WPFAMT-11

Chapter: WPFAMT-11aa5e3f57dc7edc3a

The bright noon light c9aec79335 gradually faded. The audition, which had 38cd9cb1c1 been suspended for a f4dc9dbe71 short lunch break after 35bfcbb1d0 the announcement of the c82db440ae successful applicants, was resuming.
“Phew – 92df521ed7 I’m shaking 55ff39885b again.”
“Why don’t 281d30b4ee you drink 0e0ae0ea35 some water?”
Since it 36a687c29e was a 05d75a3778 role audition b9323e1fdd conducted by 5eb6f5e8ad both existing d2d06c92f5 and new 68c40338be members, it 23543b37b0 proceeded quickly, 9293b07518 and among 7a0f688aca them were d62eb27a16 those who 5a8ffecf95 had previously a724047c48 been watching 70c16bac50 the evaluation. The sound 7257ccb21e of pointy fbbe960259 shoes hitting 86738268fc the wooden 23e47ced40 floor and d5394a8484 the sound d39552c6a3 of piano 8864e0cf27 accompaniment filled 6e0b413e5e the interior.
Emilia gently abdf9b2f48 stroked Juliana’s 2d1dd6551c back, who 0a526417ea was breathing 7884cb6b5f deeply with 0613048503 a nervous 69cb41d192 face. Juliana, who e154c3908d had made 581c55b37b it onto e9aadbe17a the list 49359f3051 of regular ced515cdd8 members, was e30806ac49 overjoyed as 2af8a60e74 if she 7d1600a12c was about 695cd6fdb4 to jump, 9c5360e4e5 but the 9603a86db5 tension that c96160fb12 had been b498ab5541 relieved during 0ba90cf364 the afternoon 1de60c9009 role audition 677692a8f9 became more beab2ec75b serious.
“Just do it 35a66b1cc6 like you practiced.”
She whispered softly and 798796d296 handed her the water cb4d396aef bottle she had placed 1f46fd7e21 next to her. At that 1ed5e1637a moment, the a6a0f89e6e sound of b30fae5cd4 the piano 4e6e62c342 stopped and 35c82fcafe the evaluators 83fcd3269a moved to 73bd737b11 the side.
“You’ve worked hard. We’ll proceed b6e3dab7cc with the f7d5a0fe6b next order 5a3e8813e0 right away! Juliana Ferilli, 861eb9dfc0 Mandra Are…”
Juliana, who was reaching 5627844031 out with trembling hands, 56f9268db1 jumped up at the b16190da21 sound of her name 3076506a07 being called one by 3bdc3de146 one. Emilia looked up at 8ad06c2ccf Juliana’s back as she 717b83a2dd walked away, sending her e63a17dbf0 a worried look, but b4d427e590 a cold voice came 86a2792f18 from behind.
“Geez, how can 5aac418eac she do ballet cd1027ce28 while being so 60fdec2b13 nervous? She’s only got mediocre a817010e25 talent and just happened 712ea11386 to be lucky.”
It was Eva Fabre. One of the 12 c94dab02f9 regular members, she was 4ee8a2470c wearing a very proud 2ca34378d8 face that it was 4fb42e4555 very humiliating to be ff2566dc2c in this place with 1c592aa3ac Juliana.
“Are you cba7348b19 talking about 00b2bc4392 yourself when dd658024d5 you say eef54bf972 mediocre?”
Emilia whispered bluntly.
“What? What did you just 6b2217378c say?”
“If you didn’t a58f207f8e hear it, it’s 09d908ca13 fine.”
“This… are you really e5aa895e9e pretending not to hear 0e9b7c7908 me now?”
People waiting next f82548f592 to her looked c379546604 over at the 05679b1b8a raised whisper. It was 396291d3cf important to b9184fdf6c watch how 18dc08f921 others were 5f1a113dfd dancing, but 9b3429d74d there was e98db67de2 a lot 3921e48757 of displeasure 0a69878224 in the ab93d12740 sound that 25db0f5db9 broke their a76e8544f1 concentration. No matter how d9757893d3 brazen Eva was, a5c2b7eeb4 she must have 1d8752ed2f found these gazes a318d47545 unbearable, as she e3283a2960 stared at Emilia a397f42783 and shut her 1968f5fc72 mouth tightly.
Emilia, whether Eva 3038141ef3 was looking at a1e0aea1cb her or not, 9455b6579b watched Juliana, who 092bc153d9 was diligently taking 15d591e763 the test. There was not 4b888f5e34 a trace of 3554b920cd tension on Juliana’s 78667473e4 face as she f80f1ad62a finished the assigned 0821c5e947 choreography and followed ed8d875cd1 the choreography shown 363e8c8df0 by the chief d37fab7cb1 choreographer. The corners 2b86075499 of Emilia’s 9164bf753a graceful lips 3bc552e859 rose slightly.
