When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 116



Only Noblemtl

#116. Portrait
2024.04.25.

I didn’t understand why Fabio suddenly came to Enrico’s office. I thought Enrico would tell me to go back quickly since he was alone, but it was so unexpected.

Emilia followed him slowly into the office, keeping her eyes on Fabio’s back.

As she entered, she caught a glimpse of the large mahogany desk and the white cloth covering the surrounding area. However, it was the same as any other space, so it wasn’t that surprising.

“Mr. Fabio? Why are you coming in here all of a sudden?”

“Would you please take a look this way?”

Fabio turned around and smiled. His polite fingertips were pointing to the left wall near the door.

Emilia turned her head but didn’t take her eyes off Fabio, and only after she completely turned around did she look at the wall.

“… … !”

Emilia’s eyes widened. There was a large picture frame hanging on the wall.

And inside it was a portrait of a young couple looking down at a small child sitting in the middle with a gentle smile. Her jade-colored eyes shook endlessly as she looked at the painting.

“Why is this here…?”

Emilia couldn’t finish her words. A portrait of her parents whom she would miss for the rest of her life. It was even different from the family portrait she had seen at the Barcota Este Viscount’s house. She had

said she would look for another one, but had naturally forgotten about it. But then she was speechless when she saw another portrait in such an unexpected place.

“The Duke went to Barcota and found it himself and brought it back.”

Emilia’s clear eyes filled with tears and swayed with joy.

“The Viscount’s house will continue to exist. The law has changed so that women can also become heads of households.”

“… … Even women?”

She had been living her life by strictly cutting off rumors about this kingdom since leaving Barcota, so it was the first time she had heard of this huge issue.

“Yes. In fact, this was something that Emilia had been preparing for before she left the duke’s residence due to an accident. I think the duke is not in a position to tell you such details, so I will tell you instead.”

Fabio understood. Enrico’s thoughts were focused on wanting to be with her in some way, so he didn’t seem to have the time to talk about what he had done before.

“It was really good that you came back.”

Emilia approached the portrait and carefully swept it away.

Her parents’ eyes, looking down at her younger self with her cheeks flushed like apples and smiling cutely, contained a sparkling affection that could be felt even in the painting.

The heavy emotions that she had felt as if they were sacrifices melted away in vain.

Just like the snow that had piled up on the ground not long ago, now evaporates and disappears cleanly in the sunlight. The tears that had been piling up since a while ago finally flowed down her cheeks.

***

The bright sunlight had faded away, and a warm sunset mixed with crimson and purple enveloped the inner room. In that warm and calm scenery, Enrico’s eyelids fluttered as he lay on the sofa, seemingly dead.

“Are you awake?”

A gentle voice that matched the peaceful atmosphere descended on his head. His hazy purple eyes slowly came into focus as a gentle hand swept his disheveled hair off his forehead.

His eyes were slightly bloodshot from the aftereffects of waking up from a deep sleep, but his face still looked much more relaxed.

“… … Emilia.”

“Yes.”

Emilia’s fingertips slowly rubbed his tired eyelids, showing affection. Enrico’s face, which had been languidly closing and opening his eyes, felt a deep sense of relief.

“You were really like this the whole time? Didn’t your legs hurt?”

Enrico flinched when he noticed Emilia’s thighs resting her head on his head. When he tried to get up, he felt a force pressing down on his shoulders as if to say that it was okay.

“It wasn’t long. I thought you were in a deep sleep, so I sat down like this once, but you still didn’t wake up. “Are you tired?”

“No. I don’t feel tired at all when I see you.”

Enrico rested his head comfortably and took one of her hands.

“Then what were you doing before that?”

“I just took a look around. It was all covered in white sheets, so I came back quickly.”

Enrico’s lips curled up in satisfaction as he felt her hand still stroking his forehead.

“I guess I’ll have to tell her to put the sheets away. Now that I think about it, do you like looking at art?”

“I don’t know because I’ve never really seen any other art forms. As you know, I’ve only known ballet.”

