When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 55



Only Krnovel

#55. Chaos Ball
2024.02.24.

Until just a moment ago, I didn’t feel the gazes of those around me that I had been so concerned about. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn’t even notice Enrico approaching me.

“Let me dance a song.”

“Your Majesty?”

“If I only dance with the crown prince who has a fiancée, there might be a strange scandal. If I dance with all the royals, the newspapers will only report on me as the woman who got the most attention at the ball.”

As I listened to him, it made sense. Emilia absentmindedly grabbed his hand and started dancing. However, the engagement process that Alessandro had mentioned earlier bothered her, and she even wondered how this was any different from dancing with Alessandro.

“… … But don’t you have a fiancée, Your Majesty?”

“I never have.”

“No, aren’t you about to have one?”

Enrico’s one eyebrow rose in a curve at the question that seemed to know something.

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

Emilia hesitated for a moment, but then thought there was no need to keep it a secret.

“His Highness the Crown Prince just said that the Duke might be engaged in a political engagement.”

“Ah… … .”

“You’ve been busier than usual lately. It’s inevitable that you’ll be busy when something like that happens.”

“That’s not why you’re so busy lately.”

“… … Yes?”

“I have to find evidence for the Viscount Este couple’s case, make a place, and set up a trap. I’m so exhausted.”

No, why a trap all of a sudden? Emilia let the thought slip out one ear and asked cautiously.

“Then you haven’t spoken to the princess of the Kingdom of Carent?”

“I’ve never met her in the first place, and there’s no way we could talk about an engagement.”

“… Why?”

“Because I don’t like it.”

It was an answer that made her feel weak. She probably wouldn’t do something she didn’t like. No matter what, it’s a matter involving the country, so how can the big and small things be decided solely based on personal feelings? But it was such an arrogant and confident answer that she couldn’t help but believe it.

Maybe it was because his hands holding her back and arms felt more comfortable than before. She quickly came to terms with it.

“But why? Are you concerned?”

“Yes?”

Emilia’s eyes blinked a couple of times.

“Are you concerned about me getting engaged?”

“… … That.”

“That?”

“That’s because I’d probably be reluctant to go around the mansion if we got engaged… … .”

She made a hasty excuse, but she was still a bit confused inside. She really didn’t understand why she was so obsessed with him getting engaged that her mood was sinking. It was too difficult to use the contract as an excuse because she couldn’t think about the contract at all when she asked him.

“… … Is that really all?”

“Yes.”

But she couldn’t tell him everything honestly. Maybe it was because she had so many embarrassing things going on today that her head was so complicated that she didn’t have time to think about it.

Emilia gradually rationalized that her engagement was not annoying, but that she had just instinctively calculated the damage she would suffer and reacted accordingly.

A pity flashed through Enrico’s purple eyes as he looked down at her. The atmosphere between the two had become somewhat more subdued than before the dance, and the onlookers gradually withdrew their attention, saying that their relationship seemed too uncomfortable and that there seemed to be something wrong.

Enrico furrowed his brows slightly, then furrowed his brows again when he saw Alessandro looking at him from afar. Alessandro was trying to hide it, but his displeasure was subtly visible.

“But why did you bring up your fiancée?”

“Oh, I was telling His Highness to go to a nice place with your fiancée, and then you brought up the Duke.”

“Wait a minute. You told me to go with your fiancée?”

“Huh? Yes. I thought your fiancée would be upset, so I hoped you wouldn’t recommend it to me.”

He gave her a short laugh at her answer. The soft laughter that flowed as if something was pleasant was quite pleasant to hear.

‘Huh? You liked it? What are you saying all of a sudden?’

Emilia’s ears turned red in belated surprise at her own thoughts.

“Good job. It would have been better to reject all the offers fairly. I thought you were only being rude to me.”

“When did I ever act rude… …”

How could he be rude when there was no one who listened to him as well as she did? It felt slightly wronged.

Despite Emilia’s slightly sullen voice, Enrico just looked happy. Seeing his mood suddenly changing every five minutes, she gave up and thought that she should quickly go to the next dance. She really

hoped that the Second Prince was a normal person.

***

The ball ended in a flash.

The second prince was comfortable because he didn’t have to talk to anyone while dancing, but the constant stares of the people were truly thorny.

