Translator: Nox

Shattered Glass Slipper Shards Episode 1

Prologue - The Glass Slipper Shatters

Wind blows, and hair flutters. Hair that had not been tended for a long time was not just rough, but dry and brittle.

The forearm that caught my eye was as gaunt as a winter tree branch. The calf would be no different. The leg, glimpsed beneath the fluttering hem of the skirt, was covered in faded skin, reminiscent of an old person's.

The dark blue bruises visible here and there looked like age spots. Perhaps it was because they were illuminated under the bluish moon. If someone were to see me, they would likely think a scrawny doll was precariously walking along the terrace railing.

I had never seen a night as brightly lit by moonlight as tonight. Perhaps that's why? A sentiment I wouldn't normally feel wells up.

It was a strange emotion, a mixture of emptiness and sorrow. It felt like resignation. A powerlessness, as if I could collapse at any moment.

How wonderful it would have been if music had played from somewhere at this moment. Then I would have danced like a marionette with its strings cut. At the same time, I would have recalled the past as if it were natural.

Here lies a boring fairy tale. The story of a stepsister and stepmother who were jealous of their beautiful and kind stepsister. The tale of wicked women who tried to steal everything from her but ultimately failed.

As with all old stories, the kind-hearted stepsister marries the Crown Prince and lives happily ever after, while the wicked stepmother and stepsister who tormented her live miserable lives and are forgotten by everyone. This predictable outcome was no different in reality.

“But no one asks, ‘Why did they torment her?’ Do they, Roena?”

Now, the beautiful and kind stepsister from the fairy tale stands before me. Whether she rushed here without regard for appearances, all that comes from her lips is ragged breaths, rising up to her throat.

Her expression, seeing her stepsister precariously standing on the terrace railing, was one she would never normally make.

“What are you thinking? Come down. Come down and talk to me. Anything is fine, just come down and talk to me!!!!”

That is why I cannot help but laugh. At this absurd situation.

People said we were polar opposites. Yes, I admit it. We were like oil and water. A relationship that could never mix, no matter how hard we tried. A terrible fated encounter that should never have happened from the start.

But we, or rather, you and I, who would have felt deep disgust even if we had met as strangers, became 'family' through fate. In the world of nobility, where distinctions of birth were clearly drawn.

The union of Count Bischwartz, who had a fifteen-year-old daughter, and a commoner with a sixteen-year-old daughter, was not a good look from the outset. This was because he could have chosen a pure maiden without children as his second wife, someone young, cultured, and unburdened.

However, the Count chose my mother, who was living a life of hardship, and some gossips babbled about it as if it were a romance of the century and a beautiful union.

But most people, with a few exceptions, were not kind to the second wife and her daughter. Anything with the prefix 'step' tended to evoke caution, unfamiliarity, and an inexplicable sense of rejection.

This was especially true if what they possessed was incomparably superior to anything new.

In truth, love is an emotion that fades at some point, so its end is always in sight. This was no different for the affection the stepfather had for his wife. Even if, for now, everything revolved around my mother and me.

So, we were prepared. We knew that one day the stepfather would suddenly face reality with a cold gaze and look after his true bloodline. Therefore, we resolved to enjoy this affection to the fullest now and humbly accept the future that would come later.

But others could not tolerate it. They sharpened their knives as if the world were about to turn upside down and cornered my mother and me.

I was particularly an eyesore. This was because of my stepsister, 'Roena,' who was of a similar age.

The family members feared that I would threaten Roena's position as the heir of the Bischwartz family, relying on the stepfather's favor. They trembled, thinking the Count, blinded by love, might be swayed by my mother's words and pass everything to me.

So, they sought to emphasize that I was far too undeserving to enjoy these things, a girl incomparably inferior to my stepsister.

It was a simple matter. With the perfect Roena present, they just had to constantly compare and frustrate me.

By gently stroking my pride, which was like a startled colt running wild in a new world. After all, a girl who played in the marketplace could never defeat a girl who was born a lady.

Their prediction was all too accurate. My stepsister's talent was astonishing; if I knew one thing, she knew ten. What I could only do by sacrificing sleep at night, Roena could effortlessly replicate with a single demonstration. Even when I tried desperately to keep pace, the gap never narrowed.

It was like an insurmountable 'wall.' My efforts were sometimes belittled because of her exceptional nature.

In reality, I, who started with no knowledge, and she, who was reviewing what she already knew, should have received different evaluations. That would have been the right thing to do.

