The Romantic Trials Of A Transmigrated Empress-Chapter 321: Cinderella [told by Sigrid, ruined by Iryne.] 1

"Oh. That makes much more sense now." Lady Iryne exhaled gently, touching her chest like she had been so stressed but got some relief. "So she had step sisters. Was her father dead or was it her mother?"

"It is not a question and answer session mother." Sigrid retorted.

Lord Paxton drew back his wife and put a finger to his lips. Gesturing that she should keep quiet for a while. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Sigrid sent him a grateful smile. "Her father had died and she had a wicked stepmother and two horrible sisters."

"Ah, the wicked stepmother category." Lady Iryne giggled.

Sigrid inhaled sharply. She also ignored the chuckles of Cosmos in her ears. "As I was saying, she had a wicked step mother. From a young age, she was responsible for doing all the chores in the house."

Lady Iryne gasped. "So, she was a servant. At least tell me she was paid. Lady Percival made her cousin’s daughter do chores all through winter and the girl’s mother is suing her for treating her daughter as an unpaid servant. Legal status of your servants is very important these days."

"Speaking of servants, we need new ones as we have had to terminate three of them for making moon eyes at Roland." Duchess Mila stirred from her half-asleep state.

"Can everyone please allow me to finish the story first?" Sigrid yelled. "Moving on--there was a prince in that kingdom who had yet to marry."

"Like you Elowin." Lady Iryne pointed out.

That particular jab managed to get some laughs from the listeners.

For Sigrid, it made her bite her teeth and seriously consider stuffing a sock in her mother’s mouth. "So.." She raised her voice, "The king and queen decided to hold a ball at the castle and all the young maidens in the land such that they could find a wife for their son. Cinderella wanted to attend the ball, but her stepmother wouldn’t let her---"

"Why, was she over age?" Lady Iryne interrupted again. "I do hope not because she sounds like a damsel in distress and a prince is just the man for the job."

At this point, chuckles were traveling in the room, even Jesting was amused.

"Is it a legal thing? Were there legal restrictions on the attendance of the ball?" Lady Iryne further quizzed.

"No mother." Sigrid answered tiredly. "She was not banned by the law! It was just her wicked step mother and step sisters that didn’t want her to attend. Cinderella was the most beautiful young maiden in the kingdom. Even the cinders could not hide her beauty. She looked a little like Mauve."

"Huh!" Galen loudly exclaimed.

Mauve touched her face. Wasn’t this a fictional story? Why then did Cinderella look like her? As she was pondering on these questions, everyone else was looking at her. After all, Cinderella was the most beautiful in this fantasy kingdom.

"Does this mean Mauve is the most beautiful woman in Eldoria?" A confused John asked.

"No." Roland objected strongly. "Sigrid is."

"Awww..." Lady Iryne cooed.

"He is her husband, of course he has to say that." Lord Paxton said. "I think my wife Iryne is the most beautiful woman in the empire."

"Mine is the most beautiful in Medoris and Eldoria." Prince Alexander jumped in.

"Mine is the most beautiful in the wonderful." John declared.

And so the verbal war on who had the most beautiful wife, fiance or girlfriend erupted. Even Ethan Ridley, the most quiet of the Ridley’s was very loud in support of his wife.

"Enough." Sigrid bellowed, adding some magic to increase the volume and strength of her voice. "We are all beautiful, now everybody shut up and let me tell my story."

She got her wish but John still whispered, ’mine.’ Sigrid sent him a scathing glare and he hid behind his wife’s back.

"Now, as everyone was preparing for the ball, so was Cinderella. She planned to sneak in. So, she found some old rags and sowed herself a beautiful dress.’

"From old rags!" Lady Iryne cut in, doubtful.

"Yes, old rags. To some people, clothes that are a week old can be considered old mother. Now the day of the ball arrived. She helped her sisters prepare and then rushed to dress up as well. But, as soon as they saw her....wait, she used to sleep in the attic I forget to mention this. Oh..and she was friends with birds and mice." This time, Sigrid was the one that interrupted herself. "When her sisters saw her, they grew jealous. Her step mother immediately knew that if the prince set his eyes on Cinderella, her daughters would not stand a chance."

"Oh-oh!" Lady Iryne whispered.

Sigrid went on. "They ripped her dress to shreds, left her crying on the floor and went off to the the ball."

"I just knew this was going to happen. Why did she go down and show them the dress? She should have laid in waiting and when they left the house, sneaked out and surprised everyone." Lady Iryne sighed. To her Cinderella sounded like a moron.

"Well, she didn’t cry for long because her fairy godmother arrived---"

"A fairy!" Lady Iryne squinted, "That is suspicious. Where was she all along when Cinderella was suffering? Why didn’t she show up then?"

As much as most of them were irritated or amused with Lady Iryne’s interruptions. She raised a question this time which made them curious.

"Because magic has its moments and this was the perfect moment!" Sigrid wailed. "She showed up and made Cinderella a deal. She could give her the perfect dress and shoes and a carriage to take her to the castle. But, before the clock struck midnight, she would have to leave the ball and return home."

"Wait, there are rules now?" Mauve jumped in.

"Why does the spell have an expiration date like a loaf of bread or jar of milk?"

"It just does!" Sigrid bit out.

"But why?" Her mother asked seriously.

"I don’t know!" Sigrid practically yelled. "Maybe the fairy godmother had strict working hours or maybe she had a newborn baby at home that needed to be fed.

Maybe she was not just a fairy godmother to Cinderella alone and she had other poor girls waiting to be helped. Or perhaps the answer is as simple as the spell was temporary and only lasted a day.

Midnight would mean the dawn of a new day so it would come undone automatically. There are spells which last minutes, hours, days, months. It is magic mother. Magic always has rules. Nobody should ask another question until I come to the end of the story."

She huffed and exhaled tiredly.