204 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards 204
==========
When pressure comes from all directions, starting with Pulcher, one usually loses their reason due to anxiety.
In Roena's case, it must have been quite distressing to have everyone ask her what she was going to do with Margo. People wanted her to take off her angelic Mask and mingle with them as soon as possible. The downfall of a celebrity was a pleasure for everyone.
But Roena was smarter and more cunning than I thought. Even though I had cut off all her maids, who were like her hands and feet, she somehow leaked rumors to garner public sympathy for herself.
Subtly pressuring Margo to make a significant decision, as if she wouldn't dirty her own hands even if she died. And this definitely worked.
Although it was a bad relationship that had continued from her previous life, I couldn't deny Margo's loyalty to Roena.
I don't know why she loved and cherished the young girl who repeatedly abandoned her at every important moment, but this time, too, she was willing to sacrifice herself to save Roena's face.
Margo, making a scene about cutting her wrist in front of everyone, and Roena, stopping her and wailing, was nothing short of a farce.
If I had known this would happen, I would have told her to kill her. Wouldn't that have been cleaner?
I clicked my tongue softly and approached the center of the commotion. This stupid girl can't even do one thing right and makes everyone tired. It was the moment when my plan to just watch as a spectator was shattered.
"What's all this commotion? If you're going to pay for your sins, you should do it quietly with a repentant heart. Why are you making such a fuss?"
At my words, Roena's face lit up, and she said as if clinging to me.
"Sis, you're just in time. Stop Margo. She's not in her right mind right now."
Perhaps because everyone was watching? Roena was desperately holding Margo's hand as if she was sincerely trying to stop her. I couldn't even laugh at her obvious intentions. I was just dumbfounded by her actions, trying to cling to me until the end.
Instead of granting Roena's request, I ordered the maids standing around.
"Separate Roena from Margo. She'll get hurt."
Then everyone moved in unison and grabbed Roena's arms and body. She tried not to be separated from Margo, but she couldn't stop the hands of many people.
"Let go of me. What are you doing! The person you should be holding is not me. It's Margo!"
"Get a grip, Roena. What are you doing?"
"Sis, why are you doing this? You know what Margo is to me."
"Then you know what Mother is to me."
When I repeated Roena's words, she shut her mouth with a pale, frightened face. I was very displeased with Roena's actions, trying to portray Margo as a very wronged person.
It was disgusting that she was trying to show that she had tried to take responsibility for Margo until the end, even though she had already abandoned her.
The old vixen, who held her head high as if she were some kind of hero, was also disgusting. Did she think she would be forgiven if she acted like this?
So I said to Margo, who was looking at us with dead eyes, in a cold voice.
"You're making this fuss because you don't want Roena to be in trouble, right? Then why are you making such a fuss when you should just do what you've decided to do?"
At my words, Margo gritted her teeth and raised the knife she was holding high, then hesitated for a moment. It's easy to say, but hurting your own body is something you can't do without a lot of courage and malice. So she's just trembling, unable to do anything.
Everyone watches her and holds their breath. The only one making noise here was Roena, who kept wailing and begging for my name.
"Sis, please help me. Forgive Margo."
"Forgiveness? Yes, forgiveness, mercy, and tolerance are basic qualities we should have."
"That's right. So please."
"If that mercy doesn't strangle me, that is."
"What?"
Roena looked at me with wide eyes. Her face, wet with tears, had a pure and pitiful beauty.
I walked closer to Roena and gently caressed her cheek. Her flawless, smooth skin touched my fingertips.
She had taken great care to dress up since morning, and there was nothing from head to toe that didn't shine. The dress was also perfect. The ribbon tied around her waist and the jeweled brooch on her chest showed signs of careful selection.
Ah, she's really amazing. If she was really worried about Margo, would she have been able to dress herself up so meticulously?
If I were her, I would have kept an eye on Margo and been so afraid that something would go wrong that I wouldn't have been able to eat properly.
Not only that, but I would have tried every way to secretly get her out of here. Running around busily.
But Roena, who shouted that she couldn't let Margo go, ate well, slept well, and went out to play as usual during the time when Margo's punishment was being decided. Just like usual.
I felt like a fool for being so nervous that she might collude with Lavalliere to smuggle Margo out. The only thing to criticize about Roena's appearance now was her tear-stained cheeks.
What a hypocrite who is only generous to herself.
I lowered my voice and whispered to her. The sharp tip of my tongue contained undisguised contempt.
"A lie. You're urging me to oppose Pulcher right now."
"No. I'm not."
"Really? Everyone already knows that you met Pulcher because of this, and you're saying you really don't know what will happen if I stop what he ordered?"
Roena shook her head and denied it. The only sound coming from her mouth was 'no'. I swallowed a snort and continued.
"No, there's no way you don't know. You're getting the justification that you couldn't handle Margo properly because of me, and I'm becoming someone who dared to oppose Pulcher and commit debauchery, and then Mother will be disappointed in me. Perfect, isn't it?"
"No. Please don't make me sad, Sis. Trust me."
