When Pride Fell at my Toes

Enrico’s gaze finally turned towards the window. Through the slightly frosted glass, the falling snow, a stark reminder of the cold reality outside, filled his vision.

 

If she only showed her true self when she danced, then it didn’t really matter, did it?

 

He slowly closed his eyes and then opened them again, Emilia’s image fully occupying his view.

 

“You seem quite busy this night.”

 

The silence that had filled the air was finally broken. Emilia’s eyes fluttered briefly.

 

“This isn’t the way to the back alley, and you seem to be carrying too much luggage to be simply taking a walk…”

 

“……”

 

“Are you trying to run away?”

 

“…Of course not.”

 

Along with her muffled reply, Emilia’s gaze darted to the side. Enrico, who had been observing her for a moment, let out a small laugh and pulled out a silver cigarette case with an ornate pattern from the storage compartment in the carriage wall. He placed the cigarette between his smooth lips and a flame flickered briefly from the lighter in his hand.

 

As the small fire ignited, white smoke rose up, obscuring his handsome face. The pungent smell of cigarette smoke filled the carriage.

 

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not that important.”

 

“Ahem. May I ask, Your Excellency, what brings you to me on this night?”

 

“Ah. To offer my patronage.”

 

“What?”

 

“I quite enjoyed watching you dance ballet. I wanted to see you personally.”

 

“Are you saying you want to sponsor me?”

 

“Well, did I make that sound too complicated?”

 

Why can’t you just understand at once? Enrico’s trailing words emerged with the white smoke like a sigh. His gentle yet assertive demeanor made her instinctively hold her breath.

 

“…I apologize. This is very unexpected.”

 

A cold breeze entered the heated carriage through the open window. Enrico flicked the ashes off his cigarette with his long fingers and nodded very slowly.

 

“So, what’s your answer?”

 

“Thank you for this wonderful opportunity. However…”

 

Enrico’s eyes narrowed.

 

“I’ve encountered some personal circumstances that make it difficult for me to continue dancing ballet. I sincerely apologize for having to decline your offer.”

 

“You won’t dance ballet anymore?”

 

“Yes.”

 

He let out a sigh with a low breath,

 

“How peculiar…”

 

“……”

 

“You seem to have nothing else to offer besides ballet, and yet you’re giving it up?”

 

His expression hardened slowly. A beautiful work of art has its value even when it remains still, but the woman before him was a ballerina in an organ who could only be truly complete when she danced.

 

“I even came here myself to make you a good offer, and yet you have the audacity to spout such useless nonsense.”

 

The woman who couldn’t fulfill her value by staying still said she wouldn’t do that important thing. His gaze turned cold towards her who dared to try to lower the perfect value he had set.

 

“…I don’t think any offer will change my mind.”

 

The two people’s eyes met in the air. A hint of blatant vigilance shone in her finely trembling emerald eyes.

 

“Any offer, really?”

 

Enrico’s eyes, which had been watching Emilia stubbornly holding her mouth shut as if to keep her resolve, suddenly loosened. As if enjoying this moment, Enrico slowly rolled his eyes. Then he elegantly brought the cigarette to his lips and slowly sucked it in. The sound of the red-hot ember burning and fading could be heard.

 

“I was going to tell you about the deaths of Viscount and Viscountess Este.”

 

Soon, a soft whisper came out along with the white smoke.

 

“Can you say that again?”

 

Emilia’s voice trembled at the end. As if enjoying her apparent frailty, a languid smile spread across Enrico’s lips.

 

“Of course. I said I had something to tell you about your late parents. To be precise, about their mysterious deaths.”

 

His tone was gentle, as if the sharp attitude he had shown earlier was a lie.

 

“…You seem to be saying that there was something about the carriage accident.”

 

“You’re getting it now. Are we starting to understand each other now?”

 

Emilia’s face hardened. Who could stay still when he suddenly came and tried to pick at old wounds? Despite her attitude of showing her displeasure with her whole body, unlike her previous cowering appearance, Enrico just smiled lightly as if it was nothing.

