145 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards 145
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I wanted to ask about it again, but I pursed my lips tightly. I had no right to pry into the Empress and Crown Prince's affairs, so I had no choice but to pretend I didn't know. The information I had so far was more than enough anyway.
Now, all that was left was to gather these things and ask Lady Roshan subtly. She would probably speak indirectly with a troubled expression. And she would add that I should trust her.
"I see. I think my curiosity is finally being satisfied. Lady Roshan always said it was all over. So it was silence for my honor."
"Lüce really cherishes and likes Lady Roshan. Unless His Highness forces him, he will always be loyal to her. So please don't hate her too much."
Is this Michael Ayres's defense this time? Just like Lady Roshan, he is doing his best to defend her so that I don't hate her. As if hoping that the bond of friendship will not change.
What was unexpected was that he didn't want me to understand the Crown Prince. I don't know if his friendship with Lady Roshan is deeper, or if a terrible unrequited love has greedily swallowed the name of friendship, but this blatant discrimination made me wonder.
"I fully understand his position. But it's true that I was embarrassed and angry at the sudden test. Am I still not accepted?"
"That's not true."
"Then please prepare me. I don't want to go through such a dangerous test again."
If I only knew the secret signals they shared, I wouldn't be embarrassed and flustered like before. I might even be able to stand up to the Crown Prince without being swayed by him.
But since there was no way they would easily tell me the 'signals' for plotting a 'scheme', I was determined. If they looked troubled or hesitated for too long, I would somehow coax them into telling me.
But surprisingly, he easily tells me their code. If the Crown Prince takes a step back and makes a shape with his fingers, it means he is testing this person. I was rather embarrassed by his attitude of answering so quickly as if it were nothing.
"Am I allowed to know?"
"I just hope that you won't be swayed by His Highness anymore."
The word missing before 'swayed' is probably 'Crown Prince'. I don't know why, but he was constantly keeping the Crown Prince in check and hoping that I wouldn't get close to him. This feeling naturally led to the Deer hide that the Crown Prince had given me.
"I'm going to make gloves and present them to His Highness. Since it's something His Highness gave me, I should return it with something appropriate."
Michael Ayres was pleased that I didn't attach much meaning to the Deer hide, but he was very displeased that I was making gloves for the Crown Prince. His face showed petty jealousy, and he didn't know what to do even though it was a perfectly acceptable method.
I threw a playful word to appease him.
"If Sir Ayres hunts a deer for me, I'll make gloves for you. I'll embroider the cloth that wraps the gloves."
"Really?"
"Yes. Would the Family crest be okay? So please bring me a Deer hide of the right size so I can make gloves that fit your hands. I don't know much about it."
Then Sir Ayres suddenly says, 'Why don't we find out now?' The Knight of Ice, who was taking a lady's courtesy next to my knees, was measuring the size by overlapping his hand with mine before he could even react.
The hand of a man with thick knuckles is firmly transmitted through my skin. It was a truly 'manly' hand, perfect in size and length. Even the calluses embedded in it felt natural.
"You should be able to remember this much easily."
I couldn't help but laugh at his brazen attitude. Even though I should have blamed him for his rudeness, I wasn't that angry because his ears were red, unlike his nonchalant expression.
"Well. I don't know how much this rough estimate will help me measure the exact size. Lady Roshan's Leather artisan is visiting today, so why don't we have him measure the size of the gloves in advance?"
Sir Ayres's face brightens at my words. The sound of waiting for the artisan to come when he doesn't know when he will visit was tantamount to saying that he could stay with me a little longer.
It was a different situation from the past, when I wanted him to disappear with various excuses after hearing the answers to the necessary questions. Therefore, he had no reason to refuse this subtle offer given as a reward.
It was around this time that Roena and Sir Halberd walked into the garden. She very brazenly greeted us and immediately joined the conversation. Her joining was so natural that I had to think back to whether we had invited her.
But since I couldn't embarrass someone who was already seated, I had no choice but to swallow the hollow laughter that seemed to soar up. I had to watch what she was up to.
Unlike Roena, who quickly took her seat, Sir Halberd kept his eyes on my hand, which had been facing Sir Ayres all along. His deeply sunken eyes looked like those of someone holding back anger.
Looking at him, I even thought that I was doing something wrong. So I tried to take my eyes off him and focus on Roena.
Roena, who had a shy expression when she first saw Sir Ayres, soon began to chatter and subtly ask about the Crown Prince. There was no problem in answering because the questions were not explicit, but as that happened repeatedly, I could quickly realize who her interest was focused on.
Sir Ayres, who already knew through me that Roena had a crush on the Crown Prince, was answering without any problems, but Margo, who came with her, looked very bad with her face turning red and blue.
Her face, which I glanced at, was full of embarrassment. It wasn't a good sight to see a young girl who hadn't even entered society yet expressing great interest in the Crown Prince and trying to get information.
Even if Pulcher allowed it, it was good to keep a certain line, but now Roena was acting like a fool who was in love and couldn't tell the difference.
Anyway, as a maid, she couldn't interrupt her lady's words, so Margo kept sending me glances and asking me to do something.
I didn't like the fact that she was asking me for a favor, but I was the only one who could help Roena, so she had no choice but to send me desperate glances.
