110 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards 110
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Roena came to find me around that afternoon. She entered my room without knocking and looked for the maid with a deathly pale face.
As if she couldn't see me sitting in a chair reading. She must have learned from Margo that her maid had been dragged away by me.
"What are you doing?"
Roena seemed to realize I was in the room only after my question. She let out a faint sigh, as if relieved by the unexpectedly quiet room, and asked me.
"I heard you called Yonel..."
From her deliberately blurred words, I guessed what she was trying to say. Roena probably thought I was beating Yonel, the maid.
"You came to find me just because of that? Roena, you seem to know why I called Yonel."
Roena nods. I closed the book I was reading and placed it on my lap. Then, I said as if complaining.
"Then you know how I'll act, don't you? So why did you come to interfere?"
"It's not interference."
She says as if making an excuse. I shook my head and replied, "No, it is interference."
"Your attitude now is as if you're trying to stop me from harming Yonel. I really don't understand why you think that way. Have you ever seen me beat another maid?"
"But Margo..."
I quickly cut her off. And I spat out in a fast voice as if refuting. My expression, full of displeasure, was very openly directed at Roena.
"I only told her I was having a conversation. Where does the word 'beat' come in? Look, there's nothing in my room. Nothing happened. So, if the misunderstanding is resolved, would you please go back?"
"Show me Yonel."
Roena demanded as if she couldn't believe my words. Her eyes were filled with clear suspicion of me and the resulting anxiety.
The small change I saw in the carriage is becoming a seed and sprouting like this. It's truly a near-miraculous event. Roena distrusting me.
"For you?"
"No, for you, Sissae."
I smiled at her answer. And I said as if whispering.
"If it were for me, as you say, you shouldn't have come all the way here. But well, let's say you're right. That would be better for each other. Go find Marie. Then you'll be able to meet Yonel."
And as if there was nothing more to say, I picked up the book again. But Roena's words came first.
"I clearly said it was for you. Why don't you believe me?"
She cries out in a voice that trembles slightly, as if feeling wronged.
I didn't take my eyes off the book and replied briefly in an indifferent voice.
"I believe you."
"No, you've been really strange since you came back from the Imperial Palace. Are you acting like this because I read the poem instead of you? That was force majeure. Pulcher ordered me to do it. How could I not do it? Besides, I even asked you not to spread rumors about me. So why are you doing this to me?"
For me... I felt like a burst of laughter was about to come out, but I held it back.
Being able to turn doubt into consideration for others is a skill that only Roena can do. This is due to an instinct to turn psychological damage into profit.
Is that why? People saw her analyzing others with plausible words as genuine, and furthermore, thought she had a good character. So they moved as she wanted.
The funny thing is that Roena herself believes that this cunning nature is a universal feeling. That's why she gets anxious and rejects it when you point out the truth in this way.
"You asked me to show you Yonel. So I told you where she is. Isn't that enough? Please, Roena. Please allow me to read. You know that I need literary knowledge. So would you please step back now? I'm asking you."
"I don't lie to you."
"Yes."
"But you don't seem to believe anything I say. Why are you doing this? Please give me an answer. Why are you saying such a terrible word like hypocrite to me? I'm not that kind of person."
When I raise my eyes and meet her gaze, I see Roena's face with tears welling up as if she's about to cry soon. If I ignore her without answering like this, she will sit down and bother me.
You should be grateful that I'm trying to maintain my composure. I held back the words that were coming up to the tip of my tongue and blinked slowly. And after pausing for a moment as if recalling, I said to her.
"I misspoke then. So will you believe me a little?"
"Really?"
I was getting tired of this exhausting confrontation. Unless we clash in the battlefield I painstakingly created, her whining like a child - in fact, she is a young girl. She's only 15 - can't be welcome. So what is she doing without running to Margo?
"Are you doubting me now? Roena, please be fair. You don't believe me, but why are you telling me to believe you?"
Then she says to me in a very subdued voice. She seems to have spat out an apology, but it was a cowardly excuse that didn't resonate at all.
"I'm sorry. Margo said something terrible would happen to Yonel, so I couldn't believe you. Margo is always the one who tells me the truth."
"I know what kind of person Margo is to you. So it's natural to believe her."
