When Pride Fell at my Toes

Although it was the morning of the start of the holiday, Emilia couldn’t relax. Since it took roughly six hours to get to Vacorta, Enrico had informed her that he would be taking the train departing at 11 o’clock.

 

It took a while to get from her current house to Desiro Central Station, so Emilia had to leave early.

 

As Emilia came out of the drawing room with her suitcase, Zaveta, who had already come out, approached her quickly.

 

“Let me take that, Miss.”

 

“It’s okay.”

 

“I’ll be in trouble if you do this.”

 

Emilia handed her the suitcase with an awkward expression at Zaveta’s firm voice.

 

“You can go straight to the carriage. I have already received the compartment number.”

 

“Alright.”

 

Having filled up the holiday period, Enrico had included Zaveta and his aide Fabio in the party. It was fortunate that he didn’t bring a large number of attendants, but on the other hand, she was worried that it would be enough to go with just that few people.

 

‘Well, I guess he knows what he’s doing.’

 

Emilia got into the carriage, opened the window, and enjoyed the scent of the spring breeze that was blowing in. It seemed like just the day before yesterday that it was too cold to open the windows, but now the breeze was blowing pleasantly.

 

The carriage ran through the streets and soon arrived in front of the station, and Emilia hurried towards the platform with Zaveta. When Zaveta showed her ticket to the station attendant, the attendant silently guided them to the end of the train.

 

They stepped on the stairs and boarded the train. The interior was so different from the dark train she had taken alone as a child to go to the art academy. Obviously it was the same train, but it was completely changed as if she had come to a different world. Emilia admired the interior, some of the walls covered in luxurious leather and the bright lights.

 

“Miss, you can go further inside.”

 

When they passed through a place like a bar and went to the innermost part, they saw a door. Zaveta knocked and Fabio opened the door.

 

“Welcome. May I have your luggage? Zaveta, you can stay in this compartment with me.”

 

“Huh? Weren’t you supposed to be with me?”

 

When Emilia asked in surprise, Fabio smiled softly and pointed to the brown door he had just come out of.

 

“Of course you should rest in a different compartment from us. Miss Emilia, you can go in here.”

 

“Ah…….”

 

“Miss, please call me if you need anything.”

 

“……Yes.”

 

Yeah, it would be better for Zaveta to go to another compartment and rest comfortably. Emilia lowered her eyebrows and grabbed the handle. Why couldn’t she have thought that she should be alone with Enrico? Even if she had known in advance, she wouldn’t have been able to break his stubbornness, but she could have at least come up with a different plan. A sigh escaped her lips.

 

“Miss Emilia?”

 

“Ah.”

 

“Shall I open it for you?”

 

“……I’ll do it. Go in and rest quickly.”

 

She thought Zaveta and Fabio had already entered the compartment, but they were waiting for Emilia to enter. Unable to hold on any longer, Emilia opened the door with a little pressure on her lips.

 

“I thought you’d come in only after reaching our destination, but you opened it quickly.”

 

Enrico was sitting on the brown sofa in the center. She glanced at his profile as he read the newspaper spread out, and then scanned the interior of the first-class compartment. As expected, from the entrance, it was not ordinary, and the end compartment seemed to be like a decent room. Seeing that there was one more door visible beyond Enrico, she guessed that there must be a bedroom there.

 

“Come and sit down. The ceiling might collapse otherwise.”

 

No matter what he said, he had a knack for making it sound incredibly annoying. Emilia barely managed to swallow a sigh and sat down across from him.

 

The sound of a distant train whistle echoed through the air. Someone was shouting outside the train, but the soundproofing seemed to be effective, and the interior was not significantly affected by the noise. If it was this comfortable, it might be nice to take a train trip sometime in the future.

 

‘Come to think of it, we said we’d all go together.’

 

She thought back to the train she had taken with her father a long time ago, when they were going to Desiro. Her mother had wanted to go too, but she wasn’t feeling well, so they had gone alone. It was a good trip, but it also made her heart ache.

 

They had promised to go back again together as a family, but in the end, she was the only one on the train a few years later.

 

‘A trip…When my parents’ matters are all solved, then… but is this something that can be solved? They are gone and can never come back to life, but what will happen after I uncover the truth… why am I naturally thinking about what happens next?’

 

When she was first consumed by anger, she had even thought that it wouldn’t be bad to give up her life to find out the truth and end this whole thing and go to her parents’ side. But even as she cried out that it was unfair, she realized that she had somehow become attached to this life.

