151 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards 151
==========
I quite liked the cunning of the boy named Jack. His desire for money to survive was more reassuring than any purity.
Even his annoying chatter, carefully choosing the best path to avoid harm to himself, was enough to earn my approval. I didn't begrudge giving him extra points for not blatantly revealing who I was and for not asking why I was going to such a place alone.
So, I quietly cast my bait. There was no one as vulnerable to money as a street child.
"Arina receives Copper coins, bread, and Medicinal herbs just for coming to me every week and telling me stories."
"Yes, yes. She brags about it so much that my ears are ringing."
"Aren't you envious?"
"Do I really need to say it?"
"Really? I find it a pity. Arina is too weak and kind to do work that warrants Silver coins."
At that moment, Jack's pace slowed. His body, slightly turned towards me, clearly showed his interest in what I was about to say.
"I need someone with dirty hands, someone who can grab Silver coins. Someone who would do anything for money."
"My lips are very light. I tend to blab easily if I get hurt even a little."
"If money can shut that mouth, don't worry. I'll always be ready to stuff it in."
"So, what do you want, beautiful lady?"
In an instant, the boy's back bent. His voice, now more polite, was as light as the palms of his hands that groveled.
"Come back here in an hour. Before then, if you meet anyone who wants to talk about me, pretend you only guided them here and know nothing else."
"What if they beat me for lying? Then you'll have to give me extra pay."
"Of course."
But I didn't think Jack would get beaten. I doubted anyone other than the Crown Prince's people would ask about me. They wouldn't cause a big commotion.
I also knew that I needed this boy to return to a crowded place.
Above all, Perinnil wouldn't want any trouble with today's meeting. So, she would have taken measures to ensure I wouldn't be in danger even if I appeared alone. That's why I could answer so calmly.
Soon, I began to see a woman who looked like Perinnil in the distance. She was pacing back and forth, wearing a long robe. Anxious, she didn't stop walking even for a moment, trying to hide her face by pulling the cloth down deeply.
I had thought my connection with Perinnil had ended when I rejected her proposal. Therefore, I thought it would be a long time before we met and talked again.
Either as a powerful figure still receiving the Emperor's favor or as an old whore continuing a miserable life to stay in society.
So, I couldn't have imagined her grabbing my hand and looking around like this, even in my dreams. From the moment she hid in one of the nearby buildings as if being chased by something.
The shouts of someone running around with quick footsteps, as if they had been waiting for us to disappear, contributed to increasing this tension.
Perinnil's body, which was holding my hand, was trembling violently. Her face was so filled with terror that I felt guilty for suspecting she was acting. Her eyes were shaking so much that she looked ready to scream at any moment.
If this was the ultimate act to deceive me, she was a very talented actress. It would take more than ordinary acting skills to be this realistically scared.
The cloth covering Perinnil still looked cheap and dirty. She hadn't bothered with makeup today, revealing her hollow eye sockets and cheeks covered with various smudges. Her pale skin was reminiscent of a ghost. She looked even sicker than yesterday.
What happened to Beatrice, who used to be with her, that she came to meet me in this state? Where had the ambitious woman who tried to push me to the Crown Prince gone? A fallen whore in terrible shape stood here.
"The sound is gone now, right?"
After a long time, Perinnil asked me in a hushed voice. I quietly nodded. But still worried, she didn't try to get out of her crouched position. She just opened her mouth as if confessing, with dazed eyes.
"I didn't think you would come. I begged, but it would have been fine to just ignore me. So, I was scared, but you came like this... Thank you for saving me."
"Saving you? What do you mean?"
"I, I made a mistake, and I was abandoned because of it. I've never seen him so angry. It was such a big mistake that I'll never be able to go near him again. Well, wouldn't he be angry since my position was exposed because of me? He'll never forgive me. Ah, I'm finished now."
I couldn't understand everything, but it wasn't hard to realize that 'he' from her mouth was Beatrice. I quietly waited for Perinnil to continue her confession-like story.
