Cinderella Did Not Leave Her Shoe

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In the middle of a grand ball, my fiancé cancelled the
engagement. The reason was…



I tried to avoid the cancellation of the engagement, but it
wasn’t meant to be.



An unfortunate pitiful lady and a stubborn general.



New one. I couldn't let March pa.s.s with no updates!
 Not as s.m.u.tty as 'Serious Thing' though, but I found it amusing nonetheless, hope you do too!



Details will be in the index.





1 An Abandoned Woman

?here was a pop in my ears.



It wasn’t very loud, but I could
hear it clearly over the din of the ball.



Was it the sound of stubbornness?

The sound of blood vessels bursting in anger?



No, it was not.



It was…



‘Very well, I agree to cancel the
engagement.’ I said as regally as I could muster in these circ.u.mstances.



(Zuben: Why doesn’t anyone in these
engagement cancel novels show others some courtesy and break up in private?!)



I made a graceful curtsy to my former
fiancé, Eugene, and his new beau whose modest chest was plastered to his arm
and turned my back on them. Lifting the hem of my gown modestly, I walk away
gaining speed.



‘Isn’t that…?!’



Who said that stupidly?



No. No. It isn’t irrelevant to me.
I must hurry.



Goodness, it was hard to run.



I grit my teeth at the unfamiliar
feeling of draft up my skirts and ran once I was out of the ballroom.



I did not look at the other
attendees, who were watching my escape with morbid curiosity. I wanted to reach
my temporary room as soon as possible.



Oh no! It is useless. I will not
make it!



Why? Why did I choose to wear
tie-side briefs? Why? (Zuben: Cos they are cute…and I feel you)



I had known about Eugene’s change
of heart. There had been rumours amongst Society, and there had been many kind
acquaintances who had told me of his cheating without me asking. (Zuben: Were
they really kind?)



My engagement to Eugene had been
amusing, but I hadn’t been really interested. (Zuben: Ah Eugene, you appear
again as a bad guy)



Although he had been holding my
hand, the scarlet woman made her move. Stealing someone else’s man, she wasn’t ashamed about
telling others of her achievement.



To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t liked being engaged. I felt that Eugene and I were not suited. Though, his new love seemed to be a
commoner but she seemed to have the ability to judge her surroundings.



But that was not important right
now, the tie side panties I am wearing are…!



Why had I been so enthusiastic this
morning,



“I will go, I can still go.” I had
declared without much thought.



Marie, my maid, had goaded me on, “Yes,
you can!”



No, you should have stopped me,
Marie!



In my family house, frugality was
our motto, but I still had a wealthy stock of undies! Why did we choose this
one? It was my favourite pair. I called it up in my imagination and said
inwardly, “Thank you for protecting my crotch till now!” It was better to let
it go, I decided.  (Zuben: hahahaha, let
it go)



I wasn’t looking where I was going
as I raced ahead, I didn’t want to be told I was being mannerless, especially
since the knickers were now at my knees.



But I b.u.mped into something hard,



‘Oh my goodness!’ I exclaimed.



I guess I ran into a person. A
person with such a firm body I rebounded.



‘Please pardon me, are you alright,
my Lady?’ a very masculine voice asked from above my head



I rubbed my achy nose, and looked
up with teary eyes to see, I had run into Gen...General Brennan!



Since the founding of the country,
the strongest warrior to be born here was General Volker Brennan. He leaned
down to look at me, his hand on one knee. This dignified general; his dark
brown hair had been slicked back with pomade and he was well dressed for the ball. But what I found
surprising was he had gentle hazel eyes.



‘My Lady?’



I did not reply for a bit, the
general moved closer to me,



‘Oh I am alright, thank you.’ I
finally said.



General Brennan sighed in relief
and straightened his large frame, for some reason his gaze was drawn away from
me.



On no!



My panties had made the final
journey downward. I could feel the delicate ma.s.s hanging off my ankle. It seemed
that it was exhausted now. (Zuben: Send a prayer for the lost soul)



I wondered if I should blush. Or
throw everything and faint. It is what the fellow maidens of Society would do,
it was usually quite amusing.



I’m leaving it to you, General!



I wish our first meeting isn’t as
bad as I believe.ALLABOUTMYNOTHINGS.BLOGSPOT.CO.UK


2 Volker: Patience

?he lady moved and I noticed there
was a sc.r.a.p of cloth where she had stood, it looked like a handkerchief. The
corridor was dimly lit, but I hadn’t seen the handkerchief in her hand when she
b.u.mped into me. (zuben: tis not)



‘My Lady?’ I called.



