Chapter 114
A heavy silence settled over the banquet hall.
Thalia realized that everyone in the hall was watching her reaction, and she showed a smile on her lips.
“Then what are you doing instead of bringing the guests in at once?”
When she rebuked the chief butler in a deliberately composed tone, the man standing by the door wet his lips with a tense expression.
“Well… it seems Your Highness must personally receive the guests.”
Thalia raised the corners of her eyes.
At present, she held the highest status in this East.
There could be no guest whom she had to personally run out to receive.
Just as she was about to snap that at him, the man’s trembling voice pierced her eardrums.
“The person who has come as the representative of the envoy is… Her Majesty the Empress of the Empire.”
Thalia’s mouth fell open in shock.
For a moment, it felt as though her mind had gone blank.
Then she heard the murmuring and abruptly came back to her senses.
She hurriedly left the banquet hall.
At that moment, she did not even have the time to fear that attention might be drawn to her unnatural gait.
With her skirt fluttering, Thalia crossed the wide hall and rushed out of the building.
In the castle courtyard, hundreds of envoys bearing the imperial flag stood lined up.
The woman at their head waved her hand with a bright smile.
“Thalia!”
The woman, shining as brilliantly as the sun, crossed the garden as if walking above clouds.
She looked so fresh that it was hard to believe she had a nineteen-year-old daughter.
“Have you been well?”
In an instant, the woman approached right in front of her and pulled her into a tight embrace with arms as soft as cream.
The sweet scent of her skin made Thalia’s mind grow faint.
Thalia looked up at her with eyes filled with confusion, anxiety, fear, and longing all mixed together.
“W-why is Mother here…”
“Why, I came to see you.”
Senevier kissed her cheek and whispered affectionately.
“I was curious about how you were doing, so I begged Birus to send me as an envoy. And as always, he could not overcome my stubbornness.”
Then, with delicate fingers steeped in the scent of roses, she cupped her daughter’s cheeks and quietly looked into her face.
“You look healthier than you did when you were staying at the imperial palace. It seems your husband is treating you well.”
For an unknown reason, a chill suddenly ran down Thalia’s spine.
Like someone burned by fire, Thalia hurriedly pulled away from her.
“Why are you really… here? What scheme are you plotting this time…!”
“Your Majesty.”
At that moment, an icy voice cut off the rest of her words.
Thalia turned her head toward where the voice had come from.
Varkas, wearing a gray fur-lined cloak over a long black cotehardie, was crossing the garden toward them.
It seemed he had hurried over after hearing the news during the cathedral meeting.
Varkas, carrying the heavy scent of frankincense, subtly stepped between Senevier and her, then bowed.
“Thank you for coming such a long way.”
“I offer my condolences, Grand Duke Siarkan.”
Blue eyes, thick and clinging like a swamp, slowly looked over the young man’s figure, which seemed as though it had been precisely carved from marble.
A strange smile spread over her lips.
“Since he was able to see his son grow into such a fine man before he died, your father must have had no regrets.”
At her tone, as though she were speaking to a young boy, a faint sneer brushed Varkas’s lips.
He answered in his characteristically flat voice.
“I hardly know what to do with such excessive praise.”
“You are still humble. Many people in the imperial palace miss you for that very reason.”
Senevier let out a soft laugh, then cast a meaningful glance toward Thalia as she added.
“Especially the Crown Prince and the First Princess. It seems they feel your absence greatly. That is only natural. The three of you were particularly close.”
Thalia clenched her teeth so that she would not react.
Senevier, who had been carefully watching her, turned back to Varkas and gave him a cheerful smile.
“Come to think of it, the two of them asked me to pass a message on to you. Could you make time for me for a moment?”
A sharp energy spread through Varkas’s eyes.
Everyone in the world knew that those two would never ask Senevier for anything.
What did she intend to discuss with him, to the point of telling such an obvious lie?
Thalia could feel nothing but an ominous premonition.
With a trembling hand, she grasped the hem of Senevier’s dress.
“You said you came to see me, didn’t you? Then say what you have to say to me.”
At the words she poured out urgently, a hint of annoyance flashed across Senevier’s face.
Thalia felt a helplessness as if she had instantly gone back to being a nine-year-old child.
