When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 81



Only Krnovel

#81. Escape from the cage (1)
2024.03.21.

Emilia was slowly nodding her head, but her gaze was focused on the air. Enrico’s mouth was tightly shut at her face, which seemed to be lost in thought.

‘What more could there be to suspect? My father himself told me to be careful of snakes and lions… … .’

Although there was no evidence, the suspicion was clear. Instead of just waiting for him to give her information, shouldn’t she now do something herself?

Emilia’s gaze moved slowly and stared at her empty hands. The glass of water she had been holding a moment ago was naturally in his hand.

She was not a baby bird that always wanted protection, and the thought suddenly occurred to her that if she continued like this, she might end up trapped in the cage Enrico had made.

“What are you thinking?”

Her eyes rose to his question, which seemed to be interrogating her for some reason. She felt an uncharacteristic anxiety flash through his purple eyes that looked down at her arrogantly.

‘Yes, I have to give up this kind of thinking, too.’

Why did she keep checking his expression? Why was she so emotionally swayed by him? This situation was not right. If her parents’ accident was intentional, she couldn’t just let it go. Whether

she was attracted to him or not, the first priority was to find the culprit and punish him appropriately on behalf of her parents.

Yes, the only path she had was revenge.

“I was just thinking about my parents.”

After a long time, his eyebrows furrowed at her answer. His eyes grew deeper as if he was displeased that she kept thinking of something else, and an uncontrollable possessiveness seethed.

“I’ll take care of everything anyway, so what do you have to think about?”

Emilia’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“… … Of course.”

“What?”

“We need to put the pieces together and make a plan for the future.”

“What’s the plan… … .”

Her voice leaked out with her teeth clenched. Emilia looked at Enrico, who was smiling with his lips twisted, with shaking eyes.

“I’ll keep giving you what you want anyway, so wouldn’t it be better to just wait here?”

“Here?”

“I’ll stay here from now on.”

The voice suddenly became cold and announced.

“… … Yes?”

“Everyone knows what our relationship is anyway. There’s no reason to be concerned anymore, right?”

“No! Going to the duke’s house would just add fuel to the fire. It’s just a sponsorship relationship, so what if there’s a misunderstanding?”

“Just that? Why, what if there’s a misunderstanding?”

Enrico roughly put the glass of water down on the table. Emilia’s eyes squinted at the sharp sound that could easily shatter.

“People don’t look at sponsorship relationships as purely as you do. Or are you pretending not to know? If you’re from that lineage, you should know that there are many sponsors who receive support in exchange for their bodies.”

Enrico was smiling leisurely, but his words were strangely urgent, as if he was being chased. Unlike the person who had been taking care of him affectionately just a moment ago. Was

the capriciousness that had made him so wary about coming out again? Emilia calmly blinked her eyes and then opened her mouth softly.

“… … The Duke hasn’t supported me like that before. People will think we’re not related, just like they always have.”

“What if people ask?”

“You can say we’re related.”

“Well. To say that’s all… … .”

His hand reached out to her. His large palm cupped Emilia’s chin and cheek, and he pressed his thumb firmly against her plump lower lip.

“I think we were too close to say we weren’t related.”

She froze in surprise. Her thumb, which had been rubbing her lips, moved sideways, slowly touched the tip between her lips. She belatedly grabbed his hand with both hands.

“I have no intention of lying. I’m such an honest person.”

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have any intention of holding back, and his hand moved away as she pushed it away. Her face flushed with shame as she let go of his hand in midair and stepped back.

His gaze, which had been directed at her red lips, moved up her cheeks and lingered on her emerald eyes that were briefly dripping with moisture.

Emilia simply licked her lips. She could barely breathe because her mind had gone blank.

“What do you think? Are you going to stay like this? Or are you going to try to pinpoint the sponsorship relationship?”

“… … Cowardly.”

“Cowardly? You won’t really lose anything by staying here. Rather, as long as you can get information, you don’t care what people say. Stop being so stubborn and stay here and focus on me in front of you.”

Enrico slowly closed the gap. As the familiar scent of cigarettes and perfume wafted to his nostrils, he somehow felt more cornered.

“Emilia.”

“… … .”

“Stop thinking nonsense and just listen to me.”

Emilia was constantly conflicted about whether she should run away from this room or push him away again as he got closer.

