When Pride Fell at my Toes

‘…Yes?’

 

‘I think you’re mistaken about something. I’m the one who offered you a contract, but you don’t have a choice in the matter either.’

 

His voice was low and languid, as if he was slightly bored.

 

‘I understand that you’re in a desperate situation and that you don’t want to turn down my sponsorship, but are you not aware that your plan has already gone awry since you got involved with me?’

 

Emilia’s eyes began to redden. Her trembling lower lip and her eyes, which seemed to be accusing him of being a despicable human being, were precarious, but her slender back was straight and proud, as if it were her last vestige of self-respect. Finally, Emilia clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

 

‘It doesn’t matter. I can stay here and do the investigation myself.’

 

‘……You?’

 

Enrico tilted his head sideways and laughed. His eyes, which held a hint of contempt, slowly scanned Emilia.

 

Emilia closed her eyes tightly, overwhelmed by the humiliation that was taking over her entire body. She knew exactly what his condescending gaze meant, as if he was looking down on someone who was ignorant of the world. It was even more suffocating to know that he was judging her for being a woman.

 

Investigations were only possible for those with money and status. All she had was the jewelry she had brought with her as a child, which was barely enough to get a house and survive for a few months once she reached adulthood.

 

Even the money she had managed to scrape together for her escape was barely enough, so it was out of the question to use it for investigation expenses.

 

If she asked him to investigate an incident that happened not 1 or 2 years ago, but 7 years ago, he would obviously charge her a huge amount of money, and especially if it was a request from a woman with no status, he would definitely make even more demands.

 

The words she had rashly blurted out came back to her and choked her. If she stayed here, she would be taken away by her uncle and sold off to a wealthy family, just like a piece of property. But would she really be able to investigate as she pleased in that family?

 

‘……Please.’

 

Many thoughts raced through her mind in a short time. She already knew the answer, but her heart was heavy with the thought of accepting it, and her mind became increasingly complicated. So all she could muster up the courage to say was this:

 

‘Give me some time to think.’

 

In the end, Emilia simply bowed her head deeply, as if trying to hide her painful emotions.

 

Emilia shook her head violently, lost in endless thoughts.

 

“What’s the point of dwelling on yesterday? I need to think about what to do next.”

 

Emilia muttered to herself, her voice like a sigh, as she tucked her messy hair behind her ears. Of course, she felt like she had to accept the contract, but on the other hand, the word ‘sponsorship’ was putting the brakes on her.

 

Could someone who treated people like disposable dolls and puppets be satisfied with just a dance? That couldn’t be right. It didn’t make sense to Emilia’s common sense. Maybe it was because of the rumors she had heard about sponsorships at the academy, but she didn’t feel like Enrico’s sponsorship was coming from a pure place.

 

His words at the end, which seemed like an act of kindness, only fueled her suspicions even more.

 

He wanted her to dance in his mansion. Usually, she had only heard that pure sponsors would support her performances on stage and maybe have dinner with her occasionally, but Enrico’s conditions were too suspicious.

 

‘I should refuse it……. I need to find a way to escape before I have time to hesitate…….’

 

She knew it was a poisoned chalice, but she couldn’t bring herself to refuse it outright. What if there was really something behind her parents’ death? Or maybe it was just right to find out? The image of her parents smiling down at her with pride flashed before her eyes.

 

The warm hands that always held her, the affectionate kisses, and the gentle eyes that watched her intently as she practiced ballet. Even after seven years, the memories of them were still vivid, as if etched into her retinas.

 

‘Is this application enough?’

 

Her parents’ faces as they handed her the application form for the Royal Academy of Arts, asking carefully. Is it right to give her a form for a place she can’t go to as a birthday present? They seemed to be in deep thought for a moment.

 

‘Yup! It’s!’

 

However, they soon found themselves smiling involuntarily as they looked at Emilia’s happy face, as if they couldn’t help themselves. Everything flashed before her eyes like a panorama.

 

Emilia hugged her legs and rested her cheek on her knees. Her eyelashes trembled along with her tightly closed eyes.

 

‘……Nothing is fine.’

 

All she had left was ballet, and even that was uncertain now. A sickening feeling of helplessness threatened to creep up from her toes.

 

‘Rather than that… rather than ending up like this, unable to do anything…’

 

Wouldn’t it be better to do something, even if it was using this ballet? Her closed eyes fluttered open. Her emerald-green eyes sparkled with determination. What did it matter if Enrico Michele was a strange man? As long as she didn’t run away, her future was bound to be unhappy no matter who she met.

