When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 89
Only Noblemtl
#89. Cinderella
2024.03.29.
She sighed and wiped the back of her neck as she stared at the door that moved slightly as if someone had just left.
It was a place where people came and went, so it was natural for it to be open, but was she a little sensitive because of the last performance?
Such accidents were not common in the first place, and the culprit was taken to the workhouse, but why did she feel so bad?
‘It’ll be okay when I go on stage.’
Emilia swallowed her laughter and turned around, thinking that she was probably just nervous because it was her first performance since the accident.
She waved to Giuliana, who had just found her, and walked toward her.
“… … They came.”
Soon, Giuliana, who was standing next to her, whispered softly as they walked down the hallway together.
“Who?”
“Duke Michele is here.”
Emilia furrowed her brows and blinked in embarrassment.
“I thought you wouldn’t come? You even sent a bouquet of flowers to the dressing room.”
“When? “There wasn’t a bouquet of flowers until a little while ago.”
“Oh, then you must have gone out. But people started gossiping after seeing that, and it was annoying to hear. If you’re
jealous, just say you’re jealous… … .” Juliana shook her fist in the air with a displeased expression.
“… … You even sent flowers?”
However, Emilia muttered in amazement, as if she was just fascinated by the flowers rather than the people’s gaze.
Of course, she thought he wouldn’t come, but he even sent a bouquet of flowers. What kind of whim was this ? Enrico’s intentions were not clear at all.
‘Are you doing this on purpose? You’re not going to break the contract?’
It would be understandable for that man, but she didn’t understand why he came to the performance when he was busy.
He had left because of an urgent matter, but his expression on the day he brought up breaking the contract was so bad.
Emilia let out a faint sigh. Juliana, who had been quietly observing her, rolled her eyes.
“But the Duke said he wouldn’t be able to come because he was busy… … . Do you really like me so much?”
“That’s not it.”
“No? Well, if that’s what you’re saying, then that’s what it is.”
At Emilia’s seemingly resolute appearance, Giulia hesitated and laughed awkwardly.
“Anyway, don’t worry too much about other people. Only a few people really do that.”
Anyway, the rumors had already spread and the people who were so obsessed with it would continue to talk behind her back, so she didn’t really care anymore.
It was right to say that she was too busy thinking about Enrico to think about anyone else.
‘Let’s just do what I have to do.’
It was more important that Alessandro might come after the performance than that Enrico had come to the performance.
After Emilia finished getting ready, she waited at the stage wings and checked her toe shoes once more. The lights were brightly illuminating the stage where the curtain hadn’t yet gone up.
There wouldn’t be another time when I fell like last time. I had intentionally caused the accident back then, and that person is no longer here.
‘It’s okay. Just do as you usually do.’
Emilia stared at the stage ceiling and closed her eyes tightly. She took a deep breath and tried to relax her body, which seemed more tense than usual.
The curtain slowly rose, and the sound of the orchestra began to fill the concert hall.
***
The maestro greeted the audience as if to announce the start of the stage. Enrico, who had been quietly waiting for the curtain to rise, narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Fabio, who had suddenly entered the box and was whispering cautiously.
“… … When?”
Fabio lowered his head slightly with a serious, hardened face.
“I’m sorry. I heard that his whereabouts have not been confirmed since the day before yesterday.”
“Are you sure?”
“It seems hard to be sure. Considering that he escaped without being caught by our informant, I think he has an accomplice inside, but I will go to the workhouse and check it out myself.”
Ha, Enrico let out a soft sigh and leaned his head against the back of the chair. He crossed his legs lazily and slowly turned the glass of underlock in his hand, then poured the whiskey inside into his mouth in one gulp.
The hot air passed through his throat, and his throat moved slowly up and down.
“Send someone else to the workhouse, and you reinforce Emilia’s guard. If Cristina comes here, she’ll be the first one I’ll target.”
“Understood. I’m sorry I couldn’t take care of it in advance.”
Enrico nodded to Fabio toward the door and put down his glass, as if he was annoyed by his answer. Enrico
, who was quickly leaving Fabio behind as he disappeared from sight, was about to fill his glass out of habit when he saw the curtain rise on the stage, but he unconsciously emptied his hand.
