82 - Pieces of the Broken Glass Slipper
Shattered Glass Slipper Shards Episode 82
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So, I hoped he would just think he almost touched a poisonous snake by bad luck and move on. Even with the mask on, wasn't he a man overflowing with charm?
If he just reached out his hand, there would be more than one or two women who would gladly embrace him. Perhaps he preferred ripe married women to fresh virgins.
The problem was that the Crown Prince was not someone I could understand within my common sense. I even wore a different dress, changed my makeup, and put on a different mask in case I met him - I even hid in a more secluded place - but he found me very easily.
The feeling of chills running down my spine from the touch of someone else's hand that suddenly reached out from behind was a horror I never wanted to experience again.
"Oh, Kerula. I didn't know you liked dark places."
This time, he was wearing the Wolf Mask. Only his clothes were different from yesterday. But he was wearing a black coat that matched the color of the mask, which was further emphasizing his lean figure.
Was that why? There were already many women around him drooling over him.
The Crown Prince grabbed my waist and walked straight to the center of the hall without giving the women a chance to speak to him. Unable to overcome the difference in strength between men and women, I had no choice but to be led by him, even though I didn't want to.
I could count on one hand the number of times I had danced with a man in society, but even I could tell that the Crown Prince danced very well.
He was quite skilled at subtly eliciting sexual excitement from his partner while stepping to the rhythm, truly befitting a gentle libertine.
Intimate touches that would have made any woman who knew the taste of men swoon were naturally incorporated as part of the dance.
Perhaps he enjoyed arousing women in this way and then conquering them physically.
The problem was that I, the other party, couldn't feel the pleasure he gave because of my fear of him. He clicked his tongue several times as if he was dumbfounded by my trembling and flinching every time he touched me.
He seemed to have hurt his pride because I only shrank back instead of blushing, even when he blatantly groped me as if trying to provoke me. His tightly closed and twisted lips under the mask proved it.
"Do you have anorgasmia? Or are you too young to know the pleasures of a woman? How can you not know this unless you're a newborn?"
Now he was even sneering. This beautiful libertine seemed very angry that there was a woman he couldn't conquer. I calmly retorted.
"How can I feel anything without love?"
"Oh, damn it. That love crap. Look, Kerula. You shouldn't have shown up here if you were going to say such old-fashioned things."
"Kind Wolf Mask, you're the one who led the little deer who was resting into this place."
"So you're not happy?"
"Yes."
"You have a truly insolent mouth. Then why do you show up in a place like this?"
"You said you wanted to see a true woman."
I lied with a calm voice. As if fear had taken over my brain, my lips were committing quite a treacherous act.
"I want to become a lovely woman who suits the person I admire."
Then the Crown Prince asked back as if he was dumbfounded. The fact that his voice sounded like a grumpy grumble must be because my ears were deafened by fear. Or maybe it was a hallucination.
"Didn't you say you would boss men around?"
"Yes. I want to make him like that."
"Ha, you're even audacious. Then aren't there many great people you can learn from, even if it's not here? Like those old fogies who talk about purity and chastity. A group that suits you perfectly."
"Have you forgotten whose toy I am?"
"Oh, of course, I remember."
He skillfully arched my back - it was bent too deeply compared to the learned movement, and I was suffocating - and murmured as if singing.
"The toy that that smelly bitch is working hard on these days. Ah, she followed her owner."
"So find another beautiful woman."
"That's my business. You should be kneeling on the floor and begging for forgiveness just for throwing my coat on the floor."
Come to think of it, did he put his coat over my shoulders yesterday? It must have fallen on the floor when I pushed him away and ran out. I was in such a hurry to escape that I didn't even realize the coat had fallen.
"What will it take for you to forgive me?"
I asked carefully, trying not to make eye contact with him. I felt like I could somehow endure it if I didn't see the inorganic eyes in my memory. No, as long as he was wearing the Wolf Mask, I could easily get through this conversation.
In fact, if it wasn't for the Crown Prince, this wolf was quite a useful beast. He instinctively felt the need to suppress other males, so a fierce energy emanated from his body itself, preventing anyone from daring to talk to him.
He would just wander around forlornly, aiming for the females who had fallen behind in his territory. So there was no more reliable knight than him.
The people who attended the Masquerade seemed to recognize me as a new lamb who could satisfy their interests since I was attending for the second time.
But they couldn't be sure because my attire wasn't ordinary, so they watched quietly and probed. Worn-out women could be seen everywhere. What they needed was a relative from a distant rural area who was introduced by someone, or a naive virgin.
But while they were watching for a while, a wolf suddenly appeared and snatched me away, not letting go of my hand.
