Cinderella Did Not Leave Her Shoe - Chapter 16-18
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Chapter 16-18

Fredericka…

Today Mother and I are chatting and

doing things well born young ladies do; embroidery. Surprisingly, it is

something I can immerse myself in.

However, today Mother was fis.h.i.+ng.

‘So do you like General Brennan,

Fredericka?’

Eh?!!

Wait. What is with this sudden

question? (Zuben: You did tell your father, remember?) I haven’t heard that one

had to suffer mental attacks during embroidery. My hands lost their rythym.

‘Well, do you like him or not?’

Mother pressed on.

I concentrate on the embroidery

pattern, in order not to make a mistake, trying to diligently thread the

underpainting. But, I feel like I will make a mistake, but I answered as

diplomatically as I could, ‘Well I like him as a person…’

‘What about as a man?’

Ouch. I p.r.i.c.ked my finger.

There is blood.

I pick up a handkerchief to dab the

blood. Hmm, blood on the handkerchief…would you like to see red flowers

blooming on the spot of blood? I could add some tangled ivy…

Chicken.

‘Fredericka.’

My mother pointed her embroidery

needle at me.

Stop it, don’t point the sharp end

of the needle at a person. I was scared if would not end with just a stabbing.

‘I…I don’t suit the General.’

I was just a child. Father told me

that the General was thirty five years old. To him, I must seem like a suckling

child, I bet.

‘Who do you think would suit him?’

Mother asked probing deeper. Because I am afraid of her needle, I answered

honestly,

‘A mature woman; one who is

beautiful, educated, with the strength to support him, and is conservative and

generous.’ Not someone cheeky like me.

I feel like crying now.

I heard an incredulous, ‘Huh?!’ from my

Mother.

Mother, mother, sometimes you don’t

act like a Countess.

‘There is no such perfect woman.’

My mother replied.

I was embarra.s.sed and tossed my

embroidery at the table. Marie makes a scolding noise and searches for the

needle.

‘Even if such a person would suit

the General…’

‘What sort of man would suit you?’

I groaned. I could not deny the

image of the general that appeared in my head.

‘Anyone would be fine. Although,

someone like me who was jilted doesn’t have the option to marry whomever. If

you would like me to be married, maybe I can marry an ero-ero old man?’

I only had a few options.

Option 1: Not marry. Because Ernest

is Father’s successor, I would be in his way. So I would have to live alone as

a single woman. Even if I worked in the business, my presence would be result

in a bad evaluation of my family; that is not good. I could enter a nunnery,

finish my whole life as a virgin.

Oh that’s not it.

Start a business for the monastery

to make money for the orphanage. Maybe.

Option 2: Succeed the Family

Business. I guess that is alright. But I guess I might need to find a stud

after all.

Option 3: The common pattern of a

young lady who has pa.s.sed marriageable age; settle down as a second wife.

Well, I’m still young and unusual

in this industry. Haha!

So what do you say?

Thinking of the three options I nod

to myself and take a sip of tea.

‘Well, General Brennan could be the

ero-ero old man?’

Let’s see…what?!

Hey, what are you saying, mother?!

How could you think that?!

‘Mother, General Brennan is not an

ero-ero old man.’ I argued, with tears filling my eyes. I imagined the general

looking at me with lewd eyes like those men and I shuddered.

Marie nodded while patting my back,

‘General Brennan is a gentleman.’ She said supporting me.

‘Why are you guys thinking about

erotic things? The General is not impossible. He hasn’t ever been married. So

you would be his first wife, isn’t that a good thing?’

I do not want to hear how his flew

away okay.

Also, are you ignoring logic, the

general’s taste and circ.u.mstances?

I took a deep breath to calm down

and sipped my tea.

‘It would be annoying to the

General.’ I said coldly trying to keep calm.

I don’t understand what my Mother

is thinking.

‘Try and act cute for now so he can

have a distinct impression of you. Just put aside your shame. And if it doesn’t

work out, I will be here to comfort you.’

Oh that is amazing.

‘So for now, if you like him, why

don’t you try tempting him?

‘Whu! What?’

