Cinderella – Rapunzel’s story (8)

* Rapunzel’s perspective

Now, where is he hurrying off to like that?

Something’s definitely up with Chester. He’s been all smiles, constantly glued to Fiona’s side, and now he’s just taken off without a word to me. Back when I was trapped in the White Queen’s tower, he was always right by my side… Clearly, Fiona’s presence is having some kind of negative influence on him.

“Drizella! Anastasia! Come and greet Sir Charming and his friends.”

Lady Tremaine led us into a receiving room, but the platinum‑blonde young lady we’d met with Gus was nowhere to be seen. Instead, two young women I’d never seen before—one with curly green hair, the other with curly pink—waited for us, decked out in jewels from head to toe.

“Greetings, my name is Drizella.”

“And I’m Anastasia!”

What? Cinderella’s not here!

Come to think of it, hadn’t Gus told us that Cinderella’s parents both passed away early from illness, and she lived with her stepmother and two stepsisters?

That must mean this ‘Lady Tremaine’ is trying to marry one of her own daughters off to Sir Charming in place of Cinderella. But come on! If you’re gonna lie, at least make it believable. If she presents these two, who look absolutely nothing like Cinderella, then of course Charming will—

“It’s an honor to meet you, ladies of House Tremaine. I’ve decided to take as my bride the one whose foot fits into the glass slipper. It’s true that I fell in love with the lady who owns the glass slipper at first sight… but I drank too much that night, and no matter how hard I try, I cannot seem recall her face.”

…So he really might not recognize her. That blasted alcohol—always the problem! Alcohol!

“Excuse me! Charming! Charming!” I called at the top of my lungs, trying to warn him, but it was no use. He was  already distracted by Drizella and Anastasia.

“Which of you young ladies will try the slipper first?”

“Me! Me, me! I, Anastasia, will go first!” The pink‑haired young lady, who seemed the more energetic of the two, excitedly raised her hand, practically begging to be chosen.

“Anastasia! What did I tell you? A lady must behave with decorum—”

“It’s fine, madam. I would prefer my bride-to-be to have a lively personality,” Charming interjected to stop Lady Tremaine from raging at Anastasia.

“In that case—Drizella! You’re the problem, then! You’re so quiet that you must be boring Sir Charming!”

Whew… if this is how she acts with her own Drizella and Anastasia, her own daughters, imagine how much worse she must be with Cinderella.

It was clear that Lady Tremaine was one of those perpetually ill-tempered types who always had to find fault with everything. 

This time, Charming didn’t try to stop her rant. He approached Anastasia, who sat on the sofa all a‑flutter, and knelt on one knee.

“Now then, Lady Anastasia—your foot, please.”

“Yes, Sir Charming,” she murmured shyly, blushing as she lifted the trailing hem of her gown to bare her left ankle.

“Alright, then.”

“Huh? Why won’t it fit? Sir Charming, there must be some mistake. It definitely was a perfect fit at the ball the other night… Have my feet swollen that much?”

As expected, the slipper didn’t fit Anastasia, no matter how much she grunted and shoved, trying to cram her foot in by force.

“Ugh! Why won’t it fit? Why, why, why!”

“Anastasia! That is enough! If only you had admitted from the start that the glass slipper belonged to your sister Drizella! All that shouting in front of Sir Charming—what a disgrace!”

“But, Mother…”

“Did you not hear me say that’s enough? Move aside at once!” Lady Tremaine’s scolding voice lashed out angrily. 

Anastasia pouted, rose from the sofa, and slunk to the far side of the room near the hearth.

“Hello, I am Drizella. Sir, I apologize on my sister’s behalf for her falsehood.But now that we know the slipper doesn’t fit her, there’s no need for me to try it on, is there…?”

“Just in case, I would still like for you to try it on, Lady Drizella,” Charming said.

Good call, Charming!

Annoyed with Drizella’s ridiculous lie, I cheered inwardly as Charming cut off her nonsense.

“Urgh! Why won’t it fit?”

Of course it doesn’t fit Drizella. There’s no way that glass slipper would fit her!  

“Ouch! I’ve twisted my ankle!” Drizella yelped, clutching her ankle in pain. 

Charming rose with an expression of dismay.  “My apologies—I believe that will be all. It seems that the information I received about the lady who owned the glass slippers residing in this castle was mistaken.”

Wait, where in the world is Cinderella at a critical time like this? Don’t tell me Lady Tremaine hid her away somewhere!

I watched, fidgeting helplessly, as Charming bid farewell to Lady Tremaine and prepared to leave.

“Rapunzel, it seems we’ve come to the wrong place. The young lady who owns the glass slipper doesn’t seem to be here. I’m sorry to have wasted your time. As an apology, I, Charming, will escort you to the Mad Tea Party as swiftly as possible on my fastest horse.”

“No, sir, wait a moment! I’m certain the Cinderella you met is somewhere in this castle—”

But Charming, completely distraught over not finding the owner of the glass slipper, didn’t seem to hear me. He scooped me up from the floor, tucked me into his pocket, and trudged toward the gate, seemingly in a daze.

“I apologize for today, Sir Charming,” Lady Tremaine simpered, hurrying after him. “I never imagined my daughters would lie to me. Still—if you ever take an interest in Drizella or Anastasia, do let us—”

“I’m sorry, Madam, but I’m afraid there is no chance I will ever take an interest in eitherDrizella or Anastasia,” Charming said coolly. “Well, goodbye…”

“Wait! Charming~! Don’t go yet!”