She had no idea what to say, and all she could think about was wanting to get away from him right away. However, even

that was as if she was holding her ankles to the ground, and she couldn’t move, so he finally came close again and looked down at her.

“… … The contract was only for ballet in the first place.”

The words that had been in her head countless times came out like a habit. At her trembling voice, even the faint smile on his lips disappeared. Her mouth closed tightly at the sight of his cold expression flowing across his face.

“That damn contract… … .”

The words he spat out as if chewing were extremely harsh.

As if she was angry that things didn’t go her way, she looked straight at him, who was still trying to push through his own will, and nodded again as if emphasizing her own point of view.

The eerie silence seeped into the space like the fog at dawn. Even in that silence that seemed to be squeezing her throat, Emilia didn’t avoid his gaze.

Rather, Enrico, who had been persistently keeping his gaze on her, turned his head first, and the silence dispersed.

“Okay. You only do ballet, as per the contract.”

The voice was cold and overbearing. As if he was valuing her again, just like the day he first met her, she felt her heart sink to a level that was incomparable to before.

“But do you think you can satisfy me when you’re so distracted?”

His gaze scanning her up and down made her feel small for some reason. However, she didn’t want her true feelings to be revealed, so she stubbornly stared at him. She

kept her mouth shut, thinking that if she tried to refute him, it would only exhaust her emotions of wanting to avoid him.

“If the stage is not so good, then just follow my words.”

Her eyes staring at his wide back as he turned around did not move at all. A chill slowly began to settle on her pure white face that had been cast in a sad shadow just a moment ago.

‘This can’t go on.’

She glared at the spot he had left without moving. The determination she had not revealed for a while shone dimly in her jade-colored eyes.

***

The sunlight that passed through the window poured down on the carpet that was as glossy as soft velvet.

The chandelier decorated with a huge crystal sparkled as if scattering sunlight everywhere, and a lukewarm breeze swept through the interior through the wide-open balcony door.

Enrico sat on the sofa and quietly stared at the scene, then put the cigarette in his right hand back into his mouth.

The red ash of the cigarette burned away, releasing white smoke. Enrico reflected on yesterday as his vision became blurry.

‘You found too many things for me.’

When the lawyer said he was coming, he should have met her first and given her some information, but he brought Emilia with him. He did something uncharacteristic of himself.

If Emilia had wanted to see the lawyer in person, he could have just told Lanileo, who had come instead, to tell her a few things.

But I don’t know why he thought that if he told her everything, she would have to rely on him more. He could have just given her information one by one like before, but thinking back on it, it was reckless.

Did he want to be recognized by Emilia? Or did he want her to open up to him?

Maybe the problem was that Emilia’s attachment to her family in Barcorta kept coming to mind.

As she said, it was just a contractual relationship, so giving her information wouldn’t have opened up her stuffy feelings.

‘Consideration… . . .’

Enrico took another drag on his cigarette and exhaled again toward the faint smoke that lingered in the air. His eyes, looking at the smoke that was mixing, became slightly hazy.

The more he yearned for Emilia, the more his vision became smoky like it was now. Just thinking about how to make her look at him, how to make her want to be with him, raced through his head.

Then, if she didn’t respond as he wanted, the suppressed things would burst out, and the same situation as yesterday would happen.

‘But no matter what I do, she’s a woman who’ll only cling to dead people.’ If she

didn’t have time to see him right now, it was only natural that he had to tie her up next to him for now.

He didn’t want to repeat that dirty feeling of getting hot and then getting cold water poured over her, but he didn’t want to let her go.

Countless conflicts and worries tested him again and again, such as whether he should just break her ankles to keep her next to him, or whether he should endure it while not wanting to see her turn away from him.

“What about the contract?”

She was quiet when it was beneficial, but when she asked for something, she would immediately get to the bottom of it. It was really ridiculous.

She didn’t seem to have any intention of listening to him right now, so even if she said she wanted more than their current relationship, she wouldn’t listen. She

would surely get goosebumps, showing off her noble pride, asking if he wanted a relationship that was only about her body, or a lover who was like a concubine.

But the problem was that if she actually asked him that, he still hadn’t figured out exactly what to say.

If not those two, he had to seriously date her and marry her, but marrying a lowly ballerina?