Ch#237
**Shards of the Broken Glass Shoe**
**Chapter 237**
My vision blurred as if shrouded in mist. My eyes, burning hot, were becoming moist with tears. My throat, tight with a sob, pulsed as it constricted.
I managed to call the boy's name, but I couldn't dare to approach him, nor could I reach out to touch him.
I lacked the courage. Instead, fear welled up within me. I didn't even dare lower my gaze toward Jack's hand. I felt as though I would crumble the moment I saw his severed finger.
*This must be an illusion. If it weren't, there’s no way the boy would just stand there staring at me without saying a word.*
I opened my trembling lips to call Jack once more, but swallowed the words like a sigh. Beyond calling his name, I didn't know what else to say.
No, in truth, there was so much I wanted to say. I wanted to ask what he was feeling when he took that task upon himself, how his finger came to be severed, and if it was hard while he was on the run.
...If he resented me. If he regretted doing such a thing for my sake.
I also had to explain why I had cast Roena out. I didn't know how Rat and Bird had described it, but the weight of it would be different coming from me.
Truly, there was a mountain of things to say. Yet my tongue felt frozen and wouldn't move. My throat was as dry as if I’d swallowed a handful of sand. The liquid lingering on the tip of my tongue tasted as bitter as rising bile.
"Well now, I hate to spoil the mood at a time like this. But I feel like I should say what needs to be said."
It was Bird's voice that broke the heavy silence. He lightly nudged the boy's side with his elbow. It was silent pressure, telling him that since I was silent, he should step forward.
Only then did I realize the boy was holding back tears. His reddened eyes and his lips, pressed tightly together so that his nasolabial folds were deeply etched, were puffed out as if holding air.
I had been worried because he was just staring without a word, but knowing he was desperately suppressing his burning emotions made my heart swell.
But that feeling lasted only a moment; I was stunned as if struck on the back of the head by Jack’s next words. My burning head was turning cold.
"Lady, House Bischwaldz has been attacked."
"...By whom?"
No, there was no need to ask who. The answer was already clear. It must be the Empress. She had sent people to the mansion again to kidnap Roena.
I had made it look as if I’d smuggled Roena out in a cart, but she must not have believed it. Was it because I’d twisted the scheme too intricately? Even so, an attack... what was she thinking?
"And what of the mansion? You say it was attacked—how great is the damage?"
This time Bird answered. He said there were almost no survivors and that most of the furniture and wealth had been destroyed or stolen, as if by bandits.
The only survivors were the head maid, a few maids and servants, Cisse de Bischwaltz, and the Countess and her son who were away recuperating.
He added that my—Roena’s—whereabouts were unknown, and I had been declared missing, presumed dead.
"There was quite a stir over this matter for a while."
Bird smirked.
While not a house that wielded immense power in the center, House Bischwaldz was a family with deep roots in the merchant world.
With a noble house being torn to pieces while the Crown Prince was away on a personal campaign, the atmosphere in the Capital was bound to turn grim.
Thanks to that, talk began to surface that even nobles living in the Capital needed the right to maintain private armies.
I focused on the phrase "for a while" in Bird's words. His tone was very subtle.
"For a while? Does that mean it’s not the case now?"
"Because the culprit was caught."
I tilted my head at Bird's words. So quickly?
"The culprit was revealed to be a distant branch relative of House Bischwaldz. They confessed to committing the act out of a grudge after being kicked out of the mansion by you, Lady, during the dispute over the guardianship. The kidnapping of Lady Roena was also revealed to be his doing. Her belongings were found in the attic of his mansion. However, since he wouldn't reveal your fate until the end, many assume he killed you."
Roena was imprisoned in a relative's attic when she was kidnapped? No way. It must be a rumor someone leaked intentionally.
It was likely the work of Lady Roshan. The fact that the rumor of my death was being left to circulate was undoubtedly her doing.
I instinctively bit my lip. It was crucial to know whether she alone had discovered that Roena was imprisoned in the mansion. Thus, I felt quite resentful toward her for having no contact regarding such a major incident until now.
At the same time, I thought of the poor person framed as the culprit. From Bird's description, a face immediately came to mind.
Yes, I couldn't fail to know. Was he not the one who had brought his family and acted as if he owned the place? If one were looking for a scapegoat, there was no more suitable person.
However, since the conflict hadn't been great enough to slaughter the family, it was obvious anyone would find his confession suspicious. The motive was that hollow and light. Above all, it was strange that the culprit was caught so easily and quickly.
As I fell silent with a furrowed brow, Bird continued. This crime, which could remain as the event of the century, reportedly came to a close when the judge sentenced him to death.
The investigator and judge in charge of the case were people belonging to the aristocratic faction—specifically the Empress's side—and they flaunted their abilities by quickly catching the culprit and closing the case.
I understood deeply when I heard the investigator and judge were the Empress's people. Indeed, because they had something they believed in, they had staged such a large-scale event.
Of course, had it been an incident involving another noble house, they would have dug deeper, but unfortunately, House Bischwaldz was a family far from power.
This is the end for a noble house without strength. Even Madam de Lavallière could do nothing but offer small protests.
Even though she was the closest blood relative, it was impossible for her to step forward openly since she bore the name of another house. To defy the trial's result was no different from crossing the Empress. With the Crown Prince absent, Pulkeor was the one who could wield the greatest power. So she had acted freely.
But why did she trigger such a large-scale incident to draw everyone's attention?
"What of Lady Roshan?"
"They say she is frantic trying to find the missing Lady... but in truth, it was thanks to Lady Roshan that the relative was identified as the culprit. It was because of House Rosan that Lady Roena's items were found in his mansion."