 

Emilia’s head slowly lifted. As if she wanted to run off right away, she fidgeting with her toes and turned her gaze to the door that was slowly opening.

 

“Oh? You’re up?”

 

It was her roommate, Juliana. Juliana, whose cheeks were as red as an apple from the cold, was holding a newspaper in one hand and looking slightly surprised.

 

“I thought you’d sleep in since you said you weren’t feeling well yesterday.”

 

“Oh, I guess it’s just my tension easing up. But why are you back so early? Didn’t we agree to stay home until tomorrow?”

 

“The audition is coming up soon. I guess I’m a bit anxious about staying home and resting.”

 

Emilia nodded slowly. Most of the students who studied ballet at the academy were either commoners or from impoverished noble families, so there was a trend of discouraging them from working.

 

Occasionally, there were families that tried to marry them off early, but fortunately, Juliana’s family was not like that.

 

“When are you going to submit your application for admission? Shall we go together?”

 

“Yeah, it’s due by the day after tomorrow, so let’s go tomorrow.”

 

“Great! The audition is in a week, right?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“But… Emilia, is something wrong?”

 

Juliana, who had been staring at her for a moment, asked abruptly.

 

“Oh? No, why?”

 

“You seem strangely drained.”

 

Emilia smiled faintly and rubbed one of her cheeks.

 

“I’m just tired, that’s all. Oh, is there any interesting news in the newspaper?”

 

“The newspaper? Oh! It says that a body was found floating in the Bayar River.”

 

“Oh? A body?”

 

“Yeah. But it was found in the river that flows from the slums to the lower reaches of the west side, so I guess they won’t investigate it deeply. They say it’s an old body and it’s hard to identify…”

 

Juliana trailed off her words and sighed bitterly. It was obvious as day that they had simply assumed it was someone who had died of starvation in the slums.

 

Anyway, if it was someone from the slums, they wouldn’t be able to accurately identify the person even if they investigated, so the police would probably just conclude it as a waste of time. It was rather strange that it had even made the news, since it was something that wouldn’t even make a headline under normal circumstances.

 

“I guess it caused a big stir because a noblewoman found it.”

 

Juliana seemed to notice Emilia’s thoughts and continued speaking.

 

“And that noblewoman was meeting her lover there.”

 

“Ah, so that’s what happened.”

 

“The article came out, huh? That must be very exciting news for those who love to gossip.”

 

Emilia sighed softly and laid down comfortably on the bed, her face showing that she agreed.

 

“Oh, and by the way, there was also an article about Duke Michele.”

 

“…..Duke Michele? What did it say?”

 

Juliana blinked for a moment as Emilia sat up again abruptly.

 

She was a bit flustered by Emilia’s reaction, as she seemed to be indifferent to everything except ballet.

 

It would be no exaggeration to say that Emilia’s conversations with Juliana were one-sided, with Juliana doing all the talking and Emilia just responding enough to not make the other person feel uncomfortable. Almost every conversation started and ended with ballet.

 

“It’s nothing special….. It’s just an article about him coming to our performance yesterday.”

 

“Can I see it?”

 

“Huh? Oh…..”

 

Juliana stared blankly at Emilia, who was reaching for the newspaper with this surprising interest.

 

<Who will be the next gem to enter the Michele Collection?>

 

Emilia’s eyebrows narrowed slightly as she read the headline. She didn’t even need to read the whole article. It seemed that everyone was paying attention to Enrico, who was famous for obsessively collecting everything beautiful, whether it was art or people, and wondering what would be added to his collection next.

 

But even a performance at the art academy made the news. It’s not like he didn’t go to performances often. Even though he was the king’s younger brother with a large age difference, he was still a man who attracted attention wherever he went, so it seemed that even the smallest things made the news.

 

‘If I do get a contract…. Will it be possible to keep it a secret?’

 

It seemed unrealistic no matter how she looked at it. Not only would she be in the spotlight, but she would also have the label of being part of Enrico Michele’s collection rather than a ballerina.

 

As Emilia naturally thought about her contract with Enrico, she flinched at the sound of her name being called and crumpled the edge of the newspaper slightly.

 

“Emilia.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“….Are you interested in Duke Michele?”

 

“I was just surprised that everyone was coming to the performance and that it would make the news. But sorry, I crumpled it a bit.”

 

Emilia pretended to be nonchalant and unfolded the crumpled part and handed it back. Juliana, who had taken it with a flustered expression, nodded her head as if to say that was true, and then held out the newspaper again.

****

 

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