Enrico slowly rose from his seat.
He walked around the table and stood next to Christina, placing one hand on the table and slightly leaning his upper body forward. Christina’s body trembled with fear under the shadow that grew closer.
“I-I was wrong. I really was wrong. I’ll kneel and apologize to Emilia. I’ll take all the beating you want! Ugh—!”
“Do you think this is child’s play? Even if you offered your life, which is worth less than that of a fly, forgiveness would be out of the question, and you think just kneeling will do?”
Enrico grabbed Christina’s hair and yanked it. Her head was pulled up violently with pain so intense it felt as if her hair was being ripped out.
Christina wanted to close her eyes at the gaze bearing down on her like it would crush her. His emotionless violet eyes harbored a cruelty that made it seem like he could snap her neck at any moment without hesitation.
“…P-Please, spare me. Please, have mercy. Please… sob, sob…”
“I actually debated killing you on the spot.”
Enrico whispered in a low, rasping voice. Christina sobbed, her neck trembling as it painfully bent further back.
“But I figured it would be better to let you live and show you that living can be more painful than death.”
Thud. He released her hair as though brushing off filth, causing her head to snap forward. Christina stayed bent over, barely managing shallow breaths like someone frozen in place.
Enrico turned around slowly, removing his gloves at an unhurried pace with a calm expression, as if nothing had happened.
“Oh, right. Since this is the end, let me tell you why Peter Pureto confessed everything.”
She had been hoping he would leave quickly, but the word “end” made it strangely sound more terrifying. Christina looked at his feet with trembling eyes as he turned back toward her.
“He said you made him a ridiculous promise—that you’d meet him if everything went well…”
Thud. One of his black gloves fell near her feet. As if to show her situation, his merciless action of discarding it made her slowly lift her head.
“Even that guy who claimed to love you so much ultimately seemed to care more about his own life.”
“…Yes?”
“He spilled everything about you easily at the mere mention of the word ‘execution,’ without needing to do anything.”
Christina’s eyes widened, and the face of Enrico, whose lips curled into a slight sneer, was reflected in her violently shaking yellow irises.
She had given this pathetic bastard, who had been annoyingly chasing after her for so long, claiming that she was all he cared about and that he would do anything for her, just one chance, only once.
And yet,
How dare he… How dare he…
Crimson veins rose in Christina’s eyes, and the tears she had been continuously shedding began to pool and trickle down, looking almost like blood.
“You’ll never be the best, no matter where you go.”
As he discarded the last glove, thud, the sound felt like her heart had dropped to the floor. Christina’s frantic, shallow breaths suddenly stopped as if every function in her body had ceased.
Those words, more than anything else she had heard, struck her deeply. It felt like she had become something even less significant than the discarded gloves.
No matter how hard she tried, no matter what she did, the words sounded like she would never achieve what she wanted, reflecting her true situation.
No matter how much she struggled, those words, which sounded as if her existence was no different from Peter, whom she had so mercilessly ignored, cruelly slaughtered her heart, as if she had become nothing.
“Do your best at the labor camp. I made sure to leave some special instructions for you.”
Enrico’s voice was flat as he turned the doorknob. As the door opened, a brief sliver of light entered the room, but as soon as his fearful figure disappeared, a chilling darkness immediately followed.
Outside, as Enrico stepped into the corridor, Inspector Raid, who had been waiting near the door, bowed his head respectfully.
Enrico gave him a slight nod and slowly stepped forward. Then, behind him, through the door, he leisurely heard the sound of anguished screams and a heavy thud, as if something—or someone—was being struck.
“Aaaahhhh—!”
“Hey! Stop it, right now!”
Unlike Inspector Raid, who rushed to open the door, Enrico’s expression remained serene as he exited the building, as though nothing had happened.
* * *
A breeze occasionally tapped against the half-drawn satin curtains, flowing into the room. Emilia quietly watched the blue curtains ripple like waves before lowering her legs from the bed.
When she carefully stepped down, her right ankle still throbbed slightly.
It felt similar to the symptoms that appeared when she overexerted herself, leading her to roughly guess that it hadn’t worsened. Once the swelling subsided, it usually didn’t affect her ability to dance.
Relieved that it wasn’t a major injury, Emilia let out a breath of relief. Spending most of her time in bed, aside from bathing or eating, had left her body aching more from boredom than pain.