"That's what I want to say, my lovely sister. You said you trusted me. So I answered that you're the only one for me. But why do you keep disappointing me?"
At my signal, the maids took their hands off Roena's body and stepped back. I went behind her and reached out my hands to the front. And I gently cupped her cheeks, which were drawing an elegant line, and brought my lips to the end of her ear.
"If not, do you hate me for leading the family with a guardian? Does it feel like I've taken your place?"
When I gave her back the words I had heard before, Roena screamed with a pale expression.
"Sissae!!"
"If not, prove it to me, no, in front of everyone. How much you think of Mother and me. How much loyalty you pay to Pulcher. Right now."
Roena's body trembled at the cunning voice like a snake's tongue. I smiled and whispered 'hurry' again.
"Now, what should we do first? Roena, tell me, hurry."
The conclusion had already been reached. All I had to do was throw a few words.
But Roena kept hesitating. She didn't want to hurt Margo with her own mouth, so she was waiting for me to lead her. It was to make an excuse that she punished her as I ordered.
Even though she had already built up the excuse that she had no choice but to abandon Margo because of Pulcher, actually doing it was another matter.
"I can't. No. Please forgive me."
"Is that so? Then I can't help it."
I readily moved away from her. Roena blinked as if she didn't understand when I immediately agreed without forcing her any further.
She seemed strange that I didn't urge her and force her to act when she showed this kind of behavior.
"Sis?"
"Okay, I know your feelings for Mother very well. In the end, she's a stepmother, right? It doesn't matter what happens to her. You must have been very unhappy that Lian was born safely."
"No, that's not true. How can you say that?"
"I told you to show me the evidence. But what are you doing now? Why are you asking for my help? Stop it, Roena. I've been putting up with you all this time. But I can't do it anymore. Now, as the person who leads this family, I'm telling you. It's an order, Roena. Do your duty."
"……I can't. No. Please."
"Even if Pulcher is angry? Okay, if you can't, let's ask Margo. Now, Margo, what do you think?"
When I turned my head and looked at Margo, she bit her lip tightly and lowered her gaze. Her hand holding the knife was trembling, and it seemed like she had finally made up her mind.
I winked at a couple of Roena's maids standing around. Most of them had been discriminated against by Margo in the past and hated her very much.
"Help Margo."
The maids firmly grabbed one of Margo's shoulders. And they put a thick cloth that Margo had prepared in her mouth.
Roena tried to run to Margo again, but the other maids grabbed her and there was nothing she could do. Margo looked at Roena with an unknown look, then raised the hand holding the knife high and stabbed it directly into the back of her other hand.
At that moment, short screams erupted from the mouths of the onlookers. Margo writhed and shed tears. At the same time as the cloth fell out of her widely opened lips, saliva dripped down. A scream mixed with sobs was pouring out so terribly loud.
How cruel.
I clicked my tongue softly and looked down at Margo, who was wriggling like a bug. I was surprised because I had pressured her by mentioning Pulcher, but I didn't know she would actually do it.
What I wanted was for Margo to say words of resentment towards Roena, and for Roena, unable to bear it, to impulsively order the old vixen to be hurt. But to endure such terrible pain for Roena, she's really an incomprehensible woman.
Anyway, she didn't cut her wrist as everyone wanted, but she stabbed the knife in haphazardly with clumsy skill, so the wound wouldn't be clean.
Moreover, the time it takes for the wound to heal will increase because she is struggling in pain and they are suppressing her body so that she cannot pull out the knife. Of course, I had no intention of treating Margo.
I said to Roena, who was almost fainting from shock, in a cold voice.
"Lovely Roena, you abandoned Margo again for your honor. You ignored Mother's pain for yourself. So I will never trust you again."
It was not an action that I took directly, nor did I force Roena to do it, but an action that Margo herself chose. Because of that, even if rumors about this spread, instead of sympathizing with Roena, she would be ridiculed as someone who can't even handle a single maid properly.
And Pulcher might feel displeased with her for not properly carrying out his orders.
"Don't treat her wound and lock her in the attic as she is. Don't take care of her until I order you to. Water and food are also forbidden."
"Yes."
The maids struggled to pull the knife out of Margo's hand, who was half-fainted from the pain. And they dragged her away, supporting her as if she was about to fall. Until then, Roena was being held by the maids and had a blank expression on her face.
"And also Roena, from now on, I will not condone your foolishness in acting arbitrarily without regard for superiors or inferiors. Until you know how to respect adults, until you realize the importance of listening to others. I will not overlook today's debauchery either. So, seclude yourself in your room. Now, take the young lady away."
"Yes."
I don't know what was so shocking that she was so dazed when she should have known this would happen. I smiled at the back of Roena, who was leaning on them and moving her steps with difficulty.
She was embracing all kinds of tragedies as if she was preparing for the end of her life. As if asking to be comforted.
The maids, who would have clung to her and flattered her in the past, are now being faithful to my orders and not showing any reaction at all. As if they know who they should be on good terms with.