Emilia stood in the middle of the stage and moved pitifully. Enrico naturally focused on her, and although he had only seen her for a few days, he kept looking at her as if he had seen her for a long time.
‘Come to think of it, she got a role similar to mine.’
As the play progressed, Enrico thought that Emilia’s strange life was similar to that of the female protagonist in [Cinderella], which he had seen once before and knew the story of.
Since the father who was addicted to alcohol and gambling and could not do his job and the stepmother and stepsisters who constantly harassed him were not family, Emilia’s situation, which was now left alone, seemed very similar to Cinderella.
Furthermore, meeting the prince, dancing freely, and eventually escaping from hell through him seemed similar to his current relationship with Emilia, so he forgot his anger towards her for a moment and focused on the play.
However, as the play progressed, Emilia seemed to correct Enrico’s thoughts and flew freely across the stage like a bird. His index finger repeatedly tapped the armrest of the chair, ignoring the beat.
‘… … I should have finished the story I was talking about and left.’
Fabio had reported that Madrid Decap, who had been unable to open his eyes for a long time even after being rescued, had woken up. He had left as soon as he heard, but now that he thought about it, there was no need to go back right away.
Even if he had come to his senses, he would have been shocked and not been able to tell her about the kidnapping, so he couldn’t understand why he had left so quickly.
As expected, all he heard when he returned that day was that the pervert kept touching Madrid Decap’s blond hair and bringing the tip of her hair to his nose to smell it.
It was a mistake. He should have just made sure that Emilia wouldn’t keep talking about breaking the contract.
‘It’s not like I didn’t expect that she would have a hard time talking even if she came to her senses… … . Even though she was so angry that she turned her back in that situation.’
Enrico stared intently at Emilia, who was dancing lightly on the stage.
Maybe he wanted to avoid talking to Emilia. It was such an absurd assumption, but for some reason he couldn’t immediately say anything negative.
At that time, all he wanted to do was hurt her, and the urge to drag her to the duke’s mansion by force dominated his mind.
However, the moment he did that, he had a feeling that her jade-colored eyes, like the clear sea under the sunlight, would never let him in again.
‘But did she originally have that much contact with her partner?’
Enrico’s eyes narrowed. The sight of the ballerina who appeared at the beginning of Act 2 dancing with Cinderella, who appeared in the middle, was so jarring.
Before, he had only seen Emilia’s fingertips, body lines, and expressions, but today, all the movements she made with the ballerina caught his eye.
As beautiful melodies flowed, the dancers who had filled the stage like a ballroom retreated, and the main characters’ dances became more frequent.
The wide stage was filled with the sight of them dancing passionately, as if they were completely expressing their feelings for each other.
Enrico’s eyes grew deeper and deeper. The ballerina’s hands that had been holding onto Emilia the whole time interrupted the ballet experience.
The large hands that had been holding onto her slender waist. And the slow hands that had been swiping her legs. All contact was just awkward.
In particular, Emilia’s gestures of entrusting her body to the ballerina and relying on her comfortably made her mind feel suffocated. Enrico’s hands, which had been moving only black, were now tightly gripping the armrest.
The strength that was gradually being applied to the back of his hand, where the blue veins stood out, made his entire arm tremble.
‘… … Should I just get rid of it?’
He wanted to make all the hands that had touched Emilia useless.
Although he had been possessive of her while she was dancing ballet, this was the first time he had felt this way about someone else’s hand.
However, since he had never denied his interest in her in the first place, rather than being surprised, his mind was filled with the thought that he just wanted to get rid of that annoying person right in front of his eyes.
Enrico didn’t want to see her, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her, so he made a hard face and focused his eyes. As the performance gradually died down, Emilia was gently held in the ballerino’s arms, leaning against his cheek, and he felt his breath catch in his throat.
The summer heat, waiting to be blown away by the autumn wind, seeped into his body. His eyes, burning with passion, were filled with Emilia.
That woman was his alone. Whether he asked to break up or not, until he let her go, she was absolutely not allowed to look at anyone else, not allowed to be touched by anyone else, and absolutely not allowed to leave his side.
The wooden armrests he had been holding onto began to crack as if they were falling apart from the force applied repeatedly.