The corridor was filled with the sound of footsteps for a while. The employee who stopped in front of the booked room soon opened the door and pointed politely inside with his hand.
As she entered the room, her hand, which had been held in his, was finally released.
“Stop worrying about useless rumors and take off that annoying hood.”
Enrico said casually as he took off his coat upon entering the assigned room. The employee who took the coat nodded in agreement, looking at Emilia.
“We operate on a strict membership basis and never disclose anything that happens inside. You can be at ease.”
After hesitating for a moment, Emilia took off her hooded coat and handed it to the employee. The employee really didn’t seem to care about the mysterious woman who had come with Enrico. He simply hung the coat on the hanger with a face focused on his work, greeted them, and left the room to prepare the ordered meal.
The door closed and there was a moment of silence. Emilia looked around casually, avoiding Enrico’s gaze, who was sitting across from her and staring at her intently.
The three-story building was divided into individual rooms, not as large as the dining room of the Duke’s mansion, but still quite spacious.
Beyond the arched window opposite the entrance, a narrow river flowed and behind it a forest of trees stretched out. The branches, which were spending the winter, were still bare, but the ripples of water sparkling in the sunlight flowed undisturbed.
“The doctor is scheduled to visit in the afternoon, right?”
It was as she was gazing at the meandering water like that. She blinked at the soft question and then looked up at Enrico.
“……Yes.”
“Make sure to mention anything that seems off, so it doesn’t become a bigger issue later.”
His words, following his earlier statement, seemed like concern disguised as supervision. Emilia nodded obediently, perceiving his intent to check for any flaws.
Just then, the employee returned quickly. Her eyes darkened as she watched the food being served on the table in an instant.
Despite the stimulating smell, she didn’t feel like eating. It was understandable to have a meal together after finishing her schedule at the duke’s mansion, but she felt her mouth go dry at the thought of facing him and eating breakfast this way on a weekend morning.
It’s true that it was common for patrons and their protégés to share meals, but they aren’t in that kind of ordinary relationship to begin with.
‘It’s my fault. If I had only taken care of my body properly, the schedule wouldn’t have been canceled….’
From Enrico’s point of view, who pursues perfection, seeing someone who looks even a little unwell on stage could be considered a waste of time, so the cancellation was understandable.
The problem is that he’s using that as an excuse to create this awkward situation, as if he’s trying to get compensation.
Since Enrico didn’t talk while eating, the only sounds for a while were from the tableware. He didn’t speak until the courses were completed and dessert was served, just like last time.
“How was the audition?”
He asked languidly, looking down at his wine glass. His lazy eyes slowly turned towards Emilia.
“Even with that incident, you would have finished it, right?”
“Yes. It was the same as usual.”
“What do you mean by usual?”
“…I mean that I conducted the audition as I always do.”
She couldn’t understand why he was asking, as he probably knew everything, possibly even the casting results. Emilia responded blandly, wishing he would finish his meal and go home as soon as possible.
“Ah- so you applied for a supporting role in the audition like last time.”
He didn’t seem like he was going to end this conversation easily. The water in her hand stopped as she felt his tone, which was subtly sharp.
“Effie also plays an important role.”
“Oh, so you applied for that role because I didn’t specify the lead role?”
“You’ve seen Silphi a lot, and I thought you might want to see other roles too.”
He put on a loose smile and squinted his eyes politely. As if he was wondering what to do with this, she blinked her eyes, trying to stay calm.
“What an unfathomable woman. You turn your eyes on fire for useless things, and then you act meekly in unexpected places.”
The slightly drooping eyes under the many eyebrows gave off a strange aura. Even when he smiled and spoke softly, he didn’t look kind at all. On the contrary, the arrogance that always hung in his eyes was not hidden, perhaps because of the underlying intimidation.
Enrico, who had swallowed the rest of the red wine into his throat, muttered in a dry tone.
“Well, other roles are interesting, indeed.”
“……”
“But is that all?”
Perhaps he had sensed her desire to avoid drawing attention by not being ambitious. Sensing his probing words, she kept her lips tightly sealed.