‘Don’t be too hasty and get f.u.c.ked

up. I mean, talk honestly, maybe hold hands?’

Uh Oh

That hurdle is high. I’ve never had

to do such a thing. I didn’t do such a thing with Eugene…I-I couldn’t do it.

‘You like the General, don’t you?’

I didn’t reply.

Mother pestered me, ‘Do you like

him or not?’

Do I really like the general that

way?

‘I like him…’

As soon as I said the words, my

eyes grew hot and tears threatened to fall. But Mother hugged me to her abundant

bosom; she was soft and she smelled nice.

‘Do your best alright, and if you

have any trouble, just push your chest against him.’

I burst out laughing, Mother

laughed too.

That’s right, the b.r.e.a.s.t.s are a

weapon. It didn’t work on Eugene, maybe it would work on General Brennan.

‘If it’s lady’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s, it will be

alright.’ Marie said, encouraging the madness.

I don’t think this is alright

though. I remember a similar conversation…

When the sky began to show the

colours of twilight, General Brennan came to take me to the theatre. Unlike the

armour he had been wearing when we met in the training fields, he was wearing

a gentlemanly blue coat, with beautifully ornate embroidery. Under Oliver’s

watch, he bowed over my hand, and escorted me out to the carriage.

It felt like a dream as I said,

‘Thank you,’

His hand was warm.

As the maids and footmen watched us, from

beside Oliver, we made our way to the carriage.

It was as though we were walking on

fluffy clouds.

The evening before yesterday, my

father casually proclaimed,

‘The general is coming to take you

to see a play the day after tomorrow.’

At that point in time, I had

decided to eat my chiffon cake with my hand rather than the fork. Oliver gently

chastised my unladylike behaviour. But amongst family, it was okay.

Why would Father tell me such a

thing at this moment?! 

My mouth hung open and the cake

fell out.

Father folded his arms.

‘The general was forward and bought

the tickets before he even asked me. He wanted to go see the play with you that

much.’

Oh good heavens!

General Brennan wanted to go out

with me?!

I looked at Mother, who gave me two

thumbs up from across the table.

I’m so happy I don’t know what to

do with myself.

Was it safe to say the General did

not dislike me?

Father smirked, and held my face in

his hands,

‘Fredericka, when are you going to

change?’ he asked.

Mother elbowed him in the ribs. It

didn’t look painful, but father collapsed in his chair like he fainted.

‘You must behave like a lady. Be a

good girl and don’t cause any problems for the General. Do your best so that it

can’t be said that you are uncouth because you are rich.’ Mother said.

Father recovered quickly and

grasped my hands in his, ‘No, the direction you need to work hard in is

different.’ He said a little mournfully.

‘You both have only met three

times. You do not know each other well; don’t make a mistake here, alright?’

That’s true.

Our first meeting wasn’t really a

meeting, since I pretended to faint, when I lost my underwear. Really, it could

be said, it was only a shallow acquaintance; we have only properly met twice.

It is surprisingly dark content. I

pretended to faint because I lost my undies in front of him. Then we circled

around, and then our third meeting, I fell and dropped the sandwiches.

It will forever be etched in my

memory, aside from his likes and dislikes.

‘Oh what are you on about? You

kissed me when we first met!’ Mother said with a chuckle before she sipped her

tea.

It seems that father is not only

fast in business, he was the same in love as well.

Yet, Father is concerned about

things going in that direction. (Zuben: He doesn’t want to lose his baby that

quickly) It is makes me feel embarra.s.sed that Father is worrying about such a

thing.

But I don’t think he needs to have

such worries; to the General, I am just an unusual creature or his friend’s

daughter.  I want him to recognise me as

an individual named Fredericka if I can!

Okay, I will do my best with this

goal in mind!

I quickly ate my cake, and excused

myself from the table. (Zuben: Priorities)

I pulled Marie along and rushed to

my room. We have to think of my clothes and accessory combination that would

make me look cute!

And this time, I could try a low

cut dress, couldn’t I? With the necklace I just bought from Kalome!

‘Milady,’ Marie called, ‘what style

do you want to go for? Fairy? Princess? Or…’ was she going to say something

exciting and dreamlike?

