212 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards 212
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Arina is like a rest to me. Her cheerful nature and kind heart always moved me. Perhaps that's why. After meeting Arina, my heart became as calm as a serene lake, and the seething malice subsided.
However, meeting a commoner girl often wasn't good, so I only met her on designated dates, under the pretext of listening to her stories.
Sometimes I ignored the dates and called her, but usually, I tried to restrain myself as much as possible. Above all, I had been so busy since my adoptive father's death that even the time to listen to her stories had become rare, except for the few times I met her when calling Jack. So, I was very surprised that Arina had come to me first.
Arina, whom I barely managed to meet by taking a break, had a disheveled face. Her face, soaked with tears, was already so swollen that I couldn't tell what was her eyes.
As soon as I entered the room, the child jumped up, ran to me, and handed me something she was holding. It was a crumpled piece of paper. It was quite eerie to see what appeared to be bloodstains here and there.
"Jack gave it to me and disappeared. Last night, he suddenly knocked on the window and called me, gave me this, and disappeared somewhere."
"Arina, calm down for a moment. What are you saying? I can't understand a thing."
I patted her shoulder and led her to the sofa. Arina tried not to leave me even while sobbing.
"You know that Jack disappears for days when he starts working, right?"
"Of course."
"He has never visited me even once while working. He has a personality that he has to finish everything perfectly. But yesterday, he suddenly came to me, looking very urgent as if he was being chased by someone. His face was wrapped in a black cloth, but I knew it was Jack at a glance. Who else would call me a crybaby besides him?"
"He looked like he was being chased by someone?"
"Yes."
Arina sniffled and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. Nevertheless, clear tears were streaming down her swollen eyes. If Jack had seen her, he would have teased her as a frog, not a crybaby. It was that serious. As a matter of fact, the child seemed to have been crying continuously from the time she saw Jack until dawn.
"He just handed this to me, saying that he had to deliver it to you, Miss, and soon disappeared into the darkness. Ah, Miss. Jack isn't doing anything dangerous, is he?"
Jack usually told Arina that he earned money by doing errands. He made excuses that he helped with the extra work that adults ordered and barely lived on the allowance.
He said that he couldn't see her often because he had to go around here and there because he was doing various jobs.
In fact, when she said she wanted to see where Jack was working, he even shouted, 'I can't concentrate when you come.'
So, Arina thought that Jack's disappearance for a few days when he started working was due to his meticulous nature. And she didn't ask him where he was working again so as not to upset him.
But it seemed that her belief had been broken by this incident.
I couldn't easily answer Arina's question about whether he was doing anything dangerous. I had commissioned a somewhat dangerous job, but I had told them to have someone else do it instead of Jack, so I was relieved. But for this to happen. Jack had never disobeyed me before.
I carefully unfolded the paper I received from Arina. It seemed that he had hastily torn it and scribbled it down, with only a few simple symbols scribbled on it. The dark red dried blood was splattered here and there. I rubbed my chilling chest with my hand and swallowed hard.
This isn't Jack's blood, is it?
There were hardly any children on the street who knew how to read. Jack was also illiterate. So, when it was necessary to convey information in writing due to unavoidable circumstances, he instead drew encrypted pictures.
Usually, the encrypted information was passed on to the upper echelons of the information network, and they reinterpreted it and passed it on to the client. However, some people who received special treatment received a simplified Cipher book and received raw information.
I handed Arina a handkerchief and brought the Cipher book, which I had hidden deep inside the bedroom. And I calmly interpreted the picture written on the paper. The picture, which could be simple, pointed to an address.
I thought it referred to the place where the Witch or Roena was. In the end, Jack himself took on the job. I sighed at the words 'Don't worry' written at the end of the paper.
Ah, don't worry. How can I not worry?
Arina's meaning of 'seeming to be chased' was no different from saying that the Grand Duke's side had found out. And they would try to kill Jack in order not to leave any noise.
"Arina, there's something you need to do."
"Yes?"
I took out a quill, ink, and paper. And after drawing a few pictures in the Cipher book, I handed them to Arina.
"Draw this on the wall of Jack's house. It doesn't matter what you draw it with, but it has to be as visible as possible. This is a way to save Jack."
"Jack is in danger, isn't he?"
"If my guess is correct, probably."
"Ah, what on earth is going on?"
"It's all my fault."
"Miss?"
I covered my face with both hands and then washed my face dry. The words Jack had said to me in the past came to my mind in my complicated brain.
'I've wanted to do this for a long time. I like it. This is enough. I'm satisfied.'
I thought he was acting unusually spoiled, but is this all he was thinking? To throw everything away for just one hug. Why on earth would you do that?
My eyes are getting hot. It's not that I don't know Jack's heart, but I felt sad that he had to go this far. The thought that I had pushed the child into a life-or-death situation to survive suffocated me.
"Go and draw it, avoiding the attention of others. And if someone asks about Jack, say you don't know. No, curse him. Can you do that?"
I said, holding Arina in my arms. I really can't bear it if even you are in danger. The child's body stiffens at the added voice. Then, after a while, she nods her head with difficulty as if she has finally made up her mind.
"It's not your fault, Miss. No one can stop Jack's stubbornness. He also has a bad habit of doing things he's told not to do. So, sob, it's not your fault, Miss, but Jack, who likes you too much, made a mistake. Waaah."
"No, it's not like that. It's my fault."
"You'll save Jack, right? You will, right? Please, Miss."
"Yes."