But in the world of nobles, ladies like Roena were seen as the absolute standard, so I always wore the label of an underachiever.

What was despairing was that no one taught me 'properly' so I could compete fairly with her. Even my own maid turned her back on me, so what more can I say?

The only thing the maids in the mansion did was to subtly hide the unfair start and constantly compare me with her, making me suffer from inferiority. Thus, I was frustrated again and again, driven to hide in my room.

But they didn't know. They overlooked it. They didn't know that even if I was frustrated and suffered from inferiority, I wasn't the type to just stay in my room and burst into tears.

A colt driven by malice didn't run away to a corner of the room; instead, it hated and despised its stepsister, wanting to steal everything from her. So, when the stepfather died at sea while on a trade mission, I used my mother to seize control of the Bischwartz family.

Then, as if to vent all my pent-up anger, I pushed Roena and her followers into the damp basement and began to torment them. I overworked and abused the noble lady of the Bischwartz family like a maid. It was as if I couldn't bear it otherwise, so I did it terribly.

But as with all fairy tales, the happy ending is always for the protagonist. As everyone said, the mistress of the Bischwartz family was 'Roena,' and I had overlooked that she was the protagonist of this story.

Only my mother and I did not know the decisive moment everyone had waited for. That many people wished for Roena to fly brilliantly again and laugh happily.

Now, what more is there to say?

That Roena, who suffered from a wicked stepmother and stepsister, went to the royal 'ball' with the help of those around her who pitied her, caught the eye of the Crown Prince, the heir to the throne, and her status rose instantly?

That we, who should have been imprisoned for abusing and tormenting the lady of the Bischwartz family, were saved by her?

Roena said this was a new opportunity. A chance to start over. That's why she let my mother and me go, she whispered softly.

But for others, this was no different than an opportunity to repay their past suffering. In the end, misery is just repeated.

So, let's end it. This fated encounter with everyone who trampled on me to protect her and Roena, knowing all this yet pretending not to. And my life, which foolishly ran wild like an idiot, falling for their schemes.

Now, look here. This dramatic stage. Hair let down long, a plain white dress. A woman standing precariously on the terrace railing. A spectator who rushed here upon receiving my call. Truly, the best direction to conclude this absurd comedy. It's a shame I can't laugh out loud.

Instead, I quietly asked Roena, who was beckoning me to come down quickly.

“I’ll ask just one thing. ……Did you really not know anything?”

“What are you talking about? Please, come down.”

“Answer me. You knew, didn't you? You knew something was going wrong from a certain point! But you just hid behind everyone and poked your head out.”

I had always wondered. How could Roena, the center of the Bischwartz family, be unaware when everyone in the family was moving in unison?

At times, the comparisons were so blatant they were visible, yet Roena looked at me with a very calm expression. Perhaps the meaning in her eyes towards me was, 'Why can't you do this easy thing?'

“Yes. But I thought everyone was doing the same as me. Because it had to be done so naturally, I didn't understand your feelings.”

“Yes, everyone knew. I wasn't wrong.”

“But it's the past. We can start over. If only you would come down from there. So, come down here. Oh, please.”

No, we are already fractured. In the name of malice and inferiority. There was a perfect chasm between her and me that could never be bridged again. Because of that, resentment towards her turned into hatred, and then transformed into a murderous intent, leading to the worst situation.

Yet, I can laugh because I can picture myself as the ultimate victor.

'And they lived happily ever after with the Crown Prince' is the end of the fairy tale? No, this is the true end of this story.

“Roena.”

I called her name in a gentle voice. And to Roena, who flinched in response to my call, I murmured.

“I hate you.”

I want you to be tormented for the rest of your life, remembering my death. I want a 'wall' named me to exist in your future happy life, causing you to taste frustration endlessly. At the same time, I want myself falling before your eyes to always haunt you.

So, I could fall joyfully, with her screams accompanying me. Down below the terrace, bathed in bright moonlight, like a fallen bird. Accepting the immense pain felt throughout my body as if it were extreme pleasure.

But why am I alive and moving now? Why is a younger Roena standing before my eyes, compared to my last memory?

“Nice to meet you. My name is Roena. Are we family now?”

Why is the stepfather alive?

Am I dreaming now? Or is this God's prank, forcing me to taste the pain again?

What is certain is that I have returned from death, and I am destined to repeat the terrible reality I once experienced.

How despairingly so.