When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 94



Only Krnovel

#94. Variation
2024.04.03.

For a moment, a voice that was not a hallucination was heard. Emilia quickly fell down the stairs, so she shut her eyes tightly in surprise.

‘… … Duke?’

A squeak- A creepy sound was heard. When she opened her eyes again with a start, Enrico suddenly appeared in front of her, and the dagger that Christina had been holding was stuck in his arm.

The only problem was that Emilia was already on the verge of falling down the stairs, so there was no time to worry about him.

Enrico grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into his arms, as if the fact that she had just been stabbed with a sword was nothing. It was already too late to hold on to one, so in the end, he chose to fall together.

In an instant, the two of them fell down the stairs and rolled down. The sound of them rolling dangerously down the stairs mixed with the sound of fireworks still exploding outside the window.

“Huh-!”

With a low groan, the strength that was enveloping her grew stronger. Emilia, who felt a large hand wrapping around the back of her head, opened one eye for a moment while rolling.

‘How did you get here…?…’

Enrico suddenly appeared, so it was too dreamlike to believe. For a moment, she thought she had hit her head and was mistaken.

She forgot her current situation and tried to look up at him, but soon her eyes closed tightly due to the impact of her back hitting him. The world spun around.

Boom! Following the loud crash, she felt herself rolling down again. The recoil from being pushed too hard caused her to fall twice instead of rolling down just one floor.

Her shaking body finally stopped, and Emilia carefully opened her eyes in the arms that were holding her tightly. Her wide chest, rising and falling, and her swaying throat came into view.

“Your Highness!”

Fabio called from above. She could also hear Cristina screaming, but that didn’t matter to Emilia.

For some reason, Enrico, who was still holding her, looked unusual.

Emilia barely managed to raise her throbbing upper body and took one of his hands.

“… … Duke?”

The end of her whispered voice trembled. Emilia glanced at his arm, which was going down obediently, and then turned her gaze to Enrico’s face, which was still lying down.

“Duke!”

Enrico’s condition looked quite serious, as he was frowning and gritting his teeth. Emilia tried to move her body by urgently reaching out to his cheek, but gasped when she saw the bright red blood flowing in the hallway.

“Your Highness, are you okay?”

“Blood… … .”

Her trembling fingers pointed to Enrico’s head. Fabio, who had come running in a hurry, opened his eyes slightly as if to ask what that meant, but then hardened his expression when he saw the blood flowing from the back of Enrico’s head.

Was that the loud noise I heard when I came down earlier the sound of hitting my head? That’s why I lost consciousness for a moment and rolled here?

Emilia grabbed Enrico’s cheeks with a face that seemed to be at a loss.

However, Enrico’s eyes did not open, and instead, his frowning face lost its expression and his head tilted weakly. His

jade-colored eyes, stained with shock, shook violently.

***

Emilia stared blankly into space. Her face was covered in deep fatigue from staying up all night.

Too many things had happened in an instant. Before she could enjoy the successful conclusion of the [Cinderella] performance, Christina suddenly appeared and covered it all with bloody memories as if she was going to erase it all.

Enrico’s arm bleeding from being stabbed with a knife and the bleeding flowing from the back of his head as if it were forming a puddle on the hallway floor. The image of Enrico, who had not come to his senses and had his eyes closed, was still vivid as if it was pressed into his retina.

‘Because of me… … .’

Even if it was a sudden accident, it was already the second time he had been hurt because of himself.

The last time he had been hurt badly, he had forgotten about it quickly, but this time it was not something he could simply ignore. A concussion. If he had been careful, he would have let him go.

The attending physician who came running immediately said that his head wound was just a torn skin that had bled a lot.

When Enrico woke up for a moment, the examination confirmed that there was no abnormality in his nerves or memory, so he was relieved.

The attending physician prescribed sleeping pills for him, saying that he would feel dizzy for a while, but that he needed to rest. Then he came straight to him and told him about Enrico’s condition.

