175 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards 175
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Jack said that the information from the thugs was tightly sealed. Even if you paid a lot of money, all the information brokers were closing their mouths and pretending not to know.
“Some people were terrified. It seems like really shady stuff.”
He also said that the place where they gathered the thugs had disappeared without a trace. Information that could be easily obtained by asking around with copper coins, the number of dishes in the house with silver coins, and even the number of hairs on a dead person's head with gold coins.
He said they just shook their heads, keeping their mouths shut as if they had been threatened.
“But if I keep working, I’ll find out somehow.”
I gave Jack a handful of silver coins and said as if urging him.
“If it seems dangerous, just run away. If you can’t bear the pain, you can say my name.”
There are cases where trust is difficult to build even after living together for decades, while there are people who make you trust them enough to give up your life even after meeting them only a few times.
For me, Jack was closer to the latter, and I felt a different kind of pity than I did for Arina. That's why, the more I meet him, the more I treat him differently than I intended. My affection for him is only growing.
However, the boy answered with a faint smile like the moon in the daytime.
“I don’t want to. It’s my heart.”
Just as my heart has changed, so has Jack’s. That was approaching us as sadness.
I put the quill in the ink bottle and let out a long sigh. The butler had left the study a long time ago, saying he would look at the documents regarding the inventory.
I was thinking of taking a break for a while, so I looked at the simple lunch on the desk, but soon shook my head. I wasn't tempted by the cold bread or soup, or even the dried-out fruit.
All I had eaten today was a cup of water in the morning, but strangely, I wasn't hungry.
So, I decided to go for a walk to lighten my stiff body. Sir Ayres wouldn't be visiting for a while, so I thought it would be okay.
But if I had known I would witness this commotion, I would have stayed locked up in the study. It's quite embarrassing to have several family knights flocking together and raising their voices against Sir Ayres.
“We must receive an apology.”
Perhaps someone had dealt with it well, because there was no one else around them. It must be to avoid any possible gossip. So, they can raise their voices as much as they want like this.
Therefore, I should have retreated, pretending not to know.
But without my knowing, I hid behind a pillar and eavesdropped on their conversation. Sir Ayres' expression, which I glimpsed, looked very calm, not like someone surrounded by many people.
But why do those people look familiar?
“What are you talking about?”
“The insult you gave us back then. Saying things like, ‘Are you working as a Bishvarts Family knight with such skills?’ and ‘You’re an idiot who can’t protect the young lady.’ Is that something a fellow knight should say?”
Ah, now I know. They’re the knights that Sir Halberd selected and assigned to me.
They raised their voices at Sir Ayres with their faces flushed red. Some people were groping at their waists as if they were about to draw their swords at any moment.
“To say that speaking the truth is an insult, that’s quite amusing.”
Michael Ayres says in a cynical tone.
“Isn’t the real insult something like, ‘Why don’t you just cut off that useless hand’?”
The voice, devoid of any emotion, was quite eerie. I wasn't the only one who got goosebumps at his words, as he kindly added, "If you want, I'm willing to cut it off for you?" in a low voice.
“Eek, are you even a knight? How can you say such cruel things!”
“Come to think of it, you killed those guys without a second thought. A knight should also know how to show mercy. It seems Sir Ayres doesn’t even know such basic qualities?”
“Is showing mercy according to the qualities of a knight more valuable than the honor and safety of my lover?”
“Wh-what?”
“Those who should have been punished for not properly protecting the young lady if it weren't for me, instead of saying thank you, you flock together and threaten me... That's quite pathetic.”
“Shut your mouth!”
The sound of metal scraping against metal is heard, as if someone couldn't contain their anger and drew their sword.
Are they going to fight? Then the commotion will get bigger. No, will it just get bigger? It might become a hotbed of gossip and get beaten up from all sides. Then my adoptive father's absence will be revealed. I was about to reveal myself, unable to bear it any longer.
“Put your sword away.”
The Knight of Clear Hearing appeared.
Sir Halberd, who had naturally intervened between the family knights and Sir Ayres, says to the one holding the sword in a calm voice.
“Calm down and step back.”
No one could argue with the firm command, and they took a step back. And they gnashed their teeth as if they felt wronged, but neither Sir Halberd nor Sir Ayres seemed to care at all.
“Forgive the rudeness, Sir Ayres.”
“It’s alright, Sir Halberd.”
Although he said it was okay, Sir Ayres' expression was still cold. Sir Halberd let out a small sigh and continued.
“Although the method was excessive, it seems that the sadness and regret of not being able to protect the young lady personally were expressed so harshly. I hope you will understand generously.”
“I have no reason not to. You appeared before that sword grazed my neck. But the basic qualities of the knights here seem a bit different from what I learned.”
“Well, doesn’t it depend on the interpretation of the person who receives it? People’s personalities can’t all be the same. So, please don’t doubt the family’s knight training.”
Sir Halberd lightly accepted the taunt, "How could you be so stupidly trained?" with the answer, "His personality is just a bit of a pain in the ass." He added a provocation that he could show the basic qualities of the Bishvarts Family if he wanted. It was only natural that Sir Ayres' lips twitched slightly.
“More than that, I’m late in greeting you. Thank you for saving the young lady.”
“Saving a lover is not something to be thanked for. It’s a very natural thing to do.”
Strangely enough, even though they were talking in a calm tone, it felt as if those two knights were arguing. So, I couldn't even breathe properly and just pricked up my ears. A sharp tension seemed to flow.
“She’s the family’s young lady. Moreover, thanks to Sir Ayres, the honor of the Bishvarts Family knights was protected, so how can we not thank you?”
