184 - Fragments of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards Episode 184
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“Roena, why are you making that face?”
I said to her in a leisurely tone. I was leaning back quite a bit, so my posture was very poor, but Roena didn't seem to care. She was just perking up her ears, waiting to hear what I would say.
“I told you not to let go of my hand no matter what anyone says. But here you are, running straight over to accuse me.”
Roena's cheeks flushed again at my low voice, as if whispering sweet nothings. She seemed greatly shocked by my added words, ‘liar.’
However, she soon mustered her courage and retorted in a quick tone.
“But they were the maids who had been attending to me all along. It’s not right to change them like this.”
“No, it is right.”
“Sissae.”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at Roena. And soon, I leaned my head back as if I were tired. It was a silent accusation that she was disturbing my rest.
“Even though you’re having trouble sleeping, no one tells me. I don’t need maids who don’t know how to properly serve their master.”
“That’s because Margo stopped them.”
“Roena, the head maid is Mlang, not Margo.”
“But……”
“Don’t you like the new ones? They’ll treat you better, you know?”
“B, but Sis……”
“Roena, tell me honestly. Do you hate it? Really?”
“……”
Roena couldn’t readily answer my question. That was because I had told Mlang to pick maids who were deliberately obsequious and good at flattering.
The previous maids had become too accustomed to Roena, so they didn’t feel the need or reason to do any better.
But the new ones would do their best to avoid losing their positions. So, the satisfaction with their service would be higher than before.
“I know you have a kind heart. But you need to think of yourself first.”
“Myself?”
“Yes. You. You’re just making yourself uncomfortable by protecting those maids, aren’t you? Or is it because of Margo?”
Roena’s mouth closed again. I murmured lowly, as if mocking her.
“How kind of you.”
Even though her maids, who had become like her limbs, were taken away, she couldn't even protest properly because it was disguised as something for her own good. Mlang, the head maid, had planned the whole thing, but I was the one who ultimately confirmed it.
Therefore, Roena would always make a sad face and bite her lip, as she always had, before bowing her head like a loser and leaving my room. Until she was stripped of everything and only her shell remained.
“Go and think about it carefully. And if you still think you want those maids back, even if it means putting up with the discomfort, come back to me. Then I’ll send them back.”
Which would come first, her own convenience or her kindness to others? Roena bit her lip with a pale face, as if she was surprised to be urged to make a choice.
If it had been the old her, she would have begged me to send the maids back without hesitation, but the very fact that she was hesitating and worrying like this was proof that she had changed.
So I could be sure. Roena would not come to me because of this.
The information broker Jack worked for was very skilled. No matter what request was made, they could dig up any information and manipulate almost all rumors.
They probably even had a record of how many moles the Emperor had on his crotch. So, finding out about the new Witch was nothing.
“There were rumors quietly spreading through people that the Witch was active, but she hadn’t opened a shop. But it was circulating so secretly that it was a bit difficult to confirm if it was real.”
Jack ate the cookies I gave him and opened his mouth slowly. Even though he was just a low-level employee, he gave me quite a bit of money, so he was receiving a lot of favor from his superiors. He already had a regular customer who was making him money.
‘There are tons of kids who are worse than me.’
Jack had an unusually arrogant smile on his face when he said this. He seemed very proud of the fact that he was being recognized by the people in the organization.
Jack gulped down the water and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. Then he smiled at me, who was quietly listening to him.
“But there were also people who were saying strange things.”
“Strange things?”
“Yes. Like the dead Witch came back to life, or something. So they said a miracle happened, so they trust and follow her more. But it’s very difficult to get in touch with her. It feels like she’s being protected by someone?”
“Being protected means……”
“Yes, they don’t want her to be known. The higher-ups said to tell you this, and you’d know what it means, Miss?”
An ordinary person would not have believed that a dead person had come back to life.
But I myself had not only defied death but even reversed time. There was no reason why another miracle couldn’t happen. Then had someone like me been born again?
Suddenly, a phrase from the Witch's prophecy came to mind.
『Death is coming. The Grim Reaper stands around you with his scythe. So find the woman who defied death, the woman who is not bound by fate, and keep her by your side. Then you will see the light.』
Was the woman who defied death referring to herself? I felt strangely relieved, but also strangely uneasy.
At the same time, the Crown Prince came to mind. If he found out about this, he might try to keep the Witch by his side. He would find her somehow and take her to the Imperial Palace. If the Witch had really come back to life, and if the Crown Prince believed the prophecy he had heard before.
“……Miss, Miss?”
Was I thinking too hard? I didn’t hear Jack calling me. I was startled and stammered.
“Uh, uhm?”
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
“No, nothing. So, is that all you have to say?”
“I heard this story from someone who contacted the Witch. It seems like they’re referring to the person who’s protecting her, and I thought it might be helpful. They were complaining so much about that person that I can’t forget it.”
