Give Me Back My Glass Shoe - Chapter 31

Hello everyone! there are changes in the chapter numbering, I had edited it to the correct arrangement as there was confusion in the chapter count. Apologies and enjoy the translation!

His original goal had been to find out how much progress had been made in flight magic research, but since he wasn’t actually that curious, it didn’t matter if he found out or not. If the Emperor asked, he could just say Marius wasn’t cooperative.

He wanted to pour his energy into fields far more valuable than something like flight magic. For instance, the ‘Creation of a Completely Independent New World’ he had recently become engrossed in.

Lost in thought, he was descending the stairs when he encountered a woman. She passed by with a very tired face, her head bowed.
Trudge, trudge. Paiki watched her heavy footsteps as she climbed the stairs. She was too beautiful to be Marius’s lover—a waste of a woman.

Unaware that she was being watched, she opened the door, went inside, and called out.

“Marius! I caught the 10 dragonflies you asked me to catch!”

It seemed she wasn’t a lover, but a new assistant. That was surprising in its own way. She didn’t look like a mage, and it seemed unlikely the tightwad would pay a non-mage assistant very much.

“Is he using her for free?”

Paiki didn’t even know her name, but he thought she was a pitiful woman. And then he completely forgot about the matter.

One day, while passing by the river in a carriage, a woman swinging a dragonfly net wildly entered his view. He thought it was a grown woman, not a child, playing around catching insects, but then he realized it was Marius’s beautiful assistant. The woman, having failed to catch any, stared blankly at her empty net and then began shedding tears, drop by drop.

“How much must Marius have pestered and tormented her for her to cry so pitifully over not catching a single firefly?”

The image of her crying face was seared into Paiki’s mind. He often thought of that woman, wondering if she was catching fireflies again today, but he had encountered her in an unexpected place. It was at the Count’s party.

The woman, wearing an outdated dress and worn-out shoes, had a gloomy face. Even while mingling with the crowd, she didn’t blend in, instead giving off an isolated and detached aura.

“Who is that woman?”

Paiki asked the Count, who was hosting tonight’s party, about her identity.

“That is Aniella Mullier, the third daughter of Viscount Mullier. She may be rustic, but she is a kind-hearted woman. It seems she does various jobs to help her struggling family.”

Was crying while catching fireflies also for that reason?

Paiki frowned and looked at her again.

“Since she’s a beauty, it would be better for her to just snag a reasonably wealthy man.”

Thanks to the talkative Count, Paiki heard various pieces of information about her. Her eldest sister was Holly Mullier, who was once the center of a scandal that rocked high society, and her second sister was a journalist for a weekly magazine that only writes about noble gossip every day. He even learned that she has a curfew at midnight, so she always returns home just as the party is heating up.

“Curfew?”

Paiki asked again, thinking he had misheard. The Count nodded, understanding his surprise.

“Well, after the eldest daughter eloped and even had a child, it’s understandable that the Viscount is worried.”

“If he’s worried she’ll fall for some worthless man, then why not just arrange a husband for her quickly?”

“He probably has that intention, strong as a chimney, but his pride, thicker than a chimney, won’t allow it.”

The Count snorted, thinking of Viscount Mullier.

Despite his family’s difficult circumstances, the Viscount had immense pride. Several decent marriage proposals had come in, but he refused them all. In his view, his status was far above theirs, so they weren’t good enough for him.

“Let’s just hope she doesn’t miss her marriageable age like her second sister did.”

If only she used the money she earns on herself instead of giving it to the family, she could get married in no time. The Count clicked his tongue sympathetically.

On his way home, Paiki pondered the Count’s words. He wholly agreed that it would be better if she didn’t give her earnings to her family.