When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 91
Only Noblemtl
#91. Twisted Recognition
2024.03.31.
It was a blatant gaze that provoked shame. Emilia gritted her teeth and stretched out her relatively free hand. She
tried to push Enrico away, but all she could feel was Enrico’s firm muscles twitching under her palm, and he didn’t move at all.
“Should I just lock him up like this… …”
The end of his words, as if he was chewing them out, was strangely rough.
He seemed to be angry, or strangely anxious, and he was giving off a confused vibe. It was as if he was someone who was lost in his own thoughts, no matter how she reacted.
“What do you think? Then this stuffiness will be relieved a little.”
Emilia’s lower lip trembled. His purple eyes, blatantly seething with possessiveness, were filled with a mixture of emotions.
And it seemed as if that confusion was being transferred to her. She couldn’t tell exactly what those emotions were, but she felt like a deep swamp was everywhere.
What was clear was that he had no intention of breaking his contract with her. If things continued as they were, she would continue to be manipulated by him as before.
Emilia, who had been trying to calm her breathing, her chest heaving for a moment, opened her mouth belatedly.
“If I do that… … . Will the Duke’s anger subside a little?”
One of his eyebrows slowly arched.
“But I’m sorry, I can’t just wait around until you subside.”
“So.”
She felt the air become even heavier. However, with an unwavering face, she looked at the hands holding her one by one and met his eyes again. She
vividly remembered his dark desire when he said that seeing her wasn’t enough, so she would know if she had this body.
Maybe he was acting like this because he was fresh in rejecting her. If she had just clung to him like everyone else from the beginning, things might not have gotten this far. She
was tired of wasting her emotions and talking to him. As if to refute his sarcastic remark that his body was his only value, she spoke calmly as if she had put everything down.
“If you had my body, would you lose interest in me then?”
“… … What?”
“I think you were angry that I didn’t understand my place and showed my pride out of place.”
Enrico’s eyes widened.
“Especially the way I considered this body my only value and built up my pride.” Those
were definitely his words. Images of me mocking her to the end, saying that my mentality to protect my value was worthy of praise, and spitting out curses at her whenever I had the chance, as if I was desperate not to hurt her, quickly flashed through my mind.
In my memories, she always had wounded eyes. Those images of her reddening her eyes with humiliation and shaking her arms with anger were so vivid.
But now, the woman in front of me seemed so emotionless that she didn’t seem like someone talking about herself. Yes, she seemed like someone whose emotions had burned away to the point of turning into ash, as if everything had disappeared.
It was strange. Originally, he should have been furious at her arrogant remarks, or at least laughed at her as if to suppress her anger. But it was strange.
Clearly, those words should have hurt her, not him, but instead, they came back to him like a knife.
His whole body began to ache more than the pain in his chest from not getting what he wanted.
“… … Do you know what those words mean?”
“Yes.”
His frozen face was reflected in his calm, emerald eyes. He unconsciously tightened his grip on her hand.
“When I completely have it… … .”
Emilia muttered softly, slowly grabbing his hand that was holding her wrist.
“You’ll get sick of me by then.”
It sounded as if he was certain that would happen soon. Enrico’s jaw tightened.
Was that what it meant to completely have it? What he had wanted in the first place was honest affection for others. Not just a superficial body, but that sincere heart… …!
His throat rippled loudly. He couldn’t hear anything in his ears as he held his breath for a moment without even blinking.
Not the ticking of the clock, not her breathing. Only a precarious silence enveloped him. His hand that had touched hers gave out and dropped.
He wanted her affection, but it was just curiosity. The emotions he had rationalized as wanting to have it because it was new surfaced as if he could no longer hide them. He
had wanted her more sincerely than anyone else, but had been doing useless things like trying to cover the sun with his palm. He felt anew that it was not she who had been trying to show off his pride, but he had been the one who had been painfully aware of it.
“I… … .”
In an instant, while he felt many changes in his mind, she was just silent. She really looked drier than ever, so much so that he thought she might crumble like sand in the desert the moment they touched her.
“If I don’t get tired of you.”
“… … .”
“If you’re sincere, what would you do then?”
“If you’re sincere… … .”
She calmly removed his arm from her shoulder, paused for a moment, and then continued calmly.
“Please let me go for my sake. Then I’ll believe your feelings.”
The corner of his mouth slightly turned up. A short breath escaped his lips with a bitter, self-deprecating laugh.
“If you’re sincere, let me go?”
Now that he had finally acknowledged his feelings, absurd logic blocked his way. Why should he let go of what had entered his heart?
If that had been the case in the first place, this situation would not have come to this.
“Then you shouldn’t have provoked me.”
He didn’t want to know, and it was just a relationship he wanted to leave as a plaything. But it was she who kept pushing him to realize the truth. And then she
asked him to let her go. She was a woman he had wanted to possess even when she was treated as a work of art, but in this situation where he was captivated by her, there was no way that could happen.
Enrico relaxed his legs and leaned back comfortably against the backrest. His eyes, resting his head on the back of his head and staring into space, deepened like an abyss.
What could he do? Growing up alone and neglected by his parents, he had learned that he should never let go of what he held in his hands.
“… … Unfortunately, that won’t work.”
Emilia looked straight ahead as if she had expected that. Enrico leaned his head back and turned his head slightly to take in the side of her face.
“I have no intention of turning away anymore.”
Her brows furrowed at the unexpected words. However, he hesitated to look at her again because he felt her gaze poking him in the face to the point of being burdensome.
Emilia turned her gaze toward the window to avoid him, but then opened her eyes wide at the sight she shouldn’t be seeing right now.
“This is… … . “Could you tell me why the carriage is heading to the Duke’s mansion instead of ours?”
The carriage was speeding towards Duke Michele’s mansion. Was he asking her to get off at the Duke’s mansion first and go to his house? If
that was the case, it would be fortunate, but she tried to console herself and eventually turned her head at his words.
“As an apology for not being able to live up to your wishes, I will understand that you will only be out for this performance.”
“Just this once?”
Their eyes met in the air. Now, she glared at the rude behavior of bringing her to his mansion without notice, but this time, he turned his head away as if ignoring her gaze.
“From then on, it will be enough to just dance in there.”
His face, which had lost its expression, looked somehow precarious.
***
The heat was instantly swept away by the autumn wind. The lush trees dyed their hair colorfully and occasionally swayed in the wind, shedding leaves on the ground as if taking off their clothes.
The [Cinderella] performance also went smoothly as if nothing had happened, in line with the smooth seasonal changes.
Emilia sighed as she massaged her ankle, which had been throbbing more and more recently.
It was fortunate that today was the last day, but if there had been more performances left, she was worried that her ankle might not be able to hold out any longer.
‘I’ll have to rest for a while after the performance ends.’
This was her first leading role since joining the Avaliante Opera Theater ballet company, and she practiced excessively to make up for the accident from [La Sylphide].
On top of that, her ankle had been severely overworked because she had been jumping too hard to jump higher during the performance.
The problem was that she had to spend that rest time at Enrico’s mansion… …
‘Are they really not going to let her go outside?’
Since Cristina’s whereabouts were currently unknown, it was somewhat understandable that she would stay at his mansion in case of any danger.
However, it was excessive to control her like this, forcibly locking her up.
It was currently the performance period, so I just slept at the Duke’s residence and went straight to the performance venue, so I didn’t really feel like I was staying at his mansion.
However, after the performance, I would have more free time and would have more time to stay, but the future was already bleak.
‘What on earth are you thinking? You suddenly said something ridiculous like ‘I’m serious.’
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