Ah, I see now. I licked my lips, which tasted of blood from biting them too hard, and nodded.
The Empress staged the incident, and Lady Roshan used her skill to complete the picture in this way.
It was a case where both factions had unintentionally joined forces to wrap things up. That was why they could nonchalantly overlook an incident that seemed quite hollow and clumsy to others. Who would dare contradict them?
Moreover, Lady Roshan must have been poking around everywhere under the pretext of searching for me, so she could leak fabricated evidence without being suspected.
...Should I be glad it was her who took Roena out of the attic?
Regardless, ironically, the one who benefited most from this incident was Roena. This was because the numerous suspicions surrounding her were cleared at once.
Since the kidnapper was a relative and not the fake Grand Duke, her purity was proven innocent. Thanks to that, the marriage with Count Kiran is reportedly falling through. It was because Madam de Lavallière’s opposition was great.
People admired Roena's courage in holding out steadfastly despite the unspeakable abuse from her relative, and her mercy in not pointing him out as the culprit until the end.
Of course, men began to show even greater interest in her, as she radiated a refined beauty despite being significantly haggard from her ordeal.
Even if she was a girl who hadn't even had her coming-of-age ceremony, marriage permission is ultimately granted by the father. A noble lady without a living father was like a mountain without a master.
Well, while she is currently resting under the protection of Madam de Lavallière, with me missing, anyone who claimed her could use the wealth of House Bischwaldz as they pleased until the heir grew up, so it was enough to make anyone salivate.
"I mentioned earlier that an unknown force is heading toward the Capital, didn't I? The reason that could happen is all thanks to the 'Bischwaldz Massacre'."
"The Bischwaldz Massacre?"
"Yes, they're already calling it that."
In truth, it wasn't as if there had been no murder cases within high society. But at most, it was one or two people; there had never been a case of mass slaughter like this one.
Of course, it was only possible because of the very special situation where a war had broken out in the Border Region and there was no Emperor, who could be called the center of the Empire, but it was undeniably a horrific event.
The Empire had only ever flaunted its dignity as a conqueror for a very long time and had never been invaded, so awareness regarding security had become very lax.
And why wouldn't it be? Who would dare threaten the safety of a noble living in the Capital, let alone everyone inside their mansion?
But as if to ridicule such thoughts, the Bischwaldz Massacre had occurred.
Even if it was done by a relative, the fact that one could not hire private soldiers in such an unstable political climate was enough to instill anxiety in everyone.
So they expressed distrust and voiced complaints toward the knight orders and forces stationed within the Capital. Their point was that arriving only after an incident had been committed was meaningless. The backlash was especially fierce from the nobles who could be called the Empress's faction.
Thus, the nobles unanimously decided—without even asking the intentions of the Crown Prince at the border, likely thinking it would be fine since the Empress was there—to first hire a suitable number of private soldiers.
They thought lightly of it, assuming they could just send them away once the Crown Prince returned. So now, armed soldiers were reportedly keeping sharp watch at the mansions of the nobles in the Capital.
Of course, the forces Bird mentioned earlier were those being secretly recruited by the Empress's side and the aristocratic side—meaning Lady Roshan's side, right?
Having finished the story to this point, Bird looked at me as if asking if I now understood why they had come rushing here.
I swallowed a hollow laugh that felt like it might burst out and covered my face with my palms.
Thinking that the conditions for a clash in the Capital were completed due to the 'Bischwaldz Massacre' made me unable to stop laughing. The one who drew the sketch was the Empress, but the one who used it to complete the painting was Lady Roshan—meaning the Crown Prince. Pulkeor, who maintained a tense relationship with the Grand Duke, was no match for the Crown Prince.
...And neither was I.
"Lady, are you alright?"
I gestured to stop Bird as he tried to approach to support me. My complicated, tangled head felt like it would explode.
Where did it all begin?
Calling me to the Border Region, inducing my mother to go to the villa with the hot springs, and informing the Empress's side of Roena's whereabouts at the right time... Thinking that all of this was a plan pre-arranged by the Crown Prince gave me goosebumps.
I had read the anxiety regarding the prophecy on the Crown Prince's face, but thinking that even that was used to pull me away from House Bischwaldz made me feel hollow. To think he was a man so cold-blooded he would unhesitatingly reveal even his own weakness for the sake of a plan.
Could it be that I couldn't face him with only the skill of having survived in high society for a few years?
They say politics is like a living thing, a monster that moves organically, but I hadn't realized such a scheme could be so closely intertwined.
To think he would even temporarily cooperate with an enemy to gain a justification for bringing troops into the Capital. That was why I was afraid.
Because of that scheme, a family was nearly ruined and innocent lives were lost.
Of course, he didn't touch the core wealth and left room for reconstruction by leaving the heir alive, but I couldn't help but feel nauseated by a method where the intention was so transparent.
So how laughable must I have been, rushing here, pushed by fate? I was moving exactly according to his plan.
Was it from after I told him I rescued Roena? Or was it from when I took the Grand Duke to the Border Region? To move the merchant ships freely while everyone was in chaos?
...That bastard.
"Lady?"
Grinding my teeth and burning with hatred for the Crown Prince, I suddenly trembled at a strange touch on my hand and pulled away violently.
Bird was standing there with a flushed, embarrassed face, holding his reddened hand.
"I understand you're shocked. Hearing news that a murder occurred at your mansion would naturally cause that. But you must know this. The fact that the Lady, who was reported missing, is here will soon be known to other information brokers as well."
Bird gulped as if his throat were dry and continued.
"That would be very unfortunate news for those targeting the wealth of House Bischwaldz. That is why Jack came rushing here."
**Shards of the Broken Glass Shoe**