Of course, there was no way I would grant that request. Because there was no reason to help. So I kept drinking tea and ignoring the gaze on my cheek. Sir Halberd's gaze was also mixed in it, but I pretended not to know. I was just enjoying the refreshments as if I was alone.
It was about fifteen minutes after Roena appeared in the garden that her questions gradually decreased. Perhaps she didn't hear as many useful stories as she had planned, she made a very sullen expression, but soon regained her cheerfulness and said to Sir Ayres.
"Sir Ayres, I was very impressed with the swordsmanship you showed at the Founding Day. You were on par with Sir Halberd."
"Yes. It was a very disappointing match because we couldn't come to a conclusion."
Sir Halberd, who had been silently staring at me, opened his mouth and agreed with Sir Ayres's words. He also seemed to regret the match in the past, as he was still attached to the fact that he couldn't determine the true winner.
"It's presumptuous, but what do you think the result will be if you fight again?"
I and Margo were the only ones surprised by this immature remark. I quietly called her name, "Roena!" Strangely, she continued to show rude behavior. Showing a different side of herself than usual.
But Roena only smiled brightly and looked at Sir Ayres's face as if she couldn't hear my voice. I don't know why she suddenly showed this immature side, but it was very embarrassing.
"Come to think of it, there's a rumor going around."
Sir Ayres opens his mouth after a while.
"The women who attended Pulker's Masquerade Ball predicted the results of the rematch between Sir Halberd and me and made bets. Are you one of them, Lady?"
"No, that's not true. I'm just trying to protect the honor of my Family's knight."
"What about my honor?"
"Isn't asking a question not damaging to your honor? Oh, I dare to hope, please don't oppress the girl with thoughts close to speculation. Asking for opinions is a natural flow in conversation."
I stared at her with wide eyes for a moment. I couldn't believe that these words really came from Roena's mouth. Wasn't she the one who always stimulated the other person's emotions with direct expressions? And shed tears when she was at a disadvantage.
But now Roena is showing a way of twisting words for her own purpose. As if imitating the typical conversation of a noblewoman.
Looking at Margo, she also had a mixed expression of joy and sadness. It was a special feeling to see a girl who had only looked young start to use the language of society.
It seems that she didn't just follow the Empress's meeting and Lavalliere's meeting for the sake of appearance. It would have taken Roena of the past several more years to talk like this.
'If you wish,' Sir Halberd suddenly opens his mouth. I don't know if he received a hint from Roena, or if it was close to an impulse, but his eyes were burning with a desire to win.
"I want to have that match now..."
I grabbed Roena's hand and whispered in a low voice.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"It's already been approved by Pulcher. So don't scold me like that."
Is it Pulcher again? I tried to suppress the rising annoyance and asked her in a whisper. I don't know why Pulcher's approval is involved in this, and isn't this rude to Sir Ayres?
"I can't do this to my guest."
"But if the person involved wants it, it won't be rude. Like this."
Roena points to Sir Halberd and Sir Ayres with a naive smile. Before I knew it, the two had returned to being adolescent boys and were burning with a desire to win that didn't even make sense.
"Tell me. Tell me honestly. It's not just for Sir Halberd's honor."
She blinks and looks at me. And she opens her mouth with the same innocent expression as usual.
"Of course, it wasn't today. I was just going to say it once as Pulcher told me to and promise the next time. I was just purely asking for your thoughts. But who knew Sir Halberd would step up like this."
According to Roena, meeting Sir Halberd today was purely coincidental. He first asked where I was, and politely requested if he could go with me, so he accompanied me.
"I swear Sir Halberd had no idea I was going to ask this."
Well, can someone who didn't know be able to glare at each other with such an excited expression? Like meeting an enemy.
In particular, Sir Halberd's face was coldly sunken as if he would draw his sword and see blood at any moment. The surrounding air becomes sharp.
"Okay, Sir Halberd. Let's have a match today. My face won't be good if I back down here. Above all, we must put an end to it so that such bets are not placed among the noblewomen again."
Sir Ayres jumps up from his seat. I was surprised and called him as if to stop him, but he didn't care.
Ah, the desire to win of men.
I closed my eyes tightly as if a headache was coming. Who will bear the aftermath of this?
Sir Halberd also got up from his seat, but instead of leading Sir Ayres to the training ground, he strode up to me, knelt on one knee, and took the knight's courtesy. And he began to whisper softly, kissing the back of the hand that had been facing Sir Ayres.
If it had been Sir Halberd as usual, he would have focused on the match without making the opponent wait. That's the natural etiquette. But Sir Ayres was suddenly focusing on me as if he didn't care about him. As if he couldn't see the others who were embarrassed by this sudden situation.
"My lady, I dedicate the victory of this match to you. So please watch comfortably."
Sir Halberd's hand touching my hand was excessively strong. It wasn't painful, but it was strangely more solid than usual, and it even felt strange. From the fact that he was only looking at my lips as if asking for permission without even looking at the surrounding situation. I wondered why he was doing this.
I tried to calm my pounding heart and avoided the hot gaze he was sending. Roena, who was sitting next to me, was looking at me and Sir Halberd with a pale face. Her eyes, shaking finely as if she couldn't believe it, were deeply engraved with the word shock.
