182 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards 182
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“If you would promise to forgive my rudeness, my lady.”
After a moment, Sir Ayres opened his mouth to speak. His voice was very polite, but he couldn't hide the faint laughter within it.
That made me even more embarrassed. I pressed my burning cheeks hard with my fingers and widened my eyes.
“I want to help, but.”
If I opened my mouth to answer here, I would hiccup again. So I had to express my intention with a simple nod.
And my answer was to shake my head from side to side. I couldn't possibly make a bigger fool of myself. I had a vague hope that if I kept covering my mouth, enduring and enduring, the hiccups would disappear at some point.
Then Sir Ayres let out a small sigh as if he was sorry. His face, as he added, 'It must be painful for you,' was full of playfulness.
“It will only take a moment.”
Would a voice that sweetly tempts sound like this? Without saying what he would do, he just coaxed me with a soft voice as if telling me to trust him, so that no one could resist.
It was strange to feel trust. The slight frown between his eyebrows, as if he regretted that I didn't ask him for help, felt strangely attractive.
“Trust me.”
Sir Ayres held out his hand. His hand, with calluses hardened by the sword, felt stronger than anything else in the world. It was the hand that had devotedly wrapped around my shoulder.
Ah, yes. Within the empire, this man alone doesn't laugh at me. No, no matter what I do, he will show me the same smile as before, as if it's nothing.
He is as cold as ice to others, but he will always be as gentle as a spring breeze to me.
I slowly lowered the hand covering my mouth. And I held it out. Towards him, who was passionately watching my every move.
But the outstretched hand didn't reach his palm. Sir Ayres grabbed my wrist tightly first.
Before I could be surprised by the grabbed wrist, my body was strongly pulled towards him. My body, staggering so much that it wouldn't be strange if I fell forward, was straightened up as soon as it was lowered. The back of my neck was wrapped in his elegant, long fingers and lifted upwards.
At the same time, the beautiful face that everyone praised came suddenly close to me. With the tips of our noses touching, the faint breath that flowed out tickled my lips.
His green eyes, with a dazzlingly enchanting light, lightly rippled towards me, and at the same time, the corners of his eyes stretched long to the side. My heart stopped for a moment.
“Th, this……”
Sir Ayres answered me with a calm voice, as if it was nothing, as I couldn't even string words together properly because I was so flustered.
“I told you in advance. To forgive my rudeness.”
“Bu, but I didn't expect this……”
“Thanks to that, didn't it stop?”
“Yes?”
“That thing that was making the lady feel distressed.”
His face and mine were still closely attached. His chin, tilted as if to kiss, seemed as if it would slip and come closer to me at any moment.
No, if I moved my head even a little, our lips would touch. Just opening my mouth for a moment, the moist breath tickled the other person's lips and chin, and if I made a mistake, an accident of contact could occur.
So I smiled awkwardly and agreed with him.
“Ah, that's right. You're right. It's gone.”
“They say it usually disappears when you're greatly surprised. So I had no choice but to use this method. I couldn't bear to see the lady feeling distressed any longer. So please forgive me generously.”
I was impressed by his gentlemanliness in not uttering the word 'hiccup' until the end, and by his audacity in saying that all of this was for me.
This man, who is shy within the predictable range and strangely bold in places where he is not, sometimes had a habit of slipping away on his own like sand that cannot be held in his hand. Just like now.
“Yes, it's a really sure way. I was so surprised that I was afraid my heart would fall out. So how can I blame you for being rude? If you let go of me, I'll turn a blind eye completely.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Sir Ayres took two or three steps back. And he carefully examined me, as if he was afraid that I might feel unpleasant. Until just now, he had been showing a seductive appearance no less than a libertine.
So I couldn't even get angry and ask what he was doing. I could only swallow a hollow laugh at his appearance, looking at me again with calm eyes.
I knew very well what Sir Ayres' personality was like when he was fighting with Sir Halberd, but I couldn't help but admire his behavior of pretending to be a docile animal.
It was because I knew the psychology of wanting to show only a beautiful appearance in front of the person I liked. That's how I used to be. So that's why I keep backing down like this.
Michael Ayres had only taken two or three steps back, but I had taken dozens, hundreds of steps back from the impulsive heart.
That's why I was able to not break his gentle face. So that it could be fully seen in my eyes.
No, what came into my eyes was something else. My heart, which had been beating intensely, was now making irregular beating sounds.
Anyway, I, who had struggled to return to my original self, spoke elegantly in a sarcastic tone. I wanted to be more sarcastic, but I couldn't make any more accusations when I thought about how he would be sulky at my words.
“I'm just glad I didn't faint from shock. So, sir, next time, please tell me in detail what you're going to do in advance before asking for forgiveness for your rudeness. A woman's heart is very fragile and easily startled by even the smallest things. I don't know the word 'boldness' yet.”