"I did, I did drugs. I was careful even when I was in the brothel, but I did it in an angry state, and it became an addiction. Later, I couldn't live without it. So, I spent money, borrowed, and sold what I had until I got here. I tried to hold back, but I couldn't... I couldn't hold back so much that I went to ask for help. But that's when the location was exposed..."
She really seemed out of her mind. From the moment she grabbed my wrist and sobbed. I clicked my tongue softly and wiped her cheeks with a handkerchief. And I urged her to continue the story with a silent gaze.
"But he pushed me away, saying that I was victimized, that they gave me the drugs, so I couldn't get out of it now. He said he would give me his last order, thinking of our past relationship, and to be grateful that he wasn't killing me, but when the person I admired said that, I couldn't, I couldn't..."
It was rare for people in society not to dabble in gambling and drugs. Unless they were ambitious people trying to control the nobles with a clear mind, most of them indulged in pleasure and recklessly abused their bodies.
Since it was rare for prostitutes who entered society not to be addicted to drugs from the back alleys, they often introduced the drugs they were addicted to to the nobles and enjoyed them together. Lying down intoxicated with hookah was nothing more than a cute gesture.
"Where is that place? Who are you talking about? Who gave you the drugs?"
Perinnil spoke pantingly at my quiet question. The stream of tears flowing down her cheeks was getting thicker and thicker.
"The Crown Prince, the Crown Prince's side."
I was breathless at the unexpected answer. Both the Crown Prince, who casually used drugs for his purposes, and Perinnil's words, which confirmed that he was the one who used such dirty tricks, were surprising.
"Why did they do that to you? What would they do by feeding you drugs? Isn't that right?"
"Among the children who came to the forefront of society, I was the best. Heok. I'm also the one who knows the place to go to him, so that's why. Heup."
She trembled and drooled as she spoke. She rummaged through her chest with her emaciated fingers and took out a neatly wrapped piece of paper and sniffed the contents inside. Her eyes, gleaming with madness, were chilling.
After lying on the floor for a while, shaking her limbs, Perinnil sighed softly and raised her head. Her hazy, wet eyes were staring at the air. Her face, relaxed as if she was having a good dream, shone strangely along with her tearful cheeks.
Usually, when people are addicted to drugs, they lose their minds and lie blankly, but Perinnil seemed to have taken something different, as she had become even more talkative.
Without being asked, she began to lament her situation and rattle off various things. From her gloomy past to the present, a rambling and incoherent story was pouring out quickly.
"I didn't want to enter the Imperial Palace. I wanted to be by his side, even with my dirty body. But he won't even look at me now. I almost ruined his great cause."
"Was the last order to meet me?"
"Yes."
"What did he tell you to do when you met me?"
"Explanation. He told me to talk about the current situation and ask what I was going to do."
"Then, tell me. About the current situation."
At first, the words flowed out awkwardly. She was rambling so much that she didn't even know what she was saying. Then, gradually, her voice gained strength, and her pronunciation began to become clear. It was chilling because it was the opposite of her increasingly blurred eyes.
Perinnil's words were about treason. It wasn't a direct mention, but there was enough room to think so. The Empress was trying to use Roena to monitor the Crown Prince's every move, the Crown Prince was trying to find Beatrice, but it was exposed because of her, and Lady Roshan was stirring up society and extracting information from the women.
"I wasn't supposed to say this, hehehe."
After taking a breath and panting heavily, she let out a vulgar laugh and told another story. I was currently a bait to obscure the eyes of others on the Crown Prince's side, or rather, on behalf of Lady Roshan, and since I was standing in the eye of the storm whether I wanted to or not, the end wouldn't be good.
She even advised me to run away and hide somewhere, saying that a cold-blooded person like the Crown Prince would easily abandon someone like me. She ended by saying that the Crown Prince also knew about our meeting and laughed like crazy.
It was strange. Was I getting along with the Crown Prince so well that I was receiving this kind of offer?
No, they wanted to give me to the Crown Prince from the beginning. They tempted me by saying that I could live a luxurious life if I just approached him. They were acting so strangely, as if they believed I could approach him. Why me of all people?