"Thank you for understanding. I'll forgive your slip of the tongue too."
"Thank you. So, will you give me time to read? You know that I need literary knowledge. So would you please step back now? I'm asking you."
Roena made a subtle expression at my words and bit her lip tightly. But she seemed to know that further questioning would not be beneficial to herself, so she soon began to move her steps obediently.
I looked at her back and swallowed the rising sneer. Roena's appearance looked like a pitiful dog with its tail curled up. It was a truly enchantingly lonely back view.
Marie had lost Yonel because of Roena who came to find me, but she was smiling with satisfaction as if she was quite satisfied.
She clung to me and blabbered about the situation in detail. The main content was that she went to find Yonel with some strong women, had a few 'conversations', and slapped her on the cheek, which made her feel refreshed.
"Yes. Keep having conversations like that in the future."
Whenever Margo's group picked on Marie, I emphasized the words 'my maid'. As if it were an insult to me. At such times, Margo made clumsy excuses or stepped back and gritted her teeth.
The petty threat that she would have no choice but to tell the adoptive father if this continued was making her shrink.
Marie dragged the maid in front of her eyes and had a friendly 'conversation', as if teasing Margo.
Due to Roena's personality, she would not step forward in such matters and engage in a tug-of-war, so there was no one to take Margo's side.
Is that why? The balance of power that had been subtly balanced among the maids began to tilt slightly towards Marie.
"Look. Our young lady personally steps up for me. It's not enough to just comfort me with words."
Marie was openly referring to Margo as a 'stupid old woman who is only the head maid'. So she made a very displeased expression at my words that she should respect her.
Funnily enough, Marie was filled with the dream that she might become the head maid if she led this situation a little further. Very funnily.
\*
As the Founding Day approached, the movements of people in the mansion became very busy. Everyone took out their best clothes, which they had hidden deep in their closets, and washed and ironed them with great care.
In Blan's case, she heard somewhere that if she boiled clothes in water made by brewing Autumn flower, the clothes would be infused with the scent of flowers, so she picked more than the appropriate amount under the pretext of flowers to put in my room, and was scolded by the gardener.
She seemed very upset, muttering as if dissatisfied, 'What's the big deal about picking a few more...'
And Marie, with a tearful face, went to find the Witch again because she had run out of Breast enlargement potion. She was enlarging her breasts in preparation for meeting a man she liked at the Founding Day.
Other maids were also completely taken in by Marie's words and bought the same medicine. Margo's maids were also among them.
Marie did not stop there and even bought Man-charming perfume. She believed that the fact that the Witch sold her medicine in a small, old earthenware bowl was trustworthy.
"Young lady, how about trying this perfume?"
I stared blankly at the perfume she handed me. It wasn't terrible, but the moment I smelled it, it came on so strongly that I couldn't even guess what effect it would have if mixed with body odor.
It was said to be used to seduce men, but even if I were a man, I wouldn't like this scent. It looked worse than cheap perfume sold on the market.
"It's not a scent I like. It doesn't seem to match the dress I prepared either."
When I smelled the scent and shook my head, Marie made an openly disappointed expression and only blinked her eyes.
As she subtly looked around, she seemed nervous that I might scold her for buying something useless. It doesn't seem like she bought it at a cheap price.
"Why don't you give it to Blan or Seril, or other maids?"
"Young lady, you should use good things alone. You should only share bad things with other people."
I burst out laughing at her behavior, which was serious as if asking what she was talking about.
Marie's greed always gives a comical feeling like watching a comedy.
It was amazing that she, who doesn't share good things but makes a fuss over trivial things, had grown to the point where she could compete with Margo thanks to the material things I gave her.
So even Blan, who knows Marie's essence, sticks by her side these days and acts as if they get along quite well, doesn't she?
"So when are you going to use it? It's a waste to use it for just one day, isn't it?"
"Of course. I'm planning to use it throughout the Founding Day. I might meet the man of my destiny. Just thinking about it makes me so excited."
In fact, it was common for a couple who met by chance at the Founding Day to get married.
Because the stage is so perfect, romantic situations that seem to come out of a play happen. How else would the Goddess of Fate spin the spinning wheel the most at this time?
Especially for maids who are busy taking care of their young ladies, there was no better meeting place than this.
