When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 41



Only Krnovel

#41. Journey of Memory
2024.02.10.

It was the morning of the beginning of the holiday, but she couldn’t spend it leisurely. Since it would take about six hours to get to Barco, Enrico had informed her that he would take the train that departed at 11 o’clock.

Since it would take some time to get from her current residence to Deshiro Central Station, Emilia had to leave the house quickly. As

Emilia came out into the living room with her suitcase, Zaveta, who had already come out, quickly approached her.

“Give it to me, miss.”

“It’s okay.”

“If you do that, I’ll be in trouble.”

Emilia handed her the suitcase with an embarrassed face at Zaveta’s firm voice.

“You can go straight to the carriage. I’ve given you the train car separately.”

“Okay.”

Since they had been busy with the holiday, Enrico included Zaveta and his aide Fabio in the group. It was fortunate that he didn’t have many people with him, but on the other hand, he was worried that only that many people would be enough.

‘I’ll figure it out.’

Emilia got in the carriage, opened the window, and enjoyed the scent of the spring breeze that the wind brought. It seemed like only yesterday that it was so cold that she couldn’t even open the window, but the wind was already blowing pleasantly.

The carriage arrived at the station in no time after running down the street, and Emilia and Javeta hurried to the platform. When Javeta showed the ticket to the station attendant, the station attendant guided them to the end of the train without saying a word. They

climbed up the stairs and boarded the train. The interior was so different from the dark train that they had taken alone when they were young to go to the art academy. It was definitely the same train, but it was so different that it felt like they had entered a different world. Emilia exclaimed inwardly as she looked at some of the walls covered in luxurious leather and the splendid lights.

“Young lady, you can go inside.”

After passing the bar-like place and going to the innermost part, she saw a door. Javeta knocked, and Fabio opened the door and came out.

“Welcome. Will you please give me your luggage? “ Miss Javeta, you can stay in this room with me.”

“Yes? Weren’t you with me?”

Emilia asked in surprise. Fabio smiled gently and pointed to the brown door I had just come out of.

“Of course you should rest in a different room from us. Miss Emilia, you can go in here.”

“Ah… … .”

“Miss, if you need anything, please call me anytime.”

“… … Yes.”

Right, it would be better for Javeta to go to a different room and rest comfortably. Emilia lowered her eyebrows and grabbed the handle. Why didn’t she think that she had to be alone with Enrico? Even if she had known in advance, she wouldn’t have been able to break his stubbornness, but she would have come up with some other way. She sighed.

“Miss Emilia?”

“Ah.”

“Shall I open it for you?”

“… … I will. Go in quickly and rest.”

She thought they had entered their room first, but Javeta and Fabio were waiting for Emilia to enter. Emilia opened the door with a little force, as if she couldn’t hold out any longer.

“I thought you’d come in after arriving at your destination, but you opened it early.”

Enrico was sitting on the brown sofa in the center. She took a quick look at his profile as he read a newspaper, then glanced around the VIP cabin. As expected, the entrance was unusual, and the cabin at the end seemed to have a decent room. She saw another door beyond Enrico, so it seemed like there was a bed there.

“Come and sit down. The ceiling will collapse if you don’t.”

Anyway, he had a knack for making people really hate him even when he said the same thing. Emilia barely swallowed a sigh and sat down across from him.

The train’s whine could be heard from afar. She could hear someone shouting something outside the train, but the interior was not affected much by the noise, perhaps because it was soundproofed. If it was this comfortable, it seemed like it would be nice to take a train trip later.

‘Come to think of it, I told you all to ride together.’

A long time ago, I remembered the train I took with my father to go to Teshiro. My mother wanted to go with me, but she was not feeling well, so the trip that only the two of us took was good and heartbreaking.

Later, the three of us promised to go together again and set off on a long journey, but in the end, a few years later, I was the only one who took the train.

‘A trip. When my parents’ affairs are all resolved, then… … . But, is this something that can be resolved? They are both dead and can never come back alive, so what happens after I reveal the truth… … . Why do I naturally want to think about what happens after that?’