“Let’s go up north together sometime. There’s a lot more to see there. Of course, I’ll have to take care of your ankle first.”

“Ah… your ankle.”

“You’re going to continue ballet, aren’t you? I’ll use every means at my disposal, so just get ready to do what you want.”

“… … What if I don’t do ballet?”

Enrico was attracted to her ballet, so

she worried that if she gave up her path as a ballerina, she would be a little disappointed. However, Enrico simply looked up at her without showing any sign of surprise.

“If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to. I don’t care if you don’t do anything, just breathe.”

It was a reaction that really showed that he had no interest in ballet at all. Seeing him answer casually as if the only thing that mattered was the girl in front of him, the tension that had seeped in was relieved.

“It’s not that, but I’ve been thinking about ballet again.”

Thanks to that, Emilia also opened her mouth with a much lighter expression.

“It’s true that I like ballet, but I don’t think I really had a goal. I just held on to it because I thought that this was the only thing I had at some point… … But now I want to let it go.”

“Okay. Do whatever you want.”

She muttered in a low voice while kissing the hand Enrico was holding.

“But didn’t you say that you wanted to do something?”

“Oh, I was going to tell you that anyway.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to retire as a ballerina, but I don’t plan on quitting ballet altogether. I thought I’d like to use this opportunity to further develop the ballet industry. I think it would be better to use the fortune my parents left me for a better cause rather than just leaving it alone.”

“Um… … . I’m somewhat prepared for that.”

“Huh? What preparations?”

Enrico stared at her for a moment at her questionable voice before slowly opening his mouth.

“The Viscountess Este left us one more thing.”

“My parents?”

“Yeah. I think they were planning to establish a ballet sponsorship organization. They probably wanted to straighten out the system and get rid of the shallow image that was underlying it.”

Suddenly, she wondered what he was talking about. Emilia blinked her eyes quickly and pursed her lips.

“I’ve already laid out the general outline. I think it would be a good idea to select talented people and have the organization directly sponsor them. What do you think?”

“… … That’s what I was thinking.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I wanted to discover talent and improve the ballet environment. I was wondering how to proceed with selecting scholarship students, but the association is perfect.”

Her parents must have been looking far into the distance for her, who loved ballet. Her eyes were stinging. Emilia raised the corners of her trembling lips as if trying to calm her throbbing heart and continued.

“Thank you.”

“It was the work of the Viscount and his wife.”

“But you didn’t miss that and recognized it. And the portrait.”

“Ah.”

Enrico trailed off lazily. Then he reached out to her face, responding indifferently as if it were something so obvious.

“I missed you so much.”

“… … .”

“The thing I regretted the most after you left was that I didn’t leave a portrait behind… … I wanted to see you, but I can’t see a single trace of you. Even if you appear in my dreams, you disappear when I open my eyes. I really wanted to find something.”

Enrico’s hand naturally slid down to the nape of her neck as he caressed her cheek. A large hand carefully grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her towards him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t find you for me, but for me.”

He followed her as she slightly lowered her head. As the distance between them narrowed, their nose tips brushed against each other, and as he tilted his head, their nose tips flicked slightly. Their lips met for a long time.

“I’ll do whatever you want for the rest of your life, so just stay by my side.”

With a moist sound, their lips parted, and he whispered softly at a distance where their breaths brushed against each other.

Then, due to his gently pressing lips, her body gradually pushed back, and before she knew it, she was lying down under him, completely upright.

Emilia absentmindedly took his lips, and before she knew it, she realized that she was lying on the sofa, and her eyes widened.

He raised his head for a moment for her, who was struggling to breathe, and then languidly glared at her as if he found her cute. Even between her folded eyes, she could see the passion boiling up inside her.

Emilia’s arms wrapped around Enrico’s neck, who was getting closer again.

“I’m going to be busy from now on. I have a lot of things I want to do.”

“I’ll gladly follow you, whatever it is. Even if it means selling this kingdom.”

Emilia slapped his shoulder in shock.

“That can’t be happening!”

Enrico just smiled as if he liked the touch that didn’t hurt at all.