146 - Fragments of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards Episode 146
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Lustewin Halberd in my memory had never once ignored Roena in my presence. He didn't act as if she wasn't there, nor did he behave as if he could only see others.
To him, Roena was a goddess and the very symbol of the family. He cherished her more than his own body and would have given his life for her without hesitation.
Due to his unique, steadfast nature, he didn't express his emotions well, but the Knight of Clear Hearing always followed behind her like a shadow, and it was taken for granted. That's why everyone criticized and cursed me when I coveted him.
But what is this now?
I stared at Sir Halberd, not even thinking about what to do with my lips, which were parched as if they were about to burn.
Roena, with her eyes wide as if she couldn't believe it, Margo, standing there dumbly as if she had lost her words, and Sir Ayres, staring at me with a cold expression, were all frozen as if under a spell. Time seemed to have stopped.
Only his touch on the back of my hand was vividly warm. In a world where everyone was frozen, only Sir Halberd and I were breathing. A sound starting from my heart made my ears feel numb.
…Is this a dream?
I blinked slowly. Nothing had changed. I blinked again. Roena trembled and bit her lip tightly. Her beautiful face was clouded with disappointment.
I blinked once more. Margo frowned as if it was absurd and strode towards Roena. The wind tickled my eyes.
When I blinked for the last time, I met the eyes of the Knight of Ice as if by chance. His face, chilled with anger, was filled with me.
Familiar eyes and a familiar expression. He tried to hide his emotions, but his passionately clenched jaw and tightly clenched fists trembled all over his body, shouting loudly. Enough to bring 'Sissae' from my memories before me in an instant.
She, writhing in the throes of the poison called love, was now visible in 'Sir Ayres.'
Suddenly, it felt like cold water had been poured over the top of my head. My reason, blurred by the sweet sensation, awakened like a cold dawn and whispered to me in a mournful voice.
Look, not now. It's too dangerous. You know? It mustn't be repeated.
Sir Halberd's actions, different from the past, and the collision with Sir Ayres, whom I had never met in the past, turned a moment of happiness back into reality.
A bitter smile naturally flowed out at this cruel result. But I had no choice but to hold it back. The back of my hand, where Sir Halberd's lips had touched, burned as if it had been scalded, but there was nothing more I could do. It wasn't good to provoke Sir Ayres. Instinct was warning me.
So, I turned my gaze away and raised the corners of my lips. I smiled gently, hoping that I, reflected in the eyes of the Knight of Clear Hearing, would be no different from usual.
The voice flowing out through my parted lips was fortunately the same as before. Everything was perfect, except that the gently echoing words sounded terribly foreign even to myself.
"Thank you, Sir Halberd. I can only thank you for your loyalty and devotion to the family. I hope you have a match without regrets."
Instantly, Sir Halberd's face blurred. Because nowhere in my words of gratitude, gently pulling my hand away, was there any encouragement to win.
But considering the public reputation, this was the best I could do. A fair wound was being etched on everyone.
I hid the back of my hand beyond the hem of my skirt and said to Roena. To go to the training grounds together. Since she had instigated it, it was only right that she be with me through the process and the conclusion.
Sir Halberd not saying that he would win for me was nothing compared to what would happen in the future.
Roena rose from her seat without a word. Was it because her eyes were moistly blurred? Her gaze towards me seemed to have changed a little differently.
A gloomy emotion, based on affection but with a deeper color, was covering her eyes. Perhaps it was a color similar to the gaze of Margo, who was glaring at me as if to devour me. A change was taking place.
When we arrived at the training grounds, many knights were gathered in one place, looking forward to the upcoming match. Since Margo had asked a maid to seek understanding in advance, the fact that Sir Halberd and Sir Ayres would face off again was no secret.
Not only were seats prepared for us, but also a notarization was quickly arranged to prepare for any possible situation.
The one overseeing the match was Sir Shilfis, who could be called the master of the Bishvarts Family knights. He urged the two knights to compete fairly and solemnly received a vow that they would not resent each other even if an unforeseen situation occurred. And he uttered the word 'start.'
In fact, in a knight's match, the referee's role was only to stop the match before a major injury occurred and to watch for any cowardly tactics.
Especially in an impulsive event like today, there was no way to properly follow the procedure, so all one had to do was quietly wait for the 'winner.'
But Sir Shilfis seemed to want to talk to the Bishvarts Family's lovely Roena more than the two knights who had gone up to the training ground and started fighting.
Of course, his eyes turned to me for a very brief moment, but since he turned his gaze back to Roena, it seemed like I was not in his mind at all.
He soon opened his mouth and began to explain the match between Sir Ayres and Sir Halberd.
I, who was ignorant of swords, couldn't help but feel interested in the voice of the old knight that flowed in on the breeze.
Especially when he talked about the match between the two knights, who collided almost gracefully as if matching their movements, unlike the fierce battle of Founding Day, I almost pricked up my ears.
"If they were really fighting, Sir Halberd would definitely win."
Sir Shilfis said definitively. His face was full of pride in the Knight of Clear Hearing, explaining, 'As for practical swordsmanship, there is no one in the empire who can follow Sir Halberd.'
It was not just praising him because he was a knight of the same family, but pure awe as a martial artist who had mastered the sword.
"What is practical swordsmanship that makes you say that?"
Roena's question followed. Her voice was more excited. Her face was soon filled with a blush, as if she was pleased that the family's knight was superior.
Her hair, where the sunlight had melted softly, swayed lightly as if telling her mood. Loveliness was blooming.