 

“Duke, they passed away a long time ago. I hope you didn’t take it lightly.”

 

Even though her abrupt remark continued, Enrico’s expression remained the same. He just threw the cigarette out the window as if he was just doing his job leisurely, leaned his chin on the window sill, and slowly closed and opened his eyes languidly.

 

“It’s not exactly light because I came here to propose a contract. It could lighten up depending on your choice.”

 

Emilia bit her lower lip tightly. She seemed to be in deep conflict. She clearly hesitated to react rashly to his words mixed with warnings, but she was also careful to ask about the contract cautiously.

 

A man who came suddenly at night. A man who mentions her late parents. Everything was suspicious, but it was hard to let go of it easily. Silence flowed, and Emilia’s lips moved a few times.

 

The silence that filled the carriage was occasionally broken by the sound of the wind blowing through the slightly open window. As Enrico’s fingertips, which had been tapping the window sill naturally for some time, slowed down, boredom began to appear in his eyes.

 

“…What kind of contract do you want?”

 

Emilia’s mouth finally managed to speak, judging that she couldn’t delay any longer. It was too simple a question to be called something she had thought about for a long time. But even that, Emilia was trembling with her two fists as if she had made a big decision.

 

Enrico’s long fingers moved slowly as if wandering around the window sill. Closing the open window with his hand that had been wandering around the space, he said,

 

“My condition is simple.”

 

His words came after a long pause. As he lifted his serene gaze, his amethyst-like eyes shimmered darkly.

 

“Just dance. Like a living doll.”

 

His arrogant gaze down at her perfectly showed the appearance of a man who had lived at the top all his life. Emilia’s face, which was still slightly flushed from the cold, turned pale as moonlight in an instant. Shame flashed in her eyes as she shook like a tree hit by a violent storm.

 

“Then I’ll tell you about your dead parents.”

 

As if he was not interested in her change at all, he just spoke sharp words in a gentle voice.

 

“Don’t you want to know the truth?”

 

The intense gaze he had seen on stage finally appeared. Her eyes, twinkling like stars, changed the atmosphere of her, who was like a delicate flower petal scattered in the wind and rain.

 

Now I like you a little bit, a satisfied smile appeared on Enrico’s lips belatedly.

 

* * *

 

The heavy snowfall the previous night had left behind only a slushy trace under the sunlight. Emilia, her face etched with exhaustion, was gazing blankly into the void when she turned her head at the sound of rattling windows.

 

A bare branch, battered by the strong cold wind, was shaking violently, dropping the snow clumps that had been resting on it. The sight of the once vibrant tree, bursting with purple blossoms and a rich fragrance in the summer, now looking utterly desolate, further dampened her spirits.

 

‘Just like me yesterday.’

 

The image of herself trembling before that arrogant man, unable to utter a single word, flashed back into her mind. Enrico Michele, who had left her in a deep state of confusion after their brief encounter, had haunted her thoughts all night long.

 

‘Do you want to know the truth…?’

 

The short phrase was one she couldn’t ignore. She had always lived under the belief that her parents had died tragically in a carriage accident, but now she was being told that it wasn’t so. Even in the face of his mocking words, calling her a dancing doll, the word ‘truth’ held her captive like a swamp.

 

‘…Can’t you tell me, even a part of that truth?’

 

The offer was so disorienting that she would have signed the contract right there on the spot, had it not been for the last shred of sanity she had left. Emilia opened her eyes, which were growing heavy, and asked.

 

‘Well, I only know part of it myself, so it’s not easy for me to tell you.’

 

‘What? Only a part?’

 

‘However, if the contract is signed, you can think of it as me giving you a detailed investigation into the accident.’

 

‘No, I don’t think that’s it. How can I blindly sign a contract without knowing what that part is?’

 

‘You seem to be dragging this out for a long time.’

 

‘Well, wouldn’t you think I need to know at least the gist of it before I even consider agreeing to this deal?’

 

Enrico stared at Emilia for a moment before blurting out.

 

‘What did you say?’

 

TL/N: Man is mad…over nothing:/

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