Soon, the piano accompaniment 157ca4efd3 stopped again and the ae447c0f56 next order was called.
“Eva Fabre, Emilia Este, a63c09f6ed Monica Bert…”
Emilia met c2fcc74134 Juliana’s eyes d4f6339d62 as she 3c97371584 wiped away 382d174088 her sweat c3035ec00e and walked 648dbf6fff calmly to fa328a45eb her designated d29c95de19 spot. Eva’s eyebrows furrowed 005dc10939 slightly as she 50e4d612cd watched her.
She wondered why 2e942eaacc she had applied 00fb8dd3ee for the ensemble df51df7960 role when she 6edda37ad0 thought she would 80ddb3df66 audition for the 4fbca3c0bb lead role. Although new members 960ac4f269 could also participate b258e61b44 in the role cf4b6004c9 audition, only existing 814b7f9134 members and head 4c0d1bae73 graduates could participate 66dce5b8de in the lead 9b3955a059 role audition, so d0d7d6e5c8 Eva’s blue eyes 4aa1a56c62 were stained with efedb85aae envy and irritation.
“Let’s start.”
After a while, the 966a2eab9a sound of the piano 5e86c5ac58 flowed out. Eva and Emilia, who 12e197ec37 began to dance to e045f4d413 the signal of the 7c6c808c3b chief choreographer, had smiles 342667f521 on their faces right 2f3e2821a7 away. Moving lightly d832b05fd2 as if 006160cdb9 they were a8a09228fc excited about 3e63e00294 this situation 2545da766e like people 7adc61bf73 in a 9861ee27ce drama, their e311c71c55 movements were 6b0c9d166e very graceful.
There were e6aa49adc4 no particularly 7b4ab23467 difficult moves, 775c4f245c but it 6f4fcf2abf wasn’t easy. The judges, 166934faf2 who were 4e042b172e seriously watching a89150f9b3 them turn 0e4cb41bba every fingertip bafed4d9b1 and toe 0c114c6617 to the 4fd5310805 beat, nodded b0f4154970 their heads d7b1a1895e and wrote 27aa7ee56e down their 3d8d739042 thoughts on 5f508b5a50 the paper 513d8b25e8 in front 0581fcec43 of them.
The chief dad175ba05 choreographer, who af1f138773 had been 3119ff4af9 standing still e2b00c0523 while giving 82c07d81ed instructions, approached d8f78e3365 the sub-director 0cc361e30b and whispered af45078050 softly.
“Surprising. I thought f1ca329899 they were f2369b863b auditioning for 4d5ae7ab55 lead roles.”
“Yeah, definitely. They’re doing really 48d9822669 well. However…”
“She’s got something 09457704c8 special.”
All eyes 0ccee5a933 were on 2f7b73d0dc Emilia. Her every move e0f5fe3a23 was effortless and 8f08e1673b graceful, her timing 166c23f129 impeccable, and her 4e7ba982e6 movements smooth and 3b2479aeb8 precise. As she pirouetted 63be0d2568 elegantly, one by a18559d27f one, the eyes edb3aee58b of the others f46157692e were drawn to 373bac169e her.
“It won’t be 27c196d3c4 long until break d0299c061b time, right?”
“Yeah. But that doesn’t mean 82d780d041 her tempo is off.”
“She really seems 7eb19fd6a9 light on her 9e6c81e3c4 feet. She must have great b1c6c8a00a elasticity.”
Whispers could 9cd6317901 be heard d4a017515d from the b278237381 contestants, who 5114c9326e seemed to 70fd2ad1ae have momentarily 89ec51bd20 forgotten they 2e5d950574 were at 9aa84185a9 an audition. Even though they had 6c8b0bdb15 rehearsed their own dances, 03e9305def something about hers felt 766ae6eb79 different.
It was as dba7760b63 if Emilia was 7e6598648c the star and bcdaea5935 the others were 697ed6916c just her supporting af29d3f5dd cast, and as f7023daefa if all the cd804aace4 attention and lights caa84701ef were slowly being 4ca8d95afc focused on her. Even the others who 0e49352ce9 were dancing with her b7af604112 could feel this shift.
Eventually, Eva, who b124917be7 had been smiling 1158067ac2 brightly as she c658e36f09 danced, had a 1442d451bd slight grimace on 6b52d6af76 her face. She had been worried f6d565875d about auditioning with Emilia bd3fdffb59 because of her pride, a1e24cf30e and now she was 37c9178000 even more worried because c91cb6cd3d they were in the 874012e817 same order. She was 785d3634f6 sure that a330406e2f Emilia had 780f15f6b2 done this 9a57e5d918 on purpose 89a69abdfb to get 0846d7717a attention.