The Lady turned back to me and
gasped as though surprised by something, then promptly fainted. I quickly
caught her falling body. She was so light, and she looked like a fairy. Her
hair was down. It was like liquid sunlight, it fell in loose waves. Her skin
was looked soft and white. Although they were now closed, I had noticed long
golden lashes over bright eyes that were the green of a forest in summer.  (Zuben: Faint option selected)



Her face was cute. Her lips were
plump and lightly pink and slightly parted. Her neck was slender and delicate.
My throat was suddenly dry and I swallowed. Beyond that delicate neck, was her
collarbones where a delicate necklace adorned. (Zuben: What is with Asians all over
and collarbones? Must they be prominent, just visible or hidden?)



She induced such a need within me I
was stunned. Why was I feeling this way to such a young girl?



Tonight’s ball was a marriage celebration;
the age of most of the attendees would be about 16 to 17 year olds.



If so, then I, who was going to be
35 soon, was l.u.s.ting after a girl who could be my daughter.



‘…’



There was a dull ache throbbing in
my chest, and I groaned.



What was this?



I lifted her and took a deep breath
to shake off the strange thoughts that came over me. I did not forget to pick
the handkerchief up, and went in search of the butler to help me find the young
Lady’s servant and rooms.ABOUTMYNOTHINGS.BLOGSPOT.CO.UK



 ♢





‘Oh no, my Lady!’



The lady’s maid was found before
long. She had been running around with teary eyes. When she saw me with the
lady, she ran up to me.



‘Oh how unfortunate.’ She said as
she took the hand of the girl in my arms and collapsed.



‘Does she have a guest room here?’



If she was a n.o.ble daughter, she
would have a guest room. Otherwise, it would be best to lay her on a couch for
a little while. She was so slender.



‘Oh pardon me, my lord, I will
bring you to her room immediately.’ She said as she quickly wiped her tears.



(Zuben: Young lady, no one stays in
a faint that long. Have you fallen asleep?)



The behaviour looked extreme and
overwrought, I raised a brow.



‘Although, it seems dire now, she
should be fine with some rest.’ I said trying to calm the maid.



If she needed medical attention,
that could be arranged. But he thought, it would be better for the lady to rest
till she woke up.



‘My lady has no chronic illness.
But Milady’s engagement…she would not want to stay near someone who had behaved
that way to her.’



It seemed there were complicated
circ.u.mstances, but the maid did not want to divulge all the information, so she
carefully chose her words.



‘Very well, let’s take her to her
carriage and send her home.’ I said to her maid and we started walking.



If I thought deeply, I realised
that I would only be holding this softness for a short time more.

ALLABOUTMYNOTHINGS.BLOGSPOT.CO.UK






3 Although it is bad,
it is far worse if one doesn’t have nerves of steel.

ℐ awoke in my own bedroom.



The familiar light chiffon canopy
was blurry. I could not tell what time it was, but it looked like I woke up at
my usual time. I slept well and I feel refreshed.



‘Marie, are you there?’ I called
out as I rose out of bed.  I got a quick
response,



‘Milady…’ Marie appeared, pulling
back the canopy. She looked gloomy, her voice was sad. This was very out of
character. She looked like someone had died.



‘What happened? Did something
happen?’ I asked.



‘….Are you alright?’ she asked
holding my hands she fell to her knees before the bed. Her hands were cold and
trembling.



I took a deep breath and asked her
what was wrong. Marie’s lips trembled and her eyes filled with tears.



On no! Something terrible must have
happened. Had father…had father died?!



How come? Before I left for the
ball, he had had been full of energy. The end of all existence was darkness.
Well, there would be a plethora of things to do; it was a good thing that the
engagement was now broken.



‘For such a terrible thing to
happen to young Miss. Being made a spectacle of: Your engagement being broken
in front of so many people, so callously. And then after...such a thing you…you
were attacked.’



I guess I was really pitiful for
large tears fell from Marie’s eyes, dropping with a pitter-patter on the sheets.
She looked rather adorable.



Then I remembered something. Panic
set in.



But I was able to overcome it and I
restarted slowly.



‘Why do you think so, Marie?’ I
asked her slowly so she would calm down. But I already know the answer.



‘Because…because, my lady, your
knickers were not there!’



Well, yeah.



I ran into General Brennan and
pretended to faint when my knickers were seen on the floor. But now I was in my
nightdress, so Marie must have changed my clothes.