When I was first consumed by anger, I even thought that it wouldn’t be bad to reveal the truth even if it meant risking my life and go back to my parents when this was all over. However, even though I cried out that it was unfair, I must have felt attached to this life.

‘I don’t know. Even if I reveal that my parents’ deaths were not a simple accident, will that be enough? Is it right to continue living as a ballerina while erasing all traces of my parents?’

Emilia’s eyes, which were looking out the window behind Enrico, fell to the floor, distorted painfully.

The sound of the train was heard again. Soon, the sound of departure gradually narrowed.

“What were you thinking?”

Enrico, who had been quietly watching her, blurted out a word.

“… … I was just thinking about my parents.”

A slightly muffled voice flowed out. Enrico, who had thought he would pry into something more, surprisingly did not say anything after that. He just stared at Emilia’s gloomy face with a strange gaze.

Soon, he felt the train moving. Emilia took a deep breath and looked out the window. It seemed that her excitement about going home after a long time had brought on homesickness.

“Let’s come to our senses. For now, let’s just think about what’s right in front of us.” She

didn’t want to keep her face filled with self-pity. Anyway, she was heading to Barcorta to find out the truth, so it wasn’t worth digging the ground.

“I’m crying alone, laughing alone.”

“… … I didn’t cry.”

She was just trying to cheer up, but she didn’t say that in a rude way. Emilia rubbed her cheek awkwardly and glanced at him.

Enrico was staring at her with eyes that were obviously curious. The sunlight streaming in through the window was spreading behind his back.

“What is famous in Barcorta?”

“Well.”

“Don’t you know?”

“I don’t really know because that’s where I was when I was young. Oh, there was the ocean. When I was young, I often went to the ocean with my parents.”

“What did we do when we went?”

“I think we just took a walk. We even soaked our calves in the water.”

“That’s trivial.”

“There’s definitely nothing to see. There might be a theater now, though.”

Emilia said with a gentle smile on her lips. Enrico didn’t say anything else because of her noticeably softened mood. Feeling the train speeding up, the two of them looked at the windows behind each other. It was a perfect spring day.

***

As they approached Barcota, an orange sunset was cast over the distant blue sky. If it had been winter, they would have run while looking at the darkened sky, but they got to see a beautiful view before they got off.

Emilia stood on the balcony of the VIP car and enjoyed the breeze blowing in. Enrico, who saw her from inside, approached her, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and holding it with his hand as if to calm her fluttering hair.

The space was enough for two people to stand, so it wasn’t cramped even for Enrico. However, it was still awkward to be close, so the corners of her lips that had been raised stiffened vaguely.

“It’s really a wasteland.”

“… … This is the way to go. It’s still ambiguous to call it Barcota.”

Enrico brushed his hair back and curled the corners of his lips.

“Do you remember the distance from the station to the mansion?”

“I think it was about 30 minutes by carriage.”

Emilia thought of the Barcota mansion, thinking that it would probably be covered in ivy by now. Giorgio, who was not in the mood to manage the place, had already left, and there would be no servants left to manage the interior of the mansion without an owner.

He said he bought a townhouse as soon as he got to Desiro, so it seemed like he had no intention of returning to Barcorta.

“I should have checked in advance. If there was anyone in the mansion. If there was no one, I would have hired a cleaner in advance… … .”

Since the mansion had been empty for a long time, the condition seemed serious, but Javeta wondered if he had just followed her and caused trouble. Emilia’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, and Enrico’s hand came closer. He absentmindedly ran his finger over her forehead and muttered absentmindedly.

“I hired

you.” “Huh? The Duke?”

“Since it’s where I’ll be staying, I should have prepared in advance.”

“… … Huh? Weren’t you staying at a hotel?”

“I came here because I was afraid you might run away, so I didn’t trust you, so what’s the point of staying somewhere else?” “If

that’s the case, how can you trust me when you’re staying separately in the capital?”

Emilia asked, as if she was astonished. Enrico leaned against the railing, held it with both arms, and met her gaze.

“Yes. When we return to the capital, I will consider bringing you to the ducal household.”