A voice rang out behind us, desperately calling Charming’s name as he was about to leave. We turned toward the sound and—

C‑Cinderella?

It was obvious. Although she looked even more exhausted than when we’d last met, there was no doubt that the young woman running toward us, calling Charming’s name with such longing, was Cinderella.

“The other glass slipper you’re looking for—I have it right here!”

“Y‑you are…?” Charming turned to the voice calling him, his eyes wide, struck speechless and overcome with joy.

“Yes! I’m Cinderella—the owner of the glass slipper you’ve been searching for!” Cinderella ran towards us, waving her right hand high in the air and clutching the matching glass slipper tightly.

“Yes—I remember now! That shining platinum hair fluttering before my eyes! And those eyes, as blue as the sea! You are the one from that night who I’ve been searching for, Cinderella!”

Perhaps his memories, hazy from the alcohol, had snapped into focus. Charming dashed toward Cinderella, who was running full-speed towards him. He met her, swept her up into his arms and lifted her high in the air.

“At last, we’ve found each other!”

“Yes we have, Charming!”

For that moment, the two of them, reunited, seemed happier than anyone else in the world. 

“But where have you been until now? Why come to meet me only as I’m leaving? Were you not happy to hear I’d come looking for you?” 

“Oh, Charming! How could you think that? I could only come now because of my stepmother, Lady Tremaine! She locked me in the attic and planned to marry you to either Drizella or Anastasia. Fortunately, I managed to escape with the help of the castle’s animal friends.” 

Cinderella pointed at Lady Tremaine, whose eyes were round with shock at Cinderella’s appearance.

“Madam! What is the meaning of this? Did House Tremaine truly intend to deceive me, Charming—the heir of the Lion family?”

“Well, th‑that’s…” Lady Tremaine’s expression was visibly tense, beads of sweat dripping down her forehead.

“Sir! Sir! Cinderella speaks the truth!” Unable to bear it any longer, I poked my head out of his pocket. “After her father died, Lady Tremaine became a wicked stepmother and has tormented her ever since—I heard so clearly from my friend!”

“Rapunzel! How did you—?”

“Cinderella! How have you been? No—more importantly, how did you escape the attic?” I asked brightly, ignoring Charming for the moment.

“While your friend distracted Lucifer, who was guarding the attic, Gus and Jaq‑Jaq unlocked the attic door and I was able to safely escape!”

“F‑friend…? Don’t tell me—”

“Cinderella! I’m not too late, am I? Sir Charming, he hasn’t left already, right…?”

As expected, the friend Cinderella meant was none other than Chester—who had been conspicuously absent. He must have transformed back into a cat to meet Gus, and now he ran towards all, paws flailing back and forth the first time in awhile.

I was still annoyed with him for disappearing without a word, and I let it show in how I spoke to him in a brusque tone

“Chester, where in the world have you been?”

“Rapunzel! I found it—I found it!” Chester, unusually excited, ran towards me, then leapt and snatched me from Charming’s pocket with his sharp claws.

“Hey! Watch it! You almost scratched me with those claws!” I grumbled, still not quite over my irritation.

“I found it, Rapunzel. I really did!”

“Okay, yes, I get it. You found Cinderella—good job. But how could you take off without telling—”

“Not Cinderella—a new Mirror Shard!”

At those words, my sulk evaporated. “W‑wait, really? Where did you find it?”

Chester set me on the ground and held up the key hanging from his neck.

“Is that…?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s the key to the attic where Cinderella was locked up. Look closely at the handle—there’s something there that looks just like the mirror shards that got into Tweedledum and Tweedledee’s eyes!”

“Oh wow—you’re right!”

Even among the other jewels and crystals decorating the key’s handle as it hung from Chester’s neck, the third mirror shard glittered brightest of all.

“And whose idea was it to make it into a cute necklace?”

“Oh, this? Gus and Jaq‑Jaq made it for me and put it on!” Chester said proudly.

Talk about putting a bell on the cat—well, a key, technically. A cat wearing a necklace made by mice—if I’m honest, it was a little funny.

“But Rapunzel—what do you think happened for the Perfect Mirror to shatter like that?”

—! 

At Chester’s question I felt a pang of shock. No matter how much I pondered the question, it wasn’t one I could answer.

“That’s right. Now that you mention it, I’m curious myself.” 

If the Perfect Mirror was as powerful an object as believed, the White Queen would have guarded it like treasure. What could have happened to make someone as cool-hearted as her break it by mistake?

“A‑ah…!” Harris, who had been listening to our conversation, suddenly went pale as a ghost.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Harris? Did something happen?”

“N‑no! It’s, uh, just! I must—must have been mistaken! Hahaha! R‑really, it’s nothing at all.” He waved his hands, the picture of fluster.

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Translator comments:

I am honestly too lazy to look how up I translated Perfect Mirror last time it showed up. It may have been absolute mirror. When I am feeling less lazy I’ll go check and update if needed.

Also! As a heads up, there is no chapter 20, the next chapter is 21. I’ve check the my purchased copy of the source material and the serialized version and it just, ain’t available. idk where it is. But, heads up.

Translator notes:

• 이거야말로 고양이 목에 방울 달기군: Literally belling the cat – this is a reference to a fable about mice discussing the threat of a cat and agreeing that they should put a bell around its neck to warn them of the cat approaching, except none of the mice volunteer to actually do it. Ergo, the idiom ‘to bell the cat’ idiom to bell the cat, which means to attempt, or agree to perform, an impossibly difficult task, or to have everyone agree to a plan but no one willing to execute.

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