In fact, if it had been another noble woman, she would have exclaimed with joy and wrapped her hands around his neck. And she would have uttered words of courtship, asking him to kiss her with an ardent expression.
The reality is that there are countless women who would be willing to do any crazy thing if they could feel his breath up close.
“Yes, I promise.”
Michael Ayres laughed softly at my words. He, who had returned to being a gentle and kind man, quietly asked if my wrist hurt. He seemed worried that there might be a handprint because he had pulled it so hard.
His earlobes were flushed red as he said that. Michael Ayres' ears seem to change color first when he feels embarrassed.
He's still a strange man. To be more embarrassed about this.
I shook the bell on the table to call the maid. Sir Ayres stared intently at my wrist, which was shaking the bell without a care, and then let out a small sigh. No one didn't know that what was mixed in that short breath was relief.
As soon as the maid left the room to get refreshments, Michael Ayres opened his mouth.
“Who was that child from before?”
I couldn't hide my surprised expression because I didn't expect him to be interested in Jack.
“He's a child who tells me stories. I sometimes call him when I'm bored.”
“You seem to cherish him very much.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because you were laughing as if you were so happy.”
Well, I did laugh so hard that my uvula was exposed. Michael Ayres was politely expressing that with the word 'happy'. That gentle consideration tickled me.
“Was I? I sometimes get small comfort from that child, so it's not entirely wrong.”
“Comfort, you say?”
Michael Ayres stared at me as if he couldn't understand. Just in time, the maid brought the tea, so I poured tea into his teacup and opened my mouth in a low voice.
“Yes. When I'm with that child, I feel like I'm looking at pure white snow that doesn't have any marks left on it. That's probably longing.”
Sir Ayres was silent at my words. He seemed to be thinking about my previous status. After a moment, he opened his mouth and spoke in a gentle voice.
“Now I know what I have to do today.”
“Sir Ayres?”
“Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever gone outside with the lady. I was afraid of being rejected. But I can't help but be brave now. So I beg the lady with earnestness.”
I couldn't say that the reason I called Jack was to get information, so I made up an excuse. Therefore, if I had known that things would continue in this way, I would have made another excuse.
But Michael Ayres was asking me with a serious expression. In order to restore the feeling of my childhood, which was stained with the false word of longing.
“Please hold my hand so that I can give you comfort. Is it not possible?”
Compared to the information he has given me so far, this is nothing. After all, he and I are known to be lovers to the outside world. There will be no more attention drawn, so there will be no special gossip. It would be different if it became known that we were still on good terms.
The problem is that this man whimpers like a young beast and softens his eyes whenever he makes such a request.
I don't know if he did it on purpose or if it was instinctive, but my heart wavers every time he looks at me with those eyes. The Knight of Ice was more cunning than any other man in the world. So much so that it was too annoying.
Still, I had vowed to myself that it was time to know the truth, so wouldn't this much be okay?
I uttered a short word of acceptance to him, who was looking at me with bated breath.
“My guardian is a strict person, so he doesn't allow me to go out for long. But if you're okay with that, I'll gladly accept.”
I spoke with a slight lie mixed in, but what could be better than this? I looked at his face, which was gradually brightening as if it was being dyed with light, as if it was amazing. Michael Ayres was nodding as if he was happy with just that.
***
The place where I lived in my childhood was close to a slum. It was always full of stench due to the garbage that was abandoned around it, and the neighbor was a drunkard and a man who beat his wife.
A pimp who told a young girl to come to him if she wanted to make money, thugs who glanced at me and drooled, wondering when I would grow up, and a cold, frozen room, there was nothing good about it.
Looking back, it was always a difficult and exhausting life. Therefore, there was no way that a beautiful word like longing could be attached to it.
Michael Ayres' proposal was no different from a fairy tale. There was no way that a pleasant thing like a very successful woman going to her hometown and reminiscing about the past could exist in reality.
Rather, she would try hard to hide her past. Although it had become a trace that could not be dropped like a shadow and could not be erased like a large stain.
So I politely refused his words to go to the place where I lived with an expectant face.
“Reminiscing about the old days is enough with that little guest. If you want to give me comfort, give me something else.”
I deliberately brought up sweet words to divert Sir Ayres' attention, but I didn't know what to do with him, so I felt helpless.
When I was with the Crown Prince, he led everything, so there was no difficulty, but in the case of Michael Ayres, he asked for my opinion on everything, so there was the difficulty of having to make a reasonable decision for everyone.
He was busy watching my mood and trying to please me, and I also had to try not to let his mood go awry.
Fortunately, there was a store nearby that sold tea from the Eastern Continent. I asked him, saying that I wanted to taste new tea. Sir Ayres made a happy expression at my words and escorted me with polite movements.
As a handsome man with a dazzlingly beautiful appearance walked around with a soft smile, the eyes of the women around him couldn't leave him.
So people followed him around and secretly peeked at him repeatedly. Jealous gazes flew sharply and pierced me.
