When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 84



Only Krnovel

#84. Trap (2)
2024.03.24.

“Yes.”

The brown-haired man slightly raised his head, which had been bowing politely.

“Let go so I can escape.”

“Without any instructions?”

“I’ll move on my own. That’s probably all I thought about the whole time I was there.”

“Yes.”

Alessandro’s expression slowly relaxed.

“Why are there so many things to kill… … .”

A red light shone in his mysterious eyes that were a mixture of gray and purple, and soon the corners of his lips slowly curled up into a wicked smile.

“This is secretly exciting.”

Alessandro, who was simply smiling innocently without any sign of anger or excitement, looked at him calmly as if he was used to it.

***

Before returning north, Lanileo gave Emilia a brief explanation of how she could use the investment rights and land she had inherited, and then left.

He meticulously memorized each document and even gave detailed instructions on how to proceed, so fortunately, all of these were things that Emilia could handle on her own.

However, the problem was that if she were to organize all that wealth, so much money would be moved at once, it could attract the attention of the upper class.

So she put off the big things for now and thought about saving up small amounts of money one by one.

However, since the bank where she could handle them was closed on Sundays, the only time she could go was lunchtime, so Emilia decided to go out for the first time since joining the company.

In the practice room where the heat had not yet cooled down, there were quite a few dancers who stayed late and stretched.

However, Emilia, who could always be called one of those dancers, quickly washed up and got ready to go out after morning practice, and the people around her kept looking at her with curiosity.

Among them, Juliana followed Emilia around and looked at her with concern.

“What are you going to do for lunch?”

“Just eat something simple.”

Although it was a time when she wanted to focus on practicing, she had no choice because she wanted to sort things out with Enrico before the performance of [Cinderella] began.

Emilia smiled at Giuliana, who followed her to the entrance, as if it was okay, and quickly left the theater.

Since the Avaliante Opera Theater itself was located in a busy area, there were quite a few important facilities gathered around it, and the bank was one of them. She could get there quickly if she walked along the neatly arranged tree-lined street.

Emilia quickly stated her business as soon as she entered the bank, forgetting about the heat.

“You handle investment rights here, right? Here are the documents and the account number. Would you like to send me some of the money by check?”

“Ah… … Yes! The documents have been confirmed, and could you wait a moment? It seems like it will take a little while.”

“Yes. I will wait.”

When she submitted the documents that LaniLeo had prepared and said as he had told her, the employee immediately began reviewing them without asking any further questions.

Emilia watched them quietly, then blinked as if she was surprised to see the amount of money the employee was spending.

‘My father must have been very good at business. Even if I just sort out the small things, the amount would be huge. There wouldn’t be any problem with paying off Giorgio’s debt.’

Of course, I wanted to ignore Giorgio’s debt, but I didn’t want to leave it as Enrico’s.

So even if I calculated the money to pay it off and the money to buy a house separately, I had more money left than I thought. Even if I only sorted out the small things.

‘The problem is how to pay off the debt… ‘

If I gave it to him directly, Enrico would never accept it and would rather ignore it.

‘Should I just leave it at the mansion? I’m trying to pay it back, but it’s not going as I want.’

Emilia sighed softly with an annoyed expression. Since the lunch break was about three hours, the banking business was over sooner than expected, so she had some free time. As

she was slowly walking back to the theater, a familiar face came into her sight.

Emilia stopped walking slowly as she saw the person getting closer. She thought about just passing by, but for some reason she had a feeling that he wouldn’t let her.

“What are you doing here?”

And that prediction was correct. Enrico blocked her way and asked in a cold voice,

“… … I have something to see.” She

had already not wanted to meet him, so this was a disaster. Emilia tried hard to hide her feelings and answered softly.

“You, who never left the practice room before sunset?”

“Yes, I had to come out today.”

“… … Because of the property management?”

Could it be that he had come to check on what she was doing? She had thought they had just met by chance, but she chewed the flesh on her lips as she watched him, who seemed to know exactly what she had done a moment ago.

