180 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards Episode 180
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The Empress moved the day after I met the Crown Prince.
She put Roena forward, talking about the Bishvarts Family's legitimacy. Although the late Count had accepted me as his eldest daughter, Roena was the one who truly inherited the Bishvarts blood, so she also deserved a patron.
The person mentioned as her patron was one of the trashy relatives who had come to visit us.
The Empress's statement resonated with many in high society. Although the person put forward was insignificant, they were given high marks for having a purer bloodline than Selden.
So we had no choice but to watch. Watch that stupid pig, with his thickly swollen belly, assert that he could do better than Selden.
Each time he guffawed, his triple chins trembled. It was a nauseatingly disgusting sight.
Foolish Roena was brought before the Empress and smiled awkwardly. Her pitifully upturned lips showed that she was not happy with the situation.
But when the Empress whispered something in her ear and she turned her beautiful eyes to the Crown Prince, her trembling lips miraculously softened. The Empress was using Roena's infatuation to manipulate her.
"I think the Bishvarts Family's new patron is doing very well. But it cannot be denied that he is inexperienced.
Hasn't there been little interaction with the Count's Family until now? Therefore, I doubt whether he can handle a girl who has only been in the family for a year. Fortunately, the family has the intelligent Roena. She will be able to help another patron very well. There is nothing more beautiful than sisters working together to protect the family."
The Empress's words were flawless. But for words spoken with Roena in mind, they were unusually light.
Putting forward someone who seemed unhelpful, encouraging Roena, who disliked this situation, and glancing at the Crown Prince with an inscrutable smile. She seemed to want the Bishvarts Family to fail.
So I had no choice but to call Roena aside and ask in a low voice.
"Roena, what's going on? Is Pulcher distrustful of me? A new patron, good heavens! Did you ask for this? Because you still resent me for Father's death? Is that why you're doing this?"
"No."
Roena shakes her head with a pale face. She protested in a weak voice, as if she didn't know why she had to stand there like this.
According to Roena, she had felt sorry for me lately because I looked so tired.
So, while drinking tea with Pulcher, she had only worriedly said that I looked tired, and it had spread like this. But she desperately insisted that she had not mentioned the patron issue.
As if she had never uttered words of resentment about her adoptive father's death, she sobbed sadly with trembling eyes.
"You're doing all this for me, how can I not worry?"
'For me'...? Had she been silent all this time because she thought she could get this position back at any time?
I felt like sighing at the absurd words. On the other hand, I even felt the urge to strangle her elegantly extended neck.
But I held back. It wasn't good to push her here. In this world, a woman who was more delicate than others and prone to tears was unconditionally disguised as a victim, regardless of the reason.
So I wiped her cheeks with the back of my hand and smiled kindly.
"If you really thought of me, you should have told me I was doing a good job. Why don't you know that the more you do that, the more upset I'll be?"
"Upset? Why?"
"Everyone thinks I don't belong in this position."
"Surely not, that can't be. No, Sissae. That's not true."
"But Margo and everyone else thinks I'm going to control the Bishvarts Family. You suspected me too."
Roena blushed and muttered in a small voice.
"It, it really looked that way back then. But not now."
"Yes, we were sharp with each other back then. But it was because of worry about Father, so it's understandable. We were just doing our best in our own way. But what upsets me the most is something else."
"Sis..."
"Why do you think I'm okay? I feel like I'm going to die just as much as you do. But if even I collapse, who will take care of the family? That's why I've been holding on, but no one recognizes that."
"Sissae... I, I..."
"I admit that we haven't been on good terms for a while. But it's just a disagreement that sisters can have. So I didn't think much of it. But why is everyone trying to separate you and me? Roena, it's true that Father loved you. That's why I said he must have passed away without regrets, why didn't you understand that?"
I took her hand and pulled her into my arms. And gently stroked her confused neck, patting her stiff back with the other hand. I put my lips to her ear and whispered.
"I don't care what anyone says to you. It's only natural that I shouldn't. Why would I complain? But you shouldn't just listen and let it go. Do you know what's most unfair? Roena, no matter what you hear, what you say, or what you do, I have no choice but to love and support you."
The sweet words coming from my lips are poison. The snake's tongue flicks and licks Roena's heart. I poured out the words she had wanted to hear so much.
"It's always like this. You didn't do anything wrong. It's all because the people around you incited you. It's the same this time. It's not because you don't trust me. It's because other people are using your kind heart."
"...Do you think so, Sis?"
"Yes. So don't be swayed by what you see on the outside, En."
Roena's body flinches at her nickname, which flows from my lips for the first time. I swallowed a wry smile and delivered the final blow.
"Don't hate me, okay? Don't let go of my hand, hold on tight. Will you?"
Her stiff body melts away, and her two hands reach out like branches and wrap around my back. What rises from my arms is a sigh of relief from Roena's lips.
"Yes."
"You're the only one I can trust since Father is gone, En. So don't turn away from me. No matter what anyone says. Not even if it's Margo."
"Yes."