She stood there pale and unable to move, just as she had in those days when she had been flustered by Senevier’s cold treatment, when a large hand settled on her shoulder.
“Your Highness, please rest in your room.”
Varkas separated her from Senevier and gave orders to the maids waiting by the door.
“Hurry and escort the Grand Duchess.”
No sooner had his order fallen than the maids rushed over in a crowd.
Thalia reluctantly turned around.
At that moment, a gentle voice rang out behind her.
“Let us put off the old stories between mother and daughter until later.”
Thalia glared at her over her shoulder, then soon moved her feet.
Senevier, who had stayed in Varkas’s office for quite some time, finally came to see her only around sunset.
Thalia, who had been pacing around the room, immediately ran to the door.
However, her nanny was one step faster.
The nanny rushed out, clutched the hem of Senevier’s dress, and shed tears like chicken droppings.
“Your Majesty! To think I would see you again from so close… I can die now with no regrets!”
“Oh my, why would you die?”
Senevier naturally detached the nanny and scattered a girlish laugh.
“You must live a long, long life. How could I feel at ease if Thalia did not have her nanny by her side?”
The nanny looked up at Senevier with an overwhelmed face.
Thalia glared at the scene as if it were revolting, then impatiently grabbed her mother’s arm and pulled.
“Surely you can make time for me now?”
At the sarcastically spat question, Senevier curved her eyes.
“Of course. I came here because I intended to talk with you anyway.”
Then she smiled with her eyes at the knights of House Siarkan who had followed like guards.
“I would like to speak quietly with my daughter. Could you leave us for a moment?”
“My apologies, Your Majesty. For the safety of both of you, we cannot obey that order.”
Tyrone El Drakan bowed his head and politely stated his refusal.
The Empress looked at the knight who had defied her with interest, then lightly shrugged her shoulders.
“It seems being alone together is out of the question. Shall we take a short walk?”
Thalia, wearing a wary expression, picked up her coat and left the room.
Countless gazes followed them all the way through the corridor and toward the garden.
At the news that a person politically opposed to the grand ducal house had come to the East of her own accord, it seemed everyone in the castle had entered a state of vigilance.
However, Senevier did not care about the sharp looks.
Displaying a dignified bearing, Senevier descended the stairs and crossed the hall as smoothly as flowing water.
Thalia followed behind her, limping.
Because she was trying to match Senevier’s pace, sweat soaked her back in an instant.
However, the Empress did not seem to have even the slightest intention of being considerate toward her physically impaired daughter.
Senevier strode into the garden, where the sunset was rippling, and looked back at the knights with an innocent expression.
“It should be fine to keep a little distance, should it not?”
When the knights hesitated to answer, she pressed them with a smiling face.
“Or were you perhaps ordered to eavesdrop on our conversation?”
“…No. We will wait here.”
Tyrone answered with a reluctant expression.
Without delay, Senevier stepped onto the path scattered with fallen leaves.
Thalia, who had been staggering as she kept pace with her, opened her mouth impatiently once she judged that the knights were far enough away.
“What exactly is your purpose in coming here? Don’t lie and say you came to see me. I know that’s not true.”
“I really did come to see you. I wanted to check how you were doing.”
Thalia snorted.
This was a woman who had not even shown the tip of her nose on the day she left for the East.
What nonsense was she spouting now?
Just as Thalia was about to snap that at her, Senevier whispered into her ear as if telling a secret.
“And I also wanted to find out whether there is any possibility that your husband might turn to our side.”
At the unexpected words, Thalia’s eyes widened.
Senevier looked down at the rippling surface of the water and continued calmly.
“It seems Gareth has begun to suspect the loyalty of House Siarkan because of his marriage to you. So he is now reaching toward the North in search of a replacement power.”
“Does that mean… surely he is pushing forward with a new marriage for Ayla?”
“Yes. It seems Gareth expects the duke of the North to fill the empty place left by your husband.”
A chilling smile hung on Senevier’s lips.
“But I do not know whether that marriage will truly be established. Your husband is actively interfering with it.”
Thalia gripped the hem of her dress so tightly that her fingertips turned white.
Senevier added cruelly.
“Thanks to that, a tale of unfulfilled love between the First Princess and the young Grand Duke Siarkan is rolling around the imperial palace.”
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