There was no time to check anything. From the perspective of those who were watching carefully, it was quite anticlimactic. They also felt a sense of loss, as if they had been deprived of a pleasant game.
Was that why? A rather courageous man - actually, a fool who had gone mad - stepped forward and blocked the way between the Crown Prince and me. It was just when he was about to answer my question.
He seemed to have drunk a lot of alcohol, his face flushed red, and he grabbed my hand and slurred with a bold voice.
I couldn't understand him well because his tongue was so twisted, but the gist of his words was all low-class jokes that he had something bigger than the Crown Prince and would satisfy me if I came to him.
The Crown Prince seemed quite upset that an insignificant man dared to challenge him.
As soon as he bared his teeth like a beast and smiled fiercely, he punched him in the face, and it was very natural for broken teeth to pop out of his open mouth.
It also happened as if it was natural for a person's body to rotate in the air and fall. It was only a fleeting moment, but one person's face was a mess.
Perhaps because of the unrealistic scene, silence fell in an instant. It was just one punch, but he fell like he had been hit by a carriage? Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing as me.
Since he had hidden his status behind a mask, it was clear that the person who was hit would not utter any unfortunate words such as "how dare you" or "who do you think you are."
Because everyone here was a noble in an equal position. Otherwise, who would easily open their bodies? Even if they recognized the other person's position, it was an unwritten rule to pretend not to know.
Therefore, no one would complain about the Crown Prince's punch. There was only pity for the poor man who would not be able to eat meat for a while due to his broken teeth.
Anyway, perhaps because he had lost interest due to this incident, the Crown Prince picked me up and started walking in one direction.
Even though the corset must have made me quite heavy, not a single vein was visible on his arm as he held me. Even when I shouted for him to put me down, feeling embarrassed, he was adamant.
The Crown Prince arrived at the terrace in an instant, placed me on the railing, and drew the curtains to prevent other people from entering. I became very bleak, left alone with this horny wolf who was finally going to relieve his lust.
My virginity, which I had kept until now to give to him, was not for him. But now it seemed like love or anything else wouldn't work, so there seemed to be no time to do anything.
Should I pretend to be crazy and jump off the railing? Where would I break if I jumped from here?
Wait, the terrace railing?
I felt like the blood was draining from my body in an instant. I barely turned my stiff head and looked down.
I had been feeling strange ever since the words 'terrace' and 'railing' were combined. My vision was blurring, and I had an unbearable headache. The world was distorted, and my body was shaking uncontrollably.
It felt like something had broken in my head with a 'clang'. Or something that shouldn't have been touched had flowed out, like opening Pandora's box.
My body, which was collapsing forward in an instant as if a black abyss was waiting with its mouth wide open, provided a sense of floating that felt like it wasn't mine. Saliva was flowing from my lips, which were sobbing like a seizure.
Scary.
This was the only word that had taken over my body.
Save me. Scary. Help me.
I see a hallucination. I was standing on the railing. Roena reaches out her hand and says something. But my body was leaning back and falling.
...What was on the ground? My corpse?
Suddenly, I felt an intense pain as if my cheek was on fire. And I began to hear someone's voice like tinnitus.
'Are you okay? Je... Gilard?'
"What's wrong!!!!"
I blankly stared at the owner of the voice. A wolf? Had he come to confirm that I was dead?
No, that's not it. Then who is it?
His eyes are clearly visible in the shaded mask. It's the Crown Prince. The one who didn't see me as a human.
'Ah, ah...!! Am I, am I alive? Or am I dead? The railing, why is the railing here? No, what was I doing just now?'
I suddenly felt a surge of fear. I only had the instinctive thought that I had to run away somewhere.
'Get away. Get off my body!!'
I pushed him away with all my strength and ran outside. There was a hand grabbing me from behind, but I desperately ran, squeezing through the crowd.
I heard the sound of my beautifully styled hair falling apart and the decorative pins falling on the floor of the hallway, but I didn't look back.
Ding. Ding.
The sound of the bell sounds like the one at a funeral. I covered my ears and screamed.
'The terrace is okay. It's not scary. But falling off the railing is scary. It's terrifying. It makes me nauseous.'
My cheeks are getting wet. Is it raining? I looked up at the sky, but it was fine. I staggered and barely arrived in front of the carriage. The maids who were resting in front of it widened their eyes in surprise.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Madame de Châteauroux was running from afar.
Ah, right. I came to the Masquerade...
My vision is blurring. My legs were losing strength. I felt the maids supporting my body and fainted as I was. But the sound of the bell ringing in my ears was still clear.