Who would turn away from someone who had always been cold and distant, spewing harsh words, suddenly clinging to them with a desperate face?
They would flounder in the illusion that they had become the most important and wonderful person in the world.
In Roena's case, she had always been eager to have my affection. Besides, now that her adoptive father was dead, the devotion Margo gave her would be sorely lacking. So she was able to fall into it without any suspicion at all at such a change.
I muttered, "Yes, good girl," and lowered my head to her neck. And I held her in my arms and patted her lightly until the Empress called Roena. I felt like I was going to get goosebumps from the disgust, but I gritted my teeth and held back.
If she needed a hollow sisterly love, let her enjoy it as much as she wanted. In the end, it would all be mine.
This is why I endure. For a rosy future, I could easily do this much acting. Just like I've always done.
Madame de Châteauroux is a flower. A beautiful flower that blooms more brilliantly than anyone else and emits a sweet fragrance.
Anyone could easily touch her, but this beautiful woman, whom no one dared to pluck unless they were her owner, had become more flamboyant and lewd than when I last met her.
After barely managing to get an audience - Chatoul, who had returned to the Emperor's arms, was busier than before - when I went to her palace, the Madam was taking a bath in a golden tub in the middle of the drawing room, as if she had forgotten her appointment with me.
No, it looked more like playing in the water than bathing. Chatoul, who was being attended to by maids with her face filled with milky liquid instead of warm water, showed no shame in revealing her naked body. I was the one who was embarrassed. I felt dizzy from the sweet and fishy smell of milk.
When I stared at the water in the tub, the Madam said with a smile.
"It's made by mixing milk from a mother who has just given birth and cow's milk. They say that massaging with this makes the skin as smooth as a young virgin's. Would you like to join me, Sis?"
"Thank you for the offer, but I'll pass."
"Hmph, that's a shame."
She licked her lips with her tongue and smiled seductively. What followed was a shamefully suggestive sound.
"His Majesty likes it... There's no better place to enjoy it. Come to think of it, you got a patron, right? Congratulations. The Bishvarts Family is yours now."
Splash. As the Madam rose from the tub, milky water dripped down her full breasts and slender waist.
As soon as she put her feet on the floor, the maids wiped her body with the soft cloth in their hands. They poured high-quality perfume on her skin, which had lost its moisture, and gently caressed it. The Madam accepted all of this with an indifferent face.
"I'm just doing my duty as the eldest daughter, how can I dare say it's mine?"
"Then is that why you came to me, because you wanted to get it?"
Her eyes flashed with cunning as she probed me. Madame de Châteauroux was scanning me like a merchant calculating profits and losses.
Rumor had it that after being ignored by the Emperor once, she had become so ruthless that she would never do anything that would harm her.
This was even more so because the Emperor had been in bed more often this year.
"That's not true."
"Neither this nor that. Then why did you come to me? We've only been exchanging letters since you were called by the Empress. Didn't you not need any more progress than this?"
She was just saying that, but her tone was full of coquettishness, as if she was about to die of resentment. In fact, wearing only a thin gown, she was lying diagonally on the sofa like a cat, purring as she had done when we first met. As if trying to reminisce about the past.
She was also cautiously watching me, as if she would get up and grab me as soon as I reached out.
Madame de Châteauroux seemed to be very happy that the string called me had come to her and thought that she had to grab it no matter what. To prepare for the future.
"I'm just following Her Highness's opinion."
Everyone knew that the Highness I mentioned was the Crown Prince. Madame de Châteauroux's eyes sparkled. She quickly waved her hand to dismiss the maids and whispered to me.
"Do you know that the Empress and the Crown Prince are not on good terms?"
"Yes?"
"His Majesty told me. That the Empress keeps the Crown Prince away. That's why he's worried. That's why he just laughs when I scold that woman."
The Empress and the Crown Prince are not on good terms? And the Emperor knows about it?
I smiled awkwardly and replied, "I've never heard of it." But Chatoul continued to speak as if she was excited.
"Doesn't the Crown Prince say anything? After going around together like that? Well, even I wouldn't be able to say that I'm not on good terms with my mother. How sad would that be. No, this is the feeling the Empress should feel. His Majesty ignores her, she's not on good terms with the Crown Prince, I'd be very upset if I were her. Don't you think so?"
"If that's the case, it would be a sad thing."
At my answer, Chatoul pursed her lips and stared at my face with strange eyes. Then she shook her head and let out a sigh-like word.
"You still only say the right things with that pretty mouth, Sissae."
"Don't you like it?"
"No."
The Madam smiled, curving her eyes. It was such a seductive smile that I felt her slightly folded eyes were alluring.
"That's why I like it even more. So tell me honestly, Sissae. Tell me anything when I'm in a good mood. Isn't that why you came?"
"Are you saying that you'll listen to me without wanting anything in return?"
"Of course. Because."
Madame de Châteauroux came closer, lifted my chin with her finger, and whispered in a low voice.
"Wouldn't the Crown Prince, who is condoning today's meeting, be very pleased?"