Michael Ayres says in a cold voice as if it were not even funny.
“No, if you had escorted her from the beginning, there would have been no need to receive such thanks. So, rather than such pleasantries, I think I should ask why you weren’t by the young lady’s side that day.”
“That’s not something for Sir Ayres to question.”
Sir Halberd raises his eyebrows as if he is displeased. And he naturally waved his hand to make the knights standing awkwardly behind him step back, but Sir Ayres didn't hold them back and continued to look only at Sir Halberd. And as soon as they disappeared, he continued to speak. Before he knew it, the honorifics for the other party had disappeared.
“If I were you, I would have followed the young lady no matter what. But you didn’t. That’s why the young lady suffered such an ordeal.”
“I said it’s not something for you to question.”
“Then who should?”
“The young lady, Miss Sissae, should do it.”
Sir Halberd’s voice was very low and rough. The growling sound, as if he was holding something back, felt like it was coming from an animal. He was angry.
“Do you remember? On Founding Day, when I said, ‘Let’s have a regretless match for Miss Sissae and you for Miss Roena,’ you said, ‘Why are you deciding the owner of the Floral Crown?’”
Michael Ayres says. His voice was also as subdued as Sir Halberd’s.
“And you provoked me as if it were nothing. Even though you weren’t going to give the Floral Crown to anyone. You were just looking at my back and gnashing your teeth.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
The Knight of Ice smiles. No, only the corners of his lips curved into an arc, but there was no sincerity in his smile anywhere.
“I’m telling you to keep doing that. While only conveying words of gratitude to me.”
“Well, that’s something we’ll have to keep watching in the future.”
Despite Sir Halberd’s provocation, Michael Ayres continued to speak without wavering. It was an extremely arrogant attitude.
“No, that won’t happen. I’ll prevent it in advance before anything dangerous happens.”
And he immediately reached out and placed his hand on Sir Halberd’s shoulder. Sir Halberd’s face was greatly distorted, as if he had put strength into it.
“So, I hope that something like today will never happen again, Sir Halberd. Because today is the only time I’m tolerating such rudeness.”
“…Of course, Sir Ayres.”
At Sir Halberd’s answer, Sir Ayres took his hand off and greeted him politely.
“Then I’ll see you again next time.”
And he passed by as if nothing had happened. Without giving me a chance to be bewildered by the tension that had disappeared in an instant, just like that. The place he headed to was the study where I was.
Sir Halberd frowned deeply as he looked at Sir Ayres’ back. Then he turned his body in the opposite direction and disappeared, but unlike his usual self, his gait was very rough. Perhaps he felt that he had been completely defeated in the previous war of nerves, his back and shoulders were stiff as he walked away.
I let out a sigh that I had been holding back only after the two of them had disappeared so far that I couldn't even see their shadows. Perhaps because I had unintentionally witnessed the knights' war of nerves, my heart was pounding.
In particular, I felt strange because I seemed to have caught a glimpse of Michael Ayres' true nature. Is that why he received the alias of Knight of Ice?
I don't know who gave it to him, but I was so impressed that it was a very fitting name. He was the very embodiment of a cold and chilling ice sword, so it was hard to think of him as the same person who smiled softly and grinned in front of me.
Especially the warning he gave to Sir Halberd had something that would provoke even me, who wasn't the person involved, to get angry.
“As expected, the Crown Prince’s friend.”
I covered my face with my hands and muttered like a sigh. Somehow, if I were to meet Sir Ayres in this state, I felt like I would be restless and unable to even make eye contact. No, I might be awkward as if I were meeting a stranger.
Well, he probably didn't deliberately deceive me and seemed to be considerate of me in his own way, but now that it's been revealed that the sharp aspects he occasionally showed weren't entirely false, I couldn't even let out a hollow laugh. Was this the reason for the sense of incongruity I often felt?
Anyway, I had to meet him, but I couldn't easily take a step because I had seen his true self, even the deepest part of it, and I had to talk about the progress after getting the cloak.
However, I couldn't just kick out a guest who had come all the way without a good reason.
While I was racking my brains and thinking about it, feeling reluctant, Blan ran from the end of the hallway and called me in a hurried voice.
“Young lady, you need to come to the drawing room. The butler is looking for you.”
Her face, which was getting closer, was frozen pale as if she was greatly surprised by something. The fact that she couldn't finish her words and only kept muttering, "A big deal, a very big deal has happened," made me feel that the moment I had sensed was approaching.
“Where is Mother?”
“She’s here.”
“Why!!!”
“She heard about it while taking a walk.”
I bit my lip tightly at the unwanted situation and ran, then stopped for a moment. And I said to Blan, who was looking at me with a puzzled expression, "Go to Sir Ayres, who is in my study right now, and politely ask him to visit next time."
“What if they ask why?”
“Tell them it’s because of an important matter that I can’t tell you about.”
“Yes.”
I glanced at Blan's back as she disappeared in a hurry, then busily moved my feet again and approached the drawing room. And I opened the door wide.
Inside the drawing room, Mother, Roena, the butler, Mlang, Margo, and all the people who should be there were gathered. Their gazes were directed at one man.
As soon as I saw him, I felt something like déjà vu. An inexplicable familiarity was flowing from the unfamiliar man, as if I had seen him somewhere.
Ah, that's right.
Unfortunately, I quickly remembered the man. That guy looked just like the man who had come to deliver the news to us when my adoptive father died. Even his position was the same. There was nothing different from that day before I returned.
The bulging pocket, which contained items that could be said to be my adoptive father's belongings, was also the same. It was just that the timing of informing us was much earlier.
