When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 58



Only Krnovel

#58. Just Pretty
2024.02.27.

Looking back, when I asked him while dancing, he said he wasn’t busy because of his engagement, and he didn’t give me a clear answer after that. He just kept asking me if I was bothered and why I was bringing it up. Emilia burst into laughter and touched her forehead. They

arrived in front of the carriage, but she didn’t feel like getting on right away. Why did she take it for granted that he wasn’t getting engaged? And was he already thinking about getting engaged at that point?

Emilia bitterly lowered her hand and slowly gripped the carriage handle.

‘I think you’re overreacting. Is it because you’re tired?’

She could have just talked to him, but she kept focusing on her engagement. Whom did it have to do with her?

Emilia frowned slightly and opened the carriage door.

“What are you thinking about?”

But who would have thought that the person she had been thinking about all this time would appear right in front of her? I didn’t understand why he was in the carriage. I thought I had mistakenly gotten into the wrong carriage, so I glanced around, but it was the carriage I always took.

“It’s the carriage to your house. Let’s get on.”

Well, he had been coming to my house all of a sudden, so a carriage was nothing. Emilia swallowed a sigh and got into the carriage.

“Do you have practice tomorrow?”

Enrico asked as soon as Emilia sat down across from him, and knocked on the coachman’s seat to tell him to start. Emilia, who had been looking out the window as the carriage slowly moved, opened her mouth.

“Yes.”

For some reason, she felt uncomfortable looking straight ahead, so she looked out the window, but all she could see was darkness and her own face.

“Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard? How’s your ankle?”

“… … Yes?”

Her eyes immediately turned to him, even though she had tried not to look.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Oh. I didn’t know you’d remember, so I was a little surprised.”

“Why did you think I wouldn’t remember?”

Well, she was incredibly attached to her belongings. Emilia felt a bitter taste in her mouth.

“You said you were sick in Barco, but you probably didn’t get any treatment, right?”

“Yes. But I was going to get a checkup after the performance.”

“How long is the performance?”

“… December.”

His face tilted slightly. His purple eyes, looking down, sagged to the sides.

“December?”

She moistened her dry lips once as he asked her with a narrowed brow in displeasure. His gaze briefly touched her lips and then returned to her eyes.

“Actually, I’m not sick. That’s why I’m not thinking about getting a checkup right away, so I’m going to see you later.”

“I’m not sick, but why did you do that day?”

“That day, I think I got up suddenly and my ankle got a little surprised… … I haven’t done that since then.”

He straightened his head with a face that seemed completely unreliable. Perhaps because of his dark eyebrows, his slightly downturned eyes, and his sharp nose, he strangely coexisted with languidness and sharpness. She kept her mouth shut without adding more words, as his atmosphere seemed to catch even the slightest lie.

“… … December is too far away. Get tested after this performance is over.”

“Yes.”

It was a sigh. His frown deepened at her unwilling reaction.

“What are you dissatisfied with? I didn’t tell you to do something bad.”

“… … No. I’m just flustered.”

“I think it’s time to get used to it. It’s amazing how you always get surprised and flustered.”

“It’s just… … . I thought you were busy, but I was surprised that you came here.”

“I was busy because of you, but is this really surprising?”

“You’re busy because of me? Not the princess?”

“Princess? Oh. Are you talking about the newspaper?”

He muttered indifferently. She closed her mouth, thinking that his attitude was just annoying.

“But why is that? I must have told you before.”

She asked with her eyes as if asking what she had said.

“There’s no such thing as an engagement.”

“… … You didn’t say that.”

The conversation ended ambiguously, but she had no idea what he was talking about. Her voice naturally became blunt at his shameless attitude.

“I said I didn’t like you.”

“That was when we had never met before. He may have changed his mind after meeting the princess.”

His face turned cold in an instant. Her face turned pale as she watched him, whose atmosphere was even colder due to the blue moonlight shining inside the carriage.

“Why. Did you want to make it clear that you might be reluctant to visit my mansion?”

The corners of his mouth slowly curved. There was a clear sarcasm in his gaze, devoid of even a hint of laughter.

