now only made her heart ache. The sunken jade-colored eyes stubbornly stared into empty space. Gradually, the arm holding the barre became warmer, and the legs, performing various movements, also warmed up.
Unintentionally, she had immersed herself in practice, and time had flown by. After two hours of practice, as dancers were catching their breath or stretching their legs, the Sub Director, Silvia, stood in the center.
“I have something to announce today.”
* * * *
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