When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 74



Only Krnovel

#74. Black Curtain
2024.03.14.

Alessandro furrowed his brow and swept his neatly swept hair once.

“… … I think I stayed too long. I’ll go now.”

Emilia finally raised her head when she saw Alessandro’s feet turn around. She watched his back as he walked away, then slowly closed the door after seeing him get into the carriage. The sunset was still burning the sky.

***

Bang! As soon as Alessandro got into the carriage, he hit the wall hard with his fist. It was hard to believe that he had a gentle expression just a moment ago, but he was emitting a fierce aura.

As if one hit wasn’t enough, his hands slammed the carriage floor with the sole of his foot and slammed the sofa with his fist without hesitation.

“Huk, huk… … .”

It wouldn’t be fun if he got over it easily, so at first he enjoyed Emilia’s haughty reaction, but these days he was slowly reaching his limit.

She was starting to get angry at herself for not giving even a little bit of space to Enrico while clinging to him without hesitation.

‘Damn you, you little brat. I’m going to save your family, and you’re sending someone away like this?’ She

thought she’d never been treated so rudely in her life, but this was the second time with Emilia. This time, she was so shocked that she had to turn around after getting inside the front door.

‘Should I have just gone in?’ She was so infatuated with her gentle mask

that she held back her temper and came back, and now she was proud of herself. When

you save something and eat it, it becomes even more painful and the taste doubles, so she was using up all her patience for that pleasure, but lately, she felt like she was reaching her limit.

Was she getting more impatient because of Enrico?

She really should have gotten rid of Enrico somehow. He thought that if he were to be with Princess Vivian, Emilia would avoid scandal and distance herself, but the two were closer than he thought and continued to meet steadily. He

had already given up on sending spies to the duke’s house, as they had been caught time and time again.

‘A gloomy and thorough bastard. Anyway, once he ascends to the throne, I’ll cut off his neck first.’

Alessandro barely calmed his ragged breathing and opened the curtains to look out the window. The sky waiting for darkness came into view.

He had tried to stay quiet for a while, but it just wouldn’t work. He felt that he had to somehow quench this thirst for not having Emilia today.

Alessandro’s eyes, resting his chin on his hand, moved quickly beyond the window as if searching for a target. Then a woman with long, flowing golden hair came into his eyes.

‘Found her.’

The woman, who seemed to be from a foreign country and wearing clothes of a different style from those worn in Treano, was carrying several shopping bags and there seemed to be no one around her.

‘It’s even more so if he’s a foreigner.’

Even if he looked like a rich man who had bought a title, he wouldn’t have touched him if he had been born that way. However, as if

his reason had been paralyzed, Alessandro knocked hard on the wall next to the coachman. As if he had read his mind, the carriage slowly slowed down. The door of the plain black carriage parked on the side of the road opened, and Alessandro slowly got out.

Alessandro quickly turned around the corner, positioned himself so as not to be noticed by people, and moved as if he would bump into the blonde woman as she passed by.

The blonde woman, who had been walking excitedly waving her hand while holding a shopping bag, suddenly stopped when she saw the man.

“Oh, are you okay?”

Alessandro asked, pretending to grab the shopping bag that he almost dropped, and gently grabbing the woman’s hand. The woman quickly looked over his tall height and attractive appearance, then smiled faintly.

“Well. I think it would be okay if a nice gentleman helped me with my heavy hands.”

Alessandro immediately folded the corners of his eyes and smiled.

“It’s an honor to be able to help a beautiful woman.”

The hand of the blonde woman holding the shopping bag and Alessandro’s hand touched. Their gazes briefly intertwined in midair.

The carriage that had been parked on the street as if blocking their view began to move again, and the beautiful man and woman standing behind it disappeared without a trace.

***

[Cinderella] There was only a month left until the performance. Starting next week, the practice schedule was even tighter, so this week, he had to fill the contract stage with Enrico, who had not been able to perform due to various circumstances. Since his recent

meetings with Enrico had always ended badly, it was difficult to start a conversation.

He would simply treat her with light favor, and when she became burdened by the accumulated favor and rejected him, he would immediately sneer at her as if he had been waiting for her, and in the end, they would only hurt each other’s feelings and break up.

