The two little guys who stole the bread dough looked exactly the same. The only difference was that the wings-shaped hair on one head swirled to the left, while the other’s swirled to the right.
When they saw Ye Tang, one of the little guys reacted. He threw the bread in his hand and shouted, “Fian, run!”
“Ah, oh…”
The somewhat slow Fian instinctively looked at the bread in his own hand. Only then did he realize that the bread had already rolled on the ground several times and ended up far away.
With a whoosh, the two little guys turned into pigeons. One flapped its wings clumsily and flew up, while the other only flew a short distance before losing balance.
Ye Tang let out a soft breath. She had indeed been stunned for a moment when she saw them turn from humans into pigeons. But thinking of the original version of the Cinderella story, she relaxed.
‘These must be the two pigeons that helped Cinderella? The story didn’t say they could turn into humans, but since they could speak human language in the story, there was no need to make a big fuss about them turning into people.’
“I’m afraid not. I’ve already had Emma and the others close and lock all the kitchen windows before bedtime. Your wings and legs aren’t fully healed yet, right? Otherwise, you could have flown straight in through the windows, and you wouldn’t still be unaware that the kitchen windows are all tightly shut and locked by now.”
Ye Tang closed the door and leaned against it herself.
Seeing Ye Tang block the last escape route, the two small white pigeons flapped a couple of times and turned back into little boys.
“What do you want?”
The little boy with furrowed brows and a fierce expression asked. His actions openly revealed his desire to protect Fian, whose arm behind him was injured.
What could Ye Tang do?
Was she supposed to stew Cinderella’s pigeons into squab soup? Hmm, squab soup was quite nourishing, perfect for winter. …But squab that could turn into little boys? Better not. Who knew if they carried bacteria lethal to ordinary humans.
“If you’re going to eat, then eat openly. I don’t like people sneaking away with what belongs to me.”
“Of course, you’ll have to pay the corresponding price. You’ve at least heard the saying ‘Those who do not work shall not eat,’ right? For however much you’ve eaten, you’ll provide that much labor here.”
Ye Tang did some quick mental math as she spoke.
“Yeah… You’ve eaten about six silver coins’ worth of flour. The lowest male servant wage is twenty copper coins per week. Six silver coins equals six hundred copper coins, so you owe me thirty weeks of work.”
Their already exceptionally pale skin grew even paler. It was clear the two little guys only now realized how much value the food they’d eaten had. Their moods sank very low.
Ye Tang had no intention of bullying children. “Hedelin House provides free room and board for servants. As servants of Hedelin House, you’ll get three free meals a day.”
“I’ll do it!”
The little boy named Fian raised his good arm the moment he heard there would be three meals a day.
“Fian!”
The boy identical to him wanted to stop him, but it was already too late.
“Hope, I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time—I think sneaking food is wrong.”
Then why did you eat it so deliciously before!? And more than me!?
If Hope had a beard, Fian surely would have blown it right off into the sky with anger.
“Now we have a chance to eat openly! Why not eat openly?”
Pulling Hope’s hand, Fian said sincerely, “I want to eat with Hope. Food eaten with Hope tastes the best. Doesn’t Hope want to eat with me?”
This was a genuine rice bucket—every sentence revolved around “eat.”
Ye Tang was already starting to worry that putting these two pigeon spirits to work in her house would not only fail to recoup costs but bankrupt her outright from their eating.
“I didn’t mean that…”
Facing Fian, Hope’s voice softened several degrees. Seeing Ye Tang tilt her head in thought, looking somewhat regretful, he quickly said, “You promised three meals—no takebacks!”
…Fine. It was her own proposal anyway. What’s done was done. To avoid being eaten out of house and home by these two pigeon spirits, she’d have to accelerate her money-making.
Of course, whether these two little guys were pigeon spirits or not, she would make them provide labor equivalent to their compensation.
Hiring wasn’t charity.
Ye Tang stepped aside from the door.
“I won’t go back on my word. But one thing upfront.”
“Being a servant in Hedelin House isn’t simple.”
…
Claudia and Gloria were astonished to discover that the house’s little male servants had increased by two more—this time, twins.
“Crazy… Does this old woman have a lolita complex or something?”
Kim Hora cursed in Cinderella’s mind.
Europeans took forever with Western meal etiquette—stuffy, long, and hard to remember. Kim Hora didn’t want to bother herself, so she let Cinderella handle eating. No matter how much Cinderella ate, she could always make her stick a finger down her throat afterward and vomit it all up.
“Red eyes, white skin, white hair—too weird! Are they vampires?”
Cinderella had never met such an ill-bred woman as Kim Hora. She lowered her eyes and tried to soothe her emotions with the motions of cutting food, while unable to resist telling Kim Hora in her mind, “—Please be quiet. You’re making it so I can’t eat.”