It wasn’t just that they had surveillance around the house, but they had arranged for them to follow her around all day.

Emilia exhaled deeply as the restraints seemed to be squeezing her, and then rolled her eyes to the side as she felt a gaze poking her cheek. Then she saw people watching Enrico and herself with curious eyes.

“Ah… …”

She realized that she had momentarily forgotten where she was while focusing on Enrico, who was approaching from the front.

He was a man who caught people’s attention even from afar, and it was only natural that people’s eyes would naturally gather here when he was standing in the middle of the street blocking a woman.

Emilia felt anxious for a moment, thinking that a noble who knew Enrico’s face might show up.

“I want you to leave first.”

Even if she said that they should break up, it didn’t seem like he would listen, and she wanted to at least change seats.

“Why?”

“It’s too hot.”

​​Emilia frowned, pointing to the sky for no reason. The summer sun, which was emitting heat, seemed like a good excuse, so Enrico clicked his tongue briefly in displeasure.

“Let’s go over there.”

Enrico kept his eyes on her the whole time they were walking. His oppressive and strangely sticky gaze threatened to pierce Emilia’s face, but she stubbornly walked forward. As

they entered the café he had roughly pointed out, the sweet sound of piano playing and the sound of people talking at each table could be heard.

The first floor was open and the second floor was a room, so he naturally went upstairs and entered the room at the end.

“Then tell me the rest. Why did you suddenly go to the bank, which you’ve never been to before?”

Emilia looked at Enrico, who immediately brought up the matter as soon as he sat down, and then calmly opened her mouth.

“First, I have to pay what I have to pay. I want to settle Giorgio’s debt first, which he paid for me anyway. Can I tell Fabio?”

“I thought you said I didn’t have to do it right away.”

“If my circumstances were bad, then yes, but I feel bad about not paying back even though I have the money.”

Enrico’s lips turned up habitually. He smiled like a painting, and although he was as bright as ever, he still had a dreary atmosphere.

Despite his unusual reaction, she met his eyes as if she were indifferent, and a strange sense of unease began to settle in Enrico’s purple eyes at the sight of him.

“But why doesn’t this behavior seem like someone who only wants to pay back a debt?”

As if he had decided to distance himself from her. It felt strangely like her ears were hearing his unspoken words.

Instead of answering, Emilia simply blinked. His prediction was right, but when she tried to say that she wanted to cancel the contract right away, her mouth wouldn’t open. Was it because she hadn’t prepared properly yet? Or

was she planning to talk next week, but now that we were meeting so suddenly, she hesitated? Emilia forced herself to exhale with eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

‘… … It must be because I have to go back to the ballet company now. I don’t have time, so I want to talk when I have time.’

Before meeting him, I had been determined to do so, but now I just wanted to get out of the room.

I had been worried that he would keep nagging me, thinking that I had asked him to go inside for no reason.

But unlike Emilia’s expectation that he would press her for an answer, Enrico stared blankly into space and sighed.

“Don’t keep testing me.”

That was all he said. Emilia tried to ignore the feeling that her heart was throbbing, even to the point of her chest, at Enrico’s tone that seemed to be soothing her.

She had endured his arrogance for the sake of her parents, but now that arrogance was holding her back, so she couldn’t let herself be swayed any longer.

Even if she rationalized that she couldn’t talk today because she wasn’t ready, she had to talk next week. But she couldn’t talk now, so she worried whether she would be able to next week.

Why couldn’t she resolutely strike him down while feeling so daunted by his restraints? Could it be because of his capricious affection that she was acting this way? She felt foolish all over again.

“… … .”

Emilia felt the need to get out of here, even if it meant making up an excuse about her lunch break. She was about to slowly open her mouth to say that she had to get up.

“The main characters of the rumor are here,”

Alessandro opened the door and appeared.

“There was too much talk about you and your uncle around to just pass by. I couldn’t not come.”