 

‘I don’t know. Even if I find out that my parents’ death was not a simple accident, is that all that will happen? Is it right to continue living as a ballerina after erasing all traces of my parents?’

 

Emilia’s eyes, which had been looking out the window behind Enrico’s back, contorted in pain and fell to the floor.

 

The sound of the train whistle was heard again. The sound announcing the imminent departure grew closer and closer.

 

“What were you thinking?”

 

Enrico, who had been watching her quietly, asked abruptly.

 

“…I was just thinking about my parents.”

 

A choked voice came out. Enrico, whom she thought might be trying to probe further, surprisingly didn’t say anything more. He just stared at Emilia’s gloomy face with a strange look.

 

Soon, the train began to move. Emilia took a deep breath and looked up out the window. The excitement of going back to her hometown after so long seemed to have stirred up some homesickness.

 

‘Get a grip, you need to focus on what’s in front of you first.’

 

She didn’t want to keep making this self-pitying face. After all, she was on her way to Vacorta, hoping to find something that would help her uncover the truth she was looking for, so it wasn’t like she was just wasting her time.

 

“Crying alone, laughing alone.”

 

“…I wasn’t crying.”

 

She had just forced a smile to try to lighten the mood, but she didn’t bother to say that out loud. Emilia rubbed her cheek sheepishly and glanced at him.

 

Enrico was staring at her openly, his eyes filled with curiosity. The sunlight streaming through the window spread out behind him.

 

“What’s famous in Vacorta?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“You don’t know?”

 

“Well, I only spent my childhood there, so I don’t really know. Oh, there was the sea. I used to go to the sea with my parents when I was a kid.”

 

“What did you do when you went there?”

 

“I think we just walked around. Sometimes, we would even dip our ankles in the water too.”

 

“Sounds boring.”

 

“There probably isn’t much to see. There might be a theater now, but I don’t know.”

 

Emilia said with a gentle smile on her lips. Enrico didn’t say anything more, sensing the noticeably softened atmosphere around her. Feeling the train’s speed increase, the two of them turned their eyes to the windows behind them. It was a perfect spring day.

 

* * *

 

As they approached Vacorta, a vast expanse of blue sky stretched out before them, painted with hues of orange twilight. If it were winter, they would have been running through the darkening sky, but they were fortunate enough to see a breathtaking view before nightfall.

 

Emilia stood on the balcony of the guest cabin, savoring the cool breeze. Enrico approached her from inside, seeing her with her wide-brimmed hat pressed down over her hair, her face turned to the wind.

 

There was enough space for both of them to stand, but even so, the closeness made her feel awkward, and her upturned lips stiffened slightly.

 

“It’s really a vast plain.”

 

“……This is just the way there. It’s still too vague to call it Vacorta yet.”

 

Enrico flicked his hair and curled his lips.

 

“Do you remember the distance from the station to the mansion?”

 

“I think it took about 30 minutes by carriage.”

 

Emilia thought of the Vacorta mansion, imagining it overgrown with vines by now. Giorgio, not the type to manage such a place, had left long ago, and there were probably no servants left to manage the interior of the ownerless mansion.

 

He had said he bought a townhouse as soon as he arrived in Desiro, so it seemed he had no intention of returning to Vacorta.

 

“I should have checked beforehand. Who’s in the mansion? If no one is there, I could have hired a cleaning lady in advance…….”

 

She wondered if Zaveta wasn’t just going to end up suffering unnecessarily, following along to a mansion that was probably in a terrible state after being unattended for so long. Emilia’s brow furrowed slightly, and Enrico’s hand reached out. He absentmindedly ran his finger over her brow and muttered absentmindedly.

 

“I hired someone.”

 

“Huh? The Duke?”

 

“It’s where I’ll be staying, so I need to prepare in advance.”

 

“……Aren’t you staying at a hotel?”

 

“In the first place, I came because I didn’t trust you not to run away. What would be the point of staying anywhere else?”

 

“If you put it that way, we’re staying separately in the capital too, so how do you trust me there?”

 

Emilia asked, sounding dumbfounded. Enrico leaned his back against the railing, grabbed it with both hands, and met her gaze.

 

“That’s right. I guess I’ll have to consider whether to bring you back to the duchy when we return to the capital.”

 

* * * *

 

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