When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 65



Only Krnovel

#65. The Truth That Turns Away
2024.03.05.

Her hot head had cooled down. She was out of her mind from the alcohol, but for a moment, the complacent thought that she could just give herself over to him was dominating her mind.

‘This can’t be happening… …’

It was clear that he was just a one-time plaything anyway. If she were to give him even this, she would be giving everything of herself.

Then, it was obvious as day that she would spend her entire life staring at his shadow, locked in his mansion, desperately waiting for him to look at her.

‘I absolutely don’t want to.’

Emilia’s eyes were wet. The lingering intoxication was driving her thoughts and emotions to the extreme. She

didn’t want to be hurt anymore, she didn’t want to be left alone anymore. Even though she knew that there was a future where she might be abandoned by him, she couldn’t give her whole body to this heart.

“I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Her trembling voice mumbled softly.

She had clearly thought that they had connected, but his face hardened at her attitude of suddenly becoming cold and rejecting him. The blood in his hot body suddenly felt cold.

“Why?”

“… … .”

“I’m sure you liked it too.”

“… … I think I made a mistake because I was drunk.”

His jaw tightened. The veins on his neck stood out.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this anymore.”

“Ha.”

He let out a breath as if he was astonished at the sight of her stammering. Enrico lifted his upper body, brushing back his disheveled hair, and slowly stepped back.

The warmth of her hugging his neck a moment ago still remained.

Her moist lips showed everything she had done so far, but her attitude of denying that it wasn’t her will just now seemed almost like rejecting it itself.

Enrico had always been caught up in the complicated feelings of wanting to cherish her but also wanting to hurt her. Even if Emilia was in pain, he could do anything as long as she was in his grasp.

“… … “That little pride is not your only value, your body?”

No, maybe it was because his pride was trampled on and he wanted to give it back. Sacrifice? A precious person? What was that in the first place?

If he wasn’t going to give his honest affection to the end, he didn’t want to beg and receive it. Anyway, if she was in front of him, it didn’t matter what the process was.

“Even if you’re drunk, your mentality to protect that price is worth praising.”

His head, dominated by anger, instantly erased the fear of almost losing her, and he spoke as if he was desperate to hurt her.

No matter what the past was, she was in front of him now, so no matter how she acted, she couldn’t escape him anyway.

He rationalized that everything would be resolved if he just prepared a stronger and tighter cage and locked her in. He didn’t even realize that his insides were getting more and more dirty.

Emilia raised her upper body with her elbows, but she groaned as the wound she had forgotten about was rubbed. He tried to reach out his hand at her appearance, but clenched his fist and turned around quickly.

She didn’t take her eyes off his back as he retreated, even until the door closed.

The flames that quickly flared up and then died down left only ash. A cooling breeze blew through the window, but her face didn’t cool down for a long time.

***

Dark clouds covered the sky with a humid air, as if bringing full-blown summer. Emilia slowly closed the window and rested her forehead against the glass.

Three days had already passed. Since the day she did something ridiculous with him.

‘How long do I have to stay here?’

She felt like she was trapped in a tower from which she couldn’t escape. Emilia could only sigh under surveillance, not being able to take a single step outside the mansion. Enrico hadn’t been seen since that day. She

would have at least talked to him if they met, right? It was uncertain whether she would be able to talk to him right away even if they did meet. She didn’t know he would get so angry.

His pride seemed to have been hurt by her rejection. He spat out harsh words as if he was desperate to hurt Emilia.

His sarcasm made his chest suffocate, but he thought that his true feelings that had been hidden for a while had been revealed, so he tried to hold on tighter so that he would not show even the slightest opening.

He knew that he had to try to please him to some extent to get information from him, but… … . Not right away.

Since his body was in this condition anyway, it seemed that there was no need to bring up the contract for the time being, so he decided not to wonder about the results of the investigation for now.

As time passed, he and he would be able to thoroughly treat each other as contractors like when they first met, and from then on, he would be able to keep the contract and receive information.

‘I have to go to the ballet company for now, but it’s a big deal. Even if the La Sylphide performance is canceled, the next performance will go on as scheduled, right?’

