Shattered Glass Slipper Shards 153
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Still, I managed to avoid the worst-case scenario somehow. I didn't even let him utter the 'reconcile' part of reconciliation, so how could it be otherwise? Of course, he'll keep tempting me with letters, but for now, I can breathe a sigh of relief—I can just throw them away if necessary.
"You're meeting some scary people."
Jack barely opened his mouth to speak when the man's shadow was no longer visible. His voice contained a faint tremor. Evidence that he was afraid.
"Scary people? Do you know who he is?"
I asked Jack. A man of that stature wouldn't be so careless as to be noticed by a child like Jack, so I was curious. Jack was acting like he knew Beatrice.
"How could I not? He always wears a hat pulled low and wraps his whole body in a cloak, but his voice and the scent he gives off are the same."
"Did you just say scent?"
I tilted my head at the child's words and asked again. I had been standing with Beatrice just a moment ago, but I hadn't noticed any unique body odor mixed with perfume.
Besides, the place we were standing wasn't filled with stench and filth, so my nose, which was lightly twitching, was in pretty good condition. But to say he smelled a unique scent was puzzling.
"Yes. He has his own unique scent. It's true. I have a really good sense of smell."
"I need to hear more about that. Let's walk first."
Jack didn't seem to want to talk about his sense of smell in detail, but when I gave him a coin, he quickly started chattering.
According to the child, he had an overly good sense of smell, so he had been using it to make various pocket money.
Finding a prostitute's lost perfume, or going to the house of a customer who had thrown their clothes off somewhere while drunk and delivering them, and other trivial things like that.
"So I'm called Jack the Dog Nose. I never forget a scent once I smell it."
"So, you're saying you can recognize someone even if they try to hide themselves with clothes?"
"Of course, because their scent remains on their clothes. Unless they're wearing a lot of perfume, or they stink, or I have a cold, I can do it anytime."
"You have a truly amazing talent."
At my compliment, Jack frowned as if he had heard something strange. The child was distorting his face strangely, as if he couldn't believe what he had heard.
"This is a talent? Not something weird?"
"You have an ability that not just anyone can easily have. And I value that ability very highly. So much so that I'm thinking of buying it with your favorite thing, money."
"...Really?"
"If your mouth gets a little heavier, I can spend money without hesitation. No matter how much it is."
"But I don't like being hurt."
Jack said in a small, creeping voice. He didn't refuse as firmly as before, as if he was seriously considering it. No, the fact that he was conflicted meant that he was wavering at my suggestion. I smiled and continued.
"You can endure it unless it's seriously painful, right?"
For the children of the back alleys, beatings were like everyday life. Broken bones or losing a tooth or two was common.
Jack, too, would have been kicked and bled until his insides came out to survive like this. Saying he didn't like being hurt was something he could say because he knew pain.
"I guess so."
"If it really hurts like you're going to die, don't hesitate to tell me. I won't resent you."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course. I like you very much."
After a brief silence, Jack mumbled. The child's voice was somehow deeply submerged.
"...You're a really strange lady."
I smiled and gave him another coin in his small hand. And I said in a soft voice to Jack, who was looking at me as if to say, 'What's this again?'
"The price for calling me strange."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to use you a lot in the future."
"I'm very expensive, you know?"
"Yes."
"Really."
"Yes. But you're not saying you won't do it. So, it doesn't matter how much it is."
"You're really strange. Are you sick somewhere? There's a reason why Arina, that bitch, is always smiling like a crazy person."
He said it was strange, but the feeling he gave off was that he envied Arina. It seemed that he had noticed that the girl, who had no income while her father was sick in bed, had been running around the alley and smiling brightly from some point on.
He must have wondered what good thing had happened that allowed her to play so happily and eat bread regularly.
And now he thought he could experience the same thing—though a little more dangerous.
So, he was making such a cute threat.
"I'm saying again, if it really hurts like I'm going to die, I'll spill everything I know."
The child, who was looking ahead and walking as if nothing was wrong, had a faint blush on his face.
I nodded and gently pulled the child's cheek with my finger. And I said to Jack, who was frowning and looking at me, 'You cheeky brat,' and put strength into the pinched finger. It was quite amusing to see his face distorted with pain.
"Ugh, stop it. Otherwise, I'll tell you everything with just this much pain."
"Okay, okay."
"I said really stop it."
"Get along well with Arina. Take good care of her. Like an older brother."
"It's annoying. It's better for a wild horse like that bitch to be alone. Besides, she has a dad, right?"
"What about you?"
"I don't have one. Or a mom. I was abandoned."
"Then I can take you in."
"Are you crazy?!"
Jack jumped. The child, as if he had forgotten that I was a noble lady, was shouting with a flushed face.
It wasn't that he hated it, but that he was embarrassed. It was an excitement that could be shown because he knew the meaning and weight of the word 'take in'.
"Then should I not do it? I don't care?"
I took my hand off the child's cheek and pretended to be serious. As I suddenly became cold, giving off the nuance of 'I can't help it if you don't like it,' Jack's eyes shook violently.
Because he was still a child with something that could be called purity, even if it was only the size of a fingernail, he was still vulnerable to this kind of give and take. So, he was able to express his feelings so clearly. So much so that I thought he was lovely.
"Wh, who said I didn't care? D, do as you please. Aren't noble lords supposed to do as they please?"
"Yes. Then I'll do as I please. But Jack."
"What."
"Be a little more obedient."
"Ugh, don't press my head. Are you really a noble lady?"
