When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 95
Only Noblemtl
#95. Last Chance
2024.04.04.
She wanted to follow Fabio right away and see if Enrico was okay, but she was already worried that her heart would break if she saw him lying down.
“… … .”
In the end, Emilia opened her lips for a moment and then shut them tightly. She
had decided to cut off ties with him a little while ago, so going to check on him seemed like giving him and herself some room to feel.
She wasn’t sure if she could really push him away when she saw him in pain.
“Miss Emilia?”
“… … I’m glad you’re okay. But for now, wouldn’t it be better to get some rest?”
Emilia bowed her head. Fabio made an awkward expression at the sight of her hands clasped tightly in front of her skirt as if trying to block out everything.
“I’m sorry. The Duke told me to bring you, so you’ll have to come with me.”
Did she have something to say about the incident? Now that I think about it, he might be curious about the circumstances of the incident with Christina, but he only thought about his own position.
First, he should have resolved this incident and then distanced himself.
He should have thought rationally, but he was fed up with his emotional behavior.
Emilia nodded, furrowing her brows. The taste of a bitter fruit lingered in her mouth.
***
The sound of the bedroom door carefully opening was heard. Enrico’s eyelids slowly rose and his sharp eyes turned toward the door.
The strong smell of medicine did not erase the smell of blood.
Emilia, who was coming in, flinched at the smell and turned her gaze, which had been fixed on the floor, to him.
There were small wounds on his bare upper body, which was covered with a white bandage covering his forehead and the back of his head.
Her wavering gaze quickly turned to his left arm, which was wrapped in bandages, as if avoiding his torso made of solid muscles.
“… … Didn’t you plan on not coming?”
Emilia, who had been standing in front of the closed door, seemed not to have any intention of coming, and he opened his mouth after quietly staring. Her hand holding onto her skirt tightened at her low, languid voice.
“You really weren’t going to come.”
I had told her that she wasn’t sleeping, so I had instructed Fabio to bring her, but it took longer than I thought to say it once.
But I didn’t expect her to say anything like that, as if she had been hit with the point. The feeling of being in a daze due to drugs suddenly came back to her as if she had just woken up from alcohol.
“I thought it would be better for you to rest, so I was going to visit you later.”
“Or maybe I wasn’t as worried as I thought. Usually, people want to see for themselves what it would be like if someone got hurt because of them.”
“That’s… … .”
Enrico twisted his lips and laughed coldly.
“How cruel.”
Unlike the mocking corners of his lips, the words he blurted out like a sigh were strangely bitter.
“You told me not to get hurt last time, but now you don’t even say that.”
He clasped Emilia’s hands together so tightly that the blood flowed to her.
“… … I’m sorry. It happened because of me, so how can I have the decency to tell you? I was worried that you might feel worse if you saw me in this situation, so I was going to wait.”
“Then come closer and tell me. Don’t stand in front of the door as if you’re going to run away at any moment.”
Enrico said with a calm smile. In the room that had become quiet for a moment, Emilia’s small swallowing sound could be clearly heard.
Emilia, who had been acting like she was indifferent to everything, was starting to get annoyed, but when he looked closely at her attitude, he saw that she was tense, and Enrico’s face, which was about to harden, relaxed slightly.
“More.”
He raised an eyebrow at her legs, which had stopped halfway. She took two more steps at his words.
“Come closer.”
This distance should be enough, but how close did he want her to come? If she got close enough to touch him, she would want to examine him closely. Moreover
, she didn’t want to get any closer because it seemed like it would be difficult to control her facial expression. She chewed the inside of her mouth for a while and then carefully opened her mouth.
“… … Wouldn’t it be better if I just briefly explain what I want to do and then leave? You should rest quickly.”
Enrico’s eyes darkened. Although he pretended to be worried, he could clearly see Emilia’s inner feelings, who wanted to quickly leave the bedroom. He stared at her and slowly lowered her legs under the bed.
As soon as she saw him showing signs of getting up, she blinked in surprise.
“Shouldn’t you not be moving yet?”
“Didn’t you say that the person you were sorry should come this way?”