Sir Shilfis replied with a pleased and excited voice. According to him, practical swordsmanship was a sword to win efficiently in battle, and its purpose was to injure rather than subdue the opponent.
For Sir Halberd, who had followed the Bishvarts Family's trading business since he was young and had learned practical sense, swordsmanship was about murder and injury first, not protection.
Therefore, the swordsmanship of the noble family, based on elegance and nobility, could not withstand his aggressiveness.
Of course, most knights learn practical sense through Founding Day or other swordsmanship matches, but practical experience as a structured game and practical experience where life and death are at stake are different.
"He is suppressing himself a lot because the purpose is a pure duel."
Sir Shilfis's words were rude to the point of being arrogant. Wasn't it the same as ignoring Sir Ayres?
According to his claim, it was the same as saying that Sir Halberd was not showing his full potential. He was worried that the opponent would be greatly injured.
I narrowed my eyes and stared at the training grounds. Since I didn't know anything about swords, I couldn't even tell who was in the lead or if he was really hiding his skills.
What was certain was that unlike Founding Day, when he was raging like a fierce beast, the current match was so gentle that it was even boring.
It was like a single, precisely adjusted clockwork. A beautiful harmony that would continue to mesh unless one piece was greatly distorted.
Did Sir Ayres know? If so, how could that fierce battle at Founding Day be explained?
"...It's the same as challenging an opponent you can't beat."
The voice flowing out on a sigh was self-mockery itself. For some reason, a piece of sincerity was flowing out without her even knowing it.
It was also strange that I couldn't purely support Sir Halberd. Before I knew it, the heat on the back of my hand had disappeared. Only a heavy emotion was sinking into my heart. My gaze was directed at Sir Ayres.
"Does Sir Ayres know too?"
Roena's voice continued. Sir Shilfis said, 'Everyone will know. Especially the opponent will know better.' It was as if Sir Ayres, who was facing off with his sword, couldn't possibly not know.
"Is that why there was a draw at Founding Day?"
"Yes. Because it is a pure duel, he would have only used his sword as a knight. Because it's the rule. Knights don't risk their lives in matches between knights. So, there was a draw."
The past match was not wrong. It was a foregone conclusion that Sir Halberd would win. It was only different now that I had returned.
Perhaps even then, Sir Halberd would have won with swordsmanship for show, as Sir Shilfis said.
But Sir Ayres had excellently narrowed that gap now. He won the joint championship and placed a Floral Crown on my head. He steadfastly kept the words he had thrown out.
But Sir Shilfis asserts that Sir Ayres did not narrow the gap. He was saying that a proper match would not be possible because they did not meet on the battlefield.
Then what does that make Sir Ayres, who asked for a match again to beat Sir Halberd now? …What about me in the past?
I covered below my eyes with one hand. The transparent mask I had used to use Sir Ayres was shaking. What was seeping through the cracked gap was pity and compassion.
"This is why Sir Halberd is revered as the best sword in the empire. That's why he is envied by most knights in the empire, even though he is a knight of the Count's family."
At that moment, Sir Halberd and Sir Ayres' bodies crossed and stopped, stretched out like stiff logs. Each other's swords were aimed at the other's vitals.
A heavy silence enveloped the training grounds. But that was only for a moment, and shouts flowed from the mouths of the knights watching at the sight.
"It's simultaneous. They aimed at the same time. Therefore, it's a draw."
Sir Shilfis stepped onto the stage, receiving the knight's cry. He told both knights to put away their swords and asked if they accepted the current result.
The two men, who bowed to each other, nodded and said they would accept the result. Unlike Sir Halberd, who had a calm expression, Sir Ayres had a cold and sunken face.
It was not that I did not know what was engraved on the back of his hand, tightly gripping the sword hilt, with the same emotions that I had shown before.
In fact, to me, Sir Ayres was a repetition of the past. He was a foolish knight being used by a girl younger than himself, and an uncomfortable man who dug up past wounds as if looking in a mirror.
Besides, today he was a heartless man who forced me to turn away from the sweet sincerity that Sir Halberd had shown.
Therefore, although it was a draw, I should have looked at Sir Halberd with envious eyes, who was clearly one step above him in his original skills.
I should have been excited, recalling the voice of the Knight of Clear Hearing who said he wanted to dedicate his victory to me.
But why do my eyes keep going to Sir Ayres? Why is the previous Sissae being projected onto him now? She, grinding her teeth and stamping her feet, unable to overcome her anger, blaming her own incompetence.
I should definitely turn my gaze away, because he ruthlessly brings out the past I don't want to remember, so I should be annoyed, …why can't I see Sir Halberd's face instead of Sir Ayres?
I thought I knew everything about Sir Halberd, but the fact that I didn't know about swords, which could be said to be a part of his life, also weighed heavily on my heart like a stone.
The thought that that ignorance had created the current result made me want to burst out laughing. My stomach churned and nausea towards myself surged up. I was still a half-wit who could only see useless things.
Sir Ayres' eyes and my eyes meet in the air. An indescribable emotion begins to boil from deep within my heart.
I bit my lip tightly and forced a smile. The past me over Sir Ayres, and the Roena of the past, who was perfect in everything, are crossed over Sir Halberd.
After a while, he smiles back at me. It was a faint smile like the daytime moon. Is that why? The real Sir Ayres, whom I had been trying to deny, comes into view. I could see his heart. I felt sorry for him. I wanted to hug him. Suddenly, I became afraid of myself, who was nonchalantly using him, who was able to be the old me.
For the first time, for the very first time, my heart was wavering.
