The red curtain fell, and the noisy performance hall seats suddenly quieted.

The opera performance was an adaptation of the famous novel “Daddy-Long-Legs.”

The anecdote of Duke and Duchess Seyfried played the biggest role in making this novel and various other performances and exhibitions famous.

Of all things, “Daddy-Long-Legs.”

Daphne regretted not checking the performance content properly beforehand. But it was already too late.

Act 1 began. Jerusha struggled through life at the orphanage, gazing out the window and singing about her dream of going out into the world.

“What lies beyond? If I cross over the wall, that place will be full of freedom and light!”

Daphne listened to the singer’s beautiful melody and thought.

She too once dreamed like that.

The father who sold her out, and the terrible Count and Countess who harassed and exploited her.

She had no doubt that freedom and light would fill her life once she escaped from them.

But there was no paradise where she fled.

“Thank you, Daddy-Long-Legs! I will never forget the grace you’ve given me. Now I can become someone too!”

Once, she too thought like Jerusha. That she could now become someone.

But it wasn’t true. Astaire had merely bought her. And in exchange for clearing her debt, she had to give up so much.

The hand she grasped was never a savior’s hand.

Act 2 consisted of letters exchanged between Jerusha and her sponsor, Daddy-Long-Legs. The stage background changed to university lecture halls and libraries to match the letter contents. 

Jerusha conversed happily with friends and sang brightly and cheerfully.

“Who could it be, my Daddy-Long-Legs! What kind of person are you?”

As the performance entered its middle section, Jerusha grew curious about the Daddy-Long-Legs who secretly sponsored her from behind.

“You must be a good person! Will I be able to meet you someday?”

Reality and fiction are different.

Astaire was never a good person.

He only bought her out of necessity. Likewise, she just needed to move according to her purpose. That should have been enough. Yet foolishly, she hoped for love from Astaire, and was hurt because of it.

“Jerusha, I am your Daddy-Long-Legs.”

“Jervis, you were that person!”

Finally, the sponsor’s identity was revealed. All the audience members in the hall gasped. At the end, Jerusha and Jervis held hands and danced, singing about how they loved each other.

Clap clap clap!

And so the male and female leads lived happily ever after, the ending concluded. As the moving harmony rang out, some audience members even shed tears.

Daphne watched the performance from beginning to end with utterly dry eyes. Astaire was the same.

The performance was predictable through and through. Daphne barely managed to suppress a yawn that almost escaped midway.

“It’s over now. Let’s go.”

Astaire took Daphne’s hand and pulled her to her feet. Daphne suppressed the urge to shake off his hand.

Now it begins.

The opera’s stage had ended, but from now on, Daphne’s stage rises.

Daphne only thought about separating herself from Astaire somehow. She had to execute her plan to meet the Grand Duchess’s servant that Ada connected her with, receive the money, and divorce safely.

The dream she wanted lay right before her eyes. Daphne never wanted to miss this opportunity.

“Honey?”

Astaire raised his eyebrows, looking at Daphne who remained still. Daphne quickly erased her expression, patted down her dress, and said.

“I’ll go to the powder room for a moment. Before we go outside.”

“Go ahead.”

Astaire let Daphne go without any suspicion.

He probably doesn’t even know what he’s done with his own hands.

Daphne smiled coldly and headed to the powder room. After roughly heading in that direction, she soon moved in the opposite direction at a fork in the path.

The path was filled with dazzlingly bright light. But the further she walked, the thicker the darkness grew like fog.

It was dark enough that she could barely see ahead.

Her well-dressed gown clashed terribly with the current atmosphere.

Daphne walked quietly, pulling up her dress hem above her ankles to avoid detection.

How long had she walked like that?

She saw someone wearing a robe up ahead.

Daphne instinctively realized that person was “that person” Ada mentioned.

The Grand Duchess’s person.

“…Perhaps?”

Daphne approached and quietly left the question hanging.

She couldn’t see the face properly. She could only guess from the build that it was a small woman.

The woman nodded her head slightly. It meant Daphne’s assumption was correct.

Daphne handed the woman the letter she had prepared in advance.

Inside was written the exact amount of debt she owed Astaire.

If that amount of debt was cleared, she could divorce him according to the marriage contract with Astaire.

That amount was roughly equivalent to five mansions in the capital’s wealthy district plus one year’s wages for the servants attached to them. Even for Daphne, who had encountered large sums in the ledgers as a duchess, it was a hand-trembling amount.

She couldn’t bring herself to ask the Grand Duchess for this much money. But she knew that for the Grand Duchess of House Seyfried, that amount wasn’t much of a burden.

That was precisely the difference between herself and them.

A fallen noble by birth, once wealthy enough to buy a noble title with money. Currently, her father had lost everything to gambling. But that was now a meaningless past.

And between the Duke Seyfried family, who had possessed wealth, honor, and everything since the founding of the Avont Empire, and herself.