“From now on, always bring the lead role. I prefer to see you dancing on my stage, but you were quite beautiful shining on the big stage too.”
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be interested in hearing an answer. He was simply showing a clear purpose in his interests.
She hesitated, fearing the trouble it would cause if she didn’t land the lead role after prematurely promising. As he gazed steadily at her hesitation, he added casually.
“If you bring the lead role, I’ll give you a reward.”
“A reward? Ah… if it’s jewelry, I’m fine without it.”
“No, I mean I’ll give you some evidence.”
“… Evidence? Really?”
“Yeah.”
There was no need to think about it. Emilia immediately nodded.
“I’ll try. Please keep your promise.”
“Now you look like you have some motivation. I was thinking about breaking the contract if you kept looking depressed, but that’s a relief.”
Her eyes flinched. Unlike his gentle voice, his intense gaze was staring at her as if to pierce her.
“I’m generous towards beautiful things, but there’s a limit. If you don’t want to test my patience, it’s better to comply moderately.”
She lowered her eyes and remained silent. Sensing her compliance, he poured more red wine into his empty glass and continued.
“Is next week the fifth performance?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a shame I’ll have to borrow the reward for a week.”
“……”
“Emilia. Can I tell you the reward in advance?”
She didn’t understand for a moment. Tell her the reward? Now? Emilia looked up at him.
“You were curious, weren’t you?”
“That’s true, but… why are you suddenly trying to tell me now?”
“Well, because I want to?”
She shook her head as she watched him absentmindedly twirl his wine glass. She was reluctant to accept this kindness out of the blue, even though it was a little bit of a favor, because she thought he might make an unreasonable request later on.
“It’s okay if I don’t know in advance. Even if I know sooner, there wouldn’t be anything I could do immediately.”
“There might be something. Think carefully.”
“…What do you mean?”
His eyes lit up with interest.
“You might be able to meet someone suspicious.”
Someone suspicious? Her eyes widened.
* * *
She didn’t know how yesterday had passed. Although Enrico had left immediately after dropping her off at home, he lingered in Emilia’s mind until morning.
As she slowly climbed the stairs of the opera house, she mulled over his words again.
‘Your parents invested in the automobile business from the start. As a result, their investment shares increased significantly. The problem arose when someone found out about this investment later and became unhappy with the shares.’
‘Who exactly is that?’
‘Count Sebas Vallemont.’
‘Vallemont…?’
She had heard of him somewhere before. After thinking about it all night, she remembered that last year, he was the old man who took a ballerina named Clarice as his mistress, causing much gossip among the dancers.
‘The Count, aiming for a monopoly, frequently demanded that Viscount Este transfer all his shares to him. When I checked the current shares in the automobile business, it was revealed that a large amount of investment wasn’t under Viscount Este but was listed as anonymous.’
‘Not under my father’s name?’
‘It seems there are more people connected than you thought. The more I investigate, the more layers I uncover.’
‘Sigh…’
‘Well, then, there’s an opportunity to meet Count Vallemont. Would you like to come with me?’
The fact that Count Vallemont had clashed with her father was news to her, likely because it happened when she was very young. But even more surprising was Enrico’s suggestion to attend a masquerade ball together.
Saying that wearing a mask would lessen her exposure and make her feel less burdened. He encouraged her to take this chance to see for herself what kind of person Count Valemont was, his words felt like the whisper of a devil.
In reality, even if she went and saw Count Vallemont, there wasn’t anything she could do immediately, nor could she extract information from him through conversation. Yet, the urge to quickly see his face made her decide to go to the ball with Enrico.
By the time she reached the third floor, she saw a small group of people gathered in front of the central bulletin board.
‘Oh, right. Today’s the announcement day.’
Normally, there would be no one around at this hour, but it seemed they had come early because of the audition results. Forgetting this due to her preoccupation, Emilia slowly rubbed her tired forehead and approached the bulletin board.
“Oh, Emilia. You’re here? Congratulations on being chosen for the role of Effie.”
* * * *
If you want to support the Translator, Translator’s Ko-Fi:
