171 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards Episode 171
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Even after blinking my blurry eyes open again, the fact that Sir Ayres was holding me remained unchanged. The elegant fingers supporting my shoulders were also clear. …Is it really the Crown Prince?
His hand caressed my cheek. The touch was very careful, but his eyes were as cold as could be. No, they were like a quietly burning fire. It was just that his hardened face was so terrifying that it felt like ice.
Was this really the man who blushed and was embarrassed at the slightest touch?
I seemed to hear a groan nearby, and when I reflexively tried to turn my head, he gently grasped my chin.
“Do not look. It is unsightly. Too unholy a scene for my lady’s eyes. So please, do not turn your head.”
At the same time, he lifted me up in his arms. My limp body must not have been heavy, as he strode briskly somewhere with light steps. Sir Ayres headed towards a carriage with its door wide open.
Seril, who was desperately crawling out despite having a sword stuck in her shoulder, discovered me and quickly stood up.
But soon, she retreated, as if she had seen something frightening, and her lips moved silently as if she were trying to say something.
The fear on her pale face seemed to stem from the person she was looking at, rather than the pain from her injury. Her gaze was fixed on Michael Ayres.
“Move.”
A voice so cold that it made my body tremble flowed from his lips. It was a chilling sound that conveyed no sense of emotional agitation.
Seril sidestepped as quickly as someone with a shoulder injury could. The woman who had charged at the assailant with such spirit was now completely helpless before Michael Ayres.
Michael passed her and stepped into the carriage. He carefully set me down and gently stroked my cheek again.
“Please wait just a moment. It will be just a little while.”
Screams still rang out outside. I could smell the acrid scent of blood. Yet, being with Michael Ayres gave me the same sense of peace as when we were having tea together in the mansion. It was a strange thing.
Perhaps that was why the fact that I had come here according to his plan was not even something to be angry about right now.
“Sir Ayres…”
“Shh, just close your eyes for a moment. Then everything will be over.”
His long, slender fingers caressed my eyelids, then lifted his fingertips and gently pushed my eyelids down.
As I closed my eyes listlessly as he wished, I heard him whisper, ‘You’re doing well,’ tickling my ear. It was an extremely gentle voice, as if trying to calm my body, which was trembling with fear.
“Yes, stay like that. I will be back soon.”
“Sir Ayres, so… so I…”
“Yes, I know what you want to say. But my lady, I swear to you, from now on, no one, whoever they may be, will be able to enter this carriage without my permission. So rest assured and relax. So that your knight can run wild without worry.”
Something soft touched my forehead and then lifted away. I felt the throbbing in my head subside a little. Sir Ayres’s cloak was draped over my limp body.
Feeling strangely relieved, I sighed and heard the small sound of the door closing. The commotion flowing in from outside through the open window was still there, but it wasn’t as frightening as before. Perhaps that was why my mind seemed to be clouding over.
“Sir Ayres, what are you doing…”
“…Like vermin. …Incompetent fools with only their mouths to run… And they call themselves knights…”
“Who is behind this… Sir Ayres, stop killing…”
“…What was Sir Halberd doing… The Bishvarts Family’s capabilities are only this much… Utterly pathetic…”
“If you insult me any further, I won’t stand for it… Sir Ayres, you’re pointing a sword at me…”
“…I don’t know why you bother carrying that thing on your neck… Should I just cut it off for you?”
How much time had passed? The incessant screams subsided, and soon silence fell. The voices that had been raised in argument also gradually faded away.
Is it over? Are they all dead?
I have to save at least one of them, but my voice won’t come out, as if something is blocking it. My flickering eyes were already deeply blurred, unable to distinguish between dream and reality.
So I thought it was a dream when someone came and caressed my hair and stroked my cheek as if feeling sorry for me. I also thought that the voice whispering softly into my ear was not real.
“If I had come just a little sooner, I would have made sure they couldn’t lay a finger on you… I can only regret that I didn’t tear those bastards limb from limb. Especially the son of a bitch who touched your body, I killed him too easily. Instead of stabbing him in the heart, I should have cut off each of his fingers and thrown them to the pigs…”
The voice that growled like a beast and muttered such gruesome things as if they were nothing.
When did I faint? When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling. I blinked weakly and turned my head with difficulty. Blan was dozing off, leaning her arm on the edge of the bed, as if she had fallen asleep while nursing me.
Have I returned to the Bishvarts Family?
I tried to sit up for a moment, but a sharp pain struck, and I could only pant roughly. Not only was my head throbbing, but there wasn’t a single place on my body that didn’t hurt.
I looked down at my arms and saw that they were completely wrapped in bandages, all the way to the tips of my fingers. I felt a similar texture on my legs, so it seemed that my whole body had been treated with medicine and wrapped in cloth.
Anyway, I tried to lie back down, but even that short moment was so difficult that sweat streamed down my forehead. My mouth, which should have been screaming in pain, was filled with only metallic sounds.
I don’t remember hurting my throat? Puzzled, I blinked again and yawned softly. But even that small opening of my mouth caused my throat to ache as if it were tearing apart.
