When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 114



Only Noblemtl

#114. Now Only You
2024.04.23.

The winter when the snowstorms continued to rage ceaselessly gradually disappeared. As the bone-chilling winds subsided, the sunlight that had been unable to shine due to the gray clouds gradually melted the frozen ground.

However, Duke Michele’s residence was still bleak. The interior covered in white cloth was a colorless world, unlike the place that always boasted of colorful colors.

Fabio walked to the office and glanced around the empty feeling of the mansion that had been left empty for a long time. He thought that everything would return to normal when Enrico met Emilia.

However, when he saw Enrico returning to the capital alone, his heart sank, thinking that something was wrong.

Later, Emilia said that she would come to the capital, but he thought that if she didn’t come quickly, Enrico’s condition would return to the worst as before, and his prediction was right. Knock knock

.

“Duke, I brought the documents you mentioned.”

“Come in.”

The door opened with a low voice as a signal. Fabio sighed inwardly as he watched Enrico sitting at the mahogany desk and looking at documents again today.

Enrico, who had lost all motivation since the day he met Emilia and returned, suddenly entered the office and was happy at first. He

somehow took care of urgent matters, but the piled up documents had piled up for three years, so he had a ton of work to do.

At first, he excitedly brought the documents he had to deal with. But one day, two days, three days… … As time passed, Fabio realized belatedly that something was wrong

. Enrico worked like a madman, as if he needed something to focus on. He practically lived in the office, and when Fabio deliberately brought the documents a little late, he just stared out the window.

It was fortunate that he didn’t act like he wanted to die right away like before, but the current situation was still problematic. He worked himself to death

until he fell asleep, and although he ate less than before, he only ate enough to moisten his mouth.

“… … I’ll leave the documents here.”

And a month had already passed since he had been living like that. Emilia had said she would come to Michele’s mansion soon, but there was more to sort out than he had thought, so the time had been extended.

“And the letter has arrived.”

Enrico, who had been staring at the documents and not responding, suddenly raised his head.

When Fabio carefully held out the small gold plate with the letter on it, Enrico quickly snatched it away like a hawk catching its prey, as if he was only looking at it.

A faint smile appeared on Enrico’s lips, which had looked extremely dry. The fingers holding the letter were barely holding the edges, afraid that the paper might get crumpled.

A faint sense of relief crossed Fabio’s face as he looked down at him. The letters Emilia sent him every four or five days were the ones that gave Enrico some breathing room.

Fabio couldn’t tell what was written, but he could guess that Emilia was very worried about his health.

“Go eat.”

That’s why he would eat as soon as he saw the letter. Since he repeated this pattern every time he saw the letter, Fabio could only feel relieved on the day the letter arrived. It

would be best if Emilia returned to the Michele mansion quickly, but he was grateful that the person who had run away had decided to come back in the first place.

If things were going this way, it wouldn’t have been surprising if Enrico had been put in a coffin.

Fabio politely greeted him, saying that he would prepare right away. Turning around, Enrico looked at the letter he had just seen, and then again.

He repeated the same action until he went to eat. No matter how carefully he held the letter, it eventually crumpled like the previous letter.

***

The capital of Treano, Desiro, was a little warmer than the Bailey village where he had lived.

Although the entire Carent Kingdom was not a cold region, Bailey was the only one where the temperature was low enough to snow until yesterday, but Deshiro was already feeling the spring breeze.

Emilia slowly looked around. It was Deshiro who had returned after three years of crossing the sea. Although there had been many major events in society during that time, the expressions on the people’s faces looked peaceful, as if time were saying that they would be forgotten.

Originally, she should have told Enrico in advance and returned to Treano, but she thought it would be better to move quickly on her own rather than waiting for a reply by sending a letter, so she hurriedly got on the ship.

‘I want to see you.’

She wanted to wrap up her life in Bailey Village as quickly as possible and go to Enrico.