Kim Hora immediately flashed a malicious grin. “Isn’t that perfect? If you, you waste, eat too much, you’ll turn from waste into a fat pig!”
“Red eyes—so rare…”
Gloria stared at Hope and Fian unblinkingly, her eating motions slowing considerably.
To me, your pink-purple eyes are rarer than pigeon-blood ruby eyes.
Ye Tang thought this, but said gently, “Some people are born with thinner pigmentation than others.”
“Ah, I know this! I read it in a book! The book said humans have different colored eyes and hair because of differences in innate pigmentation.”
Gloria’s cheeks flushed red with excitement as she spoke of the book she’d recently read.
Hope and Fian occasionally stole glances at Cinderella. The first human they saw after pecking out of their eggshells was Cinderella.
Cinderella and her mother Ivy had raised all the pigeons in the dovecote. Now Ivy was gone; the only one they could repay was Cinderella. They had turned into humans to help Cinderella. But Cinderella… seemed not to recognize them in human form.
Gloria spoke excitedly, and Claudia chimed in from time to time. She too was starting to take an interest in the books her little sister read.
To Ye Tang, Gloria was like a little lark. Her excited appearance was truly endearing, and listening to her speak was a pleasure.
The mother and daughters chatted amiably, occasionally bursting into laughter.
Though the table was round, Cinderella felt like she sat on the opposite side. She desperately wanted to cross the invisible chasm to join Ye Tang and her daughters, but she knew that chasm was called “blood ties.”
Blood ties could not be changed by effort. A chasm born of blood ties would never be filled.
Cinderella could not betray her mother Ivy and pretend to be the child of another woman.
Despair caught Cinderella off guard as Kim Hora shoved her aside. As she regained her senses, she heard Kim Hora question Ye Tang in an accusatory tone, “Why won’t you let me buy a corset?”
Hope’s eyelid twitched. For some reason, Cinderella—who had just felt so kindly toward him—suddenly emanated… something he couldn’t quite describe.
Like someone had thrown up a handful of ash, clouding everyone’s vision.
“They bought them too, right?”
Kim Hora pointed at Claudia and Gloria beside Ye Tang.
“Yes. So I had all three of your corset orders canceled.”
The strange feeling came again. Ye Tang looked at Cinderella before her, pondering the pattern by which Cinderella’s “split personality” switched.
Until she figured out the pattern, she didn’t want to provoke Cinderella too much. But she had no intention of indulging her either.
“There will be a salon hosted by Mrs. Clement the day after tomorrow. Cinderella, are you interested in this gathering?”
Kim Hora hadn’t heard of “Mrs. Clement,” but a madam with such a long, impressive name sounded powerful. And a “salon”—so classy and upscale—made her change faces instantly, becoming the picture of a good girl.
“Would Madam be willing to take me!?”
“Well… it depends on your performance.”
Kim Hora froze, a flicker of disgust in her eyes she couldn’t hide in time. But to please Ye Tang, she quickly smiled and nodded. “Of course!”
Ye Tang smiled as she set down her teacup. In her eyes, Cinderella had already split in two.
One Cinderella was a simple girl who cared for her mother, kind-hearted in her purity. The other… reeked of wanting to climb high branches and turn her life around.
The Cinderella in the story had used her beauty and marriage to change her fate. From the bottom rung, she rocketed to the top, slapping the faces of her wicked stepmother and nasty stepsisters.
This was not something a completely guileless girl could achieve.
A guileless girl wouldn’t think her beauty could win a fine marriage, that marriage could change her life.
But conversely, did Cinderella really intend to marry the prince?
Three balls, and she fled all three days. In the original, Cinderella’s carriage and gown weren’t from a fairy godmother; after midnight, her dress wouldn’t vanish.
So why did Cinderella need to flee?
Even more, when the prince came to her house, why didn’t the unconfined Cinderella meet him? Just to let the wicked stepmother and nasty stepsisters reap what they sowed? After becoming princess, couldn’t she, like Snow White, order her stepmother into red-hot iron shoes for easier revenge?
If Cinderella wanted personal vengeance—and had calculated that the wicked stepmother would chop off the big sister’s toe and shave the little sister’s heel to marry them to the prince—then her scheming was profoundly deep.
Would a girl with such deep schemes endure bullying from stepmother and stepsisters for so long? And why revenge only on them, ignoring her vile father who allowed them to torment and humiliate her?
Ye Tang preferred to believe Cinderella truly didn’t want to marry the prince—she’d just gone dancing, only to get stuck with a clingy candy who stalked her, stole her shoe, and searched everywhere with it.
If Cinderella was that kind of girl, she had nothing to do with “climbing high branches.”
Ye Tang’s current puzzle was: the “personality” in Cinderella’s body that wanted to climb high… let’s call it one of Cinderella’s “personalities” for now.
Was that really Cinderella herself?