The next performance was even her own leading role. [Cinderella] It was her first time, so she had to practice harder than usual, but she was very worried.

She was lost in thought and stared blankly out the window, and saw raindrops hitting the window one by one.

And at the same time, she heard a short knock from behind her. She kept her eyes outside the window, thinking that it would be Zaveta anyway, so she just kept her gaze outside.

“Miss Emilia, this is Fabio Federico.”

“Ah… … . Come in.”

She slowly turned around as she spoke to Fabio beyond the door. The door opened, Fabio bowed politely, and came inside.

“I have something to tell you.”

Why did she have to come when Enrico wasn’t here? Emilia blinked her eyes twice in confusion.

“The letter you mentioned earlier. I’ve finished investigating and I’ve come to tell you.”

“Can I tell you right away?”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“I’m currently unable to fulfill my contract, so I was wondering if you could give me the information first.”

“Ah-. It’s okay. “The Duke has given his permission.”

Enrico gave his permission? It was so unexpected. I thought he would keep me from talking about the contract for a while like a grumpy person, but he gave me the information first. What was going on?

‘Or maybe… … he just doesn’t want to continue the contract?’ I

thought back to what he had said before, that he would continue to give me the information even if he broke the contract first. My heart pounded with needless anxiety. I

had been worried that he might not keep his promise, but now I was worried that he might really not need to continue the contract.

“Miss Emilia?”

“Ah… … yes. Thank you.”

“The address on the paper is for one of the three people. The other two said that they had not received a reply since sending the letter and had not met. So I asked what they had written in the letter to discuss, and they said they had something to talk about regarding a new bill.”

“A bill for your father?”

“Yes. The late Viscount Este had wanted to propose a bill while he was alive, and I think they wanted to join us in that.”

“Ah… … . Are you talking about patent rights?”

“Yes.”

As expected, my previous guess was right. So did the investment rights get anonymized naturally while discussing the bill? I

thought he was just a simple noble living quietly in a small town, but the more I dug into my father, the more I realized that he was doing something beyond my imagination.

“So did the person listed here meet your father?”

“I couldn’t confirm that far. I couldn’t contact him, so I went to the address listed, but he must have moved or something.”

“Ah… … .”

“But after tracking him, I was able to confirm where he went.”

“Where is that?”

“It’s Levisso in the north. I’m only guessing that it’s near Michele’s estate, so I think we should look around that area.”

“If that’s the place, isn’t it? You said before that your father had an accident on his way back from Levisso. Did he meet that lawyer?”

“It’s hard to give you a definite answer, but it seems so based on the circumstances.”

“Ah… … . But is that area very large? How long will it take to find him?”

I said I would look for that lawyer last time, but since I hadn’t heard anything yet, I was worried that it might be really hard to find him.

“If it’s under Michele’s territory, it’s under his command and the investigation can proceed a bit faster, but since it’s outside of the territory, it’s a bit slower. In particular, there are many cases where individuals live in the forest rather than in the village, so the process is even slower.”

“… … You’ve worked hard. Thank you.”

“No problem. I’ll move quickly.”

Emilia fiddled with the paper in her hand and carefully called out to Fabio, who was about to bow politely and leave.

“Excuse me, Fabio.”

“Yes.”

“Are you busy, Your Majesty?”

Fabio’s answer hesitated for a moment. Emilia looked at him strangely, since he was always fluent and spoke without hesitation.

“… … You’ve been very busy lately. You’ve barely been able to sleep.”

“Sleep? Are you okay?”

“Yes. I believe you’ll be okay someday.”

Someday? The words sounded strange. She tilted her head slightly, licked her dry lips, and then looked around. The raindrops that had been falling one by one had grown bigger, and the sound of rain hitting the window could be heard behind her.

“Then, can you ask when I can leave the mansion? My ankle has healed, and the wound on my arm just needs some medicine at home. I think it’s time to leave the ballet company, but the Duke is busy, so I can’t tell you in person.”

Emilia said, smiling awkwardly. Fabio looked at her for a moment and slowly nodded.

“I’ll tell you something.”

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