When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 90



Only Krnovel

#90. Calm Before the Storm
2024.03.30.

The ballet performance ended smoothly, despite her worries.

The audience, moved by the beautiful ballet, continued to applaud even after the curtain went down, and continued to send bouquets and notes to the back of the stage.

“I can’t believe this is your first time as the main character.”

“I’ve seen many performances, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a perfect performance.”

“That’s right. Such a beautiful Cinderella. I can’t wait for the next performance.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you were satisfied with my dance.”

Emilia smiled and bowed her head slightly to the few audience members who came to the dressing room to compliment her.

Since the people who usually came here were high-ranking nobles, it was best to be as polite as possible so as not to make unnecessary noises.

Emilia lowered her eyebrows slightly as she looked at Vice-President Sylvia, who was receiving more and more bouquets that she couldn’t hold in her arms.

“Oh, excuse me. I would like to invite you all the way, but since the theater is starting to close down, I think I should ask for your understanding now. Our performance will continue until next week, so I would appreciate it if you could come visit us again next time.”

Sylvia bowed politely to the audience as if she was used to it. The audience, who had only come to briefly greet the main actors, nodded with an expression of understanding.

“Then I will guide you to the entrance.”

Emilia felt relieved when Sylvia personally led the audience and secretly gestured for them to clean up.

The main actors took turns going on stage, but they still had to rehearse repeatedly every day before the performance, so they had no choice but to move around busily like everyone else.

Emilia greeted her partner Antonio for his hard work and went straight into the dressing room.

A large bouquet of flowers in the middle of the table caught her eye. Her mind was momentarily focused on the bouquet Enrico had given her, to the point where she forgot the scent of the flowers in her arms.

‘… … Should I take that with me?’

It was so much bigger than the bouquet she was holding in her arms. Emilia hesitated for a moment and slowly approached the table, her face slightly shadowed.

The bouquet was a mixture of flowers in soft colors that were hard to find, such as yellow and light pink, but the most striking one was the pure white lily in the center.

Even though it was past its blooming season, the lilies were still in full bloom, and their fragrance wafted from afar, making her feel reluctant to leave them behind.

‘If I take this, it will be hard to take the bouquet I have in my arms… … .’

Emilia looked back and forth between her arms and the table, sighing deeply and putting down the flowers in her arms.

‘Let’s wash up quickly.’

Emilia headed to the shower room in the dressing room and grabbed her dress. It was nice to be able to wash up without having to wait for my turn since I was the main character.

The sound of the performance that resonated through her whole body and the sound of the toe shoes tapping on the stage, the sounds that filled the surroundings as if she had come to another world, suddenly disappeared, making the silence after the performance feel all too real.

Soon, Emilia, as if trying to forget the silence, moved busily and finished preparing to leave work, barely able to collect the bouquet of flowers that had been placed on the table.

Emilia, groaning, barely managed to hold Enrico’s bouquet that she had been struggling with.

Every time she took a step to leave the hallway, the scent of flowers fluttering in the wind tickled her nose. She glanced down and caught a lily at the end of her gaze.

‘Flowers are innocent. I just felt sorry for this flower that would be left alone, so I wanted to collect it.’

She muttered to herself as if making an excuse, and as she held the flowers in her arms, she made eye contact with her colleagues and headed toward the carriage waiting.

The streets were soon approaching midnight, and a cool breeze was blowing, as if to erase the traces of the late summer heat.

‘By the way, His Highness the Crown Prince hasn’t come. He’s in his seat…’

She had promised herself that she wouldn’t avoid Alessandro if he came to greet her in the dressing room, but this was unexpected. Was he coming to visit on the last day?

Emilia, who was opening the carriage door with a pensive expression, suddenly raised her eyes at the sound of a familiar voice.

“You’re late.”

The moment her arms gave out, the bouquet in her arms fell to the floor.

“… … Duke.”

“Why did you bring something so useless?”

Enrico, who had been languidly lowering his eyes and pointing to the floor, met her gaze again. She stared at him blankly, then blinked in surprise at the sight of her gaze colliding with the air.

“Oh, the flowers… ….”

When she realized it, only the large bouquet of flowers Enrico had given her remained in her arms. As she knelt down to pick up another bouquet that had fallen to the floor, Fabio, who appeared from behind the carriage, quickly picked up the bouquet instead.