…I wonder though. I suppose it was
an a.s.sumption to make, even if one was a familiar husband, to see that under my
skirts I had no knickers on. Well, it could not be helped. It did tear.



‘Well did you tell anyone?’



‘To the Master and the Mistress,
and Mr Oliver,’ Mr Oliver was our butler.



This is why one shouldn’t show weakness
at home.



A frown marred my brow as I went
deep in thought. I murmured to myself as I sank back into bed. Ah it was too
troublesome; I should just stay in bed for now.



My principle was to do today what
can be done today, but this was also a huge conundrum. What to do? What to do?



I pulled the covers over my head.



‘Milady! Are you alright?’ Marie
cried.



It was unusual for Marie to be this
distressed. (Zuben: Something like that has never happened before)



Well, I suppose I should at least
explain to Marie what happened. Her distress was all a misunderstanding. I
pushed my bedcovers away to find my parents and Oliver standing over me.



‘Oh dear…’LABOUTMYNOTHINGS.BLOGSPOT.CO.UK



 ♢





‘...and that is what happened.’



I concluded the recount of the
evening. I was now washed and dressed in my day dress and brand new knickers,
of course. This one seems very durable. (Zuben: Were you wearing your favourite
one all day erv’yday?)



‘Well, after this I hope you will
be discouraged from wearing your underwear till it is in tatters.’ My mother
said. (Zuben: Indeed. But then I am rather like Young Lady, when they are a bit
tattered is when they are the most comfortable)



My father gave a small smile.



‘Are you sure you’re not
disappointed you didn’t get to dance at the ball?’



Oh what is this? I felt a bit
lighter and was laughing easily, but was this subtle lightness because I was no
longer tied to that fellow? And because I didn’t have to dance? Eugene ended it
before the dancing began.



Marie cried a lot, so much she had
to regain her lost moisture so she went with Oliver to prepare tea.



‘We were so distracted by the
missing underwear- what will we do about the broken engagement?’



It had been an arranged marriage,
the break up had wiped out an opportunity to join our family with a Duke, I
could not help but feel responsible and bemoan my charm as a woman. (Zuben:
When one door is locked to you, a window might be open elsewhere)



If one listened to all that Society
said, they would hear that our family bought our t.i.tle with money.



In truth, my great-grandfather was
a wealthy merchant, during a long war with one of our neighbouring countries;
the country fell into financial ruin so my grandfather surrendered his wealth
to help finance the army. Grandfather had been very rich, so the money had just
been acc.u.mulating, he was able to help save the national budget, yo~



With his negotiating skills, he was
able to a.s.sist in bringing about a cease fire with conditions favourable to the
country and eventually, the war ended.



The King was deeply moved by my
great-grandpa, so he awarded him the t.i.tle of Viscount. This was met with
repulsion from the aristocracy, and with that we come to the present day.



My family was full of people who
were talented in business and good at making money. We are so rich, the gold pretty
much rots away for we are a family that like living simply and frugally (Zuben:
Misers, you mean) However, this means the money keeps acc.u.mulating.



It was undignified in High Society
for a t.i.tled family to work for their money. Yet, excess was the very essence
of n.o.bility.



And as the bride of a duke’s heir,
I was only picked because I came with a hefty dowry, and they would be
connected to a financial power. I had been made painfully aware of that during
the bride selection tea party by the other bride candidates, ever-so politely
of course. Yet, while there may have been gentlemen I admired, there hadn’t
been anyone that I had particularly favoured, so I didn’t opposed the
engagement. Yet for it to be broken now left me with a complex feeling.



‘For me to be engaged to a duke’s
son and get discarded so publicly, I most certainly will not sell.’



At a ball, full of High Society, my
engagement dissolved so flashily; my only recourse was to become a nun or be
the second wife of a lecherous old man. I would have really liked to be married
at least once and become erotic newlyweds with my husband. Oh no! Was that too obvious?



‘Well, we won’t marry you off by force;
you can work like a horse for the family for the rest of your life. It would be
more fun than walking behind some pompous Duke?’ (Zuben: She would have been a
d.u.c.h.ess, though)



Father…



‘Oh well, we have Ernest as an
heir, so do not worry about it. If need be, we can just get you a stud and get
you pregnant.’



Mother…



Both of them treat me like a prized
mare.



Ernest was my first cousin, a year
older than me.



‘My lady!’ Marie rushed in and gave
a shriek.



‘What’s happened?’



‘Ge-General Brennan wants to call
upon you!’



What is this?!

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Index ♢