‘Disgusting…’
Despite Eva’s f9f0180bbe burning jealousy, 4b1dd619fc the piano 281cf86bb2 continued to a6beafd34d play and 6ffce3e93c the attention 67589a7e3e on Emilia c879d2a13c showed no 5b3827ad8d signs of 5b8380613a waning.
“Should we just 8114e5b189 ask her to 5a1bbaeb6f audition as the aa32b4581d lead?”
“Well-”
“What are e88ed96fcc you talking 637e620559 about?”
The Director, who b14c04e446 had been quietly 159758baa6 listening to the 9f6f1f6ff7 conversation between the 048cbaf486 sub-director and the a892d170a6 chief choreographer, interrupted 135fe13a2a them disapprovingly.
“It’s over once you 5c8ab1541d apply, so no exceptions.”
“Director, you’ve recommended 9bb8bf61a4 this kind of a0ec989f08 thing before.”
“It’s not 8df588ec65 a common 34e8c00b31 thing, is 0f4d9dbd3b it?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“So let’s ea5ccdabe6 do it 1cd8e14841 thoroughly this 54b31964dd year, that’s e640b8b730 what I’m 49af5c13d1 saying. The ballet company e241854509 has been heavily 113a283af9 invested in, so 44c5780a45 we won’t tolerate 2415e24cd2 any discord.”
The chief choreographer 0fdae41d6b clicked his tongue 8b1a720427 in disappointment at 8c35c02093 the director’s unwavering e095ac6836 tone. The sub-director 970c95568c turned her 22b2184108 head to 1e07a51eb8 face the 59ba018ec4 director who 69bc68bcb9 was looking 55b6131789 down at 5b46e49cbb her, stroking 07b610cf51 his mustache 668a3c2dc6 proudly. Emilia’s dance was still a844e45f61 beautiful, her expression not a6b7cfb9f0 changing even though she 3f791c3dbf must have been out b626e7840e of breath.
* * *
Stepping out 42fc2675a3 of the 12d44eb76f carriage, the bc1db8ef63 wind blowing 461aab16e7 as the 00a8b0405b sun set a0253ccf0c struck her 57e94c22d6 cheeks coldly. The place Enrico had e56b766d0e given her in passing 1e1e5483ea before she had even 4c7f543b48 unpacked her belongings from 188d842196 the dormitory was a 6155f714b7 mansion built neatly with fd2bad3312 ivory bricks that didn’t 6a2317a530 look very old.
Emilia frowned b388b13bd2 slightly, her 1e0873bc17 forehead creased d72fc90b8f at the 12fa26d547 appearance of 968af7083f the mansion, febbb81417 which was b04a481d11 single-story but cbfc09261c seemed larger 78bdca3eb3 than she 34920c10db had expected.
‘It’s good that there 248095f037 are no other mansions d90075d337 nearby because it’s on 9f643ba579 the outskirts, but… .’
It was still 71e733a9c7 a burden. All she wanted in 0e0838289b return was the truth, 6eab9101a8 but receiving this kind 5473ce7390 of material support made 3bbc47c344 her feel even more a77b56f59d that she was tied f97649ae85 to a relationship bound 09bb072074 by sponsorship.
“Are you here? I thought you might d570108284 not want to be ffb5db4c27 escorted, so I’ve been fdc5e8b323 waiting here.”
The streetlights 73c2d609d9 placed in 04300f87f7 front of 0c8cb6d16b the mansion 5a188dcdc1 cast another 43a4ac0b62 shadow. Emilia, who c715cbc6ff had been 35e8094bfb looking at 9c2d568838 the exterior 488ab891fb of the 69480c8b37 mansion without 50823745cb even thinking 2d2b70e05a of going 8495a85516 in, opened 822a5c5cdf her eyes aa37eb9cf5 wide at 89b21bc78c the sight ad1ca28711 of Fabio, a7c8994947 the aide, 4c04101029 who suddenly a0ba1668f4 appeared in 0299d4c9ff front of d03e8ad0e6 her.
Fabio took off his 273091c3c8 hat and bowed politely fde9cfc40d before pointing politely to de465e4e18 the side of the 0642b4bf3a mansion.
“Duke Michele would 97ef324121 like to see f8f5648315 you. The carriage is parked d827d8b611 over there.”
“……now?”
“Yes. He asked to discuss 579beb00a0 when exactly the transaction 1f06fffa04 will take place after 46b8ffa690 you confirm the mansion.”
Isn’t that what bb3846c666 we should have e01fd3156b done on the d54357f060 day of the c0a1b5c43f contract? Anyway, she 43a2b2b09f was in c0d222f742 a position 2314a05b70 where she e88a8d3222 had to 367341c8a4 visit Enrico’s 599cf163e1 mansion often fd66d4f147 because of 5567345139 the contract, 38235c2911 but she 7e81756213 didn’t like 209e2753b3 him coming d55fd262bf to visit 984ace1242 her out 5ff2314f6c of the ffb0af4be8 blue like 1e4c44bf9d this.