However, the three years she had spent in Bailey Village were not a short time, and since she wanted to properly finish the ballet class she had been teaching, a month had already passed.

It was surprising that Enrico had not chased her again during this long time. The letters she occasionally sent were full of honest feelings, as if she wanted to express her invisible affection in words.

Just looking at the text, Enrico’s appearance, who had been looking forward to her return every day, was vivid.

Emilia caught a street carriage with excitement. The coachman looked at her with a slightly surprised look when he heard the destination, but soon began to carefully drive the carriage and ran down the street.

The scenery outside the window quickly changed as the carriage entered Versicone Street. Versicone

Street was a place where only the upper class lived, with large mansions built neatly and spaced out, and well-maintained tree-lined streets.

However, after going a long way down that street, the magnificent Michele Mansion came into view, as if to show that it was the best of this upper-class street.

Soon, a knight blocking the main gate approached and knocked on the carriage door. She slightly lowered the window and the knight asked in a blunt voice,

“Did you make an appointment in advance?”

“Ah… … .”

He told her to come, but no one knew it would be today. Should I call this an appointment?

The knight, who had not missed Emilia’s moment of hesitation, suddenly took a step back and bowed his head deeply.

“I’m sorry. We are refusing to accept visits from those who do not have prior arrangements. We would appreciate it if you could make a separate appointment for a later visit.”

“Then, would

you call Mr. Fabio?” “… …Aide Fabio?”

“Yes, he will check for you.”

Emilia answered with an embarrassed expression. It would be better for them to call Fabio than to ask Enrico to check for them directly.

The knights whispered and then stepped back with an understanding.

One of the knights quickly mounted his horse and disappeared into the mansion, and Emilia stared intently at the spot where the knight had disappeared. And soon, two horses were seen galloping toward them.

“Sorry for being late!”

Fabio’s face showed that he had come running as soon as he heard the words as he got off his horse. Emilia smiled with relief at the sight of Fabio, who did not hide his surprise and even seemed to be madly happy.

The knights who were waiting also opened the front door quickly with bewildered faces as if they were surprised by Fabio smiling so brightly.

“I’m the one who’s sorry for being late. You’ve been waiting for a long time, right? Oh, would you like to get in the carriage? Let’s go together.”

“Oh… … Thank you.”

Fabio hesitated for a moment and quickly got into the carriage.

“I came running without even reporting to the Duke, so I don’t think I should go back and tell you alone.”

Fabio, who was playfully asking her to go with him, seemed to be very relieved. Emilia became a little nervous because the only person who would be worried about him was Enrico.

“… … How is the Duke? He only said in his letters that he was fine.”

He constantly wrote things like when he would come back, that he wanted to see her, and that he wanted her to come soon, but he was always vague about her health. He was just full of questions, as if he was just curious about her current situation.

“It’s true that you’re feeling better than before.”

“It sounds like you’re not feeling well. Are you still having trouble sleeping? How are you eating?”

“Haha… … .”

The things she couldn’t say in words were revealed in her awkward laughter. Emilia frowned slightly and sighed.

Maybe she should have come back sooner, even if it meant pushing herself. She felt uneasy because she didn’t consider his condition and only did what she wanted to do.

“Oh, don’t make that face. Maybe she didn’t tell you because she was afraid that the Duke would be this upset. I can’t say for sure, but I’ve watched the Duke for a long time, and if he could definitely cut off his attachment to the place he used to live in, he would think that it was worth waiting.”

It sounded plausible. Emilia thought that Enrico had waited for her for such a long time, but she also thought that it wasn’t a bad choice for him, so she endured it.

The carriage passed the dry fountain where time seemed to have stopped and stopped in front of the mansion. And Fabio, who got off the carriage first, escorted Emilia and walked to the mansion door.

Fabio reached out to open the door, but before he could, the door opened wide.

“Emilia?”

Enrico, panting as if he had just run in, was standing in front of the door.