"You should have taken my hand back then. No, it's not too late even now. Yes, I will."
"You'll be abandoned anyway."
"No, no! If I hadn't taken drugs, I wouldn't have been abandoned like this. That's what would have happened!!!"
Her wildly flickering eyes were filled with madness, and she screamed desperately. Her act of hitting the floor with her fists and crying was no different from writhing. Suppressed sobs were weighing heavily.
"...Is there anything else to say?"
"Soon, soon the world will be turned upside down. They said they wouldn't touch me if I prevented Sir Ayres from moving or caused discord, or if I told them about the things the Crown Prince ordered me to do. They said they would grant me anything I wanted. Aaaaaah!"
I waited quietly until she calmed down. There was no reason to offer words of comfort, so I just watched silently. I remained silent until the torrential downpour of wails became a gentle drizzle.
After a while, Perinnil raised her head and looked at me. Her face, stained with tears, was even more miserable. It was a mess. I was too harsh to feel sympathy for her, and I was just as cruel to throw words at her.
"Discord is a difficult thing to ask for. Do you think I have that ability? I can't understand."
"As I said before, among the many women who passed by the Crown Prince, you are the first woman he approached first. He approached you first again at the second meeting. So, I can't help but be sure. And now you're in his group."
"But if today's meeting gets to the Crown Prince's ears, I'll be kicked out right away. Just the fact that Lady Roshan knows that the madam will come to see me is enough. In other words, you've made a futile effort."
Even if I didn't try to be sarcastic, the words kept coming out sharply. I couldn't help but be angry because I was in a position where I had to read other people's faces regardless of my own will.
All I wanted was complete recognition as Bischwartz, surpassing Roena, and safe entry into society.
The current situation was too cruel for a woman who didn't desire any ambition or love. No matter what, it was no different from saying that I couldn't escape the fate of a butterfly caught in a spider web.
"If it's His Highness the Crown Prince, he'll rather try to use this situation, so don't worry. No, he might be smiling with satisfaction right now."
Perhaps because she had poured out her feelings so intensely, Perinnil, who had become much calmer, leaned against the wall and muttered. She smiled at me, who was looking at her as if asking how she knew that, with a faint smile like a daytime moon.
"He resembles him, His Highness the Crown Prince. So, unless you make a big mistake, he won't easily abandon you."
Abandoning meant death, so it was a kind piece of advice not to follow in her footsteps. A sneer came out at what kind of meddling she was doing when she could hardly take care of herself. The cat soaked in drugs had become a fool, a half-wit, without sharp teeth.
"So, what are you going to do?"
I walked towards the door without answering. There was no reason to stay in this place any longer since what she said and what I knew were not much different. Only the fact that she and I met was important. To the Crown Prince and Beatrice.
Perinnil's laughter followed me like a shadow from behind. Her voice, laughing and giggling, was full of futility.
"It's amazing that you're not even surprised. As if you knew it. Is this also a trap from the Crown Prince's side? But I'm alive. I didn't die. That's all that matters. Contact me later. I'll do anything for you."
She whispered as I opened the door. Thank you for coming to see me. A sound that might have been gratitude or resentment echoed emptily.
I stepped outside without hesitation. I frowned for a moment at the pouring sunlight, and when I turned my head at the feeling of someone's presence, I saw a familiar face.
Theodore Vitraice, it was him. At his feet, two grown men were lying unconscious.
When my gaze turned to the unconscious men, he shrugged his shoulders and said as if making an excuse.
"They attacked first, so it couldn't be helped. I'm sorry for showing such an unsightly sight. Still, it's good to see you like this. It's been a long time, Lady."
When he took off his gloves to show respect for the lady, a reddish burn mark was revealed on his wrist as if by chance.
I don't know if it was because the button was undone, but the sleeves were very loose. I couldn't be sure if what I saw was correct because he quickly buttoned it up as if trying to hide it. Anyway, since it was natural to return the greeting, I greeted him in the most natural voice.
"Yes, it's been a long time, Beatrice."