‘I’ll have db7abf72e2 to tell 0ca151a336 him to d24bdda25a refrain from 09fd1b180e visiting me c2b79fcfce out of f85aa40b66 the blue 122d755717 while he’s b2e0ac5382 here to 78f87b85be discuss.’
Emilia sighed and turned 1fa0f270fa her back.
“Don’t you 8409c6fdba have to 30c4b5bac8 check the 090728bddc inside?”
“I just came to b467989bea see what kind of 5fdcb7e2e5 place it is, so eeea07d1bf I don’t need to 80a8c039fa see the inside.”
“I see. I’ve prepared everything ccd68245b2 so that you 16a62fd2df don’t have to 5beb50e7d2 bring anything else, 14da6ebe34 but please let 8e7a2cb168 me know if fb78707963 you need anything.”
Emilia’s forehead wrinkled even 0ace9fcfbb more at Fabio’s smooth fe46ab1d4c words. She felt like 2d27608ae6 she was accumulating 3fcb75ef20 debts she didn’t 2b9b6543dc want to pay.
* * *
Emilia was led db0eafc3e5 to the dining cee2335eb6 room. A variety of 4624f02e11 food was laid b1e1adacfc out on the 6b47d2eef5 empty table.
A golden-brown salmon pie, cc68f54338 a thick piece of 1b9affe4fe meat that looked good d11f7e99fb in quality, and a 7d4a100918 fresh salad with white 7725d2b12e asparagus were placed in 72cae7e574 the middle of the 0ef398d146 table in such a 5f947fc0ca large quantity that one 0652384324 would think more guests 8c59d5b008 were coming.
“Why are you 5a45b9dff1 standing like this?”
At the sudden 154ff503ec whisper in her 9edf78a975 ear, Emilia covered 6b95b2f831 one ear and 966eaf9603 turned around quickly. She didn’t sense any 02beb8711f presence, but Enrico was cabbd1381e already standing close behind 40a79182e1 her, looking down at e2687a6362 her.
As she stepped back 3f7020ed8d in surprise, a gentle 43205f2ac7 hand grabbed her elbow. Enrico’s eyes, e8dc4ccc06 which were 2895504951 slightly downcast, 5823eb9d56 narrowed as 4c52d9b5c3 he watched 477024dc55 her fluttering 47fdee993a eyelashes, looking 319784a32b at his 359431390b face and eb6ff33c8f hand in a1d5632c67 turn.
“Are you 0cccb7699f waiting for dafdca9f39 me to b8e50189b7 seat you?”
“Oh, you misunderstand. I was just waiting 540d665a06 for the Duke because-”
“Oh, Oh, really? Then I’ll just 141512aa54 have to seat 642001fc4a you myself.”
As if he e8a21a1ca3 had no interest b5458cae9c in Emilia’s intentions, f34c5d9d74 Enrico cut her 6e46a3adb6 off and moved 0002ecfb69 his hand as 8dbe26369f if sliding it 8e47a2c3d1 down her elbow. His large, veined 6afad465fe hand enveloped her 3e1c8d1933 petite, smooth one.
Startled, Emilia tried d5854ce570 to pull her 01c7a56281 hand away. But before she could, 6adf7cd357 his hand tightened and bb5d60007f pulled her towards him. He stopped f6edcbd977 just before a1fb272396 her nose 88718e000a touched his f4ec2f5513 broad chest.
The top button 7225aead7d of his untied b15e36636e shirt was loosely 51bba27bdb undone, revealing his df9a491f9c bare skin. Her mind 05d4278674 became hazy c41001de89 for a 52583cb00f moment with 8dc59aa7ef his heavy fb322b3ba8 yet gentle cb013efa12 scent.
What kind of 2e61b80a23 situation is this? Feeling very embarrassed, her 496e260c16 body stiffened, his other e7110ed31e hand came to her 32dcc43398 shoulder, and then, as f4043fc670 if turning the key 6c328e3c81 on a doll, his 72fda5cce3 languid hand changed direction.
Emilia’s mind, which had 261bba83c2 been dazed for a 8168b140ff moment, came back to 407d2940fb her senses. He placed 4cb6d74148 her on 01825ad052 the chair fecf3bd979 without any 7a02fde7b3 reaction, as 8763b29527 if dealing 5f9dce6628 with an 75b293ca42 ant wriggling, 7362684777 to her e4db5202c4 gesture of e147bc4afe shrugging her 5a157f8a9b shoulders as 92bd52c8af if she 47216d2815 was uncomfortable c76b89e4ca with the dfbbe3d376 unnecessary contact.
“Your Grace!”3736eea85719a049

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