The pain in her arm had also subsided compared to the first day, and it was no longer immobilizing. Thankfully, it was only a tear and nothing worse.
“Why are you up?”
The door suddenly burst open. Emilia’s gaze, which had been fixed on her feet, snapped upward. There stood Enrico, slightly furrowing his brows as he looked at her.
“Ah…”
Emilia hurriedly searched for her slippers and slipped her feet into them. As she did, a slight pressure on her ankle caused a brief moment of pain. She stumbled, trying to regain her balance on her other foot, but the hand that grabbed her waist was quicker.
“What are you doing? I told you not to get up.”
“…I felt suffocated. I just wanted to sit by the window for a bit.”
“Then I’ll open the window wider for you.”
Fortunately, Enrico didn’t seem to notice her ankle or react to it. His hand remained on her waist, as though more concerned about her movements than anything else.
“No, I just wanted to sit in a chair for a while. But my robe…”
Enrico looked down at her silently before lowering his other arm toward her legs. As he suddenly bent down, she looked at him with startled eyes, only for her body to freeze as he lifted her up effortlessly.
He carried her without a word. The entire way to the table by the window, she couldn’t say anything either. She merely opened and closed her mouth slightly, and it wasn’t until he set her down on the chair that her dazed mind snapped back to reality.
Her face grew hot belatedly.
When dancing, she had no problem engaging in physical contact with ballerinos or being lifted into the air, but just being held by Enrico made her heart race as if it were broken.
‘You’re really insane, Emilia.’
As her heart suddenly began pounding like crazy, she squeezed her eyes shut and scolded herself inwardly, as if reprimanding someone else.
This kindness was something he could easily end one day without warning. If she kept letting her emotions sway her like this, there would be no end to it.
If he found out, he would either use it as leverage to manipulate her further or discard her for being a nuisance. It was bound to be one of the two.
Emilia sat in the chair, taking a deep breath to calm herself before opening her eyes.
“Here’s your robe. Ah, should I have helped you put it on before you sat down?”
“No! It’s fine…”
In the meantime, he returned with a robe that had been hanging somewhere and draped it over her shoulders. A white robe adorned with large flowers rested lightly against her.
“Thank you.”
At her soft words, he gave a small nod before sitting beside her rather than across the table. Somehow, he had already brought over a chair and was sitting naturally in the middle of the table, quietly looking down at her.
The gentle breeze tousled his slightly damp hair.
‘…He’s already showered?’
As soon as she opened her eyes in the morning, Zavetta, without being asked, mentioned Enrico, saying that he had gone out early and explained why he hadn’t come to see her.
At the time, she thought he must be busy, but then she remembered his words from earlier, saying he would come in the morning.
Maybe he did have an unexpectedly considerate side when it came to sick people.
Emilia tried not to take his kindness at face value, putting in an effort
And now, seeing him come in such a simple form, wearing a white shirt and black pants, she swallowed a dry breath, thinking that he must just have something to say.
‘But he came back early. It’s only just past lunchtime.’
Another breeze blew in. This time, it was a pleasant breeze mixed with the scent of sunlight and bushes. Emilia tucked the slightly swaying hair behind her ear and looked out the window.
In the distance, a large fountain was dazzlingly spraying water, as if scattering bright light.
Enrico, who had been quietly staring at Emilia’s soft-looking cheek and fluttering eyelashes, slowly opened his mouth.
“You didn’t eat much for lunch.”
Her eyes turned toward him again. A sense of inexplicable satisfaction spread deep inside her chest, and the corners of his mouth, which had been slightly stiff, loosened.
“I didn’t get hungry since I’ve been just staying in the room. I should move around more…”
“You’ve moved around a lot so far, so think of this as a chance to rest a little.”
“Still, though. Ah, what happened with the performance?”
“It was canceled, and the culprit was caught.”
“…What? The culprit?”
At the unexpected news, Emilia straightened up. Her upper body even leaned slightly toward him, prompting him to gently place a hand on her shoulder, as if to calm her.
His hand, which had rested on her rounded shoulder, smoothly slid down and stopped just above her elbow.
“Yeah.”
Enrico stayed still like that for a moment before very slowly dropping his hand. Emilia’s gaze briefly brushed over that hand, but as if she had urgent words to spill out, she immediately spoke.
“How did they catch them in just one day? Who did it?”
“Just as you suspected—it was Christina Firdana’s doing.”
* * * *
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