‘… … Can I tell you about the Duke’s condition?’

‘It’s okay. The Duke won’t mind. Instead, I want you, Emilia, to tell me about every single part of your injury.’

The attending physician became more enthusiastic about his treatment as if he had been given special instructions. Emilia nodded obediently, knowing that it was impossible to say that it was okay because of her appearance.

However, the biggest problem was her ankle. She didn’t realize it at the time because of the shock of Enrico falling, but now that I look back, it seems like Cristina twisted her ankle when she pushed her.

It was so swollen that it was increasingly painful to step on it, so her condition looked very serious.

‘… … It’s not just that her ankle got worse because of the injury, but it’s also because she had been overdoing it before. It must have been hurting all along, so why didn’t you come to me?’

‘Because I have to do ballet right now.’

‘If you’re being greedy now, you might never be able to do ballet again. You should have thought about resting for a while and getting treatment.’

‘I know. But that’s just wasting time, and it’s not a complete cure.’

‘Miss Emilia.’

‘I know that medicine has advanced a lot these days. But since there’s still no treatment for internal tissues, I couldn’t just sit there and wait.’

At Emilia’s resigned words, the attending physician eventually closed his mouth as if he had nothing more to say.

Then, when the examination was over, the attending physician left, repeatedly telling her not to use her ankle as much as possible, saying that he would look up cases in other countries and study treatment methods before leaving.

In fact, he knew very well that it would be difficult to turn her ankle around now.

Emilia briefly glanced at her bandaged ankle and tilted her head back. A deep sigh escaped her lips.

‘Why do you keep protecting me?’

After all, wasn’t she the most important person?

Enrico, who always looked down on people arrogantly and seemed like he would never fall no matter what happened, started to break because of himself.

As a selfish man, he would be selfish until the end. It was uncomfortable because it seemed like he was constantly breaking down in an uncharacteristic way.

It hadn’t been long since he found out that his parents had sacrificed everything for him.

In such a situation, Enrico’s actions felt like a very burdensome sacrifice, and he couldn’t help but feel anxious and uneasy.

‘… … This can’t go on.’

It didn’t matter if it was avoidance. The thoughts she had been trying to push away, blaming his arrogance, disappeared without a trace.

‘It’s right to distance ourselves for each other.’

Her dizzying mind eroded her reason and built a solid wall. It was true that Enrico had continued to have bad things happen to

him because she was by his side. Furthermore, she had been feeling like a leech, sticking to him and prolonging her life, so it was right to leave him now for Enrico.

The sacrifice he was trying to make for himself somehow seemed similar to her parents. Just like her father and mother who had turned their backs on the world in vain.

“Yes. This is right.”

If Enrico was sincere, she should leave for him even more. Emilia chewed her lower lip and tried to calm her mind.

Knock, knock, she blinked in surprise at the sudden knock.

“It’s Fabio.”

Before she could answer, the person standing outside the door revealed his identity first. Fabio, who was busy guarding Enrico, briefly lost his mind as to why he had come to the room he was in.

‘No way… … .’

Emilia tried to stay calm and stared intently at the door.

“His Highness the Duke has woken up.”

However, her calmness was quickly shattered.

She ran to the door without hesitation and opened it.

“How are you? Are you okay?”

“… … Yes. He says he is okay except for a slight headache. His memory is also fine.”

Fabio hesitated for a moment at Emilia’s intense reaction, which he had never seen before, and then slowly nodded his head.

“Ha… … .”

Emilia squeezed her eyes shut and let out a sigh of relief.

Her face, which seemed to be so relieved, was filled with a mixture of relief, anxiety, and guilt that she could not completely shake off.

Fabio, who had been looking down at her as she struggled to catch her breath and furrowed her brows, carefully spoke.

“Let’s go together. “The Duke is looking for you.”

Her closed eyelids lifted and her eyes briefly fluttered open.

‘… … Should I go?’

In an instant, deep worry settled over her.