Translator: Nox

199 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper

Shattered Glass Slipper Shards 199

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Margo, locked in the cold solitary cell, howled, refusing to admit her guilt. She was indignant, and she knew that admitting guilt would lead to a greater punishment.

However, her expulsion was a foregone conclusion, and no one listened to Margo's words. The only question was what kind of punishment she would receive. Roena and Lavalliere seemed to want to end it with simply expelling her unscathed, reasoning that flogging her old body could lead to death.

It was laughable how obvious their intention was to send her out unharmed and then call her back later.

I showed them the letter Lady Roshan had sent me, wearing a gentle smile. It contained a list of punishments commonly practiced in noble families.

Lady Roshan had very kindly written, "I don't know what kind of family tradition your family has, but I think you should impose severe punishment in this kind of matter."

"If I let this grave matter pass easily, everyone will laugh at me and my family. Is Margo important enough to risk that?"

Lavalliere seemed speechless at my words. Roena, with a pale face, begged for mercy, but the tide had already turned.

"Roena, do you think I'm a heartless person? I don't want to ruin the joyful month of Lian's birth either. But Margo almost caused something terrible to happen to Mother. She could have died. And you're asking me for mercy after all that? You really are a terrible person."

Her face turned pale at the sharp accusation. Roena, who had always heard only good things from those around her, was not used to this kind of talk.

Especially when I cornered her as if I had been hurt by her, she was at a loss and even teared up.

In the past, maids who were like her hands and feet would have comforted her and looked at me with accusing eyes, but most of the maids were under my control, so there was no one to comfort her except Lavalliere.

"I'm sorry, my dear. It seems like this is out of my hands."

Lavalliere patted Roena's shoulder lightly, as if raising both hands in surrender, offering words close to comfort. And she cast an unpleasant gaze at me, who had pushed her so fiercely, but she couldn't open her mouth to utter words of blame because of the Mother who had given birth to a son.

It seemed Madam thought it was better to pass the family on to Lian than to give it to Roena's husband.

Was the family that important? The rapid change in attitude was sickening.

But there was no need to provoke her further, so I deliberately drank tea and pretended not to notice. Thanks to that, I had reaffirmed that Margo was in my hands, so I thought that was enough.

Rumors began to spread among the maids that Roena might have ordered Margo to do it.

According to Marie, this story had spread to the knights, who were divided into two factions and engaged in fierce debates.

They wouldn't have believed it if someone other than Margo had done it, but she happened to be caught, and there was an abundance of evidence pointing to this old wildcat, so some people were disappointed in Roena.

The knights, who were inevitably blind to internal affairs, especially regarding the maids, had no idea who was in control of them. So they had no choice but to take the rumors at face value.

Occasionally, some quick-witted servants would blab, but after meeting Marie a few times, they would return to their knights and spill good stories about me, which greatly reduced suspicion of me.

Above all, I was taking care of the family's finances with my guardian and diligently taking care of the salaries of the family's knights, so they couldn't directly criticize me out of consideration.

Of course, Lord Schilfise, who was the most senior knight and had been with the family for a long time, defended Roena and raised his voice, saying that the current situation was impossible, but Sir Halberd silenced him and was trying to fix the wavering Order of Knights, so it became neither one thing nor the other.

It was natural to be drawn to the strongest, so at some point, Lustewin Halberd, the Knight of Clear Hearing, began to lead the family's Order of Knights.

Especially after meeting the Emperor, when I openly gave him strength, Lord Schilfise and his group were becoming increasingly powerless.

As a result, fewer and fewer people were taking Roena's side, and her reputation began to decline drastically due to the group that slandered me.

The maids who went out to buy simple ingredients met each other and exchanged information, and the rumors grew uncontrollably. Even the ladies of society mentioned it during their tea time, gossiping about it.

People wanted to ask me how the current situation was unfolding. So, while talking about Lian and offering congratulations, they naturally moved on to the topic of Margo.

"I heard your sister is very beautiful?"

"Yes, she really is pretty."

"I see. She must be so lovely as a young baby? But I heard something almost irreversible happened?"

Were hyenas drooling to tear apart the flesh of a corpse like this? They shone their eyes on interesting gossip and acted as if they were eager to give advice.

It was a very vulgar act, but the base satisfaction of giving guidance to me, who was leading the Bishvarts Family, was clouding their reason.

"That's why I have a big headache. Because Roena will be greatly shocked."

"Oh my, is Lady Bishwartz considering 'that sister'? I wouldn't do that if I were you. You have such a kind heart."

"It's because I don't think she did such a thing. Yes, that's right. Roena wouldn't have known anything. So I don't want to blame her. I just want to comfort her."

In fact, most of the ladies of society were angry because the Empress's people had been entangling the Crown Prince and Roena, talking about the 'Crown Princess'.

Even if Roena had an outstanding appearance, she was only a fledgling who had not yet debuted in society, and she had not shown anything compared to Lady Roshan, so the evaluation was relatively harsh.