‘He must just be hurting his pride. It’s like a woman who ignores him is rejecting him.’

Emilia wasn’t rejecting him to save her pride. There was no such thing as an unmerited favor in the first place, and because of what I had received in the past, the balance of our relationship was tilted more than before.

If she kept receiving like that, she was worried that she would reach a point where she couldn’t refuse even if he made ridiculous demands.

Of course, her desire to not get hurt anymore was also a bigger factor.

Emilia thought that it had been a long time since she had stood on stage at the duke’s mansion and prepared to go up. She used to prepare calmly, but since it had been a long time since she had stood on stage, she felt more nervous than when she had stood in a theater.

“Whew… … .”

Emilia took a deep breath and appeared in the middle of the stage. And after a while, the sound of music from the gramophone began to be heard.

Emilia carefully stepped on her toes and raised her right leg high. Her legs, which moved along with her arms that moved as if they were swimming, were tight, and sometimes she jumped high and boldly.

Enrico watched Emilia’s stage, which always caught his attention, with a hotter gaze than usual. Her eyes seemed to have brought all the heat outside the mansion.

She tried not to be distracted by the gaze that seemed to tingle her whole body, and continued to surrender her body to the sound of the music.

After a while, the sound of the performance gradually faded away and Emilia took a pose, thinking about the ending. Her body, which had maintained her posture without shaking while spinning quickly, stopped perfectly with the sound of the performance that ended. She

had been worried because of her injury and long rest, but her physical condition had recovered properly, as if all the hard work she had done in the meantime had paid off.

She took a deep breath, said goodbye, and left the stage. He, who sometimes left first, stayed until the end today.

The butler guided Emilia to the dining room after she washed up. It was as if she had gone back to the beginning.

‘It seems like it was less uncomfortable back then.’

Emilia smiled bitterly and headed to the table where he was waiting.

“I have something to tell you.”

Why did Enrico start a conversation before dinner? No, was it the first time? Emilia nodded slowly and looked at him.

“I heard you found a lawyer.”

“Huh? If you’re talking about a lawyer, you mean the guy in the north?”

Emilia put down the cup she was about to drink water from and opened her eyes wide.

“Yes.”

“Where were you?”

“Surprisingly, you’re still in the north. But since you were in a place with few people, it took some time to find you.”

“Ah… … Then I guess I’ll have to go to the north sometime.”

“No need to go. He’s coming.”

“Really? So the last person you met your father with was him?”

“That’s right. He also heard about the accident late.”

“Really?”

“He was originally recovering there because he wasn’t feeling well, but since he had been researching and promoting various bills, he contacted Viscount Este in the hopes of meeting him one last time.”

“Ah… … But he’s not feeling well, so do you think he’ll be able to come all the way here? I think it’d be better if I went myself.”

“He said he had something else to take care of. He said he was going to see you first and run some business.”

“Really? Then when will you be coming? Was there anything else?”

Enrico looked at Emilia, who usually didn’t talk much, but spoke like a different person when it came to her parents’ work, for a moment.

Seeing her talk flowing so smoothly when they talked about work like this made him feel a bit suffocated and irritated.

He wondered if she didn’t really want to talk to him if there was no reason. If it weren’t for this contract, wouldn’t she have ignored him even more?

“… … She said she’d talk about the details when we met in person. She’ll be back with her subordinates within a week.”

“Oh, that’s fortunate that she’s not coming alone. She said she wasn’t feeling well, but I was worried because it was a long trip.”

Keep that worry to yourself. It seemed like she didn’t show much interest in him except when he got hurt.

‘Should I get hurt? How would she react?’

He wondered. Would she worry about him like last time? Would she tear down the wall she had built so mercilessly and apply medicine with her gentle hands?

Enrico’s eyes lit up sinisterly. When he didn’t say anything more, the butler judged that the conversation was over and brought the food that had been waiting to the table.

After lightly moistening his stomach with rice potage, the halibut dish and the buttery veal steak came out one after another. Enrico slowly swirled his wine glass while watching Emilia eating hard.

“The crown prince came to visit again.”

He had wanted to ask this from the beginning. However, since this story had never ended well, he waited for the meal to end.

Emilia wiped her lips with her napkin and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Why did you open the door?”

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