71 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards 71
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The sunlight is warm, making me yawn. I set down the book I was holding. The idle passing of time was embroidered with boredom. It was poison. At least, it was to me.
Several more days had passed since dealing with Blan's matter, but there were no particular changes. I had only checked several times to see if any invitations had come for me.
Sadly, there was no telling when an invitation would come from Marie, which occasionally threw me into a sense of loss. I was even anxious, wondering if it would end like this.
But Marie didn't seem to think so. After Margo retreated powerlessly, she acted like she owned the world, rampaging and acting like a fool.
There seemed to be talk about her defending Blan, but she growled like a mother protecting her cub. As if my orders were some kind of mission.
In fact, she seemed to enjoy subjugating that arrogant woman. Just like Margo had.
At the same time, she was carefully watching my mood and diligently reporting on the surrounding situation, which I found quite satisfactory.
Marie was becoming an increasingly useful card. It became a small pleasure to endure the boring time.
Anyway, time passed, and finally, as Madame de Châteauroux had promised, the second invitation arrived.
This letter seemed to be written by Chatoul herself, as the handwriting and spelling were all messed up. If it weren't for the imperial seal on the envelope, one might believe that a child just learning to write had written it.
When people saw that another letter had come from Marie, they widened their eyes in disbelief and whispered.
My mother fussed about whether she should have more dresses made, my stepfather wore a troubled expression, and Roena asked me with a very gloomy face if I couldn't just not go.
Lavalliere sent a letter expressing his displeasure with this invitation, and Dibenzel was still probing to see if I would fall for her.
Even if she was ridiculed as the king's whore, Madame de Châteauroux was a woman close to the pinnacle of power. Therefore, people were wary that I, or rather, the Bischwartz family, would gain Chatoul's favor and advance to the center of power.
Many people had been invited by her, but very few had received two invitations in a row, and it was the first time that such extensive preparations were being made to welcome me that rumors were spreading outside the palace—the story was that Chatoul was urging the maids.
Was that why? Even when I revisited Madame Dobigné's shop, and when I stopped by the general store to buy feathers for a hat, people didn't take their eyes off me. Everyone was holding their breath and watching my second meeting with Chatoul.
I felt strange, as if I had become a very special person. It was the second time I had received this kind of attention, but it was the first time there was so little malice.
The day of visiting the palace soon arrived. It became easy to pass through the main gate of the palace in a carriage.
Even though it was only my second visit, the attitude of the maid who greeted me became extremely polite. The number of people coming out to greet me also increased.
The number of people inhaling with each step I took increased. The gaze that followed me like a shadow was long and persistent. As if they would swallow me whole if they saw an opening. I straightened my back.
Madame de Châteauroux ran out as soon as the door opened. Everyone was horrified by her undignified behavior, but she grabbed my hand as if it were nothing.
And she smiled brightly, a smile so seductive that everyone was mesmerized and stared at Marie.
"Sissae! You're so late."
"Yes, Marie. Did you wait long? I'm sorry. I ended up being late."
"Hmm, it's not that late, really. I'm just being petulant because I wanted to see you a little sooner. Oh, my goodness. Sissae! You came wearing the pin I gave you. It's so beautiful."
She found the pin hanging in my hair—she had a good eye—and was so happy that her cheeks flushed.
And she led me by the hand in one direction, walking so fast that I was panting. Even the maids couldn't keep up with her speed.
Marie led me to a door with ornate patterns carved into it. If my past memories were correct, that was the room where her small stage for the emperor was located.
She personally opened the door and assured me that she had prepared something very interesting, so I wouldn't have a boring time.
"You're the first to watch this privately, except for the nobles His Majesty has permitted."
If it was a play prepared by Marie, it was obvious. It was a vulgar and obscene play full of lewd jokes, the kind you could only see in the red-light district.
But it was quite popular. The plays she prepared were enough to stimulate the secret desires of the exceedingly refined nobles.
When else would they, who were unable to move in their small thorny armor of etiquette, be able to see such a play?
Moreover, it was a play watched together with the emperor in a secret residence. Even if the content of the play was not to their taste, it was enough to satisfy the mental pleasure of being together in such an important place.
The interior of the room was somewhat strange. The furniture mixed with oriental objects, combined with the red cloth hanging everywhere, created an obscene atmosphere.