No, they were deliberately cutting her down because she was linked to the Crown Prince. These were the same people who had praised her beautiful appearance and perfect etiquette.

In the midst of all this, such a thing had happened, so how could they not be happy? Those who had animosity towards the Empress's group were jumping for joy and humming.

So they thought of this incident not as a shame for the Bishvarts Family, but as education for a novice lady who had not been a noble for long, and they began to tell me this and that.

They calmly said, laughing, that they would put a maid in Capsa and kick her so she couldn't sleep, and that they would put her in a leather bag, throw her into the hunting grounds, and release hunting dogs.

There was also a story that they told a maid who couldn't ride a horse that if she could just stay on the horse for a few minutes, they would forgive her, but she believed it and tried to get on, but was kicked to death by the horse's hind legs.

Even if problems arose from this, they could just give the bereaved family a lot of money, so there was no hesitation at all. No, they even seemed happy.

"What should I do? Mother's life was almost in danger, so even if I'm angry, my heart aches when I think of Roena, so it's difficult to make a decision easily. What kind of punishment should I give to show the appearance of a noble lady?"

Cursing the fetus to change its gender was clearly an act worthy of death. Therefore, if it were another noble family, they would have beheaded Margo long ago.

But I couldn't easily punish Margo because making an enemy of Roena by killing Margo was something I shouldn't do yet. Because Lavalliere and the Empress were very bothersome.

Since people didn't know about the documents I received from the Emperor, they thought that I couldn't easily punish Margo because I was afraid of Roena's retaliation after her debut. So they comforted me, who was depressed, and said that one hand would be fine.

"We have to punish the hand that wrote the letters. It'll be better than being beaten to death with a whip. What do you think, Lady Bishwartz?"

It was a cruel method, but an example was needed. If Margo was left alone, there would be people who would make light of Mother and me.

The maids thought that when Roena debuted, she would lead the family until Lian grew up. Therefore, there was no guarantee that someone would not betray me and stick to Roena at some point.

"Wouldn't it be too cruel? There's no need to go that far... Oh my, just thinking about it makes my heart tremble. I'm so scared."

When I deliberately pretended to be innocent and trembled, they exchanged glances and smiled strangely.

"Don't be afraid. It's natural. Everyone is like that. Show some backbone."

"Yes, I should. Even for Mother and Lian."

"That's right. I'm glad that you finally seem to be getting used to our world. That's desirable."

And they acted self-righteously, as if they had come up with a great solution.

Lady Roshan snorted at the proposals they made. She said that their intentions were obvious.

"They want to spread rumors that Sis has a cruel nature, but we can't do that. Who would benefit from that?"

While the Empress's followers and Lady Roshan's followers were fiercely fighting over the position of Crown Princess, Princess Dieunzel's people pretended to maintain neutrality and tried to manipulate people from behind the scenes.

Those who urged me to cut off my wrist were also from that group. They seemed to think that even though I maintained a friendship with Princess Dieunzel, I spent more days with Lady Roshan, so they thought I was a completely different kind of person. So they used this kind of ridiculous trick.

"Let's use Roena."

Lady Roshan smiled and said to me. I nodded and accepted her words.

"Under the pretext of proving her innocence?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Well, Margo would give up one wrist without hesitation for Roena."

And Roena would be tormented by guilt for the rest of her life. I drank the tea that Lady Roshan gave me and smiled.

"I'll provoke her, so Sis just watch. There's no need to take on unnecessary infamy."

The reason why Lady Roshan was actively involved in this matter must have been because of the Empress. I had nothing to lose, so I nodded and said I understood.

"I will. Oh, by the way, I heard that some nobles have been selected as diplomats and are going out this time. Is it because of the dispute that occurred at the border?"

"It seems the rumors have already spread."

Lady Roshan frowned at my words and sighed. I shrugged and replied.

"There's a lady who's bragging that her father became a diplomat."

There was a rumor that the diplomats from each country were gathering to talk because the dispute that occurred at the border was not being resolved as well as expected.

One of those diplomats was Lady Roshan's father. There was a story that even Duke Dibenzel was stepping forward, so there was a rumor that the Imperial Family was viewing this situation very seriously.

"Will there be a war?"

"Well? It's not a matter to talk about carelessly. But why are you asking? Does Sis think there will be a war?"

"Yes, in some form or another."

"Why do you think so?"

I didn't answer her question. Instead, I changed the subject by asking if I had to meet His Highness the Crown Prince again today.

Lady Roshan stared at me intently and then sighed softly. And she answered in a quiet voice.

"His Highness knows that you met His Majesty. Be careful."

Her advice was very sincere.

"Surely I'm not meeting him alone?"

"Of course."

Lissette Roshan shrugged at me, who was frozen, and added.

"But there won't be any rumors. Because His Highness has decided to do so. So rest assured."