‘Sir Ayres must have saved me. Did I faint after that?’
I couldn’t ask what had happened because my voice wouldn’t come out, so I couldn’t wake Blan either. So I just blinked blankly and waited for time to pass.
After a while, Blan raised her head with a soft yawn. Still sleepy, she yawned blankly, but as soon as she met my eyes, she let out a small scream.
“Lady, you’re awake?”
I wanted to say yes, but my throat still hurt too much. So I just blinked, and Blan quickly approached and spoke rapidly.
“Are you alright? Is there anything that’s bothering you? Shall I bring you some water? Lady, why aren’t you answering? Does your throat hurt?”
She looked at me blankly as if to say yes, and she looked flustered with a pale expression.
“Just a moment. I’ll go get the head physician.”
Blan ran out without waiting for my answer and immediately brought back the old head physician.
Whether he had been waiting in advance or had moved quickly for me, he appeared in no time and skillfully examined my condition, giving me the hopeful news that my voice would return if I took medicine steadily for two days.
“Rest well. It’s still time for you to rest more.”
I wanted to ask how many hours or days I had been unconscious, but I couldn’t even move a finger, so it was frustrating.
I had a mountain of things to ask, such as whether news about my adoptive father had come in, or whether there were any strange letters in my room. I also had to find out what had happened to Sir Halberd and his party. I was also curious about what had happened to Seril, who had been stabbed with a sword.
If Blan had any sense, she would have brought up at least some of the recent events, but she very diligently fed me medicine, wiped my body with a cloth soaked in water, and then blew out the candle as if she were going to sleep again.
Then, with a proud face, she said, ‘I’ll be here with you, so don’t worry and sleep well.’
I was blinking incessantly to tell her that wasn’t the case, but she didn’t notice at all and was just babbling nonsense. So I wasted time foolishly without hearing any news until my voice came back.
During that time, Mother came to visit several times, and Marie also came in and out constantly to nurse me, but they were all silent about what I had gone through, as if they had made a promise. It was as if they were afraid that I would be traumatized.
“…How is Seril?”
The voice that barely came out was terribly low. Moreover, it was mixed with a rattling sound as if I had phlegm in my throat, so I was embarrassed to even speak.
“She’s resting because she’s not supposed to use her shoulder for a while.”
“Call the butler.”
“Yes? Lady, you should be resting for a while…”
“Now!”
“Yes.”
Marie, who had been hesitating for a moment, went out at a trot and called the butler when I urged her sharply. Originally, no man should have been allowed into my room at all, but I wasn’t ashamed at all because I had called him in under the pretext that I couldn’t move my body at all.
The butler also approached me without hesitation and checked my health first.
“It was almost a disaster. How is your body? I can’t tell you how surprised I was when you came back like that, Lady.”
“I’m well enough to move now. Mother must have been very surprised. Did anything happen to the baby in her womb?”
I was worried about Mother first. I was worried that she would be so heartbroken that her healthy daughter had returned in such a mess. I was also worried that the baby in her womb would be harmed as a result.
“Yes. Fortunately, she endured it very bravely.”
“I see. That’s a relief. By the way, was it Sir Ayres who brought me here?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I see. It really was Sir Ayres who saved me. It wasn’t a dream… Ah, that’s right. I think I should thank Sir Ayres.”
“That’s right, Sir Ayres strongly dissuaded us and was waiting for you to wake up, Lady.”
The butler’s complexion hardened as if he were embarrassed. He knew that Sir Ayres had not accepted thanks for the sake of my honor. He was planning to quietly gloss over this kidnapping incident. So that no harm would come to me.
“…Did Sir Halberd return with me?”
“No. He returned two days after you came to the mansion, Lady. He was very self-reproachful.”
“Did you tell him it wasn’t his fault?”
“He won’t accept it even if I tell him. I think you’ll have to tell him yourself, Lady.”
“I will. Did he say he found anything?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“I see. How is Seril? If it hadn’t been for her, I would have been dragged away before Sir Ayres arrived. Please take good care of her.”
“Yes, I will.”
“Is there any news from the ship?”
“No. Not yet.”
I sighed and slumped my shoulders. It was frustrating that nothing had been revealed despite all this suffering.
“Do you know who attacked me?”
“They were all killed, so we couldn’t find out. Even if we had kept them alive, we wouldn’t have been able to find out. Almost all of them were thugs whose origins could not be traced.”
The word ‘thugs’ reminded me of a name. Jack! That child told me that the movements of the thugs were strange.
“Do you remember the person who used to deliver water to the mansion?”
“Of course.”
“Do you also know that his daughter comes to tell me stories every week?”
“Yes.”
“Call that child.”
“Yes?”
“Tell that child to come with Jack right now.”
“Lady, what on earth are you saying…”
I spoke imploringly to the butler, who trailed off as if he couldn’t understand.
“I said right now. Hurry.”
After a while, the butler said, ‘I understand,’ as if he had given in. He seemed not to understand why I was suddenly asking for Arina and Jack.
But he ordered a maid to bring them, and I was soon able to meet the children who had been summoned to the mansion.