“That’s… … . Yes. Isn’t that obvious? I’m just a contractor, so it’s only natural that I have to be mindful of the Duke’s fiancée.”

“Stop whining.”

Her eyes, like delicate leaves, trembled for a moment. His voice, which was languidly settled yet sharp, pierced her heart. My heart was throbbing as if it had been hurt by his words, which felt strange.

“It’s strange how you can notice the feelings of a nonexistent fiancé but not mine.”

She blinked her eyes quickly a couple of times at his sharp tone. For some reason, her eyes felt stinging.

“If you’re going to think useless thoughts with that small head of yours, then just don’t do anything. You look better just standing there.”

“… … I’m not an object. I have a sense of self, so I have many thoughts, and I’m just doing this because I want to prepare for variables.”

Emilia slowly took a deep breath and opened her mouth. The carriage, which had been rushing through the dark streets, had already arrived near her house. Even at a slower pace, their conversation showed no signs of stopping.

“So why are you thinking about that? If there’s a variable. Why are you going to leave?”

“Of course.”

Her voice seemed to have lost all will. His eyes, looking at her as she muttered calmly, seemed to bring back the winter that had already passed.

“If it weren’t for the contract, there would be no reason for us to be together like this… … . There’s no way.”

Even the smile that remained on Enrico’s lips slowly disappeared. A suffocating silence settled over the carriage. And just when it seemed too much to bear, the carriage fortunately stopped.

Emilia got out of the carriage as if she was running away and quickly disappeared into the house. Nevertheless, the carriage remained parked in front of her house. Until the light leaking out of her room disappeared.

***

During the week without a performance, Emilia simply practiced silently. Although she occasionally received envious glances from Christina, she didn’t have the time to care about that.

The staring had become more blatant than before, and even those around her were whispering, but Christina seemed too busy keeping herself in check to care about what others were saying.

“Emilia, did you see the newspaper?”

“I showed it to you yesterday. You don’t have to show me the article about me.”

Actually, I can understand how Christina feels. She was the main character, but she was the one who got the article in the newspaper. I wondered if there had ever been so many eyes on ‘Effie’, and the article was embarrassing even for her. I

was a bit flustered by the attention that came earlier than expected, but I thought it was an inevitable process when doing ballet, so I tried to just accept it these days. I don’t know what will happen with the contract with Enrico.

Emilia waved her hand at Giuliana and regained her posture.

“Oh, really? Did you bring me the article about the people who were hot at the time?”

“Hot people? Could it be Duke Michele?”

“Yeah. Take a look.”

“… … That’s fine. Why would you want to look?”

“Why wouldn’t you? First, look. It seems like the two of you weren’t real.”

“You weren’t real?”

Emilia’s eyes turned to the newspaper as she turned her head. She quickly scanned the front page of the newspaper that Juliana was holding.

“His Highness the Second Prince and Princess Vivian were often seen together. Rather, the only article about Duke Michele was in the beginning.”

“… … That’s right.”

“Don’t you think there’s something going on with these two? The article had that kind of nuance.”

Emilia stared into space with a thoughtful face. He clearly said no, so why did she say something like that? In fact, now that I think about it, my feelings were strange.

Even if there was a contract issue, I wondered if it was necessary to respond so emotionally.

The memory of getting out of the carriage without even looking at his face flashed through my mind.

‘Was I too rude?’

Enrico’s sudden visit could be considered rude, but since the boundaries between contracts have been disappearing recently, it was right to continue investigating his parents’ case while looking after his convenience, so his conscience prickled a little.

“Emilia?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you suddenly spacing out like that?”

“Ah… … . I just need to think about something for a moment.”

“Get some rest. There’s another performance starting tomorrow.”

“Then just a moment.”

Emilia followed Juliana to a corner and began stretching out of habit.

“What’s the big deal? You’re going to keep auditioning for leading roles, right? You already have so much public attention, but if you perform Cinderella, you’ll really get a lot of attention.”

“Hmm, I’m going to keep auditioning for leading roles anyway. I guess I’m lucky.”

Juliana smirked and swung her long legs from side to side.

“Would that be luck? It’s all skill.”

“That’s right. It’s skill.”

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