Later, the ballet troupe members came rushing in and asked him why he was dancing with the royal family, but he didn’t know exactly why he was dancing, and all he could give was a vague answer that he just thought they asked him to dance because they were right in front of him.

Early spring had passed by so quickly, and June, the month before the performance of [La Sylphide], was already approaching. In the meantime, out of the three letters that had been investigated regarding his parents’ case, two of them had answered that they couldn’t meet because they couldn’t set a date for a separate meeting.

As a result, he hadn’t heard any questions and it seemed like he didn’t know anything about his father, so finding the last letter, the person in that letter, was the most important thing.

It seemed like he would have to find a lawyer to get through the blockage, but it wasn’t as easy as he thought, so it was really difficult.

‘No news articles today either. Thank goodness.’

Emilia folded the newspaper and put it aside, looking out the window. Originally, I didn’t have the habit of reading the newspaper every day, but after the serial murders, reading it became a daily routine.

It was so heartbreaking to see the lives of these poor women disappear, and it was frustrating that the police couldn’t even guess the culprit.

Although I was glad that the incident didn’t happen right away, if it suddenly happened again one day, someone would already be dead, so I just hoped that they would figure out the culprit as soon as possible.

‘That pervert… … I really hope he gets punished properly.’

She felt like going to the shrine that she hadn’t been to since she was little and praying.

Emilia packed her bags as she watched the theater approaching. Today was the day she was supposed to do the Prime Minister’s Speech all day, so she wanted to stretch her body out. Her ankle had been in pretty good shape recently, so she didn’t think there would be any problems. When the carriage stopped and the door opened, warm sunlight greeted her. It was a day that made her smile.

***

The practice room was filled with the sound of people catching their breath. As she performed the Prime Minister’s Speech until she was satisfied with it, the number of times she repeated it increased.

As soon as they were given a break, everyone sat down or lay down on the floor with tired faces. Emilia also sat on the floor and took a rest, rubbing her ankles.

While everyone else was resting, Christina continued practicing in the middle of the practice room. I could immediately understand what they meant by hard work.

[Cinderella] It seemed like she had been practicing with even more fire in her eyes after the audition, and I was worried that she might get exhausted. On top of that, there was no way she could practice properly if she kept gritting her teeth and continuing her movements like that.

Emilia secretly sighed. She was worried that it seemed too much to practice so obsessively and immerse herself in the role and use movements that matched it.

“Christina, take a break and then do it!”

A colleague who couldn’t stand it any longer raised his voice. The season of late spring was already sending lukewarm winds. Even with the windows open, the cool breeze didn’t blow as much as it did last week, so the heat inside the practice room didn’t go away right away and stayed there.

“Yeah! Even if you do a little more now, your posture won’t change much. “Hurry up and rest. It’s making me uncomfortable to watch.”

“Last time, Emilia did that, but now Christina is doing this.”

“Emilia didn’t practice that much either. This is really bad.”

One by one, they began to click their tongues at Christina’s stubborn practice despite the dancers’ dissuasion. Their voices gradually lowered, with expressions of both weariness and pity.

“That’s how you got to the leading role. But you lost it right away in the next performance, so you really should grit your teeth.”

“But I don’t know. No matter how much talent you have, if you don’t work hard, you can catch up, but I think you can’t beat a genius who works hard.”

“Well, you don’t just pick one leading role.”

Usually, the schedule is set for the first and third weeks, and since they perform five days in a row a week, it was difficult for the dancers to go on stage every day. That’s why they cast two leading roles and alternately put them on stage, taking that into consideration, and sometimes they pick up as many as three.

“The problem is that those two are overwhelmingly superior. It’s extremely rare for a play to feature three leading roles, so there’s no guarantee that they’ll be chosen.”

“… … That’s true.”

However, the problem was that Belluce Sorphia, who had been the principal dancer for three years, was a strong candidate to be selected as the next prima ballerina, and Emilia Este was internally acknowledged as a rising star, so honestly, they were very difficult opponents for Cristina to compete with.

There was talk that Cristina got the leading role because Emilia didn’t audition for the leading role right away, but she was pushed out of the leading role spot in the next audition, so her pride must have been hurt.

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