The viewing seats, where one sat leaning sideways against large pillows, were also unfamiliar. But with dresses that revealed cleavage being in fashion now, I was sure there was no more seductive place than this.
Marie took my hand. She very kindly showed me how to watch.
It was a way of leaning sideways, separated from each other, with a silver tray containing refreshments in the center of the pillow. She laughed so hard that her uvula was visible when I leaned awkwardly.
"This is a position that prostitutes are very good at."
She showed in detail how to take the position, like a teacher. Putting aside the unpleasantness of the prostitute's posture, I was satisfied with sitting back, feeling uncomfortable due to the tight corset and belt.
Marie looked at me like that and smiled contentedly, crouching like a cat.
After a while, she lightly shook a small bell on the tray. Then, the thick curtain that had been covering the front slid to the side, revealing a small stage.
There, a woman—wearing a fancy dress with her chest half-exposed, as if she was playing the role of a noblewoman—and a knight were sitting in chairs. There were only two actors, and no one else was visible.
The actors greeted Marie and me and soon began the play. The content was simple. The plot was that a knight slipped a goat's testicle into the hem of a naive young noblewoman's skirt to seduce her.
The man playing the knight faithfully performed the role of a rogue in a very glib tone.
"Men sometimes drop their balls. That's why they have pockets made in their pants to hold their balls."
"Is that possible? Oh, that would be really convenient. Look. I wish I could take off my breasts and store them. They're so big that they just dangle and are uncomfortable."
"Unfortunately, it's a small blessing and joy that only men can enjoy. Anyway, would you help me find my balls? If I'm right, it probably rolled towards you, madam."
Marie giggled as if she was watching the most interesting thing in the world. She burst out laughing every time the word "balls" came out.
As she did so, she glanced at my face, and perhaps dissatisfied that I wasn't laughing, she kept looking at me as if searching, and eventually raised her hand to stop the play. The actors were terrified and stiffened at the sudden request to stop.
"Isn't it fun? You're not laughing at all. His Majesty liked it very much."
I smiled faintly as if I was in trouble. I hoped that my appearance, blinking my eyes slowly, would appear like an innocent girl who didn't know anything.
"I'm sorry. I don't know where I'm supposed to laugh."
Marie, the emperor's whore, rested her chin on her hand and stared at me intently. As if she was trying to find a lie through my eyes.
And after a while, her mouth opened. Marie shook her jewel-powdered eyelashes up and down rapidly, as if she couldn't believe it.
"When you're around Sissae's age, don't prostitutes go and give you a fun education? Or haven't you heard of it when you were playing in the streets?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but it doesn't apply at all. And the education part."
I covered my cheeks with both hands as if I was embarrassed and answered slowly.
"...Everyone didn't want me to receive such education. So please blame my faults for not enjoying the play you worked so hard to prepare."
When she gestured again, not only the maids but also the actors rushed out. It was a scene that showed how Marie was treated here.
Anyway, she approached me with a very strange smile, like a rogue flirting with a virgin. Cold, smooth hands of another person stroked my cheeks and chin.
"That's why men look for virgins. How can you shine like this? I want you."
"What is it?"
"Something I lost when I was a girl. There's a brilliant jewel that will never come again."
"Do you see that in me?"
Instead of answering, Marie leaned down and kissed my cheek softly. At the same time, she put her lips to my ear and whispered. As if tempting me to reveal my inner thoughts.
"Do you want to gain His Majesty's favor? If you want to, I'll help you. Maybe Sissae, you can get a lot of jewels, beautiful dresses, and flattery that will melt your ears. Because you're so innocent and beautiful."
Madame de Châteauroux was able to maintain the emperor's favor not only because of her outstanding appearance and figure, and her innate coquetry.
Marie knew that the emperor was a man who did not stay with one woman, and she quickly realized that he was easily bored as much as he enjoyed pleasure.
So she created a small room in the palace and invited the emperor. And there, she presented young women with various beauties, helping the emperor to enjoy a lewd life.
Of course, this old and dissolute emperor easily fell into the pleasure given by women full of coquetry and flattery, unlike the women in the palace, and favored Marie, who provided such pleasure.
Strictly speaking, the group operated by Marie was a different concept from courtesans.
The women she brought were all consumables who could only spend one night and did not interfere with her power. Country noble girls or maids in the palace who harbored ambitions to enjoy power could not catch Marie's eye.
That's why I thought her offer was very strange.