I pressed down hard on the child's head with my hand. And I whispered.
"And forget about the man you saw earlier. Pretend you don't know until I ask you to."
"...Is it dangerous?"
"Don't tell anyone what you told me. Okay? I need your competence. So, take care of yourself until then."
The body that had been struggling to remove the hand pressing down on his head suddenly became quiet. I don't know what he was thinking, but Jack rolled his eyes and remained silent. Swallowing words that might be affirmative or negative.
"...Will people like that come looking for me if I don't?"
After a while, with a low murmur, the child's gaze turned to one place. Turning my head accordingly, I saw four or five burly men approaching us.
The clothes they were wearing were familiar, so I racked my brain and realized that they were the same as the clothes worn by the two men who had been unconscious at Beatrice's feet. In other words, they weren't sent by him. Then who were they?
The men had covered everything but their eyes and weren't even uttering threats. They were just gesturing to each other and slowly closing in. It didn't seem like their purpose was to beat us up; one of them was holding a rope that looked quite thick.
"We would like you to come with us."
The largest of the thugs opened his mouth to speak. The man's voice, as if he was forcing it out, was so suppressed that it was hoarse. At the same time, he showed both palms as if to say that if we obeyed, they wouldn't treat us roughly.
"Is this child going too?"
"Of course. If you just come with us, we won't touch the child."
A sigh escaped at the one-sided coercion that didn't give me a choice. I could almost hear Jack whispering, 'They don't seem like the kind of guys who would sell you to a brothel?'
The clever child was observing them meticulously to somehow negotiate while adapting to the current situation.
I sighed again and answered in a quiet voice.
"Okay."
I wanted to run away, but dragging the hem of my dress and running wouldn't make much of a difference. It might be better to go quietly than to move clumsily and get hurt.
The problem was what impact this choice would have on me. There was no dirtier scandal than being kidnapped in an alley full of prostitutes.
I've been too naive.
My face contorted with self-loathing. It was painful that I had no choice.
But just as I was about to move my feet according to their guidance, the man who was leading the way screamed and collapsed. Looking up at the person who had attacked them, I saw a man standing there with a sword who shouldn't have been there.
"Sir Ayres?"
He was looking sharply at the opponent, his clothes disheveled as if he had rushed here. He occasionally glanced at me, but he seemed too busy wielding his sword because of the approaching thugs.
The difference in power was clear, and it was the kidnappers who were falling, but it was taking a little longer because he was trying not to draw blood, perhaps out of consideration for me.
After a while, five men fell. Their bodies, slumped motionless, looked like corpses, as if they were unconscious. Jack fearlessly approached and kicked them with his foot, but none of them groaned and were completely passed out.
"Are you alright?"
Sir Ayres, who had retrieved his sword, came to me and asked carefully. His eyes were filled with concern that I might have been hurt. He didn't even think of wiping the sweat that was running down his chin.
"How did you get here, Sir..."
"Would you believe me if I said it was a coincidence? No, please believe it."
Sir Ayres' face, as he turned away as if he was in trouble, was shadowed. I instinctively realized from his reaction that the Crown Prince was involved and bit my lip. As Perinnil had said, that scary man was already aware of everything and preparing for it.
"Am I right in my guess? Sir Ayres, if you care about me, please tell me. Please."
At my words, he frowned and avoided my gaze, then answered in a small voice.
"...Half of it is probably right."
"Then what about the other half?"
"All I can tell you, Lady, is that the clothes these men are wearing are a common sight anywhere."
"So, not all of them are in cahoots, but they're mixed up?"
Sir Ayres didn't answer. But his silence was telling me that my guess was correct. I barely swallowed the rising sigh and bit my lip tightly.
"Who's first? You can tell me that, right?"
"All I know is that you were to be rescued when you were moved to a certain place."
So, they're using me as bait to find out where 'someone' is doing their work? That's quite impressive.
I twisted my lips. The fact that the Crown Prince was close to being a potential accomplice in this kidnapping was no longer surprising. As Perinnil had said, it was possible for him, who was using me as a shield.
The problem was that Sir Ayres had appeared here against the Crown Prince's plan. What was he going to do later for committing such a reckless act?
Funnily enough, after that day's rematch, I was feeling a sense of reluctance to use Sir Ayres. Was I finally feeling a pang of conscience? Every time I did something like this, a sharp pain, like being stabbed with a needle, arose in my chest, making it unbearable.
A bad woman acting like a bad woman, but Sir Ayres was making it difficult. Very difficult to the point of being troubled.
So, I deliberately said to him in a cold voice.
"Then shouldn't you not have come? If I was going to be rescued anyway."
"How can you say that now...!"
Sir Ayres shouted and grabbed both my shoulders. His eyes were shaking violently. He was genuinely angry.
"Is that all you have to say to a man who rushed here in a frenzy, worried that something might happen to you? Do you have nothing to say but to scold a foolish man who was afraid of how many incidents might occur during that time, even if you were to be rescued later, and ask him why he came? I thought I had become somewhat accustomed to you rejecting me over and over again."
He smiled bitterly and continued. Perhaps he had managed to sort out his emotions to some extent through the moment of inhaling, his gradually diminishing voice was no different from usual.
But strangely, I thought he was crying. It was as if he was shouting desperately.
"My heart feels like it's being torn apart by what you just said. I feel like I'm going to die. So, please don't do this to me, who came running even betraying my lord. My lady, even if it's just an empty word, please tell me I'm glad you came, won't you?"