He muttered, tilting his head. Their gazes were intertwined in the air, and it seemed as if he would stand up in a little while.
Even with the slightest movement, the blue veins on his thick neck stood out, and his chest and shoulder muscles twitched.
“… … I’ll go!”
Emilia shouted, raising both hands in front of her as if to stop him. She quickly closed the distance between them and stood in front of him, completely different from her sluggish steps just a moment ago.
“Please lie down comfortably.”
“I can’t lie down.”
A large hand cautiously reached out to her thin wrist. She flinched and lowered her gaze at his hand, which slowly wrapped around her like a noose.
“I’m afraid you’ll run away again.”
She closed her eyes tightly and opened them, opening her mouth.
“I won’t run away. Not now.”
“Are you saying you’ll run away later?”
“You didn’t call me just to say that, did you?”
“You’re changing the subject again.”
“Isn’t it you, Duke, who’s changing the subject? You called me because you had business. Weren’t you curious about the details of the case?”
His gaze didn’t leave her at all. The candles that lit up the bedroom were flickering in the still, calm eyes.
“Business… … . There’s nothing in particular. I just called you because I wanted to check on your condition. Even if it’s about the details of the case, we should just focus on investigating that criminal.”
Emilia wanted to cover her ears for some reason.
She would rather have him do as he usually did, whether it was demanding payment for saving her or making sarcastic remarks about her going to the emergency stairs without protection. Why was he acting so affectionate today? It was hard to just dismiss it
as a feeling, but his eyes were filled with concern, and his chest felt suffocated.
“So, how’s your body?”
Enrico, who had no way of knowing her thoughts, slowly trailed off and was busy scanning Emilia’s body up and down.
In the past, she had been annoying because she didn’t listen to him obediently, so he wanted to tame her right away. But now, it didn’t bother him anymore and instead, he started to look after her well-being.
Maybe he had gotten used to her attitude, or maybe his heart had deepened, but the reason didn’t really matter.
Right now, he was more concerned about yesterday’s incident than her behavior a little while ago, and even though he had heard from Fabio that there was nothing wrong with her health, he wanted to check it out for himself.
‘I should have just gotten rid of it… … .’
His eyes were drawn to her neck, where medicine had been applied because of the scratches from her nails. Looking at that wound, he could clearly see his great obsession with Christina.
It was a decision that was meant to make her live a miserable life, but it brought about this.
When Christina pushed Emilia, he quickly hugged her, but he could tell right away that they had been fighting for quite some time before that.
It was strange that there had been no trace of her escaping until yesterday, and Christina had even locked all the emergency staircase entrances on the first and second floors.
If he had gone a little faster, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt like that, but the problem was that he noticed Emilia’s absence too late and wasted time searching for her.
Emilia staring at Christina with eyes filled with fear and the creepy light of the blade pointed at her were still vivid in his eyes.
It was to the point that he felt like something was tearing through his head as soon as he opened his eyes, but he thought that he would feel relieved if he saw Emilia right away.
“… … Why are you worried about me? The Duke got hurt because of me. You should be angry at me.”
It was an uneasy situation because he didn’t even know who had let Christina escape from the workhouse.
However, Enrico’s eyes narrowed at Emilia’s behavior, which seemed to be frustrated with him rather than asking about Christina.
“Why do you keep getting on my nerves? Are you doing this on purpose?”
“That’s not it… … .”
Emilia trailed off, biting her lips tightly as she slowly raised her gaze that had been downcast. It was the moment when she could no longer be swayed by him and had to make up her mind firmly.
Remaining by Enrico’s side would make both him and herself unhappy. If she were to be torn apart like this, even if her heart ached now, the pain would certainly not last long.
“Why? Did you expect me to break the contract when I was angry?”
Her jade-colored eyes, which she had thought would waver, calmed down. Rather than being surprised, her reaction was to calm down, as if she was preparing herself mentally.
Enrico’s chin tightened, and his face, which had been somewhat relaxed, hardened.
“Your Majesty.”
“Don’t say anything.”
She tightened her grip on the hand he was holding. Her right hand slowly overlapped his.