“Protecting person?”
“Yes.”
Jack nodded his head vigorously and continued.
“They said their hands were full of burns and it was disgusting, but they kept asking them to make burn ointment for them, so it was hard. That’s what they were complaining about.”
“Burns? Burns, huh……. That’s right, the apothecary!”
“Yes?”
The child’s expression changed strangely when I exclaimed. He had a face that said he didn’t understand what I was talking about at all.
“Since she’s being protected, her range of movement must be limited. And that must include the house of the person you met. So, go around to the apothecaries in that area and see if there’s an old woman or someone who’s been buying medicine for burns. Then something will come up, right?”
“Ah, that’s a good idea.”
“And spread a rumor for me.”
“A rumor? What kind of rumor are you talking about?”
“A nonsensical story. Something like, ‘The old Witch who was known to be dead defied death and miraculously came back to life,’ that kind of nonsense would be good enough.”
Jack tilted his head again at my words. The child’s eyes were looking at me as if to ask what I was going to do by spreading this. I smiled and replied.
“It’s a very important matter. Ah, of course, you and the information broker you work for have to proceed secretly so that it doesn’t get around that you spread the rumor. And Jack, always think of your own safety first.”
“As if I can’t even do something this simple. Don’t worry. I hate getting hurt more than anything.”
I looked at Jack, who was answering firmly, with admiration, and told him to come with Arina next time.
Then the child’s cheeks turned bright red, and soon a voice burst out, ‘W, why would I come with that brazen little girl!’ His face was strangely embarrassed, to the point where I was dumbfounded.
“Shall I call her separately, then?”
“Ah, geez. I’ll take care of it myself. Today’s over, so don’t call me until next time.”
Is this what it looks like when a young cat raises its fur and howls? I laughed loudly at Jack’s back as he stomped towards the door without even saying goodbye. I always think this, but meeting Jack is always pleasant. I always felt good. This was a different kind of joy than meeting Arina.
So I hoped that this peace would continue. At least within my space.
A few days later, at a social gathering I attended with my guardian, there was talk of a miraculous woman who had been resurrected from the dead.
The nobles showed curiosity about the mysterious Witch and whispered that they would like to meet her. Some envied her, saying that they wished they could come back to life even after death like her.
Even those who had always looked down on fortune-telling, saying that it was only for the vulgar, were showing a strong interest in the Witch this time.
This was also the case with Chatoul, who urged her subordinates to find the Witch.
Everyone knew that Madam was looking for the Witch for the sake of the dying Emperor. So the city was full of soldiers carrying portraits of the Witch and peeking into every alley.
And a few days later, the soldiers finally brought in someone who claimed to be the rumored Witch. Strangely enough, the Witch was a glamorous beauty, with a completely different appearance from the nasty old woman in my memory.
People whispered that the Witch was very different from the portrait and wondered if she was a fraud. Chatoul, who had found the Witch, had called her to the banquet to show off her achievement to everyone, so I too was able to see the face of the ‘Witch.’
The Witch, no, the woman who called herself a Witch, stood firm even amidst the suspicious gazes. And a man wearing a strange Mask was standing next to her, and for some reason, he looked familiar, which made me feel strange.
Where have I seen that person before? Why does he feel so familiar?
“The face in the portrait is very different from the face now? Are you really that Witch?”
At Chatoul’s question, the beauty smiled and spoke softly in a sweet, whispering voice.
“Why wouldn’t I be able to reverse time when I’ve returned from death?”
She was too confident to be a fraud. So people were at a loss for words and looked at her. If her words were true, then we were truly witnessing a miracle, so how could we dare to open our mouths?
But Chatoul was not an easy woman. Despite the beauty’s words, she snorted and narrowed her eyes. And she opened her red-painted lips and spat out words that were close to threats, words so cruel that it was hard to believe they were uttered by a prostitute who was favored by the Emperor.
“If you’ve lied, I’ll cut off your tongue and limbs. Then I’ll throw you straight to the prisoners in the dungeon so you can’t live or die. So tell me honestly. Are you really the rumored Witch?”
“How dare I lie?”
“How can you prove that?”
“I can talk about the people I’ve given medicine to or cursed. Besides, I am a prophet. I can tell you about what will happen in the future.”
“A prophecy……”
Chatoul twisted her body with a seductive smile. And she looked around as if asking for agreement.
“What do you all think? Wouldn’t it be worth listening to for a moment’s amusement?”
“If it’s a prophecy from the rumored Witch, wouldn’t everyone be curious?”
Adulation flowed out from here and there. Chatoul was smiling contentedly as she listened to those words. The cigarette in her hand was burning quickly, but she didn’t put it back in her mouth, only looking back and forth between the Witch and the nobles.
After a short time, she took a puff of the cigarette and said to the woman who claimed to be a Witch in a languid, arrogant tone.
“Let’s hear it, then, that great prophecy.”