“I’ll take this one. Get in quickly.”

“… … Thank you.”

In fact, she didn’t want to get on the carriage, but she couldn’t stay here any longer.

Emilia reluctantly hugged the only bouquet of flowers in her arms and got on the carriage. The lily in the middle trembled pitifully in her arms as she followed the movement.

As Emilia sat down, the carriage door closed with a bang and she felt the wheels slowly rolling. Enrico, who had been leaning his chin on the window frame and looking at Emilia askance, opened his mouth absentmindedly.

“Just take what I gave you. Don’t bother with anything else.”

“… … Are you here because of the contract breach?”

Emilia simply listened to his words and spoke only her own words. He raised one eyebrow slightly at her question.

“Not at all.”

“Yes?”

“That’s not the time to worry about that right now.”

“Your Majesty. I’m sure I-.”

“They say Cristina Firdana escaped.”

“… Yes?”

She looked at him with an expression that made her wonder if she had heard correctly.

“Didn’t you say you went to the workhouse? Are you saying you escaped from there?”

“Yes.”

“How… …”

It was a situation she hadn’t even thought about. She trailed off with a very flustered face.

In an instant, the amber eyes that had been glaring at her with jealousy flashed through her mind, and numerous lights falling on the stage flashed by.

“If you escape alone after being locked up for not long, it’s usually because you have helpers.”

Enrico, looking down at Emilia’s shaking eyes, slowly opened his mouth. Emilia’s brows narrowed slightly.

“Helper? Does Christina have such connections?”

“No way. Then she wasn’t taken to the workhouse in the first place.”

“Then who on earth… …”

Emilia’s arms slowly lost strength, and the bouquet of flowers in her arms shook. She felt uneasy because she had escaped alone after being locked up in the workhouse for not long.

If there was an assistant, wouldn’t there be some purpose? Could it be that he would come looking for me? Many thoughts came to mind, and his head became complicated.

Enrico turned his body slightly toward her, avoiding the upper body he had been leaning on. Then, he gently grabbed the tip of her chin, which was staring into space and lost in thought, and made her look at him.

Her hand, which was about to push away the hand on her chin as if she was flustered, stopped in midair at his unexpected words.

“Just rest for a while.”

“Huh? Rest?”

“I don’t know what the purpose is, so don’t come out until I find it.”

“Are you telling me to rest starting today?”

“Then do you plan on resting after something happens?”

“No… … . There’s no guarantee that something will happen. And it’s the performance period.”

“It’s not like there’s only one performance.”

Enrico’s lips curved gently. However, unlike his gentle smile, his calm voice contained a strange pressure telling her to just listen to him.

Emilia shook her head, holding his hand down as if it didn’t make sense.

“I can’t do that.”

Enrico’s gaze slowly moved down to the hand she was holding.

“Anyway, the place I go to is crowded, and Fabio goes to and from work with me. There’s even an escort around my house.”

“And there was an accident in a place with a lot of people.”

He looked her in the eye again and spat out a sarcastic remark. A cold light flashed in his calm purple eyes.

She tried not to lose her composure as his atmosphere grew increasingly ominous.

“That’s… … . But if I, the main character, were to leave now, the performance would be in big trouble. I can’t do that irresponsibly.”

“Irresponsible… … .”

“Yes, that’s why-.”

“I don’t understand why someone with such a strong sense of responsibility is so insincere in our contract.”

His slightly downturned eyes strangely turned upward.

A large hand grabbed her hand, which was about to fall away from him, and quickly pulled it toward him. Her body swayed as she lost her balance, and the bouquet of flowers in her arms fell to the floor.

“Tsk-!”

“Anyway, I don’t like it.”

Enrico reached out with his other hand and slowly swept her shoulder. Suddenly, as if asking what was going on, he grabbed her round shoulder firmly as if to stop her body from pulling his hand away.

“Why are you so lenient to others while you keep pushing me away?”

His darkened eyes greedily scanned her body. His gaze gradually lowered as if to reveal the areas that had been bothersome throughout the duet, such as her shoulder, below her ribs, and her lower back, where the ballerina’s hand had brushed.

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