When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 75
Only Noblemtl
#75. If Only You Were Here
2024.03.15.
“How dare you treat royalty with contempt.”
“Just pretend they don’t exist.”
“… … They might have known you existed and come looking for me.”
“How unnecessarily honest.”
Enrico muttered absentmindedly as he put his wine glass to his lips .
“So why did you come looking for me?”
“Hmm… … He said he would make sure that the family could be maintained.”
Emilia, who had trailed off for a moment, carefully opened her mouth. Enrico raised an eyebrow.
“Tell me more.”
“He said he would put the issue of determining the existence of the family on hold for the time being and try to push for a new bill so that women could also continue the family line.”
“Ha… … You’ve used your brain a lot.”
A short, empty laugh escaped from between his teeth.
His mood, which had been fine just a moment ago, suddenly dropped, and he felt his balls turn. Enrico, who suddenly felt his taste buds becoming dull, poured the remaining wine into his mouth.
“So.”
“Yes?”
“Were you shaken?”
He put down his wine glass and began to tap the table with his index finger.
“It was worth it to ignore my warning.”
“… … I don’t know what you mean by shaken.”
A breath like a breeze escaped her mouth.
“There’s no way the crown prince wouldn’t have made a request while saying that.”
“Why do you think he would have made a request?”
“Then no?”
She closed her mouth tightly for a moment at his sharp gaze and then slowly opened it.
“… … I didn’t make a request, I just asked the duke if he had any weaknesses.”
She was talking about all sorts of things. He was so interested in Emilia and herself that it was now too annoying for him to keep digging into her.
Before, she didn’t want to pay attention to royal affairs, whether they were on the throne or not, but recently, because of Alessandro, she was so interested in the throne.
It seemed obvious that Alessandro would be a nuisance if he became king, and Emilia also seemed dangerous because she kept nagging him.
“Of course I said there was no such thing.”
“I know. I didn’t catch any weaknesses in the first place, what?”
Enrico spat out indifferently at Emilia’s calmly added. If he had caught her weaknesses, he would have knelt down a long time ago.
He wouldn’t have listened to her words that occasionally irritated him, and instead, he would have ordered her to obey only his words whenever that happened.
If he hadn’t developed feelings for her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on yet, then that would have been the case.
“There isn’t? I thought this contract was my weakness from the beginning… …”
Emilia stared at Enrico for a moment, then averted her gaze and muttered softly. Enrico arched one eyebrow at her almost whispered words.
“What?”
“No.”
Her gaze, which had been down, rose again and he shook his head slightly. The eyes that had been bright and bright when she had just heard the lawyer’s story had quickly died down.
‘Those eyes again… … .’
Ever since the day of the fight at Emilia’s house, that expressionless expression that she kept showing had become very annoying.
In the past, she didn’t mind that kind of expression, but now, perhaps because of an indescribable emotion, she didn’t want to keep looking at that face.
Enrico, who had been staring at her expressionless face as if he didn’t like it, soon got up from his seat.
“Let’s continue the rest of the conversation after moving to a different location.”
Or maybe it was an excuse for her to feel bad about parting ways like this.
For some reason, he didn’t want to let her go like this. Since it was obvious that Emilia would go home right away if the conversation ended here, he took advantage of the opportunity to move to a different location and find a spot where it would be difficult for her to get up right away.
“Prepare something to drink in the greenhouse.”
As Enrico left the dining room and gave instructions to the butler, the servants and butler who were around him quickly left the hallway.
‘I should have told them to bring the jewelry box too.’
The accessories I had bought to give her as a reward were piled up more than I thought, divided into numerous jewelry boxes.
Since the investigation went faster than I thought and the information I had to give her increased, I didn’t have many opportunities to open them, and in fact, when I gave her the jewelry before, she didn’t seem to like it, so I had been thinking of giving it to her with an excuse, but I kept putting it off.
‘I guess I should give it to her after this Cinderella performance is over.’
Since I had followed his advice to take the lead role, I thought it would be a good idea to give her a gift as a reward and to commemorate her successful lead role.
I felt quite satisfied imagining the pearl necklace I had recently bought hanging around her thin, white neck.
The nighttime dukedom was even more silent than during the day, perhaps because the two of them were walking without a word of conversation. He could hear her quietly following him right behind him as he walked leisurely.
Unlike other noble ladies who wore high heels, she always wore low heels, so the sound of her footsteps was particularly unobtrusive.
Soon, as he passed the gorgeous chandelier and the door leading to the garden, the sky was filled with stars that sparkled even more than inside.