"You promise?"
I can't guarantee that I can save the child. Maybe it's already too late. The only thing I can do right now is to contact Jack's informant directly, but even that has to wait, so I don't know what will happen to the child in the meantime.
To think I'm such an incompetent person who can't even save one boy.
My body trembles at the rapidly rising sense of disgust. At the same time, Arina's touch, desperately clinging to me as if I could solve everything, feels so heavy.
My tongue, soaked in lies, doesn't move as well as it should today. I have to say that I promise to reassure Arina, but what actually came out was a suppressed sound.
"And don't come to me again until I call you again. If someone asks if you know me, get angry and say you were deceived, that I'm a Witch, a bad woman."
I took off all the things I was wearing, from earrings and necklaces to bracelets, anklets, and pendants, all the things that would fetch some money if I sold them. And I wrapped them tightly in a handkerchief so that no one else could see them, and handed them to Arina.
"Use this when you're in a hurry. Got it?"
"Waaah, Miss."
"Cute Arina. You'll listen to my request, right? You will, right?"
I asked, urging her, kissing her wet cheeks repeatedly. Arina couldn't beat me, who was urging her in a strong tone, and she nodded her head with difficulty, sobbing.
"Now, hurry up and move. Quickly. And I'm sorry."
I raised my hand and slapped Arina's cheek hard. And I looked at Arina, who was holding her swollen cheek and looking at me, with sad eyes, and soon shouted nervously.
When I stomped my feet loudly and shouted, 'Is there no one outside?' a few maids soon opened the door and came in.
"This impudent girl doesn't know her place and is making fun of me? I've been fond of her because she's been good at talking, but it seems she's lost her fear. Drag her out right now. I don't even want to see her!"
"Yes."
Arina was dragged away with a blank face, looking at me, and when I moved my lips and said 'picture,' she blinked her eyes and nodded her head slightly. And she struggled as if she was wronged and disappeared out the door.
"Miss, what happened?"
Even though Arina had disappeared, one of the maids carefully asked me as I was still panting as if I couldn't get rid of my anger.
Instead of answering, I spat out the words 'That impudent girl' and then drank water as if I couldn't control my anger. And I ordered Sir Halberd to be brought to the study. I felt like I was going to die from the impatience, but I tried to pretend to be calm.
A little later, Sir Halberd enters the study. It was the first time we had met alone since he had been confirmed to be mine.
Since Lord Schilfise disappeared, Sir Halberd had been in charge of commanding the Bishvarts Family's knights. During the day, he led people out to find clues about Roena, and at night, he tried to calm the knights' unrest by taking care of the backlog of work.
There were few knights in the family who did not respect Lord Schilfise, so everyone was struggling with the fact that he had been kidnapped as well.
However, as Sir Halberd took the center and comforted those around him, at least within the knights, the antipathy towards me - the dissatisfaction with having endangered Roena and Lord Schilfise - had largely disappeared. If that hadn't been the case, it would have been very difficult to call him in now.
I led Sir Halberd to the sofa and showed him the address Jack had sent - I had moved it to another piece of paper in advance.
"You know that I'm making a lot of effort to find Roena, right?"
"Yes."
"With the help of those around me, I was able to barely reach an informant and make a request. This is the address they sent."
"Is the Grand Duke there?"
"I can't guarantee it. They were exposed while digging up this address. So, I don't know if they've disguised it as if a completely different person lives there, or if Roena is there but has been moved to another place. In fact, I can't even be sure if they were caught while digging up this address."
If they had been caught right away, Jack would not have given me this address. He might have given it to me to find a clue, but given the child's personality, he would have added the code 'failure' at the bottom. So, I couldn't guarantee that Roena was still there either.
"So, please check it, Sir."
"Yes."
"Please."
"I won't disappoint you."
"I'm so glad you're here, Sir."
Of course. Who else but Sir Halberd could do this? He was known to be almost unmatched in the empire. He could be said to be the strongest man. Therefore, Sir Halberd would be able to look into the house written in the address without being detected.
"Sir Halberd?"
I tilted my head at his expression, which was subtle at my words, and his eyes met mine. He has that face again. A look as if he was struggling to hold something back. His deeply sunken eyes were shimmering with sadness.
"No. I was just wondering what to say since you said you were glad I was here."
Sir Halberd, who had paid his respects by bowing his head lightly, immediately got up from his seat and said that he would go to the address right away. And as he turned around and headed for the door, he suddenly stopped walking, turned only his head, and opened his mouth.
"I received the Victory flower crown at the Founding Day last year, but it disappeared the next morning. I don't remember it well, but I guess it went to its original owner. Is that Floral Crown still doing well? Whether it's a box or a memory, anywhere is fine."
I felt like I was going to suffocate at the sudden question, but I forced a smile and answered.
"Probably. It would have been comforting. It was just a dream after all, but I'll never have such a sweet dream again."
"……I'm honored."
He opened his mouth briefly and reached out to twist the doorknob. And as he walked out slowly, strangely, his gait was very disheveled, unlike his usual self.
I sighed and looked at his back, and suddenly thought that I should dispose of the Floral Crown. Maybe I should cut it into pieces and put them in the book he gave me.
"Yes. I'll never have such a heart-fluttering dream again, Sir Halberd."
I moved my parched lips and muttered quietly. Dreams are just dreams. I realized that too late. So, I'm still captivated by the lingering scent of that dream. When will I be able to forget it completely? Maybe it will take a lifetime.
