“I knew you’d get the part. It wouldn’t make sense if you didn’t.”
“Oh… thank you.”
“Look at this. There’s also a dismissal notice.”
Emilia glanced at the names of the director, Carlo, and Eva Faber, who had been dismissed for damaging the theater’s reputation and violating internal rules. She read the line stating that the director position would remain vacant for a while and fell into thought.
She couldn’t understand why they had done such things. Even though the director had significant casting authority, unreasonable role assignments would have sparked controversy. Eva’s applied roles hadn’t been particularly controversial.
Were they planning to gradually exploit the director’s power? Or were they just trying to harass her? If it were the latter, it seemed like a pointless endeavor. Emilia tilted her head and looked again at her name next to the role of Effie.
For the ten scheduled performances, she was slated to perform five times. Considering the continuous performance schedule, it was common to cast two or three dancers for a single role, so her schedule seemed to have her performing every other day.
Emilia’s eyes sparkled, but she turned her head at the sound of voices.
“Oh my, isn’t that Eva?”
…Eva? Eva, coming down from the upper floor, looked much worse for wear in just two days. Her face was pale, lips dry and cracked, and dark shadows under her eyes indicated sleepless nights.
‘She probably didn’t meet with the theater director but maybe with the sub director.’
Everyone in the hallway and those coming up the stairs started murmuring at the sight of Eva. Since she had been kicked out on Saturday, no one expected her to come back. It was unusually brazen.
“Why is she here? Doesn’t she know where she is?”
“Did she really think only the director would get fired? She has some nerve. I’d be too ashamed to show my face.”
“If she had any sense, she wouldn’t have done that with the director in the first place. Honestly, I don’t understand why she chose him. She should have aimed for someone higher up. The director’s just a salaried employee, not someone with significant power. Ugh.”
“Maybe they were really in love?”
“Gross, I feel like throwing up.”
The mocking and disdainful voices echoed through the hallway. Eva, who had once been so confident, now flushed with shame under the stares of the crowd, her eyes welling up with tears. Despite seeing her in such a state, Emilia felt no satisfaction, nor did she feel any sympathy.
She should have just stayed away. What lingering attachment brought her here to endure such humiliation? It was pitiful, but Emilia realized that if she were suddenly forced to quit ballet, she might also cling to it miserably, unable to laugh at Eva’s plight.
As more people ascended the central staircase, the mockery grew louder. Surrounded by people in the middle of the hallway, Eva finally couldn’t bear it anymore. She pushed through the crowd and ran toward the emergency staircase.
With a loud slam, the door closed behind her, and the crowd’s interest quickly dissipated. Emilia glanced at the people who resumed looking at the bulletin board as if nothing had happened, then walked toward the dressing room.
‘I’ve delayed too much. I need to warm up quickly.’
As soon as she entered, Emilia changed into her practice clothes and hurried out of the dressing room toward the rehearsal room.
But then, suddenly, she felt a force pulling her from behind. Pulled back abruptly, Emilia didn’t have time to scream before she saw who it was and frowned.
“Eva? What are you doing?”
“Just shut up and follow me!”
Emilia resisted, holding onto the door as she was pulled into the emergency staircase.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Huff—huff—. What did you say?”
“…What?”
“What did you say to the sub director?”
Eva, panting heavily, seemed unable to calm herself and shouted loudly. People who had been watching Emilia being dragged away started to approach in curiosity.
“What do you think I said?”
“Don’t play dumb! You must have said something about me and the director. Otherwise, why would the sub director conclude that the director harassed you because I told him to? Did you run and tattle on me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Anyone could have guessed it from how the director acted towards me during the audition. Do you know how your expression looked that day?”
“How could you know I told him to harass you just from that! It was all the director’s doing!”
“Ha… Is that what’s important right now? It’s all over anyway.”
“They said the bigger issue was that it caused internal discord due to personal feelings. If not for that, I might have been able to stay!”
Eva’s grip loosened, but she didn’t let go of Emilia’s wrist. Emilia, feeling exhausted, closed her eyes and placed her hand on her forehead.
“Eva, stop lying.”
Her eyes, when she opened them again, shone with determination.
“You should have at least controlled your expression when the director was berating me.”
“Th-That was…”
“You just crumbled under your own inferiority complex. Instead of working hard, you were busy trying to keep me down. Everyone could see that.”
“What do you know! I worked hard. I really worked hard! Do you think I came here to get a lecture from you?”
Eva threw Emilia’s wrist away and stomped her feet like a madwoman. She bit her nails anxiously, as if about to lose her mind.
“I can’t go back to that filthy place… not like this…”
Seeing Eva’s fingers starting to bleed from biting them so hard, Emilia frowned slightly.
“Leave before the security drags you out.”
Emilia didn’t want to waste any more energy. She turned her back, rubbing her freed wrist with the other hand. She hadn’t realized how many people had gathered until now. The entrance to the emergency staircase was completely blocked.
“No, Emilia. I was wrong. I’ll apologize, just please speak on my behalf, okay?”
Without any space to escape, Eva grabbed her arm. Swiftly, Emilia shook off Eva’s hand and turned around.
“Why should I?”
“You haven’t lost anything. You’ll continue to do well! So please, just help me… Please…”
“Haven’t lost anything…? What does that have to do with you? Just because you apologize, do I have to forgive you?”
“Th-that’s… I’m just asking for this one favor! I’m begging you!”
“You’re asking for help the wrong way. If you truly regret it, grit your teeth and climb back up from the bottom. Stop relying on others.”
Emilia signaled to the people blocking the way to step aside. As she walked through the quickly parting crowd, Eva’s hysterical screams echoed behind her.
It seemed someone had alerted security because a guard was running up the stairs. Eva’s alternating cries and screams echoed through the hallway for a while.
* * *
“Emilia, I heard Eva came looking for you. Are you okay?”
It was her first time in the sub director’s office. Emilia stood up as Sub Director Silvia approached her, nodding slightly.
“I’m fine.”
“I should have handled it more firmly. I didn’t expect her to go to the practice room.”
“Oh, did she come here first?”
“Yes. She kept avoiding the main issue and wouldn’t accept her dismissal, so I had to give her a more definitive reason. I didn’t expect her to go straight to you. That was my mistake.”
“It’s okay. I was the one who first found her in the emergency staircase anyway. But is this why you called me?”
Silvia hesitated for a moment before gesturing toward the sofa.
“Shall we sit and talk for a bit?”
“Sure.”
“Would you like some tea?”
“No, thank you.”
“Alright. Hmm…”
Silvia, sitting across from Emilia, intertwined her fingers and hesitated with her words. Noticing Silvia’s cautious demeanor, Emilia watched her silently.
“The reason I called you is to talk about the person who helped resolve this issue.”
Someone who helped? But why tell me this? Emilia tilted her head slightly in curiosity.
“I would have preferred to handle it myself, but this person offered their help first. They offered to help remove Director Carlo and support me in becoming the director.”
“……”
“I initially refused, believing that I could eventually rise to the position on my own. But seeing the director’s actions, I decided it was best for the future of the ballet company to remove him as soon as possible.”
“…I see.”
“It’s fair to say that Duke Michele resolved this matter for us.”
“What?”
Did she just say Duke Michele? The Enrico Michele? Emilia blinked in disbelief.
“This year, Duke Michele made a significant donation to the ballet company and made a separate offer to me. He said he understood that I might not be able to get promoted to this position right away because I’m a woman and still too young.”
“Ah…”
“He said he would make the stage director position vacant. At the time, I didn’t know what his intentions were, and I was afraid that if I accepted his help, I would have to do something corrupt at his behest, so I declined.”
* * * *
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