‘Or you can be an ordinary Lady?’

Send that thought back to where it

came from!

The answer is…fairy.

I thought a fairy had come from the

fairy lands.

Lady Fredericka was wearing a soft

blue dress of silk, lace and chiffon. She looked like she was floating with

delicate wings as she walked. My heart beat painfully in my chest. (Zuben: Abeg

marry this guy quickly before he expires)

Her dress was low cut, but it

wasn’t vulgar. Never vulgar. It emphasised her delicate beauty, as well as the

beautiful workmans.h.i.+p of the necklace she was wearing. It made a “sharshara”

sound as she moved.

I held her hand while suppressing

the strange desire to have my teeth on her clavicle. She was like cotton candy.

Ephemeral. She looked like she would melt away and disappear if I didn’t hold

her and confirm her existence. Yet I was afraid that she would want to touch a

warbler like me. Yet, I was escorting her.

As we rode in the carriage

together, the night looked more beautiful than usual.

 ‘Your dress is very beautiful. It suits you.’

I tell her.

She smiled and lowered her gaze

shyly as she replied, ‘Thank you.’

She more dressed more beautifully

that she was at the training grounds the other day.

I was beginning to be impatient.

Her golden hair was put up, and

held with elegant hair ornaments. Her neck was exposed, but tendrils of hair

hung stylishly around her face and neck, attracting my attention.

On the battlefield, the battle flag

blowing in the wind attracts the eyes of the soldiers more than anything else.

People’s gazes were attracted to moving objects. Certainly, Lady Fredericka

will attract attention at the theatre like a flag in the battlefield.

Fortunately, she was still unknown

now because of the bad rumours surrounding her. Her fairy like beauty and her

kind heart were still not known well. But as she became acquainted with more

people, she would soon be approached by men. Soon, she would find a man more

suited to her than I am.

I scramble around in my brain in

frustration looking for a topic that might interest Lady Fredericka

‘…Lady Fredericka likes to go to

the jewellery store often?’ I asked. (Zuben: Foot meet mouth)

I realised my blunder as soon as I

spoke. This was one of the offences that the Duke’s messenger had worded

against her. I feel all the blood drain from my face. I felt terrible and I

could not meet her eyes. I haven’t had this feeling since I was a new soldier

before my superior officers at recruitment. I wondered how I could rectify this

blunder, but nothing came to mind. I am filled with despair. (Zuben: zetsubou s.h.i.+ta!)

I hallucinated a mocking sniff, as

though Xavier was here mocking me.

‘Yes.’ She replied, ‘I really like

going to Kalome.’

I looked at her. She had no

appearance of being hurt by my words. Xavier had told me of Kalome; it was an

up and coming jewellery shop that was attracting customers from all works with

ingenious designs and ideas. It was at the top of the list of places to buy

gifts for Fredericka that Xavier had drawn up for me.

‘Actually, I am making and designing

new accessories with the designer of Kalome. This is a prototype.’ She said

shaking her necklace.

‘New accessories…?’

‘Yes. Proper jewels are expensive,

and getting new ones like new clothes isn’t just going to happen like that,

except if one’s family has heirlooms. So we are trying to design more stylish

and wearable accessories that would match girls’ attire.’

I think that accessories are fine

if they match the wearer or their attire. She spoke she put her fore-finger to

her chin which attracted my eyes to her full rose coloured lips. There were

inviting like freshly ripe and juicy fruit. (Zuben: ero-ero oyaji)

‘What about being able to add or

remove strands and stones, so the necklace looks different each time.’ I said

thoughtfully.

She smiled, ‘Exactly! The necklace

I am wearing is just like that.’ Fredericka raised the necklace and leaned

forward to show me that strands and links could be removed. Her unprotected

chest came closer to me.

The moral part of me was disgusted

that I was staring at a lady’s bosom. But another part of me wanted her closer

so I could see it properly. My not-so-moral side won. (Zuben: Yay!)

At this time, the carriage well

went over a large stone, that there was a great b.u.mp. Lady Fredericka

exclaimed…

It's a sunny long weekend where I am, except I'm working booooo!

Hope you all have a nice one.