It was his first time visiting a glass greenhouse at night, not during the day.
The interior, which seemed to be filled with only soft lights, was now filled with moonlight pouring through the glass that showed the sky, and the lukewarm summer breeze was easing the heat to an appropriate temperature at night.
Enrico, who had approached the table that had been set up while he was walking, pulled out a chair as if telling Emilia to sit down.
She paused for a moment, stared at him, took a deep breath, and sat down quietly in her chair.
“What temperature would you like your tea to be?”
The servant who had prepared both a hot teapot and a cold drink on the trolley politely asked.
Enrico motioned for Emilia to choose first, then when he saw her ordering warm tea, he flinched slightly under one eye and ordered the same.
After the warm tea was prepared in front of each person, the servant left and silence fell over the greenhouse again.
Enrico looked across from him while holding the steaming teacup. She just held the handle of the teacup and didn’t seem to have any intention of drinking. He
drank the tea, barely wetting his lips, because the unfinished conversation in the dining room was bothering him. He put the cup down and opened his mouth.
“No matter what happens, don’t let the crown prince into the house. No, just don’t let the two of you meet.”
“I’ll try.”
“Don’t be vague about your answer. It sounds like you’ll keep meeting whenever you get the chance.”
“… … That’s not what you’re saying. If His Highness the Crown Prince comes without notice, there is a limit to how much I can refuse, so I have no choice but to say that I will try.”
“Tell me about myself.”
“The Duke? What did I say about the Duke?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“It is exactly as it is. It is only a sponsorship relationship, but do you think His Highness would accept that? Rather, he would offer to sponsor me instead.”
It was only a sponsorship relationship, so his mouth closed tightly and then opened again.
“Did the Crown Prince say that he would sponsor me?”
“… … Before. It was only once.”
“You have been constantly nagging me in places where I could not see you.”
The corners of his mouth went up lazily. The smile revealed under the moonlight was beautiful, yet strangely dangerous.
“You hid it very well.”
At his low, sharp voice, Emilia’s hands on her legs tightened.
“I made a light suggestion when you came to the concert hall.”
“What made you think that was a light suggestion? He’s already visiting your house.”
“That is… … .”
“Does it seem light to think about the existence of one of those common families?”
Her face showed resignation at his words, which he spat out as if he was pressing down on her. He stared at her body as her chest and shoulders shook as if she was swallowing a sigh.
“… … I’ll try to refuse you better next time.”
The argument that would have been long ended with her calmly accepting it. Rather than being happy that she was following his words obediently, he looked at her with some awkwardness.
It seemed like he would leave right away if the conversation ended like this. He might make excuses to focus on the performance and not come back for a while like last time, so there seemed to be no point in moving if he were to just let her go.
“If it’s difficult, tell me. I tell you again, at least make an excuse.”
A bitter smile appeared briefly on Emilia’s lips.
“Yes, I’ll definitely tell my sponsor that he doesn’t want it.”
“… … Yes.”
Sponsor, that relationship is definitely right. But why didn’t he answer right away? Enrico kept his mouth shut.
Why had he been so concerned about that word since a while ago? It was like an uncontrollable attraction to Emilia. What had been interesting at first was now becoming annoying.
Outside the glass, the sound of the bushes swaying in the wind could be heard occasionally, but since the sound was so small that it sounded far away, most of the time it was quiet inside.
‘Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter because I’m next to you.’
There was no need to rush to decide. Just think about it leisurely like always, and it will be resolved.
Enrico rested his chin on his hand and languidly closed his eyes, then opened them and stared at Emilia, who was gathering her starlight-blonde hair onto one shoulder.
Soon, the sound of the watch on his wrist was heard clearly, as if filling the glass greenhouse where the sound of speech had disappeared. Enrico slowly lowered his gaze and looked at his left wrist under the table.
The sound of the watch was so loud that he couldn’t hear the sound coming from her.
Enrico impulsively took off his watch. His freed wrist felt cool. He stared at the watch in his hand and put it in his pants pocket.
The sound of the second hand disappeared and he could hear her voice. Her hand touching the teacup, her small breathing, the sound of her carefully swallowing saliva. Everything became clear and he felt strangely at ease.
Fortunately, Emilia had no intention of getting up right away. Instead, she was fluttering her eyelashes with her eyes downcast in a delicate curve, as if she were lost in thought.
“… … .”
It was at that moment when a slow smile formed on Enrico’s lips as he quietly looked at Emilia and breathed comfortably.
“… … It’s hell.”
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