No matter how they were connected through marriage, there still existed an insurmountable wall between them.

That’s what status was, what bloodline meant.

When her thoughts reached that point, her mouth tasted bitter.

“The Madam says she will contact you within a week. We will inform you of the detailed meeting location and time through Ada.”

Daphne nodded silently.

The woman gave Daphne nothing. They only communicated through words. In fact, if any trace remained with her, whether a letter or anything else, it would only increase the chances of getting caught.

So Daphne had no particular complaints.

“I should go now. I think I need to leave quickly.”

“Yes. Please do.”

The woman seemed to understand well why Daphne was in such a hurry.

Daphne was about to turn around.

Just then, the woman spoke once more from behind.

“Be careful.”

“…”

“There aren’t many opportunities. I know the Duke too. He’s… a dangerous person.”

Astaire is a dangerous man.

Daphne knew that well too.

Daphne nodded to convey her thanks for the concern.

Until she returned to the bright Metropolitan Theater’s powder room, she quickened her steps a bit more.

The moment she entered, she ran into a maid from the ducal household. Her heart sank. Could the Duke have sent her?

“Madam! Madam! Where have you been?”

“Sorry. It took a while.”

“The Duke is looking for you.”

“I see. I should hurry.”

Astaire was looking for her. Her heart pounded at that. She was anxious that he might have noticed something. Daphne quietly clutched the fabric over her left chest.

And following the maid’s guidance, she headed to the theater’s main entrance where Astaire was.

“You took a while.”

“…Something came up.”

“I see.”

Fortunately, Astaire didn’t say anything particular. Daphne quietly held her breath and then exhaled.

Luckily, that behavior didn’t seem too strange, as Astaire said nothing.

“Since we’re out after a long time, shall we have a meal before going?”

“Sure.”

Daphne answered flatly. She had no choice anyway.

Because Astaire was not her “Daddy-Long-Legs.”

* * *

They ate after renting out the entire spacious restaurant. It was a place famous for being frequented by nobles.

Thanks to the chefs and serving waiters all clearing out, only the two of them could be there.

But Daphne couldn’t tell if the steak pieces were entering her mouth or her nose. She just reflexively picked up meat with her fork and cut it with her knife.

While eating salad or perhaps eating silence, Astaire suddenly asked a question.

“So what did you think?”

“About what?”

“Today’s performance.”

Daphne put down her cutlery and looked at Astaire. At this point, she was curious about the intent behind the question.

“…Are you curious about my opinion?”

“Yes. I’m curious.”

Daphne’s eyes widened in surprise. She doubted her ears, wondering if she had heard correctly.

He wanted to know her opinion.

“Well.”

“I didn’t like it.”

Astaire answered, putting down his knife. Actually, Daphne wasn’t particularly curious about his impression, but the man continued on his own.

“It’s an excessively unrealistic story. Where in the world would such lovers exist?”

“…”

It was an excessively cold statement. Especially coming from a man who had staged a performance for the whole world, packaging their relationship so everyone would naturally think of “Daddy-Long-Legs.”

Daphne was suddenly swept up in a strange feeling where her already nonexistent appetite completely vanished.

Looking at her, Astaire stared at her intently with puzzled eyes.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“No.”

“But you should eat. You need to eat to have energy.”

“…Right.”

Astaire took his fork, picked up a cherry tomato, and brought it to her mouth.

“What are you doing?”

Astaire’s action was bewildering. She felt like a seven-year-old child in front of him.

“Eat.”

“…”

Daphne moved her lips seemingly about to say something. Then she finally gave up and opened her mouth. She was completely exhausted from arguing with this man.

“Good girl.”

Astaire put a cherry tomato in Daphne’s mouth and readily praised her. It wouldn’t have been strange if he reached out and patted her head at this point.

For a moment, Daphne’s stomach churned. She felt like his pet dog.

Originally, she was nothing more than his doll.

“Do as I tell you.”

Suddenly, she remembered what he said when he proposed to her.

It was an extremely commanding proposal without any romantic words like promising to make her live happily ever after.

“As long as you can follow my orders exactly, I will let you have anything.”

Being able to have anything meant nothing to her.

Because back then, all Daphne wanted was Astaire’s heart alone.

Recalling that day, her chest suddenly felt blocked. She felt indigestion.

Watching Daphne suddenly smile coldly in the middle of the meal, Astaire raised his eyebrows, finding it strange.

“…Daphne, you’re strange today.”

“About what?”

So many thoughts arise.

This is all because of you.

Daphne held back from snapping at him like that inwardly.

“Well, I suppose you have reason to be.”

Astaire’s voice gradually began to carry sarcasm.

Daphne thought to herself. Of course. She thought there was no way he would change overnight and treat her well.

She looked at Astaire and smiled coldly once more. As the gazes of green and blue eyes collided in the air, a strange atmosphere flowed through the restaurant.

However, after hearing Astaire’s next words, Daphne couldn’t smile anymore.